(spaceships) rocket (super)science

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

But in their ways of conceptualizing the world, the movements of the sun and the clouds are irrelevant to what is possible for mortals.

I mean, if we ignore all the myths about mortals who do go that fast - such as Phaethon, who briefly drove Helios' chariot as it circled the world (he made a mess of things, because he wasn't able to properly control the horses, and wound up struck down by Zeus, but he did go as fast as the sun) - then sure. If we don't ignore said myths, of course, then we'll recognize that while they would have found a mortal traveling that fast to be amazing and exceptional, it wouldn't have been anything as world-shaking as someone going faster-than-light would be to us. For them, it would just mean this person had figured out how the gods managed such feats, or had learned/stolen from the gods how to do so (or been gifted such knowledge and/or artifacts that made it possible), making it just another notch in a long line of things like fire, architecture, medicine, booze, etc. But someone going faster than light - or creating a reactionless drive, or whatever - isn't something that would just fit in like that with our current knowledge, because it would violate what we thought were some of the fundamental laws of physics.

[SydneyFreedberg]

(Side question: what’s a “g-hour”? The amount of velocity you get from accelerating at one G for an hour?)

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by SydneyFreedberg

(Side question: what’s a “g-hour”? The amount of velocity you get from accelerating at one G for an hour?)

Yes. 35,301.6 meters per second.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Varyon

I mean, if we ignore all the myths about mortals who do go that fast - such as Phaethon, who briefly drove Helios' chariot as it circled the world (he made a mess of things, because he wasn't able to properly control the horses, and wound up struck down by Zeus, but he did go as fast as the sun) - then sure. If we don't ignore said myths, of course, then we'll recognize that while they would have found a mortal traveling that fast to be amazing and exceptional, it wouldn't have been anything as world-shaking as someone going faster-than-light would be to us.

They wouldn't have found anything at all hard to believe about a mortal circling the world (whether it be flat or round) by divine intervention or stolen divine power. That would fit quite well into their conception of the universe.

A mortal doing such a thing by mortal means would be a bigger shock to them than FTL transfers would be to us.

For them, it would just mean this person had figured out how the gods managed such feats, or had learned/stolen from the gods how to do so (or been gifted such knowledge and/or artifacts that made it possible), making it just another notch in a long line of things like fire, architecture, medicine, booze, etc. But someone going faster than light - or creating a reactionless drive, or whatever - isn't something that would just fit in like that with our current knowledge, because it would violate what we thought were some of the fundamental laws of physics.

So do atomic bombs, they violate what were widely thought (with reason) to be fundamental laws of physics and chemistry in Daltonian times. I'm sure that impossibility was very comforting in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.