Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > GURPS

 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Prev Previous Post   Next Post Next
Old 12-09-2009, 04:01 PM   #17
jacobmuller
 
jacobmuller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Not in your time zone:D
Default Re: Is achievingorbit that easy?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brett View Post
Only if its maximum airspeed exceeds circular-orbit velocity. Once the air gets thin enough that you can exceed Air Speed then the wings stop providing lift.

According to Spaceships p. 35 maximum airspeed is 2,500 m.p.h times the square root of acceleration in gees (for a streamlined spacecraft). Orbital speed is 5.6 miles per second, or 20,160 m.p.h. So you need 65 gees of thrust to fly at orbital speed.
Would making local gravity the cutoff point for a relaunchable vehicle, and delta-v for escape velocity the fuel minimum, be a solution ie can you leave Earth orbit with 1g thrust and 7+mps of delta-v? Although that would contradict pg37 "Getting into Space" 2nd paragraph, last line: "or it
must be winged (in atmosphere)". But, if the book is wrong, it's wrong.

Is this part of Spaceships wrong or merely oversimplified?
__________________
"Sanity is a bourgeois meme." Exegeek
PS sorry I'm a Parthian shootist: shiftwork + out of country = not here when you are:/
It's all in the reflexes
jacobmuller is offline   Reply With Quote
 

Tags
design, orbit, reentry, spaceships


Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:25 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.