12-02-2020, 01:04 PM | #21 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: [Spaceships] Magnetic Shielding above TL8
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So, this brings us right back to wanting some sort of magshield (or electrostatic field, or whatnot), only omnidirectional instead of focused on particles coming in from the fore. ... I suppose that's a sort of progress.
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
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12-02-2020, 05:28 PM | #22 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: [Spaceships] Magnetic Shielding above TL8
Found some interesting references at https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2017...em-and-beyond/ and https://www.centauri-dreams.org/2020...tellar-flight/ . The former is a variant magsail which can be used, among other things, as "Charged particle radiation shield for crewed flights":
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I'm currently tempted to snag the magsail stats from 3e's Vehicles Expansion 1 (as opposed to the plasma sail stats, which would need an infeasibly-large amount of hydrogen, as it leaks out of the plasma-bubble), claim that the superconducting wire trails the probe instead of forming a loop, and handwave some cosmic-ray PF numbers. Though the less handwaving, the better; anyone care to suggest any details? (A sample set of magsail stats: TL8, 0.01 lbs thrust: 107.5 lbs, 18,974 kJ, radius 118.5 feet (circumference 744.6 feet), 2.15 cf when reeled in, $10,750, takes 6,955 years to brake a 1-ton probe from 0.01c.)
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
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12-02-2020, 05:31 PM | #23 |
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Berkeley, CA
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Re: [Spaceships] Magnetic Shielding above TL8
The problem with a magsail for an interstellar probe is that it's actually a really really good brake. Which is nice for slowing down at your destination, but not helpful for the trip (thrust is not constant, it varies with the density of the medium and your speed relative to it).
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12-02-2020, 05:35 PM | #24 | |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: [Spaceships] Magnetic Shielding above TL8
Quote:
(A larger magsail would, of course, provide more braking (as well as, presumably, more EM shielding); but I've only got so much available mass to spare inside this probe.)
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
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12-03-2020, 07:15 PM | #25 |
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Niagara, Canada
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Re: [Spaceships] Magnetic Shielding above TL8
By any chance, is there any way to figure out how advanced the technology for "superconductor current capacity" has gotten at THS's tech-level?
I found an article from 1992, at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/Rolepla.../MagSails.html , which suggests improvements to a magsail's performance-vs-mass as that factor increases. (THS's spacecraft design system only gives stats for plasma sails instead of magsails, with a thrust-to-mass ratio of 1/400.) I've also found https://web.archive.org/web/20060506...2ad/drafts.txt , which provides a third selection of Vehicles-compatible stats for magsails - and this is the only one which mentions a radiation PF.
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Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong." |
Tags |
radiation, radiation protection, spaceships, tl10, vehicles |
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