[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Comparison of Sail vs. RAM (Was Laser Aperture Size)



At 9:05 PM 3/27/96, L. Parker wrote:
>At 08:40 AM 3/22/96 -0500, you wrote:
>


>>My Explorer class with its externalkly feed fussion rockets could certainly
>>get itself up to .3 c and probably back down again, assuming less rediculas
>>amounts of power, but a hell of a lot of fusion isotopes.
>
>Most of the research I've seen support .3c from a ramship type of vehicle.
>If you can make the extra fuel idea work, then you could probably get even
>higher.

Most of the stuff we found suggests ram ships are impractical to impossible
to make work.  (Bummed us out too.)

>>Well It doesn't have to be that complicated!  Gravity assist is obviously
>>of no use unless you find a black hole near by (To little power for our
>>needs.) but you could say use a sail to boost the ship up to speed (.3c)
>>here.  Pull in the sail and store it for the cruse, then use fusion rockets
>>to decel into the target system.  To get back, refuel and boost out of the
>>system using the rockets, and deploy the sail for deceleration into Sol.
>
>Actually the gravity assist manuever combined with sails works BETTER in
>deep gravity wells of large STARS. Sails don't help much around black holes!

Yeah, but the gravity assist and solar sail delta-V potential is too
trivial to worry about.

>>I do know what you mean about discouraging thou.  It seems like were not
>>going to be able to realisticly build a usable starship without some new
>>tricks from physisits.  The only adaquate power source now is anti-mater,
>>but thats not really usable or practical.  Perhaps a mater conversion
>>system?  So physisits are talking about possibility of rotating the quantum
>>particals to convert a partical of mattar to anti-mater.  If this could be
>>done on demand the ships could have the power to weight ratio's of
>>anti-matter without the danger of bulk anti-matter storage, or the current
>>cost of antimatter production.
>
>Assuming it doesn't require more power to rotate the particle than the
>energy it produces...

More power than a mater anti mat reaction?  Humm.

>Funny you should new tricks and quantums in the same breath though. Did you
>know that quantum energy appears spontaneously in space? Hmmmm....

Zero point energy?  Yeah, interesting and potentially huge.

Kelly


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Kelly Starks                       Internet: kgstar@most.fw.hac.com
Sr. Systems Engineer
Magnavox Electronic Systems Company
(Magnavox URL: http://www.fw.hac.com/external.html)

----------------------------------------------------------------------