starship-design: Re: Re: Fwd: Re: starship design

[KellySt@aol.com]

> Why do you doubt the 20,000 pound figure for the pion 
> engine?  The pion engine could simply be a 1 meter long, 
> 1 meter diameter  2 inch thick steel cyclinder with about
>  10,000 turns of copper wire carrying ten amps of
>  electric current  wrapped around it, with a 2 inch thick 
> 2 meter long by 2 meter wide  square of steel behind it 
> as the radiation shield. Matter antimatter annhilation 
> produces only one kind of radiation which is gamma rays. 
> A light weight material such as beyrellium metal can 
> also be used to make the gamma radiation shield.
>Timothy J Mayes

Prove it.  How much waste heat will the engine need to stand?  All the 
radiation heading toward the shield will be come heat.  The pipe and wire 
will heat up too.

Are you sure that will be all it takes to turn your relatavistic pion stream 
toward the rear of the ship?  The magnetic feild would have to at least be 
strong enough to lift the 600,000 lb ship, since its the force transmiting 
the thrust to the ship.  Past that though it has to have more power to turn 
the random pion stream.

Thats just off the top of my head.

Kelly