/sci/ - Science & Math

>>4911688

Oh, and you didn't seem to quite get my comment on technology; I didn't suggest *judging* things by the *amount* of technology needed, but simply *weighing* the amount that needed to be *developed*. The extreme case I see a lot is people suggesting you can do just about anything with nanotechnology. Ok, maybe that's true, but developing something at that level is going to take a lot of time and effort, and even then practical considerations are going to limit its utility. So while orbital habitats are on a smaller scale than terraforming a planet (for sure!), the technology needed to make them self-sufficient goes far beyond that needed to do so for Mars. I don't think it tips the scales to making terraforming more practical, but it's a valid point. Assuming that "new technology will take care of it" is an oft overused argument.

>>3988685

The acceleration would provide gravity. If coasting, you could implement a solution like Zubrin's Mars Direct where a thetered spacecraft spins on an axis perpendicular to the length of the tether, providing gravity to a module on one end or near one end.

As for shielding, the main point of the tether is to keep the engine as far away from the spacecraft, allowing gamma rays to disperse. The shield can be kept small and relatively lightweight.

Habitable moon found in orbit around Goldilocks zone gas giant, dubbed Polyphemus in orbit about Alpha Centauri.

200 is time enough.

Polypropelled relativistic Valkyrie rocket, design by Charles Pellegrino and Jim Powell. Amat-catalyzed fusion + laser-driven solar sail.

/sci/ is so stale right now. Interstellar propulsion thread.

Noted polymath Charles Pellegrino and Brookhaven physicist Jim Powell have an innovative antimatter powered starship design called a Valkyrie. They say that current designs are guilty of "putting the cart before the horse", which create ships that are much more massive than they need be. Their "spaceship-on-a-string" starship is capable of accelerating up to ninety-two percent the speed of light and decelerating back down to stationary. At this velocity, relativity mandates that time on board the ship will travel at one-third the rate of the stay at home people on Terra (actually it's closer to 1/2.55). They figure this will be adequate for visiting stars up to about twelve light-years from Terra, without using up excessive amounts of the crew's lifespan.

Dr. Pellegrino served as a scientific consultant on James Cameron's Avatar movie. The interstellar vehicles seen in the film are based on the designs of Pellegrino and Powell's Valkyrie rockets, fused with Robert L. Forward's designs. I figured this out when I noticed that the Avatar starship had the engine in the front, which is a unique feature of the Valkyrie.

>From Flying To Valhalla by Charles Pellegrino (1993):

...For propulsion purposes, microfusion bursts triggered by antihydrogen-hydrogen annihilation (possibly with a component of lithium added) will prove efficient up to ship-cruising speeds approaching twelve percent the speed of light, owing to jets of relatively slow, massive particles. Above twelve percent lightspeed, propulsion shifts from antimatter-triggered fusion jets to straightforward matter-antimatter annihilation, which produces a lower mass thrust than fusion, but provides particles with the high-exhaust velocities necessary to push the ship to a high fraction of lightspeed.

>movies/
The first ten seconds of Avatar, pic related, were the most scientifically accurate I've seen (inb4 derp 2001). Then the aliens showed up.
Gattaca, sort of, but it has too many luddite undertones. I liked how the future looked like the 60's future, complete with them cars. Future fun with a vintage touch.
Then there's Moon, even though the Helium-3 thing is just a bit exaggerated for the purpose of the story.
Metropolis and Brazil may not be particularly accurate but I liked them still.
>books/
The Diamond Age: 10/10
Permanence: Civilizations among brown dwarves, the author's own interstellar relativistic transport system.
The Wreck of the River of Stars: Magnetic sails and shit.
Coyote: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration: What it says on the tin.
After Life: Mind uploading and its results.
>tv shows
Don't watch TV.

>>3069648

>The transport from the interstellar vessel to their future home would have to be pretty good right? I mean, it would have to be guaranteed to work right? If they got there and their transport doesnt work, or if they got there and it burnt up in the atmosphere or something, that would be a catastrophic loss.

They're going to need transatmospheric vehicles, and they have to be reusable like some sort of Hydrogen-powered spaceplane that can simply fuel up with a bunch of solar panels and a pond of water. If the ship has nanotechnology, then you could just drop a few robots with assemblers mounted on top and build launch and resupply facilities (Along with the whole colony, so it's ready for colonists once they descend) and maybe even build the reentry vehicles with the local resources. And due to the whole thing about friction with the interstellar medium, the TAV's are going to have to be very well shielded against stray cosmic rays and such. Alternatively you could assemble them out of whatever Carbon you salvage from the half-burnt remains of the ship once it's reached its destination.

The only flaw with pic related is that the damned things are just hanging there, Jesus Christ.

>would it be impossible for a "Jupiter"/ Gas Giant, within the habitable zone of a star to support an "earthlike" moon?
Completely.

Pic: Avatar

If you don't hear a crackling, crashing sound coming from the engines then it's not working.

And you know it's moving if the Hydrogen pumps go HOOF HOOF.

I saw this picture and decided I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer.

Last year I think I learnt more than I ever did in my whole (Rather well read) life.

This lifted me from the gutter.

OP, gold is actually very heavy. The moon missions had gold foil, but it was actually aluminized mylar, for it reflects light better and is very lightweight. I assume this ship had the same, and whatever heat was absorbed (At Mercury orbit it's 14,5 kilowatts per square meter) could be pumped to heat radiators... Which are nowhere to be seen, but in reality would be large, dull-red things on the disk's underside.

Pic related.

Mods are around, can't post leopardgirl.jpg.

Next best thing.

more spacecraft

>>2260384

I believe a Q-ball changes quarks into anti-quarks, turning matter into antimatter. I don't know how that would diminish fusion, since annihilation would trigger highly-energetic fusion reactions, but what do I know -_-

Pic: Some day Dr. Pellegrino, my beloved. Some day.

Another example. Does the exhaust ever hit the ship? Notice slight angle of the thrusters.

Stupid mirror...