Supercavitation: Underwater rocketry

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123716]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercavitation

"In 2005, DARPA announced the 'Underwater Express program', a research and evaluation bid to establish the potential of supercavitation. The program's ultimate goal is a new class of underwater craft for littoral missions that can transport small groups of Navy personnel or specialized military cargo at speeds up to 100 knots. The contracts were awarded to Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics Electric Boat in late 2006. In 2009, DARPA announced progress via a new class of submarine.

The submarine's designer, Electric Boat, is working on a one-quarter scale model for sea trials off the coast of Rhode Island. If the trials are successful, Electric Boat will begin production on a full scale 100-foot submarine. Currently, the Navy's fastest submarine can only travel at 25 to 30 knots while submerged. But if everything goes according to plan, the Underwater Express will speed along at 100 knots, allowing the delivery of men and material faster than ever."

tl;dr it's possible to travel at speeds up to 300mph in the water by creating a gas envelope around your vessel and propelling it with a rocket engine.

And our Navy is developing tactical rocketsubs.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123719]

"In 2004, German weapons manufacturer Diehl BGT Defence announced their own supercavitating torpedo, Barracuda, now officially named "Superkavitierender Unterwasserlaufkörper" or "supercavitating underwater running object". (English translation) According to Diehl, it reaches more than 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph)."

The Russians still have the fastest supercav torpedo though, the Shkval. Imagine adding cockpits to a few of those and racing 'em.

[Anonymous No.2123734]

Sea warp engine...next is the space warp engine...

[i]YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH]/i]

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123735]

There have actually been incidents of UUOs, unidentified underwater objects, traveling many many times what (at the time) were believed to be a maximum practical speed.

Of course this let nutters to claim that aliens have outposts in the deep sea that are shielded from protection. Pretty sure that was the plot of Abyss.

But the discovery of the Russian Shkval torpedo program neatly explains those sightings. Must've been quite a shock for the few Navy officers to notice something moving around on sonar at 300mph.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123750]

>>2123734

>>Sea warp engine...next is the space warp engine...

Ocean exploration is a lot like the easymode space exploration. It has a lot of the same technologies, scaled down.

For instance, you know how many spacebros hope for nanobot assembled space colonies? Seabros have something like that already:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorock

tl;dr you can build a wire mesh in the shape of a habitat, then electrify it, and over about two years "biorock" will grow to completely envelop the mesh and form a shell made of incredibly hard accreted minerals and coral.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123757]

>>2123734

>>Sea warp engine...next is the space warp engine...

Ocean exploration is basically easymode space exploration. It has a lot of the same technologies, scaled down.

For instance, you know how many spacebros hope for nanobot assembled space colonies? Seabros have something like that already:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biorock

tl;dr you can build a wire mesh in the shape of a habitat, then electrify it, and over about two years "biorock" will grow to completely envelop the mesh and form a shell made of incredibly hard accreted minerals and coral.

When it's done you can attach life support and move in.

[Anonymous No.2123786]

Is anyone else having trouble connecting to 4chan at all for like, 2-3 minute stretches?

[Anonymous No.2123799]

>>2123786

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

[Anonymous No.2123822]

I think the wake of such a cavitation bubble would be capable of killing or severely injuring even large fish. It would certainly kill small fish.

[Colonel Coffee Mug !phJ7yIcs.Q No.2123836]

>>2123716

So ocean FTL.

[Anonymous No.2123840]

>>2123822
You think the shockwave would be greater than that from a tsunami?

Does the pressure wave of tsunamis kill millions of fish as it passes through millions of square miles of ocean water? I don't think so, but I have no evidence to support otherwise, I just think I would have heard of something like that.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123850]

>>2123836

Yeah basically, and because water is a reactant for a lot of chemical reactions relevant to rocketry, the fuel is even pretty cheap (mostly powdered aluminum for many possible fuel chemistries) and you can squeeze more "flight" time from it since it doesn't have to carry that reactant (It's surrounded by it).

You're still looking at fairly short burn times, though. Longer than traditional rockets but nothing you could use as the main mode of propulsion for a sub. It'd be more like the afterburner, something that kicks in when you need to get away in a hurry.

[Anonymous No.2123864]

>>2123822
Fuck the small fish.
I want me some underwater space ships, that shit sounds toasty

[Anonymous No.2123871]

Mad scientist I know you got a boner for sea quest and want to see it come true

but

One day somali pirates are going to build ghetto submarines out of coconuts and trash cans. That will ruin everything.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123878]

>>2123864

>>I want me some underwater space ships, that shit sounds toasty

I wonder if it's possible to have both. Since supercavitation is essentially rocketry plus a gas emitter at the nose of the vessel. You couldn't use water-dependent fuel chemistries so you'd get a shorter burn, but imagine a vessel that could fly through the ocean, then take off through the surface and fly into space. :O

[Anonymous No.2123916]

>>2123878
SPACE BATTLESHIP... YAMATO!

[Anonymous No.2123934]

>>2123878
>imagine a vessel that could fly through the ocean, then take off through the surface and fly into space

From the abyss of the ocean to the far rim of the galaxy.
4 brave scientists, braving speeds that would make your mind take a shit
exploring what man has never seen, taking samples man should never sample.
Planting flags errywhere.
-then there's a guitar squeal for effect-
-trans-atmospheric ship skimming over the water, rooster tails like a beast-
What the dicks? ITS PLUNGING INTO THE WATER?
Oh no, it's out.
Oh man, where the fuck is it going?
Space?
Hot chimney sweeping damn.
Godspeed, noble paladins of science.

[Anonymous No.2123967]

>>2123934
Oh god I can't stop thinking about this.
In the first episode they plunge to the depth of the ocean and find an abyss
that seemingly goes on forever and they're like "How far do you think it goes?"
Then Larry is all "I don't think we should go down there guys" in his slow drawly voice.
Larry is like your typical stick in the fucking mud guy, he doesn't like fun.
But they go deeper in their awesome ship.
And deeper.
And deeper.
Suddenly monoliths, monoliths of Atlantis.
Awake, the sleeping sea-guardians of the lost city!
Then they have to fight sea guardians with russian supercavitation high ex torpedos,
get some samples and briskly GTFO.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2123981]

>>2123934

This post is awesome and you should feel awesome.

Now imagine an intelligent species that evolved deep underwater on an ocean planet. They cannot survive surfacing, so for most of their history, their philosophical arguments centered around whether there was a surface, and what it might be like.

By constructing vessels that hold powerful water pressure in, instead of out, a few brave explorers visited the surface and saw the starry night sky for the first time, forever changing their species' perspective.

They would eventually progress to sending robotic rovers up to check out the few, small land masses on their world, and marvel at the primitive life that exists there (perhaps insects of some kind)

Then one day, the first astronauts of their species lift off in a primitive rocket topped with a pressure vessel containing the crew; a six inch thick alloy hull preserves the sea bottom pressure they need to survive against the vacuum of space. From inside, through sapphire windows, they see the curvature of their ocean world for the first time.

[Anonymous No.2124007]

>>2123981
>>2123967
>>2123934

Shit like that is why I still come to /sci/ despite the trolls

[Colonel Coffee Mug !phJ7yIcs.Q No.2124048]

>>2123981

Have you ever read Flying to Valhalla? You're going to like it, it has a part about a species that lives in an Europa like system or two sister planets, both ice-covered, both with underground oceans. They are octopuses, alien octopuses, that somehow manage to bore through 100 kilometers of ice, upwards, to the surface.

Granted it doesn't have much detail on that, most of the novel takes place on the fourth hypothetical planet around Alpha Centauri A and with some psychoses thrown in, but it's still a good read.

It's written by spacefag/oceanfag hybrid just like us who worked with James Cameron as a historical advisor in Titanic, science advisor in Avatar and he also designed the ship in Avatar too. Fuck yeah team Charlie.

[Anonymous No.2124055]

>>2123878
Hey, back up a second. I read something in a 70's science magazine (Future Science, I think)
and it covered "beating the sonic boom"
They'd mastered SST, but the boom was still annoying.
They theorised that by using a ramjet placed on the nose burning cheap fuel,
it would "trick the atmosphere" into believing the fuselage was longer,
thusly lowering the effect of the boom.
Is this the same tech for subs? A ramjet extends the bubble, allowing smoother transition or some shit?
Explain please, I'm enthralled.
>>2123981
>>2124007
Thanks, I thought that was a "You're too high to post" comment when I started typing.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2124102]

>>2124055

Not sure; basically a supercavitating vessel doesn't even touch water while in "flight". It's flying in a gas bubble that is replenished incredibly fast. The gases are a byproduct of the rocket engine, piped up into the nose and out a ring of vents around the nose tip.

What you describe does sound a lot like supercavitation principles applied to flight in the air though. Are they somehow creating a vacuum around the craft? That would be the real equivalent.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2124111]

>>2124048

>>a species that lives in an Europa like system or two sister planets, both ice-covered, both with underground oceans. They are octopuses, alien octopuses, that somehow manage to bore through 100 kilometers of ice, upwards, to the surface.

My body is incredibly ready for this book.

[Anonymous No.2124225]

Is it noisy? Will the underwater mammals mind?

[Anonymous No.2124250]

>>2124225
Of course they'll mind.
How do you think you'd feel if something flew past your face at 300mph?
They're going to shit entire coral reefs and incorporate that legend into marine folklore.
It'll be passed down to even the tiniest clam.
May they tremble at the might of their land dwelling gods, for not water nor vacuum shall hinder their travels.
Know not what they do, but what they are capable of.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2124272]

>>2124225

They probably won't appreciate it, but we can warn them away from commonly used "highways" where supercav subs travel using ultrasound beacons.

We may need to start seriously considering what rights we are willing to give to dolphins and whales before we do something that's going to impose on them this much.

....Although the mental picture of a supercav sub blowing a hole clean through a whale is pretty amusing

[Anonymous No.2124334]

>>2124272
>>2124250

The mammals are already having a tough time with all the noise down there. I like the idea of beacons to repel from cavitation lanes. But doesn't sound go everywhere down there?

Can we have stealth supercavitators? I'd like to see passenger vessels of this type.

[Anonymous No.2124406]

>>2124334
Stop worrying so much about goddamn whales.
We tested thermonuclear devices on water.
What the fuck do you think they thought then?
I believe they thought the entire ocean was going to explode.
I bet 50% of sea life was rendered sterile by sheer fear.
Factor in how much sonar we use for mapping and sounding for oil...
Shit nigger.
Few subs are just tiny chocolate chips on an oversized cookie of oceanic noise.

[Mad Scientist !!Q11PG81nz2n No.2124475]

>>2124406

If you wanna get on the shit list of a species known to gangrape humans for fun, go ahead, just don't ever swim in the ocean again

[Anonymous No.2124488]

>>2124406

I agree the thermonuclear devices must have rattled their baleen. I just like dem whales that's all.

lol: pollack's papilig

[Anonymous No.2124600]

>>2124406
>What the fuck do you think they thought then?
I think they started plotting "to get us first".

First nuclear strike against human population was in coastal Japan.

Coincidence?...

[Anonymous No.2124689]

/r/ image of angry whale with nuclear sea test in background.

Caption: "That really rustled my jimmies"

[Anonymous No.2124760]

>>2124689
bumpin /r/equest