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: Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
2011-06-17 03:10:00

Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
2011-06-17 03:10:00

Mood: excited

Let's think up some starships!

DARPA seeks input on this topic.

I was rather intrigued by Travis Taylor's description of a laser drive.

Tags: news, science, space exploration

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siege

June 17 2011, 12:02:08 UTC 10 years ago

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Laser driven ships are straight out of the Man-Kzin Wars. Humanity has devised lasers big enough and powerful enough to propel interplanetary vehicles with large crews, and when one ship encounters a warlike people trying to kill them, the pilot flips their ship around and cuts the enemy in half. If I remember the quote correctly, "Any motive force can be used as a weapon of equal efficiency."

Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

June 17 2011, 16:07:09 UTC 10 years ago

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I remember that story! I like the Man-Kzin Wars.

However, Travis Taylor is a scientist as well as a science fiction author, and it was the former role he was mainly using to discuss ideas for possible star travel at a convention I attended. I checked out his website to see if there was a mention of the laser-powered starships ... *laugh* ... and he's gone to discussing warp drives.
http://www.doctravis.com/

Re: Yes...

siege

June 18 2011, 15:43:00 UTC 10 years ago

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Y'know, funny thing. The "pressure of spacetime" concept is exactly what moves the design I now understand for a "reactionless" ship drive using multiple tunnels of high-temperature plasma at high velocity down the length of the body. The motion of the plasma bends the fabric of space in its local area due to the amount of energy involved, causing a "pulling" effect where the ship is heaved as if a tidal wave were directing it.

You really need a fusion plant or better (antimatter annihilator, singularity generator, or a spacial compression generator -- which would likely be bomb-pumped with nuclear fission/fusion devices, for three possibilities) to fuel such a beast, though.

Personally, I'd love to have gravitic technology available to the general public, though it would be almost too easy to weaponize your pocket watch at that point.

Re: Yes...

ysabetwordsmith

June 18 2011, 18:15:24 UTC 10 years ago

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I love graviton technology, but humanity is nowhere near responsible enough to handle it. Look at the disasters they're making of fission and fossil fuels. They can't be bothered to take safety precautions or assess problems accurately. That's bad with fossil fuels, potentially fatal with fission, and likely to pulverize the planet with grav. I would like for humanity not to succeed in sawing off the branch it's standing on, while I am stuck with it.