Anti-Matter

[Savar]

I was thinking for a wierd ship that the chars could come acrost would be a ship that is antimater powered TL-17 now I was wandering how fesable it would be to set up rules for AntiMatter Powered jump drive ?

 

[Icosahedron]

Something along these lines was recently discussed in the Fleet section.

 

[mike wightman]

In MT the introduction of antimatter power plants and their increased efficiency at higher TLs is possibly reflected in the jump fuel reduction that occurs at those TLs.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
In MT the introduction of antimatter power plants and their increased efficiency at higher TLs is possibly reflected in the jump fuel reduction that occurs at those TLs.

I handle it this way in my CTU as well.

 

[mike wightman]

Me too, I just converted the fuel reduction to a percentage of jump fuel required:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">TL jump fuel required
16- 10% per jump number
17 8% per jump number
18 6% per jump number
19 4% per jump number
20 2% per jump number
21 1% per jump number</pre>[/QUOTE]

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
Me too, I just converted the fuel reduction to a percentage of jump fuel required:

</font><blockquote>code:</font><hr /><pre style="font-size:x-small; font-family: monospace;">TL jump fuel required
16- 10% per jump number
17 8% per jump number
18 6% per jump number
19 4% per jump number
20 2% per jump number
21 1% per jump number</pre>

[/quote]Is that percentage of hull displacement, as with standard jump fuel calcs?

 

[mike wightman]

Yep.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Cool - *YOINK!*

 

[vegascat]

Yep, just pull up to the neatest gas giant and refill with antimatter?
Still going to need fuel skimmed hydtogen for the jump cloud.

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by vegascat:
Still going to need fuel skimmed hydtogen for the jump cloud.

IF you assume that the aitch-two creates a bubble around the ship - I don't subscribe to that particular explanation IMTU.*


* IMTU the hydrogen in the fuel tanks is drawn into the jump drive...THEN A MIRACLE HAPPENS...and the ship enters jump space.

 

[mike wightman]

The numbers above are for hydrogen jump fuel, I assume the antimatter power plant handles the power generation etc. that the jump drive requires the ship's fusion power plant to do at lower TLs, and also takes over the massive energy burst requirement.

What exactly the hydrogen jump "fuel" is used for is then up to your interpretation of how the jump drive works.

 

[The Oz]

But.....

If anti-matter allows you to reduce the jump fuel requirement (because all you need is enough energy to get into jumpspace), so should nuclear fission power plants which are available at much lower TLs.

As has been said (many times) it all depends on just what all that hydrogen fuel is really needed for, IYTU.

 

[mike wightman]

I have an experimental jump drive that uses an atomic explosion for the sudden energy burst that is required, while a fission reactor provides the other power requirements.

IMTU part of the jump drive is a "nuclear detonation containment chamber" - with the advent of fusion this is a "controlled" fusion process, but the earlier version really does use a bomb...

 

[The Oz]

Interesting idea. Using nukes for jump would be scary enough, but imagine what happens when you get a misjump with this system????

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
The numbers above are for hydrogen jump fuel, I assume the antimatter power plant handles the power generation etc. that the jump drive requires the ship's fusion power plant to do at lower TLs, and also takes over the massive energy burst requirement.

Ahhhh, I see...I was assuming actual anti-matter fuel for both.

 

[mike wightman]

Originally posted by Black Globe Generator:
Ahhhh, I see...I was assuming actual anti-matter fuel for both.

No, it seems in MT you still need a little liquid hydrogen. The sensible reason is to create the jump bubble (possibly jump plasma ).

Surrounding a ship in an antimatter bubble could be interesting...

 

[travlar]

Originally posted by Sigg Oddra:
No, it seems in MT you still need a little liquid hydrogen. The sensible reason is to create the jump bubble (possibly jump plasma ).

Surrounding a ship in an antimatter bubble could be interesting... [/QB]

Where does it say that its hydrogen fuel?

Also, in one of the CT books it says that with drop tanks the fuel is used and then the drop tanks are dropped

 

[princelian]

I always assumed (perhaps without reading the MT fine print) that the "jump bubble" was an energy field being projected by the jump drive during J-space travel, not an actual physical bubble of gas/plasma/whatever.

I would think that as the gas permeated out of the N-space bubble into actual J-space, the protons and electrons would have tremendous energies (the "incalcuable energies of J-space" as has been described in various sources") imparted to them, making them very hard radiation, some of which would be slamming into the ship...

Anyhow, I assume than an AM ship would only need LH2 if it had a fusion-powered backup plant and for the fusion reactors of its smallcraft (if they're fusion-powered).

 

[Black Globe Generator]

Originally posted by princelian:
I always assumed (perhaps without reading the MT fine print) that the "jump bubble" was an energy field being projected by the jump drive during J-space travel, not an actual physical bubble of gas/plasma/whatever.

Did the aitch-two bubble first appear in SOG? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

 

[mike wightman]

A jump bubble is mentioned in SOM, but the idea that hydrogen fills the bubble comes later.

GT:ISW specifically mentions using hydrogen to maintain the bubble.