SlightlyLyons
SOC-7
Someone more in the know then me, how spaceship engines (conventional not jump) in Traveller work? They seem to be some sort of reactionless system seing as how they require nothing more then a fueled reactor to function.
Real Space Drives
- Thread starter SlightlyLyons
- Start date
M
Malenfant
Guest
According to FF&S, you put energy from the reactor into the Thruster Plates, and they generate a reactonless repulsive force that moves the ship. It's an offshoot from artificial gravity and nuclear damper tech.
BTW, you can now get Fire Fusion and Steel from drivethrurpg.com, if you're interested in an ebook version of this very good technological primer.
BTW, you can now get Fire Fusion and Steel from drivethrurpg.com, if you're interested in an ebook version of this very good technological primer.
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
It depends on the version of Traveller.
CT never explicitly defined how the maneuver drive worked, although most clues pointed towards some sort of fusion rocket drive.
MT brought us the reactionless thruster.
TNE has another rocket type drive, only this one is called a High Efficiency Plasma Recombustion. Uses a lot of fuel.
T4 has HEPlaR at the lower stellar TLs and MT reactionless thrusters at the mid-to-high stellar Tls.
T20 uses the reactionless thruster.
GURPS Traveller:Starships provides the greatest range of canon drives for Traveller since it includes reactionless thrusters, HEPlaR, and total conversion fusion rockets.
CT never explicitly defined how the maneuver drive worked, although most clues pointed towards some sort of fusion rocket drive.
MT brought us the reactionless thruster.
TNE has another rocket type drive, only this one is called a High Efficiency Plasma Recombustion. Uses a lot of fuel.
T4 has HEPlaR at the lower stellar TLs and MT reactionless thrusters at the mid-to-high stellar Tls.
T20 uses the reactionless thruster.
GURPS Traveller:Starships provides the greatest range of canon drives for Traveller since it includes reactionless thrusters, HEPlaR, and total conversion fusion rockets.
I looked in my Gurps Space Book under Reaction drives. With the moderate reaction installed in a 50 dton spaceship, you set aside space for 20 tons of liquid hydrogen to be used as reaction mass. The exhaust speed of the reaction drive is 18 miles per second which converts to 29 km per second. To generate 1/60-g of thrust, you need a moderate reaction engine that masses 5.416 tones and takes up 0.774 dtons costing $1,083,000. This spaceship can produce a total change in velocity of 14.8 km per second and can maintain this acceleration for a total of 25 hours to achieve this. This means an average velocity of 7.4 km per second. The orbital velocity of Earth is 29.79 by contrast, so starting with Earth's velocity, the spacecraft can impart an additional 7.4 km per second for 37.19 km/sec relative to the Sun. If the ship deploys a mag sail, it can cancel out the Sun's gravity and approach Mars at a velocity of 37.19 - orbital velocity of 24.13 km/sec for a relative velocity of 13.06 km/sec. At a minimum distance of 54,510,620 km, the space ship can get there in 48 days and then slow daown for an approach of 5.66 km/second after using its remaining reaction mass over a period of 12.5 hours to slow down, the remaining approach velocity can be bled off through atmospheric entry or areobraking in Mars' atmosphere. The ship then deploys parachutes to slow down further and applies landing rockets to make a soft touchdown on the Surface of Mars. To take off again, the ship would have to manufature more fuel and fly to the nearest Martian space elevator to take off.
SlightlyLyons
SOC-7
Thanks, I may need to get "Fire, Fusion, and Steel" to convert to T20, which is mostly what I use.
if you're interested, check out winchell chung's website on rockets. its got enough interesting detail on real and sci-fi rockets to keep you interested.
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/index.html
