Switching the maneuver drive for the jump drive

[Proneutron]

And I'm saying I don't give a damn about you guys frac-C calcs, it gets dicey for the slower 1-G crowd to dodge rock swarms at way lower speeds.

There are no such "rock swarms" a la Star Wars Ep. V in a system.

 

[Werner]

planetary rings may have rock swarms.

 

[Grav_Moped]

To destroy the Death Star, you only need one Ewok.

(Assuming it has sufficient velocity, of course.)

Even small particles can do heinous damage at some of those speeds.

 

[Proneutron]

planetary rings may have rock swarms.

Not close together but spread out in orbital arrangement. Rock "swarms" turn into one big single clump due to mutual gravity.

 

[Straybow]

Arguably, the only consistent thread laced through out the mainstream of all of the Traveller iterations is the Jump Drive.

That sums it up pretty well. IMTU jump works a bit differently, has jump time based on distance and Jn, and has a radically different explanation for having 6 jump numbers. But it has six jump numbers and goes roughly 1 pc per Jn with a little overage so J1 can stretch to reach Alpha Centauri.

 

[kilemall]

Apples and rocks. We are talking about the average of ALL systems. Not a specific system with highly usual characteristics. Get it?

No I don't. Do the math of how fast ships have to be going at their midpoint with say a Jupiter to Earth transit. Especially something a fleet would be capable of, minimum 3G. It's REALLY fast and means a LOT of kinetic damage if they get attacked head on.


To HECK with what the books say, I don't think they thought this one out as the real threat it can be.

 

[kilemall]

There are no such "rock swarms" a la Star Wars Ep. V in a system.

So, no such thing as meteor showers?
https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
These are known showers that hit Earth on a regular basis. Quite a few.

We have to assume that major systems will get a through scouting and likely safety warning/clearing process in common space lanes, particularly jump ingress/egress paths.
So everything will be nicely marked and cleared and no problems.
However, out on the frontier or Amber Zones without full support or Starport E/X enviornments are NOT likely to have every swarm mapped.

You go barreling through one of those at .01 C or more and likely you won't run into them, but go too fast and run into them and you got just a 1-G capability, you can be in serious trouble.

That's your practical limit, especially outside civilization.

 

[Proneutron]

No I don't. Do the math of how fast ships have to be going at their midpoint with say a Jupiter to Earth transit.

Yes? And the RAW have no stated problem with that as far as what you are proposing other than the encounter chart

 

[Proneutron]

So, no such thing as meteor showers?

Reread what I wrote and quote where I said there are not "meteor showers". Again apples and asteroids. "Showers" are NOT caused by what we are talking about. Clumps of rocks like in SW Ep. V.

 

[whartung]

To destroy the Death Star, you only need one Ewok.

(Assuming it has sufficient velocity, of course.)

Even small particles can do heinous damage at some of those speeds.

Wait, so we've moved on to fractional C Ewoks?

 

[kilemall]

Yes? And the RAW have no stated problem with that as far as what you are proposing other than the encounter chart

And the RAW didn't factor in clever and/or desperate admirals and original CT didn't even have a vehicle weapon/armor interaction until Striker. RAW is modeling clay to make choices with, not Michelangelo master works to be revered.



Just for consistency, you're arguing so and so would be visible past Pluto for IR output, yet because the rules say it's not a problem for head-on kinetics during transit, it's not?

 

[kilemall]

Reread what I wrote and quote where I said there are not "meteor showers". Again apples and asteroids. "Showers" are NOT caused by what we are talking about. Clumps of rocks like in SW Ep. V.

That's YOUR conception, not what I'm talking about- random unmapped swarms like the ones that cause meteor showers being a space hazard that affects maximum space speed especially for slower accel ships.


Sensor range is a huge factor in this calculation as well. Mongoose ships are likely a LOT more vulnerable to this issue then CT+ ships because they will have far less warning to initiate maneuvers. Smaller rocks will be more of a threat, bigger swarms will be tougher to avoid.


Better slow down out there, space cowboys.

 

[Proneutron]

That's YOUR conception,

No, that is physical reality

 

[Grav_Moped]

Wait, so we've moved on to fractional C Ewoks?

Ewok and roll!

Nah, just an old joke on which to hang the observation that it's not the size, it's the velocity at impact that does the damage.

 

[Straybow]

So, no such thing as meteor showers?
https://www.amsmeteors.org/meteor-showers/meteor-shower-calendar/
These are known showers that hit Earth on a regular basis. Quite a few.

We have to assume that major systems will get a through scouting and likely safety warning/clearing process in common space lanes, particularly jump ingress/egress paths.
So everything will be nicely marked and cleared and no problems.
However, out on the frontier or Amber Zones without full support or Starport E/X enviornments are NOT likely to have every swarm mapped.

You go barreling through one of those at .01 C or more and likely you won't run into them, but go too fast and run into them and you got just a 1-G capability, you can be in serious trouble.

That's your practical limit, especially outside civilization.

Meteors are literally like grains of sand. Scifi "rock swarms" are house-sized or larger and crowded like some sort of artificial obstacle course. Rocks grouped that closely would aggregate into a few larger asteroids over a cosmologically short period of time (millions of years, maybe less).


In our solar system, asteroids are so far apart that if you were stationed on one you could not see the nearest neighbors with the naked eye.