Orion warship

Date: Aug 20, 2004

Orion warship

Date: Aug 21, 2004

Cool ideas. However, I think that perhaps some of your ships are a bit small.

A couple of really good resources on Orion spacecraft are:

"Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship," written by George Dyson, the son of Freeman Dyson. This book is available many places--I got mine at Amazon.com

Another excellent source is a science fiction novel written by Larry Nivel and Jerry Pournelle, entitled "Footfall." In it you will find a fairly detailed description for an Orion style battleship. The pusher plate for Michael Archangel is something like 100 to 150m across and 2m thick. It was actually more hemispherical than flat--but just the plate alone would mass atleast a hundred thousand tons!

Anyways, I don't want to steal your thunder: it's your story, go for it! Just wanted to recommend some good sources to start with. Good luck, and keep us posted!

Date: Aug 21, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: GoogleNaut:small. A couple of really good resources on Orion spacecraft are: "Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship," written by George Dyson, the son of Freeman Dyson. This book is available many places--I got mine at Amazon.com Another excellent source is a science fiction novel written by Larry Nivel and Jerry Pournelle, entitled "Footfall." In it you will find a fairly detailed description for an Orion style battleship. The pusher plate for Michael Archangel is something like 100 to 150m across and 2m thick. It was actually more hemispherical than flat--but just the plate alone would mass atleast a hundred thousand tons! Anyways, I don't want to steal your thunder: it's your story, go for it! Just wanted to recommend some good sources to start with. Good luck, and keep us posted! "

Orion midrange Frigate,
Ship Diameter 200 m

Ship Mass 7,000 T

Number of bombs 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 0.37-0.75T

Orion midrange Destroyer
Ship Diameter 240 m

Ship Mass 10,000 T

Number of bombs:1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 0.37-0.75T
Orion midrange Cruisers
Ship Diameter 340 m

Ship Mass 15,000 T

Number of bombs:1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 0.37-0.75T

Date: Aug 21, 2004

Frigates are usually bigger than cruisers.

Destroyers are the smallest capital ships in most space-war science fiction [books/movies/television-shows]. Here is a list of [war]ship size, small -to- large according to myself:

Pinnace
Sloop / Yacht
Barque (Bark)
Clipper
Destroyer*
Cruiser*
Merchantman
(Cargo) Fluyt
Frigate*
War Galleon
Galleon
Battleship*
Dreadnought
Carrier*

*The ship types indicated are still used by the military today. The ones not indicated would most likely be in the 'nautical hands of traders, enthusiasts, and corporations.

I'd suggest looking into (old) naval novels, preferably submarines, which are the closest things we actually have to space-warships. In a past short story, I actually had the idea of said subs converted from their original states into space-faring vessels! The trick though, is getting those silently perfect vehicles into orbit. Orion and other types of nuclear propulsion solved that with no trouble at all.

I'd suggest that the transit times for interplanetary travel are moderately long. Of course, you can change the times if they don't suit you.

A trip to the Moon would take only 12 hours.
Mars, Mercury, and Venus would take around a week.
The main Asteroid Belt just over a week.
Jupiter two weeks.
Saturn a month.
Uranus one month and a week.
Neptune, Pluto, and Sedna around two months.

To provide the fuse of action in your story, some sort of stimul[us/i] to promote military in space is needed. An outer colony's uprising to independence is quite satisfactory, although resource-staking can do just as well. The game Nexus: the Jupiter Incident uses an alien artifact with a transportation advantage, (Apparently a wormhole) sought by rival-corporations.

Cheerio, and good luck on your story.

Date: Aug 21, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Lord Flasheart
"Frigates are usually bigger than cruisers.

Type 23 Frigates

Displacement:
4,900 tonnes

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/448.html

In modern military terminology, a frigate is a warship intended to protect other warships and merchant ships as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for am
phibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Frigates fulfill a Protection of Shipping (POS) mission as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups and merchant convoys.
The U.S. Navy adopted the classification “frigate” (FF) for ships used for open- ocean escort and patrol. When they were developed during World War II, frigates were classified as destroyer escorts (DEs). Frigates resemble destroyers in appearance; but they are slower, have only a single screw, and carry less armament. FFs have grown in size from about 1,500 tons displacement to over 4,000 tons, as in the Knox class (FF-1052). Their armament varies from class to class.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/frigates.htm

Date: Aug 21, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Lord Flasheart
"Frigates are usually bigger than cruisers.

Type 23 Frigates

Displacement:
4,900 tonnes

http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/448.html

In modern military terminology, a frigate is a warship intended to protect other warships and merchant ships as anti-submarine warfare (ASW) combatants for am
phibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups, and merchant convoys. Frigates fulfill a Protection of Shipping (POS) mission as Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) combatants for amphibious expeditionary forces, underway replenishment groups and merchant convoys.
The U.S. Navy adopted the classification “frigate” (FF) for ships used for open- ocean escort and patrol. When they were developed during World War II, frigates were classified as destroyer escorts (DEs). Frigates resemble destroyers in appearance; but they are slower, have only a single screw, and carry less armament. FFs have grown in size from about 1,500 tons displacement to over 4,000 tons, as in the Knox class (FF-1052). Their armament varies from class to class.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/frigates.htm

Date: Aug 21, 2004

battleship
Ship Diameter 500 m

Ship Mass 89,000 T

Number of bombs:1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 0.47-0.95T

space carrier.
Ship Diameter 800 m

Ship Mass 500,000 T

Number of bombs:1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 0.47-0.95T

Date: Aug 21, 2004

Ah, and I forgot Corvettes as well! Damn myself and my incorrect ship chart. I am presuming that Corvettes are smaller craft, with more armour than a Barque but smaller than a clipper. Forgive me if I am wrong.

Pinnace
Sloop / Yacht
Barque (Bark)
Corvette* (?)
Clipper
Frigate*
Destroyer*
Cruiser*
Merchantman
(Cargo) Fluyt
War Galleon
Galleon
Battleship*
Dreadnought
Carrier*

*The ship types indicated are still used by the military today. The ones not indicated would most likely be in the 'nautical hands of traders, enthusiasts, and corporations.

What kind of weapons would you enable the Orion warships with? Chemical or nuclear missiles are obvious, but be clever and practical with your ideas.

An interesting weapon design would be a circular maglev/mass driver with tiny particles within spun up to tremendous speeds, with a so-called "drop" function to release the projectiles in a wide spread via centripedal forces, thereby disabling any passing ships with kinetic energy.

Ion guns, derived from the Phobos 2 mass spectrometer, would work as well.

However, I would suggest that you change it from Orion to some sort of Helios concept. Having a spacecraft dependant on nuclear explosions for propulsion isn't too inviting for battle when the blast is open. Keep the initial design for Orion's propulsion, and there will be a low chance of battle, which is bad for your story.

Cheerio.

Date: Aug 22, 2004

True about the open nuclear blasts.

But you've just got to love the idea of nuclear pumped x-ray lasers and other D.E.W.s (Directed Energy Weapons!) [Well, I like the idea...

]

Date: Aug 22, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Googlenaut
"True about the open nuclear blasts. But you've just got to love the idea of nuclear pumped x-ray lasers and other D.E.W.s (Directed Energy Weapons!) [Well, I like the idea...]"

But I love the idea of railgun and Superluminal Missiles
BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.islandone.org/LEOBiblio/SPBI113.HTM
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3t.html#kinetic
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3t.html#missile
Superluminal =faster than light

Date: Aug 23, 2004

RE: FTL Missiles, Rail Guns and Coil Guns

Date: Aug 23, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by: Googlenaut

I also loved the idea of his billion ton ships with the half-meter thick Tungsten-Rhenium armored hulls! Oh, I just sometimes wish the physics was a little more like the science-fiction, science fantasy, the Universe would be much more exciting (and accessible!)

The Experiment

In Autodynamics, one possibility for obtaining superluminic speed is by using photons. Photons travel at the speed of light (a conflict for SR). If photon interaction at light velocity (laser beams - or energy absorbed by photons) could be integrated into a new particle, that particle should decay into a new super-photon traveling at superluminic speed.

Superluminic velocity is not problematic for Autodynamics. The theory has no frames in relative motion: only "phenomenon" and "observer." To shift from one observer to another, the velocity transformation equation is used (velocity sum) that maintains energy and momentum conservation.

See Carezani's explanation about a recent Faster-than-Light experiment involving Cesium.
http://www.autodynamics.org/light_speed.html

Date: Aug 25, 2004

RE: Orion warship

Date: Aug 25, 2004

I know that's only the first segment of your story, but I already see the need of amendments.

The reporter shouldn't be typing on a console, but actually pestering the crew. Journalists are usually active on nautical trips, be they of terran or celestial type.

When I read it that fragment, I just didn't feel immersed. Show emotions and movements of characters as you write.

How did they get so far in space? Is that a paper worth writing about? (in the reporter's point of view) Something has to go wrong, like a wormhole that happened to be in the Corvette's path, or a distress signal past the edge of the solar system.

What advantages, and disvantages, are there when using a small corvette for military patrols? I'd take it that the ship is a prototype class, with very swift engines or some sort of experimental apparatus for increased combat efficiency.

Is the combat fuse ignited by human conflicts with colonies, or through first contact with an alien species? Larry Niven did it best with "The Warriors". You should study his writings; He knows his sci-fi.

Finally, think up a good title. "The Space Corvette" just isn't very dramatic. A while ago I had written a [short] story, by the title of "Orion's Fear". It was a merger of two words and worlds, Orion representing nuclear propulsion, and fear the moon Phobos. Interestingly enough, those words, when made into the title, also hint at the fear of nuclear power in space. I plan to continue it past the works I had at the old NuclearSpace-archive topic here:

http://p068.ezboard.com/fnuclearspacefrm6.showMessage?topicID=110.topic

Feel free to use my writing techniques and vocabulary. Maybe, once you have completed your own story, I'll have to imitate YOUR writing to finish my own.

Date: Aug 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: kevin J waldroup
"The Space Corvette
by kevin James Waldroup

"

"Atomic Corvette"

Date: Aug 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Lord Flasheart
"I know that's only the first segment of your story, but I already see the need of amendments.

The reporter shouldn't be typing on a console, but actually pestering the crew. Journalists are usually active on nautical trips, be they of terran or celestial type.

When I read it that fragment, I just didn't feel immersed. Show emotions and movements of characters as you write.

How did they get so far in space? Is that a paper worth writing about? (in the reporter's point of view) Something has to go wrong, like a wormhole that happened to be in the Corvette's path, or a distress signal past the edge of the solar system.

What advantages, and disvantages, are there when using a small corvette for military patrols? I'd take it that the ship is a prototype class, with very swift engines or some sort of experimental apparatus for increased combat efficiency.

Is the combat fuse ignited by human conflicts with colonies, or through first contact with an alien species? Larry Niven did it best with "The Warriors". You should study his writings; He knows his sci-fi.

Finally, think up a good title. "The Space Corvette" just isn't very dramatic. A while ago I had written a [short] story, by the title of "Orion's Fear". It was a merger of two words and worlds, Orion representing nuclear propulsion, and fear the moon Phobos. Interestingly enough, those words, when made into the title, also hint at the fear of nuclear power in space. I plan to continue it past the works I had at the old NuclearSpace-archive topic here:

http://p068.ezboard.com/fnuclearspacefrm6.showMessage?topicID=110.topic

Feel free to use my writing techniques and vocabulary. Maybe, once you have completed your own story, I'll have to imitate YOUR writing to finish my own. "

Introduction
Imagine for a moment that the Peoples Republic of China launches one 20,000 ton Orion warship. You might first think that the international community might prevent China of doing this, but most likely they will be supportive of it. With the spin that it is not a real warship, only a ship to disintegrate incoming Asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Then India will claim that there is an Orion space gap, and start rapidly building there own. Then Pakistan will use India’s actives to put pressure on China, and the US to purchase this technology from China.

china launches Orion warship
December/7/2004

Date: Aug 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Kevin James Waldroup
"

Introduction
Imagine for a moment that the Peoples Republic of China launches one 20,000 ton Orion warship. You might first think that the international community might prevent China of doing this, but most likely they will be supportive of it. With the spin that it is not a real warship, only a ship to disintegrate incoming Asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Then India will claim that there is an Orion space gap, and start rapidly building there own. Then Pakistan will use India’s actives to put pressure on China, and the US to purchase this technology from China.

china launches Orion warship
December/7/2004
"

Hi Kevin,

I was bored, so I figured I'd take a crack at expanding your introduction. Mine is probably over the top, but it might help you get a better feel for writing drama.

Alternate Introduction

The launch of the great Saturn V rocket was once considered by many to be end of the age of the great rockets. No more would man strive to reach the stars. He had touched the moon, and this had been sufficient to satisfy his curiosity. Henceforth, mankind stayed on Earth and allowed hunks of metal with computers for brains to do his exploring for him. Many believed that the pioneer spirit was all but dead. That is, until October 22, 2006 changed everything.

Not content to be a third world power, the People's Republic of China had secretly built the most powerful spaceship known to mankind. From the very fire of God, they produced a craft with abilities and power beyond imagination. They built an Orion.

Powered by thousands of atomic and thermonuclear warheads, they launched thousands of tons of steel into our solar system. Despite their claim of "peaceful" intentions, the remaining super-powers were aware of China's ultimate goal: The fall of world freedom.

The United States responded quickly. They knew that they lacked time enough to prepare for a full assault from China. Instead, an alternate plan was conceived. Every space weapon at the disposal of the US was mated to a small spacecraft, barely a few hundred tons in size. Masers, Railguns, and Neutron bombs were all chosen for this horrifying weapons platform.

A carefully stored Saturn V was pulled from the mothballs to deliver this platform into space. Hundreds of micronukes were remanufactured into pulse units and loaded onto this platform. With no time for a proper life support system, this craft and three men supported only by their spacesuits were launched into orbit. Von Braun's dream of a mini-Orion was reborn.

Lacking the technology to produce advanced weapons, the PRC had instead chosen to use their Orion to push a small asteroid toward the United States mainland. Yet the PRC's plan was in vain.

With mere hours to spare, the mini-Orion was able to launch enough neutron warheads and maser energy to decimate the incoming asteroid. The pieces that remained of the asteroid burned up in the atmosphere, never to pose a threat again.

Upset at their defeat, the PRC directed their Orion to engage the weakened mini-Orion. The resulting battle was intense. Fires in the sky were seen the world over. Heat from nuclear blasts and energy weapons could be felt all the way back on terra-firma. Occasional projectiles screamed through the air and struck the Earth with decimating force.

The exact events of the battle are forever lost to history, but the outcome is remembered well. Despite the tonnage advantage of the PRC Orion, its nuclear warheads simply weren't as powerful as the combined weapons of the mini-Orion. China was denied her prize, but at a great cost. Both ships were utterly and completely destroyed.

China considered launching nuclear weapons in retaliation. However, they realized that the US had a decided advantage in not only the number and power of warheads, but also in delivery and defense from such weapons. A shaky peace was obtained. A new "cold war" as it were. China built new Orion craft and leaked some of the technology to Korea in hopes that the Koreans could distract the US. Realizing the magnitude of the race, the US shared much of its Orion technology with the European Union, resulting in craft from both super-powers. Russia quickly caught on, and managed to produce her own fleet of ships.

Only time will tell if this balance of power will hold, or if the destruction of all human-kind will soon come to pass.

Date: Aug 30, 2004

RE: Dreadnought/ AMEU

Date: Aug 30, 2004

RE: Orion warship

Date: Aug 30, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Dusty
"I think if you were to use Dysons (rough) formula, a 600 meter Orion would likly weigh in at arround 30 million tons!
He considererd 8 million ton, 400 meter as being the maximum for a ground launch "

In case anyone's looking for a real world comparison, the Empire State Building weighs (only) about 330,000 metric tons!

In the infamous words of Michael J. Fox (a.k.a. Marty McFly): "That's heavy, Doc!"

Date: Aug 30, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: AKAImBatman
"

In case anyone's looking for a real world comparison, the Empire State Building weighs (only) about 330,000 metric tons!

In the infamous words of Michael J. Fox (a.k.a. Marty McFly): "That's heavy, Doc!""

I plant to use the largest diameter of a ship to be 300 meters. The smallest will be 20 meters. Most of the ships will be in between 300 and 20 meters. Question, Do you think 300 meters is over kill for interplanetary travel.

Date: Aug 31, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Kevin James Waldroup
"
I plant to use the largest diameter of a ship to be 300 meters. The smallest will be 20 meters. Most of the ships will be in between 300 and 20 meters. Question, Do you think 300 meters is over kill for interplanetary travel.

"

When it comes to space travel, there really is no such thing as "too big". The question really comes down to cost. If you want to build something that masses a million tons, you need enough materials to cover that weight. Those materials cost money. In fact, a single mission is going to cost serious money in fuels and crew. Some of the raw materials (including fuel) can be obtained by space mining, but manufacturing and materials processing costs money.

The upshot is this. Space could possibly allow for new and cheaper manufacturing methods. I've been considering the issue of 3D printing a ship by robot. It should be possible, and would reduce the job of the construction workers to mounting the various parts on the "printed" superstructure. Not to mention that a centrifuge should operate better since there are no mechanical or gravitational requirements other than for a big can to sping. These methods could potentially make it cheaper to manufacture a larger ship.

The newest super-carrier, the U.S.S. Ronald Regan, has a crew compliment of nearly 6,000 men and women. Even with an extremely massive ship, I don't see the crew compliment going much higher than that. It's VERY expensive for the US to run their supercarriers. In fact, they are the only country who can afford to do so.

As a result, I see the extra space being used for more food stores, bigger weapons, more powerful reactors, landing bays, large workshops, etc. Please keep in mind that a real carrier has workshops capable of manufacturing just about anything the ship might need. In fact, this is a tradition going back to the early days of naval warfare when it was realized that craftsmen were needed to keep the ship in one piece.

To get a good feel for how easy it is to manufacture stuff, visit eMachineShop. Need a part for your '47 Chevy? No problem! Just design it in the CAD software and order the part! The problem parts are the small ones that aren't easily manufactured. (e.g. computer chips) Some electronics can be manufactured, but much of the smaller stuff requires fabs. Considering that the per unit price drops with large orders, a ship should keep a large store of these hard to find parts.

In short, go big. Keep a 6,000 crew member upper limit in mind, and dedicate a lot of space to industry, stores, and power.

Date: Aug 31, 2004

Carrier*
Ship Diameter 300 m

Ship Mass 1,000,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500T
Crew 6,000
Dreadnought
Ship Diameter 290 m

Ship Mass 900,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 5,000
Battleship*
Ship Diameter 280 m

Ship Mass 800,000 T

Number of bombs:

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 4,000
Cruiser*
Ship Diameter 270 m

Ship Mass 700,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 3,000
Destroyer*
Ship Diameter 260 m

Ship Mass 600,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T

Frigate*
Ship Diameter 250 m

Ship Mass 500,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 2,000

Cargo ship military
Ship Diameter 100 m

Ship Mass 400,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 1,000
Cargo ship A AKA Clipper
Ship Diameter 40 m

Ship Mass 2,000 T /5,000T

Number of bombs 1080

Individual Bomb Mass 0.37-0.75 T
Crew 50
Cargo ship B AKA Galleon
Ship Diameter 50 m

Ship Mass 10,000 T

Number of bombs 1080

Individual Bomb Mass 0.37-0.75 T
Crew 100
Corvette*
Ship Diameter 20 m

Ship Mass 300 T

Number of bombs 540

Individual Bomb Mass 0.22 T
Crew 10
BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ronald_Reagan_%28CVN-76%29

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

Date: Aug 31, 2004

If I might ask a question, why do you have an Orion carrier? Is there some sort of craft that you believe would make an excellent fighter? Keep in mind that spaceships work in reverse to the logic here on the ground. The bigger the ship is, the faster it is. Fighters would have no speed advantage on their mothership.

You also have the issue of weapons. A large ship could mount larger energy weapons, backed by larger reactors. It could also carry larger missiles and nukes, and would have the space to mount railguns. A small ship really wouldn't be able to carry anything remotely comparable. The way orbital mechanics work, it would be more likely that you'd loose your fighters due to a lack of fuel to thrust back. Think of space warfare as similar to that of WWI Naval warfare. i.e. Large guns firing at a distance. There would be little need for the craft to close the distance, other than to provide a more accurate shot.

Yet missiles can provide the advantage of both distance and accuracy. This means that warfare would tend to include anti-missile defenses. (e.g. high powered lasers) For a good sci-fi story that covers this sort of warfare, I highly recommend On Basilisk Station; the first book of the Honor Harrington series. It's a free and legal download, so check it out.

BTW, I assume that your figures come from the Wikipedia article? Does anyone know if the mass listed is "dry" mass or fully fueled and crewed mass? It's somewhat important, because the bomb mass for the 8mil tonner comes in at about 1/3 of the 8mil tons. It's a similar situation with Kevin's 1mil ton ship. Over half the ship's mass would be fuel.

Date: Aug 31, 2004

quote:
posted by:AKAImBatman
"If I might ask a question, why do you have an Orion carrier? Is there some sort of craft that you believe would make an excellent fighter?"
It is a Corvette Carrier
Corvette*
Ship Diameter 20 m

Ship Mass 300 T

Number of bombs 540

Individual Bomb Mass 0.22 T
Crew 10

Atomic Pulse Units
Fission Pulse Units
Fusion Pulse Units
Antimatter Pulse Units

Antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Antimatter%20catalyzed%20nuclear%20pulse%20propulsion

Date: Aug 31, 2004

Carrier construction in space
Ship Diameter 300 m

Ship Mass 1,000,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500T
Crew 6,000
Dreadnought construction in space
Ship Diameter 290 m

Ship Mass 900,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 5,000
Battleship* construction in space
Ship Diameter 280 m

Ship Mass 800,000 T

Number of bombs:

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 4,000
Cruiser* construction in space
Ship Diameter 270 m

Ship Mass 700,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 3,000
Destroyer*
Ship Diameter 260 m

Ship Mass 600,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T

Frigate* construction in space
Ship Diameter 250 m

Ship Mass 500,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 2,000

Cargo ship military construction in space
Ship Diameter 100 m

Ship Mass 400,000 T

Number of bombs: 1080

Individual Bomb Mass: 500 T
Crew 1,000

Date: Aug 31, 2004

Clipper Ground Launch
Ship Diameter 40 m

Ship Mass 2,000 T /5,000T

Number of bombs 1080

Individual Bomb Mass 0.37-0.75 T
Crew 50
Galleon Ground Launch
Ship Diameter 50 m

Ship Mass 10,000 T

Number of bombs 1080

Individual Bomb Mass 0.37-0.75 T
Crew 100

Date: Aug 31, 2004

I doubt that civilians and merchants alike would carry atomic bombs: The government[s] wouldn't be -that- stupid. Arm potential pirates and terrorists with atomic apparati? Ludicrous! Most non-military craft would utilize something less radical, like a NERVA or some sort of ion engine. The exceptions for commercial merchantizing with Orion would be large supertankers, and the only aerospace firms I see with those would probably depend on government funding in any case!

AKAImBatman, it is acceleration, not speed, that makes it like Earth-based naval combat. A carrier could go just as fast as a fighter in the heavens, or even faster. But it's huge mass, and therefore huge inertia, makes it hard to maneuver swiftly. Even with Orion, the carrier (or battleship, for that matter) still needs plenty of "atomjacks" just to keep up the pace with it's minions.

Cheerio.

Date: Sep 1, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Lord Flasheart
"I doubt that civilians and merchants alike would carry atomic bombs: The government[s] wouldn't be -that- stupid. Arm potential pirates and terrorists with atomic apparati? Ludicrous! Most non-military craft would utilize something less radical, like a NERVA or some sort of ion engine. The exceptions for commercial merchantizing with Orion would be large supertankers, and the only aerospace firms I see with those would probably depend on government funding in any case!
Cheerio."

Remember most of the atomic pulse units are not designed like bombs, basely it will be a shaped charge. The whole thing will be designed to limit radiation, and everything else that makes an atomic bomb bad. Also the pulse units will be located in very high security locations. So it will be very hard for a wacko or crazy to get to them.

Date: Sep 1, 2004

Hmm, that'd work good in your story: A [governmental] monopoly on atomjacks. Why, that would give a purpose for war to your story altogether! If Earth's government(s), or some sort of corporation controls most of the fission propulsion bombs, then other factions, be they smaller or rival aerospace companies, colonies, or a disagreeing nation on Earth declare war. The need for more efficient spacecraft is heightened, and thus the Corvette is born.

Could you explain the infrastructure of colonies? How many planets have been colonized in your story, and which are rebellious to the gov't?

Cheerio.