Black Globes redux

I realize that we haven't touched on this topic for a while, and I
hate to re-open this can of worms, but I just got struck by a thought
that's too wierd not to share.

I've been reading the Science&Technology stream on the MegaTraveller
BBS on GEnie.  At one point they started talking about black globes
and a) whether or not they were affected by gravity, b) what happens
when something solid strikes them, and c) how do they affect their
surroundings when they're landed on a planet.

The consensus (which includes such prestigious names a Joe Fugate,
James Holden, Ed Edwards, and Mike Mikesh) is:

A)  Black globes cut off gravity.  If you turn one on while in orbit
    around a large body (i.e. planet), you suddenly take off in a straight
    line, tangetial to that body.

B)  Any solid striking a black globe will demonstrate all the properties
    of a perfect inelastic collision, with all the kenetic energy tranferred
    to the globe.  The only thing the occupants of the globe would notice
    is an energy raise in their capacitors.

C)  If a black globe were to be set down on a planets surface, it would
    immediately begin to drain the energy of everything in contact with
    it.  This means the thermal and kenetic energy of the atmosphere and
    ground (or water if you landed at sea) would be intantaneously trans-
    ferred to the globe, causing gases and fluids to freeze.  Of course,
    once a sufficiently thick layer of ice (at absolute zero) forms on the
    surface of the globe, the thermal transfer would slow down, since it's
    now taking place through a layer of normal (very cold) matter.

I know, I know, the TML readership pretty much came to the same decisions
separately, I'm just setting the background for my inspiration, which is
this:

I don't think that situation C would ever have time to occur.  If the
globe absorbs ALL collisions and is uneffected by gravity, wouldn't an
ENTIRE planet pushing against it cause it's capacitors to overload REAL
fast?  This assumes the planet even stays in contact long enough to
transfer that much energy.

Picture this: you have a starship equiped with a black globe, and you
are in a star system where there is a world orbiting at 146.6 km/sec.
at 1 AU.  You calculate a straight-line vector through the system such
that your course will intersect that of the planet a split second before
the planet gets there.  You also plan to be travelling slightly slower
than the planets obital velocity, say 140 km/sec.  If you could somehow
eliminate gravitational effects on your ship during this course, then
when you arrived at the intersection point, the planet would come up
and smack you in the ass at 6.6 km/sec.  Aha!  But you can eliminate
the gravitation effects!  Just come up to the correct velocity on your
course and turn on your black globe generator.  Now you're on a straight
line course through the system.

At the appointed time, you intersect the planet's orbit just as it
catches up with you.  Your ship (surrounded by the globe) burrows
into the atmosphere and is stuck by the planetary surface at 6.6 km/sec.
However, you are unaffected by the impact as all the kenetic energy
is absorbed by the globe and tranferred to the capacitors.  Your
vector and velocity CANNOT change becauce this requires interaction
with some outside force (ANY outside force) and the black globe prevents
this.  Result: your ship burrows right thru the planet at 6.6 km/sec.,
side-slipping as it goes (you're not following the same orbital path
as the planet, remember?).  All the planetary material (crust, mantle,
core, etc.) is pushed aside by the other matter around it, with the
friction, pressure, and compression energies all absorbed by the globe.

Good-bye planet, yes?  Well, maybe if you had capacitors with infinite
storage capability.  But since you don't, they probably overload just
a split-second after your globe impacts the planets surface.  Good-bye
capacitors.  Good-bye black globe.  Good-bye starship.  Hello huge,
blast crater.  C'est la vie.  Heck, maybe it wouldn't even need to
make contact with the planet's surface.  I suspect that plowing through
200 klicks of atmosphere at 6+ km/sec. would generate several A-bombs
worth of energy.  That would probably do it all by itself.

Hmmmm.  Come to think of it, maybe that's what caused the Great Tunguska
Event of 1908 in Siberia. :-)

Later,

        Mark F. Cook

USMail: User Interface Technical Support
        Hewlett-Packard - Interface Technology Operation
        [address removed]

INTERNET: [email removed]
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