More conversations - these specifically about transport:
Also, according to my preliminary calculations (based mostly on
guesses) we are only going to be able to get at most 3/4G acceleration
out of the Alcyon/3ship lashup. That is three quarters of a
standard gravity of acceleration. Not very much for maneuvering around
something that could be spinning at over 1100m/s! I suggest we leave
the Alcyon in some easily reachable orbit and transfer everyone to the
ringworld by Scout/Free Trader. This is assuming Dr. Abuko's calculations
about the spin are correct.
It certainly looks like life is going to be interesting, to say the
least, once we hit system!
A bientot.
Etienne
Commander Ger,
I would like permission to run some simulations and drills for all
pilots, navigators, and sensor/comm operators. Including people from
all of the teams, not just Transport. I would prefer to do this before
we jump, but if there is no time now it can wait until we have entered
jump-space. I will try to determine who is most suited to fill the
various positions on-board as well as in the Away-Teams.
Beaux cieux a vouz.
-Etienne
Move from Eneri DeAith:
To Transport Team:
"Any of you given any thought about how we're going to land on the
ringworld? There's got to be walls on the side, so maybe we can
match velocities and dock. If there's an intact transport system on
the ring, maybe we can use it to move our equipment and personnel.
There might even be airlocks on the 'floor'. Either would be
preferable to landing in a pseudo gravity well. If we had to leave
in a hurry, I'd rather be able to just 'cut loose' than have to take
off."
Eneri DeAith
Greetings Team,
We are getting closer to launch time and I'm still not sure who will be
filling what positions!
Nishu I believe has stated he would like to be Navigator, and Jaron
mentioned Sens/commo. What about the rest of you? We will be going
through a full series of tests and drills as soon as we hit jump-space
but I need some idea now.
Let me know ASAP.
Plus, en retard.
-Etienne
Subject: Gravitics vs R-alpha
Johann barges in on the grav vs. ringworld discussion: "I do have a basic
training in gravitics if you'd like me to make some simulations. If
grav devices won't work on r-alpha it will be a big obstacle to
overcome. I assume that reactioneless thrusters will work in either
case, though.
What I'd like to point out is that it will be difficult for the ships
to match speeds with the rotating ringworld. If it's diameter is like
terras orbit and it is designed to give an impression of one gee then
it's rotational speed will be," he begin to fiddle with his pocket
computer, "approximately..." no this must be wrong!" he checks his
figures to make sure that they are correct, "1211 kilometers per
second, but I hope that I am wrong! If I am right it will take more
than 17 hours at two gee to match speeds with the ringworld and the
acceleration vector on the surface of the ringworld will change by
3.34 degrees per hour. I think that it sounds like we'll have to make
major changes in the manuever-control programs to enable them to
function properly on and around the ringworld!
Hmm, I wonder how the builders of r-alpha, shall we call them
'Ralphs'?" Johann added with a slight smile "do when they land? And
how they travel around on the ringworld? Normal, non-grav, means is
generally to slow and can't take that much cargo. Is it possible that
they installed artificial grav-modules in 'paths' as 'highways' for
grav-vehicles? Since there were no neutrinos, I guess that if such
grav-paths even existed they won't be in operation now, since they
would need enormous amounts of energy. Of course, if they rely on
solar energy, that might do the trick.
I hope that we'll bring a few small-crafts with reactionless thrusters
in case grav-modules really don't work on r-alpha!"
Johann Abuko
To: everyone
Subject: Dr. Limner finally wakes up
Cc: limner ref
Dr. Limner, a thin man of just about 185 cm height, wearing a nice but
slightly outmoded suit, has been sitting very quietly throughout most of the
discussions. He stands up. For some reason, he seems to remind everyone of a
typical college professor. He finally speaks:
"Hmmm. Mr. Schmud, your point about the artificial gravity is well
taken, but it appears to me that the ring will still have a mass, and
thus gravity- powered vehicles should still function, although they
might need some tuning. Admittedly, that is not my specialty, but I
believe that I could be of some assistance in that task. Lets
see... You'd need to compensate for the extra coriolis force while
compensating for the odd distribution of mass... Yes, that could be
done by simply tuning the primary navigational field's epsilon
parameter then applying a few turns to the...
Sorry, I tend to go on a bit sometimes. Please feel free to stop me
if I am talking too much. I know that I sometimes tend to ramble on
but this is all so interesting. I wouldn't want to get on anybody's
nerves, though. Just stop me if I..."
Dr. Limner seems to notice a few rolled-back eyes and stops speaking, then
fumbles with the equipment he has been given. He seems especially clumsy with
the stun pistol he was issued, which he almost drops, but catches before it
hits the ground.
"Oops, I should be more careful with these things. Wouldn't want to
have to give first aid to anyone before we even got there, now would
we?
Now, where were we? That's right, gravitics. I had a similar
problem once where a planet's moon was so large... But I'll save
that story for some other time."
Dr. Limner stops, seems to hesitate, then walks over to the physical sciences
team.
Dr. Limner speaks up:
"Ah, Mr. Abuko. I was just discussing this matter with Dr. Werner. I
believe that gravitic propulsion systems should work on the
ringworld, since the ring must have a mass, even though it probably
relies on centripetal acceleration to produce its simulated gravity.
The fact that there is a lower concentration of mass may cause some
problems, but we should be able to adjust any gravitic drives to
compensate for it. Once we get close to the ring, however, the
ring's mass should dwarf any gravitic vehicles we are using, and we
should get the lift we need."
Dr. Limner begins to sit down, then pauses:
"Of course, getting close to the ring might be a problem."
Dr. Limner sits down then and seems to be looking over the equipment he was
issued. He pulls out a high-tech set of binoculars and looks into the
eyepiece, withdraws an old-style spyglass and looks through it, then smiles
contentedly. He then notices that people are looking at him, and speaks out:
"If you're interested, I have done this sort of thing before, it
involves focusing the gravitational drives in the direction of the
star and rather than lessening the gravitational effects, instead
increasing them. This would allow you to orbit at the higher orbital
velocity necessary to match that of the ring. As all of you probably
realize already, this is not the way that most gravitational drives
were designed to operate. As such, it is a bit less precise. It
will let you get close enough to the ring, however. Of course, I've
never actually tried it with a RINGWORLD before, only with a rosette
formation of... but I'm sure nobody is interested in that right now."
Dr. Limner seems to have stopped speaking, but after a while adds one more
thing:
"Oh, by the way, we don't know what sort of gravitational devices
were used on the ringworld. It is quite conceivable that there could
be devices which would have an adverse effect on gravitic drives.
They probably wouldn't be running, though."
Another pause:
"This is all theoretical, though. Practically, the easiest thing to
do would be to simply bring the spacecraft close enough to the ring
for gravitic drives to work, then release the gravitic vehicles.
This would also be the fastest. Unless you have some reason for not
wanting to bring large spacecraft near to the ring. In case you have
any fears, we will be able to use gravitic vehicles long before the
spacecraft get too close to the ringworld."
"Oh yes, and there was one more thing... It was something Dr. Werner
said. Now what was it? Oh, that's right. Even though the
gravitational drives will operate near the ring, they will need to be
adjusted signifigantly to compensate for the tremendous rotational
velocity. Otherwise they would be almost impossible to control and
would no doubt either crash or go spinning off into space. I almost
forgot about that detail. I never was good with details."
From Ralf:
Well, mine is a "midget" Grav APC, 4 tons. It's stocked with a
minilab for all my gear and some of my supplies. Questions: Can I use
my high electronics to build some sort of "stealth" field for the APC?
I know that there is holography in the Imperium, could I also adapt a
holographic rig to provide holograhic camoflage or invisibility over the
APC? How about using my Gravitics skill to pump up the speed (right now
it's pretty much a "stock" model)?
Hey Lazer,
I've got for sure 5 empty staterooms on the Korondor Talisman... is
somebody going to assign people to them? We can go single or double
on the occupancy, and I've got enough decent grub to feed us all for
a while provided somebody is on board that can cook the stuff
without burning it....
Thul
[Well, with a lot of number crunching and slipstick time you guys
have found out quite a bit about transport problems you might have.
Here's a summary of your conclusions and solutions:]
The Alcyon will almost certainly stand off from the ring, and actual
contact will be made with scouts or shuttles.
The ring's linear velocity is probably betwen 1100 and 1300 m/s.
The ring probably has a noticable mass of it's own; no one is quite
sure what this means yet, though.
Initial landing will probably be on the spill wall (thanks to whoever
came up with that term -it's great). That way, accidents might hurt
but probably will be recoverable.
Approach for initial landing will either be tangential to the ring,
or from above. Still undecided.
The Alcyon will probably park between the ring and the sun.
A command shuttle will be used.
No decision yet on how far apart you are willing to separate teams.
Right now the discussion centers on communication time and response
time.
One of the scouts will probably make an initial pass over areas to
be explored, for preliminary mapping.
[Referee's quiz for everyone: Why did Turnskaad use *chemical*
rockets to boost the Alcyon, when fusion would have been cheaper?]
- --
Richard Johnson Usual Disclaimers Qui custodii ipso custodes?
- --------------------------------- (30) ----------------------------------
[email removed] The next time someone asks you for
[email removed] a lift, take her (or him) flying!