I was thinking about the relative merits of gas giant refueling yesterday,
relative to dipping from a world's ocean. Now, as I understand it, in
"real" life a gas giant, say, Jupiter, has a region of intense radiation
around it. Now what I want to know is how this affects refueling operations
around a gas giant. Can a starship with a hull armor factor of 40 withstand
this radiation long enough to skim enough fuel, or is it and its crew going
to get fried real quick? Can some of the physics or astronomy types help
out?
I was maybe thinking that the size of the gas giant might be a factor. For
example, Jupiter would be classified as a large GG, by _Scouts_ or _World
Builder's_. If the ship could not withstand the radiation around a large
GG, how about around a small GG, say the size of Neptune? It could have
interesting ramifications to those who would avoid the cost of refined fuel.
"Oh, you can't skim fuel from the gas giant, because the radiation is too
intense, but there's a world with an acceptable hydrosphere."
"But there's an enemy fleet stationed there!"
Oops. 8-(
Chris
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Christopher Bartlett Warning! - Disgruntled Optics major
[email removed] "I've got a chip on my shoulder about
(somewhere in western New York) the size of a mental block"
(actually, the U. of Rochester) - Indigo Girls