> Remember that MT is supposed to be 'space opera', not hard scifi. If you want
> hard scifi, use 2300AD, or create your own universe. Stop trying to bludgeon
> MT to make it fit.
Actually, there's all sorts of neat tricks you can play in 2300AD that
violate current physics; their numbers for stutterwarp drives (for example)
violate conservation of energy in a big way.
Why, you ask?
First, for you non-2300 types, the stutterwarp drive is a strange hyperspace
drive. It cycles about 100,000 times per second, and each cycle creates an
instantaneous jump from one point in space to another, thousands of meters
apart, without crossing the intervening space. The net effect is Faster Than
Light travel. However, the velocity vector of the ship in realspace is
completely unaffected by this travel. If you are in orbit about a planet in
one system, and stutterwarp over to the other system, you arrive with your
original vector unchanged (making orbital maneuvers intersting... :-)
The stutterwarp effect is drastically reduced inside the .01G barrier of a
gravity well, so FTL travel within a system is not possible. However, you
can still make good time using stutterwarp instead of reaction drives within
a system. The drawback is that the materials to build stutterwarp drives are
extremely rare, thus the drives are prohibitively expensive. There are only
a few thousand starships in existence in 2300AD, and they're all o/o by the
military or large governments/organizations. (btw, this is the real reason
for using organizations in 2300AD; it's the only way to get access to a
starship without paying commercial rates).
Anyway: most starships don't have maneuver drives. To change your velocity
vector, you stutterwarp to an appropriate point in a gravity well, and then
'fall' until you reach your desired velocity. This requires computers (and a
skilled ship's pilot, which is why we invented the Pilot crew position which
is missing from the rules). This also led us to think about other things you
can do with gravity wells...
- - There's a really neat power generator using stutterwarp: hang a stutterwarp
drive, inside a large magnet, inside a large wire coil, inside of a gravity
well. stutterwarp away from the planet, then fall towards the planet. While
moving towards the planet, the interaction between the magnet and the coil
agenerates electricity, which also slows you down again. However, you get
more energy out of the system than you put in, using current
electromagnetic generator efficiencies and 2300AD stutterwarp energy
costs. Perpetual motion, anyone?
- - There's also a really neat doomsday device using the same principle. Hang a
stutterwarp drive in a gravity well. stutterwarp up, fall down. You can
very quickly get your realspace velocity vector up to large fractions of
c. Then, turn of the stutterwarp. You impact the surface of the planet...
Anyway, my real point is, don't go calling 2300AD "Hard Science". It breaks
just as many current phyiscs rules as MT does...
- --
C. Harald Koch VE3TLA Alias Research, Inc., Toronto ON Canada
Internet: [email removed] [email removed] [email removed]