Subject:
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Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au
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Date:
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Thu, 21 Jun 2001 16:49:19 GMT
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Viewed:
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6982 times
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In lugnet.space, William R. Ward writes:
> David Drew writes:
> > On 20/6/01 5:54 AM, "William R Ward" <bill@wards.net> wrote:
> >
> > > Actually, this is false. Space is a vacuum - there is no air, only a
> > > few stray molecules of gas or cosmic dust. As a result, there is no
> > > friction and thus no need for wings or streamlined shapes on space
> > > craft. Also, there is very little gravitational pull, so the lifting
> > > power of wings is useless.
> >
> > Actually, if you're travelling at near-light velocities, the density of the
> > interstellar medium becomes high enough (especially within solar systems, so
> > I guess that would be intrastellar medium) that a streamlined shaped would
> > become essential. Even then, there would be both heavy erosion of whatever
> > impact-shielding you have, and heavy drag on the ship.
>
> That may be true, but I don't think anyone knows for sure, because we
> haven't tried going that fast yet. My spacecraft follow a very "hard
> SF" policy - no FTL travel, no artificial gravity, etc. But that's
> not to say that it's the only way...
>
> --Bill.
There has existed artificial gravity for years in the space programs, most
notably our space program, all over the world. These same companies are
working with contractors to develop newer types of engines such as an ion
propulsion system for the future replacements of the space shuttle, of which
some people may say that they may be in production and used in outer space
as early as the year 2003. I believe that all of these responses were from
a letter that I wrote Tuesday and I built my wings for five reasons on my
space craft. The first reason for building those wings was so that I could
have a stable weapons platform for the rear section of my space craft. The
second reason for building those wings is that, as in the case of the
Galactic Mediator, I needed some place on the space craft to transport
prisoners so the wings were the only logical place to transport the
prisoners. The third reason for building those wings is that four of the
guns, two on each side, are part of my exclusive DualFire (IGTM) technology.
These guns, which are located near the tips of the wings, are auxillary
boosters and additional weaponry on my space craft. The fourth reason for
those wings is that, as the case with the giant panels that are currently
located on the International Space Station, they are sources for power, or
in this case, auxillary power, for the space craft. The space craft is
powered by three main fusion core reactors and two auxillary fusion core
reactors. My vessel also has a supply of plasma as an alternate energy
source and reserve ammunition for the space craft. The fifth reason for
building those wings is that there does exist many particles of cosmic dust
but asteroids, meteors, comets, rogue moons, and the occasional small planet
float around in space as garbage and therefore I built my ship in a
streamlined shape with wings for the above mentioned reasons so that it will
not suffer heavy damage to the space craft. I hope this message will help
you understand why I prefer to build wings with my space craft and Lego has
been building wings on their space craft ever since the Legoland space sets.
Jesse Long
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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| (...) The only form of "artificial gravity" that is currently possible is to use a centrifuge structure to simulate gravity. If you've seen the film "2001: A Space Odyssey" you will remember the doughnut-shaped room where the men worked and (...) (23 years ago, 21-Jun-01, to lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au)
| | | Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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| (...) Ion drives will not be in use in 2003. The only form of space engines that are currently in production are rockets. There are liquid-fuelled rockets, which can be turned on and off ("throttled"), and there are solid-fuel rockets which cannot (...) (23 years ago, 22-Jun-01, to lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Wings [was: Re: Building big]
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| (...) That may be true, but I don't think anyone knows for sure, because we haven't tried going that fast yet. My spacecraft follow a very "hard SF" policy - no FTL travel, no artificial gravity, etc. But that's not to say that it's the only way... (...) (23 years ago, 20-Jun-01, to lugnet.space, lugnet.loc.au)
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