Subject:
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Re: Some great Space info and dicussion
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Thu, 23 Jan 2003 04:42:04 GMT
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Viewed:
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1148 times
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In lugnet.space, Jordan D. Greer writes:
[ le snip ]
> larger craft have a natural advantage over fighters if
> great distances are involved.
Indeed, but you seem to assume that there will be only one kind of
combat in space. I can think of several situations where it might be useful
to have the larger craft transporting smaller craft, which are then used as
the primary vehicles of combat. Today's carrier missions use the large
carrier craft to transport the smaller aircraft close enough to a zone to be
used effectively; each vehicle is used according to it's strengths, and each
is a needed part of the system in which it's based. A similar need might
one day exist for spacecraft, wherein each type of vehicle is used according
to it's strengths; there will likely be missions for which a larger craft is
useless, but for which the smaller craft can't traverse the distance - when
used together, they could achieve the objective that each used alone never
could.
And what about peaceful, exploratory missions, as I mentioned? I think
the greater possibility exists that these will find the carrier
configuration to be useful. I'm not talking about cost here, just about
possibility and usefulness.
> One only has to possess a
> basic understanding of physics and know the necessary equations to
> understand this.
I posess only a basic understanding of physics, and I don't know the
equations (though I know where to look them up if I'm interested, and would
have no problem learning them if needed), but I'm still capable of
envisioning possibilities where the carrier might be a useful idea in space.
I'm reminded of a zen story about being too confined by rules to live well:
Two monks on a journey come to a flooded stream, where a young lady is
unable to cross because it would ruin her fine clothes. The younger monk
becomes distressed: There seems no other way to help the lady than to pick
her up and take her across on his shoulders, but touching a woman is
strictly against the rules of his order. The older monk, without thinking,
picks the lady up, carries her across the stream, and sets her down, for
which she is very thankful. After walking some way longer, the younger
monk, who had been getting progressively more exasperated, finally broke
down and asked his elder why on earth he had dared to do what he had done.
The elder turned to his young friend, and said "I set the lady down by the
side of the stream. Are you still carrying her?"
If America had just stuck to the rules instead of trying to do what
they were told was impossible, we'd never have gone to the moon. But in
dreaming of reaching new worlds, we discovered that creativity and faith can
work wonders where we think the laws are set in stone.
Isn't that kind of what Lego is all about?
Peace and Long Life,
Tony Alexander
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Some great Space info and dicussion
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| (...) Small spacecraft dependent upon larger craft for long-range transport likely would have much greater utility in peaceful purposes than in warfare. Sure, we're talking about usefulness, of which energy costs are a great factor in space. If a (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jan-03, to lugnet.space)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Some great Space info and dicussion
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| (...) The utility of a fighter craft in space is inversely proportional to the cost of energy, and magnitude of distances and velocities involved in space combat, and directly proportional to the acceleration rates of which your fighter craft are (...) (21 years ago, 21-Jan-03, to lugnet.space)
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