Subject:
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Re: Hypothetical design question
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Mon, 23 Jun 2003 13:52:27 GMT
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Viewed:
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413 times
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In lugnet.space, Leonard Hoffman wrote:
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In lugnet.space, Sylvia Tresto wrote:
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Okay, just something I thought of while fiddling with my LEGO: An
aerodynamic desigh is only handy in atmosphere and not necessary in space,
right? I remember it from physics lessons and some posts in this newsgroup.
But space is not a true vaccuum, is it? There is all sorts of stuff out
there, even if it is only on a molecular or atomic level. So if a spaceship
had a revolutionary drive which would allow it to travel close to lightspeed
(let’s stay true to Einstein and assume faster is no option) it should be
very aerodynamic or its would sustain heavy damage from even the smallest of
particles out there. Am I right or have I completely overlooked something?
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I think the biggest problem for a ship accelerating towards light speed is
not particles, but energy consuption. remember, the faster you go, the more
energy you need to propell yourself, and this increases exponentially.
essentially, accelerating matter to light speed would require an infinite
amount of energy, so if you are going close to light speed, and already have
the technology to do that, you’d probably also have figured out how to deal
with microparticles.
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True, of course. However, I was wondering about the most efficient design to
make that large ammount of energy used effeciently!
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in my universe, aerodynamic (curved) designs are accepted for primarily
aesthetic, rather than technical, reasons.
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In mine the situation is similar..
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i think once you start bending the rules in any one area (ie, able to
accelerate close to light speed, etc), you also have to bend rules in other
areas, too.
and in the end the point is this: build for whatever reasons you want and
make up the physics that explain it. personally, i just try not to blatantly
contradict anything that is still accepted in physics (ie, light is constant,
light speed is the fastest you can go, etc).
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Thanx! Love, Sylvi
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Hypothetical design question
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| (...) I think the biggest problem for a ship accelerating towards light speed is not particles, but energy consuption. remember, the faster you go, the more energy you need to propell yourself, and this increases exponentially. essentially, (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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