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(...) Yeah, but also in aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, the sleeker it is, the less resistance it encounters on it's forward edge. If you minimize the amount of forward contact on the front, less particles would hit it, causing less overall damage. (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) don't forget the old phylosophy that the faster you go, the greater the chance that small particles will hit you. So at 1/2 the speed of light, you would definately need some form of shielding. An old, and possible, idea is to use a barrier of (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) i think because of all the major scifi shows out there, Star Trek paid the most attention to actual physics and in making their technologies plausible. maybe not probable, but who knows what the future will hold? -Jr.Mar.Hoffman (URL) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) I think this point is dead on! Even though these ships are aerodynamic, they aren't SO aerodynamic that they deflect photons! and while photons are much smaller than your average particle out there, the particles that are present in a vacuum (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Well, in the space-ish situation, the number of particles you're hitting will only come down to size; regardless of its shape, a ship shaped like a perfect lozenge will hit the same number of particles as a ship shaped like a cube, if their (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Along those lines, you might as well just simply make your ship with the dimensions of a pencil, to minimize cross-section. The degree of electromagnetic radiation reflected back to a transmitter (radar) by an aircraft is primarily based upon (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) ERg. <choke> Blatch. You're kidding, right? The only one offhand that I can think of which is worse is Star Wars. (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Ack! Heresy! Stone him with light grey BURPS! ;^D Trev (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) It does behave more like a fluid at extremely high speeds. However, have you seen what happens to an airplane when it hits water at mach speeds? It's not pretty, and that's essentially what you'd have to be dealing with in a near vacuum. By (...) (21 years ago, 23-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) I wouldn't say that. Star Wars was intentionally written with cinematic effect in mind. And which is worse, the show that intentionally ignores physics, or the show that tries to obey physics and fails? (21 years ago, 24-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Eesh. Star Trek script writers tend to accept hypothetical physics as gospel truth (with the result that much of Star Trek physics has since been disproven), and a lot of hard-core Trekkies do the same thing with any physics presented on Star (...) (21 years ago, 24-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Bah. If you're going to stone me, at least do me the courtesy of stoning with bricks. :) James (who likes both Star Trek and Star Wars, but has to leave his credulity at the door before watching either. B5 merely makes my credulity give me (...) (21 years ago, 24-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) You're thinking of Babylon 5 right? Phasers, shields, warp drive. HA. real physics there. :P Babylon 5 had interial momentum, the centrifugal concept of gravity, real-space phycis and everything Rick Hallman (URL) Das-Brick.Org> ... (...) (21 years ago, 24-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) If you spin anything around without curving or coming to a complete stop, you'll be sorry. Inertia still applies in space, and at the speeds probably used, a 180-degree spin will turn the entire crew into little puddles on the back of their (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) You're forgetting four things. First, there's no atmosphere, and the main reason for making long banking curves like that is because you can't make abrupt vector changes in an atmosphere. That's not a concern in a near vacuum. Second, no, you (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Nope. You're misapplying inertia. The whole ship, including contents, has inertia. If it is moving, say, 1.25 Km/s (pretty darn quick) in arbitrary direction A, it (and all it's contents will continue to move in direction A, and which (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) He does have a point as far as capital ships are concerned. A Starfury is a one-man ship, and everything I've seen suggests that when a Starfury rotates in flight, the cockpit is pretty darn near the center of rotation, so the pilot can (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Yup. But even a ship like the Hyperion could probably spin in place relatively quickly - certainly not at starfury-like speeds - but I imagine it could still do a 180 within a couple minutes. I strongly suspect, given the shape of Earthforce (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) I was under the assumption you would accelerate after the direction change. Actually, the way this all started, spinning the ship to shoot behind you, is a bit foolish. Unless in a little fighter, there should be guns all around, like a modern (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) The Hyperion (URL) lists> at about 1200 meters. Assuming the center of rotation is the exact center of the vessel, you're swinging 600 meters of steel around the point of rotation, and that's the critical point (after all, you want to make (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Not at all. In atmospheric fighter combat, if I drop in on your six, you've got to shake me long enough to swing around and point your forward-facing guns at me before you can shoot back because you can't fly backwards. Thus, whoever gets (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) While everyone already pointed out that Babylon 5 is the best mainstream sci-fi at actually obeying physics in space, I would like to point out a few additions to the above statement. The Star Trek "science advisor" has an Art degree. Half of (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) -off subject- Not to burst anything, but I think the Hyperion is far less then 1200 meters, due to comparison with the Nova and Omega Destroyers. The Destroyers are 1717 meters long. B5tech.com lists the Hyperion at 1,025, which is slightly (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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(...) Rick, I would have to agree with what happens on B5. Those crazy physics consultants .....always taking real physics into account! :] We're not talking about a Cooper Mini or anything. Something that big simply cannot turn on a dime (slow (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space)
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(...) That webpage was the only source I could think of that listed the Hyperion's length, but I was a bit doubtful of the total accuracy of everything. I kinda remember a TNG ep where it was mentioned that the Romulan Warbird (D'deridex) was about (...) (21 years ago, 27-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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