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(...) Ask your dad about that again. My comment was based on readings from Stephen Hawking's "Brief History of Time" and "Universe in a Nutshell", as well as various online physics FAQ. Granted, in space you don't have to worry about air friction or (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) I hadn't really thought about this problem before, but I can see how it would be a problem. If your propellent has an exit velocity of 2mph, it shouldn't ever be able to make you go faster than 2mph. Once you've hit that point, the propellent (...) (21 years ago, 25-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) No, if you use simple conservation of momentum, at subrelatavistic speeds, you can still get a modest boost with a propellant speed of 2 mph. Your speed increase is propellant weight x 2 mph / remaining vehicle weight. since total momentem has (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) Yup, but also note that a propellant exhaust speed of 2 mph is the rough equivalant of having the crew throw things out the back hatch. :) James (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) I think you may need to look into relativistic reference frames... the exit velocity is w.r.t. the vehicle, not where it is traveling or what its current velocity is... the upper limit on vehicle velocity achievable with a fuel of a given (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) Correct. (...) Yes, *something* does. It's not light though, since if it was light, they would spin in the black direction (with the black side leading the rotation).... (the momentum imparted to something perfectly reflecting is twice that of (...) (21 years ago, 26-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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| | Re: Hypothetical design question
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(...) Actually the ship in SW2:AOTC could not have used light for propulsion. As the ship must have used hyperspace speeds to reach Palpatine so quickly we must conclude that whatever was used was far beyond any real science explanation. Just to put (...) (21 years ago, 27-Jun-03, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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