Subject:
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Re: Peether T-8 (Lightning contest entry)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.space
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Date:
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Wed, 25 Feb 2004 03:37:25 GMT
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Viewed:
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536 times
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SNIP
I am still looking for any inspiration for this contest, but the “wing in
space” really got me stuck.
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I personally don’t get offended by winged spacecraft since I am generally
predisposed to finding aerodynamic looking shapes aesthetically pleasing.
However, wings in space can serve legitimate functional purposes. I generally
rationalize wing-like structures on a spacecraft a couple of different ways.
1. If the craft is small enough, it may be capable of trans-atmospheric and
atmospheric flight. In that case, wings are completely useful and necessary (as
in the NASA space shuttle).
2. Most people pack their spacecraft full of engines, sensors, electronics,
weapons, and other assorted technological bits. Well, anything that consumes
power will generate heat and that heat needs to go somewhere. Since there is no
air in space they only way to dissipate the excess heat energy is to use large
radiator panels. I like to think that large wing-like structures serve as
excellent places to mount radiators for my spacecraft.
3. Another reason to put wings on a spacecraft is that extremely sensitive
sensors may need to be mounted some distance away from the main body of the ship
to limit interference from the ships own electronics and power sources.
4. Certain sensor systems may benefit from the ability to mount sensor input
devices farther away from each other (i.e. on the wing tips). For example,
certain types of radar perform better the bigger the antenna gets.
5. Wings make a good place to mount weapons. They expand a ships surface area &
volume to provide mounting points for weapons. They also can help limit
interference to other ships systems by mounting the weapon further away from the
main body of the ship. The wings can also house radiators to help cool high
power weapons systems.
6. Wings could be a good place to put shield emitters for similar reasons.
7. Mounting thrusters further away from a spacecraft’s CG will make that craft
more maneuverable (and less stable) since rotational torque = force x distance.
Thus putting thrusters at the wing tips will result in a quicker handling craft.
8. Wings could also be a good place to put high-efficiency solar panels for
those who prefer to fly an emissions-friendly spacecraft.
9. Wings can be a good place to mount a spacecraft’s engines. It frees up
valuable space in the main body for other things such as life support gear and
beer. Mounting the engines further away from the ship’s main cabin my help
protect the crew from dangerous radiation generated by the drive system. Lastly,
there might be some pseudo-physics reasons that the drives need to be mounted on
wings or pylons away from the ship in order to properly generate a warp bubble
or something. (Thinking of star trek warp nacelles here... though not
technically wings.)
10. Putting wings on a spaceship is not any goofier than putting skulls on a
spaceship.
Hope that helps give you some ideas to get over your hang up about wings in
space.
enjoy,
drc
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Peether T-8 (Lightning contest entry)
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| Ok Douglas you got me with this. Let there be plenty of wings in .space! It's true we need more beer inside a ship (space gets boring when you're just travelling, no pirates encounters, etc...). Let's put the engines out, let's load the barels! (...) (20 years ago, 25-Feb-04, to lugnet.space, FTX)
| | | Re: Peether T-8 (Lightning contest entry)
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| (...) I agree. In the end, it's all about looking good. (Like Hernando says: "It's more important to look good than to feel good, darling.") Note, though, that in most of the cases you mentioned, we aren't talking literally about wings so much as (...) (20 years ago, 25-Feb-04, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Peether T-8 (Lightning contest entry)
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| Hi Matt, I saw your entry on BrickShelf a few days ago. I really like the use of trans-orange beams to connect the "weapons pods" to the main body. The general look is very close to the original P38 IMHO. I am still looking for any inspiration for (...) (20 years ago, 25-Feb-04, to lugnet.space, FTX)
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