Re: hyperspace (was: cloaking device rules)

Scott Field wrote:
>> However, nuclear reactors are currently used in some spacecraft.  
>
>Current spacecraft? Which ones?

In a variety of probes and satellites.	

>>  There is hope to allow future incorporation into propulsion systems,
such 
>>  as from the folks responsible for the Daedelus and Enzman starship
>designs.
>
>How do they plan to incorporate this? The idea of controlled nuclear
>explosions sounds a bit dicey to me, and I can't imagine such a ship
having a
>great deal of combat maneuverability! Nuclear power is great for
generating
>large, sustained amounts of steam/electricity without the need for
refueling.
>But unless you can use electricity to generate gravitic fields or some
such,
>how do you translate this into thrust?

It operated in a fashion similar to a chemical engine, focusing the
reaction
from a combustion chamber with an exhaust nozzle.  The power was able to
be
controlled, while providing higher thrust ratings than conventional
chemical
engines.

>Most sci-fi authors skip over this one
>and just say "the ship is powered by matter-antimatter engines" or some
such.

MAM engines would be great if they can only produce anti-matter in
larger
quantities.

Mike Miserendino