Re: hyperspace (was: cloaking device rules)

FieldScott@aol.com writes:
> 
> Mike writes:
> 
> > However, nuclear reactors are currently used in some spacecraft.  
> Current spacecraft? Which ones?

Pioneers 10 & 11, Voyagers 1 & 2, Galeleo, basicaly, anything headed
into
the outer solar system - the sunlight isn't strong enough for solar
panels
to be practical beyond (I think) the orbit of Mars. Actually, "Nuclear
reactor"
could be a bit of a misleading term since it conjours up a picture of a
big
building putting out mega-Watts of power, whereas the
radio-thermo-isotope
generators (RTGs) used on spacecraft are much smaller, with power
outputs
of a few hundred Watts - their big advantage is that they keep working
for decades (the Voyagers are still going...)

[I think Mike is talking about a NERVA style nuclear rocket rather than
 an Orion/Daedalus style nuclear pulse drive]
> >  There is hope to allow future incorporation into propulsion
systems, such 
> >  as from the folks responsible for the Daedelus and Enzman starship
> designs.

The people behind Daedalus were the BIS (British Interplanetary
Society).
Never heard of Enzman - what is it ?

> 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!

It's hard to imagine any realistic spacecraft 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? Most sci-fi authors skip over
this one
> and just say "the ship is powered by matter-antimatter engines" or
some such.

Actually nuclear power is great for generating large amounts of HEAT.
Ground based nuclear power plants use this to heat water of gas and use
the resulting steam or high preasure gas to drive turbines to produce
electricity. There's no reason why you can't pump water through the
core, let the core heat it into high preasure steam, and allow the steam
to escape through the back of your ship - and there you have it: THRUST

    Alun.
    ~~~~