Re: Fast speeds

 Rick Rutherford writes:
 
 @:) I find it hard to believe that computers, radar, fire-control, and
 @:) all the futuristic high-tech sensors and scanners will make
 @:) everything easy for the crew of a starship. After all, have
 @:) computers really made your life any easier? :)

The problem with computers is not invalid or faulty data, rather its the
volume of data.  At the National Training Center in California, the
forces
are almost wholly digitized now.  There have been some remarkable
"shutdowns"
to the battle because of the amount of data commanders and staff have to
process (including position locators for friendly and enemy vehicles
down to
10 meters blocks).  Of course, they have their usual stoppages when
computers
go down too :).

<<Joachim Heck writes:

   I can tell you for certain they've made my life a living hell, but
 then computers are my job.  I can't really speak for starship crews
 but I can say that high-tech sensors and computers have made life a
 lot easier for military people already.  Radar-aimed guns would
 perhaps be the low-tech equivalent of some of the futuristic weapons
 found in FT.  They tell you how far away the target is, then they aim
 themselves, wait till the target is in optimal range, fire at the
 target, track the bullet (!), figure out whether the bullet hit the
 target or not, adjust their aim, and fire again.  All this while you
 decide whether or not to put jalepenos on your sandwich.  Sure beats
 that other war when you had to actually pull the trigger.
  >>

The stabilization system on the M1 tank is similar to what you're
talking
about.	Unlike other stab systems that tried to keep the gun level, the
M1's
tries to keep the sight on the target -- a much easier proposition.  The
gunner locates his target and presses the firing button.  The next time
the
gun is aligned with the sight (because of vehicle movement, or gun
movement),
the gun fires automatically.  Note, though, that the time delay is
measured
in fractions of a second.

-- John I.