Re: hyperspace (was: cloaking device rules)

In message <199608211123.HAA05087@sparczilla.East.Sun.COM> Joachim
wrote:

>   What's with the people on this list?  First it's "FT is destroying
> the natural splendor of our forests" and now it's "FTL is destroying
> our space environment"!  Well, I know there are a lot of Brits on this
> list and I can't speak for them, but here in AMERICA we eat enough
> McDonald's to pretty much insure that we won't have to live through
> the environmental mess we're creating for our children to clean up.  I
> propose the same culture for my FT universe, so our drives can be as
> dirty as we want.  By the way, we impose a tax on starships that get
> better than 20mpg.

All together now, one... two... three....

ORION!!!!!

(for those that don't know, Orion was a drive system tested (*) by NASA
back in the 60s. Basically, you take a great big metal plate, and stick
the life support stuff on one side (with *lots* of suspension between
the two). Then you drop nukes out the back behind the plate. The force
of the explosion on the plate pushes the spaceship forward. It would
have worked damn well (I think it's one of the few drives we could
build with near current technology that could provide a sustained 1g
acceleration), except some stupid world leaders decided to forbid the
use of nuclear weapons in space).

(*): NASAs experiments were with chemical explosives, for those of
     you who are worried about the environment. :)

-- 
Be seeing you,
Sam.