Re: Expanding Shields/Statis Shields

At 05:41 PM 4/4/97 -0500, Aaron Teske wrote:
 The idea behind the Motie expanding field
>> was that as the field absorbed engergy, it increased in size
providing a
>> greater surface area to blead the heat. As the energy was blead off,
the
>> shield contracted back to the "standard" size.
>
>Ah... so that's how the things worked.  I'd gotten the impression they
>were just expanding on their own... I certainly don't recall any
mention
>of the shields shrinking back down in either novel.
>
>Still, if one of the shields has expanded like that, then you could
>still maneuver between the shield and the ship generating the shield
and
>blast it to pieces...
  Niven says the Moties are working on a self expanding shield (does not
require heating), might be usefull on carriers to capture fighters or in
trojan asteroid fields to collect materials...
  To open a portal in the shield you need control over the area, as it
gets
hotter you lose that control.  The olny way to get inside the shield is
to
drift through it or assume that you enemy is an idiot and allows you to
get
through a window.  Otherwise if you dive through it, you will lose
momentum
(Langston Fields absorb KE) and absorb a lot of the heat retained in the
field.	I just don't see how you will get into the field since it is
globalur in nature with windows opening for weapons, sensors etc...