Have you considered laser-boosted lightsails? VXi14 is not clear about the maximum range of such a system - if it is uses normal combat range rules, the laser is completely useless, so let us assume the range is something decent.
You could mount a disposable lightsail for the launch and (less) fuel for braking. DataPacRat wrote: > I've recently purchased GVB, and have been playing around with it. My > most recent idea was to see if I could put together a design with the > criteria: TL8, no superscience, carrying at least two people in a > luxury suite from the Solar System to Alpha Centauri. To make it more > interesting, I wanted to do so in as little time as possible - which, > effectively, means maximizing the delta-vee. I wonder how your total weight/cost scales with the passenger numbers. That is, would a ship for twice as many passengers be twice the price? Eric wrote: > This gets increasingly difficult as you approach c as the ship effectively > gains mass, so the ship's acceleration diminishes... I don't believe we're getting fast enough to bother about that. Pauli wrote: > Another way to go would be to use up several ice chunks along > the way - the Oort Cloud is full of suitable targets, and > has a radius of several light-years. Unless you happen to find one going the right way at a fairly high speed, you have to brake and spend fuel to catch the fuel. Perhaps you could use ONE stepping stone to refuel for braking if your overall travel speed is similar to that of comets. Millenia to the next system ... DataPacRat wrote: > TL8 interstellar ship > P&P: 6,000,000 sf solar cell [Vehicle], three 2,000-kW fission > reactors (2 year duration; long term access), 300,000 lbs. thrust > <fission fragment thruster (Isp 0, delta-V 0 mph; long term access). What good is the solar cell in deep space? > Occ: three roomy crew stations (bridge access, crashweb, g-seat), two > luxury extra space cabins (2,000 cf extra total), 20 cabins, three > 24-man total life support systems You are not even remotely fast enough to justify g-seats and crashwebs. > Armor F RL B T U > Body 4/100 4/100 4/100 4/100 4/100 What about an ablative nosecap? > Equipment * What about stabilized LLTVs for astronomy, instead of heavier PESAs? * The geo survey array and life detection package work best in contact. They should go into probes, not the main craft. * Why decon airlocks in a spacecraft? * The fissionables processor implies asteroid mining. Do you have small craft for that in your cargo hold? > TL8 DR 100 advanced metal [Vehicle]. Why mere metal and not laminate? Onno _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
