A continuous acceleration flight at one g, a tenth of a g or 0.01g;
results in a maximum speed at the mid-point that is very fast so the
relative velocity is huge even if you hit a tiny piece of matter, a
micro-meteorite or a flake of paint from another ship. Micrometeorites
are fast enough they could punch through multiple space station
bulkheads. A conveniual rocket ship going to Mars is moving far faster
yet both are almost stationary compared to a craft doing a continuous
acceleration flight to anywhere.
By bumper bar I meant a tank like armoured unpressurised hull on the out
side of the craft so that if it is hit the hull itself is not punctured.
However if the ship is carrying dead cargo: containers of food; water;
fertilizer; building materials; tons of ore or a bulldozer; they can be
loaded in such a way that they take the hit and save the ship. You need
a way to check them for damage on arrival.
In all cases advanced radar and good manoeuvring thrusters are needed to
detect and dodge anything bigger than a pea. We would need to detect the
pea at 50-100 km range and would need to dodge it by several ship
diameters. A tall order. Any craft doing a run through space needs to
look both ahead and off to the side in the direction that objects
orbiting the sun will be coming from. Its amazing that we have
successfully sent as many probes out into interplanetary space. Any one
of them could have been killed by a single hit from a sand grain sized
micrometeorite.
If the Podkletnov device works out as a drive or John Searl’s device is
confirmed then fast interplanetary flight is possible without the shield
problem because both produce field effects that would push the smaller
meteorites aside. The force beam Podkletnov describes would apply force
out in front of the craft during acceleration. The beam would accelerate
obstacles up to a high velocity in a few minutes or hours. If there is
any tangential component to the particles movement the beam will push
the pebble or sand grain aside. The catch is it would not put the beam
out a head of its self while deceleration.That braking beam would be
facing the wrong way.
Likewise the high charge on the Searl saucer would first emit a bolt of
lightening like electrostatic force that charged the pebble at a long
range and then because like charges deflect, push them aside. The
magnetic field waves he describes are interesting and might also push
obstacles away. We would still want to dodge the pea. Particularly if it
is coming in from an angle.
- iss Then why would you need "a hell of a bumper b... Wesley Bruce
-
