space_travel
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space_travel [2019/04/11 15:57] gm_rose created |
space_travel [2019/04/18 16:51] (current) gm_philip |
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| ===== Summary ===== | ===== Summary ===== | ||
| * Faster than light (FTL) travel is possible, and reasonably common. | * Faster than light (FTL) travel is possible, and reasonably common. | ||
| - | * FTL is not instantaneous - it will generally take a day or so to travel between systems. | + | * FTL is not instantaneous - it will generally take at least 4 to 5 days to travel between systems. |
| - | * FTL travel can only be used a certain distance away from a massive object - about 5 light hours for most stars having habitable planets. | + | * FTL travel can only be used a certain distance away from a massive object (the "Zigman Radius") - about 5 light hours for most stars having habitable planets. |
| + | * Objects smaller than an average moon do not have a Zigman Radius, unless made of neutronium. | ||
| * Travel from the FTL radius to habitable planets in a solar system generally takes about 12 hours. | * Travel from the FTL radius to habitable planets in a solar system generally takes about 12 hours. | ||
| - | * Detection of ships is possible instantaneously within a system (no light speed delay) - subject to line of sight, stealth technologies, and actually looking in the right place. | + | * Detection of ships via "ZIDAR" is possible instantaneously within a system (no light speed delay) - subject to line of sight, stealth technologies, and actually looking in the right place. |
| - | * FTL communication is possible, and instantaneous. | + | * FTL communication is possible, and instantaneous, but requires you to know where your target is. |
| ===== Zigman-Edaakie Dynamics. The Theory ===== | ===== Zigman-Edaakie Dynamics. The Theory ===== | ||
| - | The currently accepted theory underlying space travel, Zigman-Edaakie Dynamics (ZED), was first published in (DATE). The full details of the theory will not be presented here, but there are several important consequences. | + | {{:Zigman_Radius.png?250 | Zigman Radius for a typical star with a habitable planet}} The currently accepted theory underlying space travel, Zigman-Edaakie Dynamics (ZED theory), was first published in the year 723. The full details of the theory will not be presented here, but there are several important consequences. |
| - | Firstly, outside of a certain radius from any other massive body (the "Zigman radius"), travel beyond light speed is possible. The Zigman radius of a body increases with it's mass - stars have a typical radius of 1 to 20 light hours (4 to 7 light hours for most stars having habitable planets), planets have a typical radius of a few light seconds, and asteroids and smaller bodies do not have a Zigman radius for practical purposes (as it would be smaller than the object itself), with the notable exception of neutronium. An object travelling faster than light which encounters the Zigman radius of another object will decelerate to rest (with no apparent acceleration "felt" by the object), releasing a flash of light in the process. | + | Firstly, outside of a certain radius from any other massive body (the "Zigman radius"), travel beyond light speed is possible. The Zigman radius of a body increases with its mass - stars have a typical radius of 1 to 20 light hours (4 to 7 light hours for most stars having habitable planets), planets have a typical radius of a few light seconds, and asteroids and smaller bodies do not have a Zigman radius for practical purposes (as it would be smaller than the object itself), with the notable exception of neutronium. An object travelling faster than light which encounters the Zigman radius of another object will decelerate to rest (with no apparent acceleration "felt" by the object), releasing a flash of light in the process. |
| Secondly, while it is possible to travel faster than the speed of light outside the Zigman radius, there is a further fundamental limit at around 600 times light speed. In fact, due to the particular dynamics of FTL travel, objects travelling FTL will tend to move a speed of 500 times light speed (allowing travel between nearby systems in about four days), since an object travelling at this speed in fact has lower energy than one travelling just above light speed. | Secondly, while it is possible to travel faster than the speed of light outside the Zigman radius, there is a further fundamental limit at around 600 times light speed. In fact, due to the particular dynamics of FTL travel, objects travelling FTL will tend to move a speed of 500 times light speed (allowing travel between nearby systems in about four days), since an object travelling at this speed in fact has lower energy than one travelling just above light speed. | ||
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| That's the basic principle of the ZED drive. As a bonus, this means that every trip gives you a nice store of hydrogen, which you can use to power the ship's fusion reactor, and provide thrust when you are within a solar system. | That's the basic principle of the ZED drive. As a bonus, this means that every trip gives you a nice store of hydrogen, which you can use to power the ship's fusion reactor, and provide thrust when you are within a solar system. | ||
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| + | The ZED drive was invented in the year 743, triggering the [[selas|Selasi]] war of independence from [[Eunomia]]. | ||
| While the ZED drive allows for FTL travel, it is not instant - trips between systems will typically take about a day, with an additional 10 hours on each end for travel between the planet and the Zigman radius of the star. | While the ZED drive allows for FTL travel, it is not instant - trips between systems will typically take about a day, with an additional 10 hours on each end for travel between the planet and the Zigman radius of the star. | ||
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| ==== FTL communications ==== | ==== FTL communications ==== | ||
| - | Faster than light (indeed, effectively instantaneous) communications are possible. These require a line of sight and knowledge of where your target is, as sending anything other than a tighbeam signal would require far too much energy. Communication between systems is generally via large hubs in each system, which have permanent, high bandwidth, links to each other. | + | Faster than light (indeed, effectively instantaneous) communications are possible. These require a line of sight and knowledge of where your target is, as sending a broadcast, or anything other than a direct, point-to-point signal, would require far too much energy. Communication between systems is generally via large hubs in each system, which have permanent, high bandwidth, links to each other. |
| - | ==== FTL sensors ==== | + | ==== FTL sensors - ZIDAR ==== |
| - | Any ZED drive ship has a lump of neutronium at its core. This can be detected instantaneously - provided you are looking in the right place. This is because the neutronium will scatter the signal used for FTL communications, and this backscatter can be detected if you are close enough (the same is true for any object large enough to have an external Zigman radius, such as a planet, but they don't tend to move unpredictably). As a general rule, a planet can know every ship which is closer than about three times the distance to its moons, will probably detect an approaching ship within the system within a 2 to 3 hours, and will not detect a ship beyond the Zigman radius of the system unless it is specifically looking for it, and knows where it is likely to be. | + | Any ZED drive ship has a lump of neutronium at its core. This can be detected instantaneously - provided you are looking in the right place. This is because the neutronium will scatter the signal used for FTL communications, and this backscatter can be detected if you are close enough (the same is true for any object large enough to have an external Zigman radius, such as a planet, but they don't tend to move unpredictably). This sensing is known as ZIDAR. As a general rule, a planet can know every ship which is closer than about three times the distance to its moons, will probably detect an approaching ship within the system within a 2 to 3 hours, and will not detect a ship beyond the Zigman radius of the system unless it is specifically looking for it, and knows where it is likely to be. |
| In the later stages of the war, carrier ships were used which would park well outside the system, before sending in many smaller ships with non-neutronium based drives to avoid detection. | In the later stages of the war, carrier ships were used which would park well outside the system, before sending in many smaller ships with non-neutronium based drives to avoid detection. | ||
space_travel.1554998232.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/04/11 15:57 by gm_rose
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