TRAVELLER Digest 516

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Extraodinarily interesting concept... by "Bruce Johnson" <JOHNSON@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>
  2) Re: Question about Black Globes by "Brendan O'Donovan" <Brendan@odonovan.demon.co.uk>

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Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 16:05:57 MST7
From: "Bruce Johnson" <JOHNSON@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Extraodinarily interesting concept...
Message-ID: <17116BB65F0@tonic.pharm.Arizona.EDU>

Check out the web site:

<A HREF="http://www-igpp.llnl.gov/papers/SHARP/"></A>

This describes a two stage hypervelocity gun, that's been built at
Lawrence Livermore National Labs.  They use it to test materials at
extremely high pressures and velocities.  I think it's a fascinating
concept for some of those downtrodden TED's to defend themselves from
the RC, Virus, or just about anyone you want.

I'll let their own words describe it:

"In the fall of 1994 we had the opportunity to witness and
participate in a series of hypervelocity experiments at the SHARP
(Super High Altitude Research Project) facility at Lawrence
Livermore National Lab. The SHARP gas gun is the largest two-stage
light gas gun in the world and is used as a hypersonic research
facility. Projectiles 1-10 kg in mass are fired horizontally into
air, past high-speed diagnostic equipment (roughly 20 m flight path),
and into a projectile-retaining area, a concrete bunker filled with
sand. Recent experiments testing hypervelocity scram-jet engines
provided us with the opportunity to conduct a hypervelocity impact
experiment at no cost with a total energy (20 MJ) more than 3 orders
of magnitude larger than previous studies. "

20 MJ at TL 8...heh heh heh...you have your basic drop ship assault
going when KAH-WHOOM...your RC Cruiser is half gone, and there is no
clear picture of where it came from...no sensor trace on any missile,
no beam trace, just a gaping hole where your engineering section was.

There are descriptions of the design of two stage guns in the Web
page, as well as further bibliographic reference material.  Sounds
like another thing the Guild might just sell those wealthier TEDS out
there, like the 'crunch guns' (in the back of 'Path of
Tears'...basically 14.5 mm sniper rifles) that are popping up.

BTW, is anyone else as disgusted by the breakdown of the FFS rules
for those rifles as I am...if they were designed with FFS?  They're
about three times as heavy as real rifles of the type...69 kg!  The
Barrett .50 cal sniper rifle in current use by the US armed forces is
only 22 kg, and it's not much smaller (12.5 mm) than the 14.5 mm
caliber of the crunch gun.


Bruce Johnson
Information Technology/College of Pharmacy
The University of Arizona
johnson@tonic.pharm.arizona.edu


As if this place HAD any opinions...

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Date: Sat, 16 Dec 1995 15:14:20 GMT
From: "Brendan O'Donovan" <Brendan@odonovan.demon.co.uk>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Question about Black Globes
Message-ID: <140@odonovan.demon.co.uk>


> > Another question, this one a little more wacky.  Can you operate
> > a Black Globe in an atmosphere.  From reading FFS, I didn't think so,
> > but wanted to know what everyone else thought.  I was thinking about
> > vehicles with Black GLobes.  I don't think it is a practical idea,
> > but it was one of those weird ideas that pop up while reading FFS.
>
> The FFS section on BGs states that if it comes in contact with anything
> over 50tons (asteroids, planets, etc.) it blows up.
>
> -Merrick
>
It would certainly blow up if an asteroid passed through the globe, but the
reason it explodes is that the matter passing through the globe is cooled to
absolute zero, which for any appreciable mass is so high as to blow the
capacitors. However, if a black globe was hovering stationary in the
atmosphere, the mass passing through the globe through air diffusion might be
low enough that it wouldn't blow up. As such the black globe could operate as a
giant powerstation, extracting heat from the air and beaming the energy to
terrestrial stations as the globe flickers. The visual impact of this sort of
power station would be impressive, as liquified air falls from the bottom of
the globe, precipitating water out of the atmosphere below to form a region of
snow below. Worlds using this power source heavily might even cultivate a
greenhouse effect to prevent excessive global cooling.
In military situations it would be harder to use black globes, as movement
would increase the energy traffic, and the globe would have a smaller margin
with which to deal with enemy fire.
--
Brendan

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End of TRAVELLER Digest 516
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