Traveller-digest      Friday, August 27 1999      Volume 1999 : Number 1028



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Augustus Deo-class Fast Liner (GTL10)
Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard)
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: OT but related: More art
Re: Will the real Strephon..... 
Re: starship materials
Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard) 
OT but related: More Art
Re: GT Armor - Cheaper Merchants, Faster Combat Craft
Formatting
Reality-enhanced Traveller
Website down (again)
OT : Dennis Ashelford
Metric Madness
Contragrav and GURPS Combat
Re: Duplicate Fleets of The Imperium.
Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard) 
Re: Missing Fleets of the Imperial Navy.
Re: Streamlining
Re: Website down (again)
Re: Missing Fleets of the Imperial Navy.
Re: slightly OT: Looking to locate...
Re: Orion Drive Modules
Re: metric units
Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)
Re: Large merchant vessels

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:33:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Houghton <herveus@Radix.Net>
Subject: Re: Augustus Deo-class Fast Liner (GTL10)

Howdy!

> Augustus Deo-class Fast Liner (GTL10)
> 
[snip]
> In 998 Deepak Rao, the notorious terrorist, was captured when he attempted
> to hijack the Australis Deo. Although observers expected a lengthy trial,
> Rao unexpected pleaded guilty, calling himself a "very bad man who should
> be locked away until he can behave himself." While Confederation
> counter-terrorist experts were astonished, the passengers and crew of the
> Australis Deo were unsurprised. "Even my young niece told him that," said
> Hengabar Spofulam. "It is no surprise that he realized it himself." Further
> details of the incident, including how untrained civilians overpowered the
> ex-commando, have been classified a state secret by Solomani Security.
> 
splort!

yours,
Michael
- -- 
Michael and MJ Houghton   | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus@radix.net         | White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA            | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
                          | http://www.radix.net/~herveus/

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:35:05 EDT
From: AveNelso@aol.com
Subject: Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard)

In a message dated 8/26/99 11:54:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
eris@pcola.gulf.net writes:

<< 
 I'll refrain from asking "why in the world you'd want to do that!" and just 
say, that I agree that the TML is a pretty civil list.  Yes, we have our 
disagreements, but even at their worse they are more polite than most online 
forums.
  >>

    Sorry, but I seem doomed to DM D&D, since that's what the players I find 
want ot play, and I got momentarily excited about the 3rd edition news about 
D&D.  One day I'll run Traveller again,  I bide my time with my new D&D 
players, but it will happen when they're ready.

        Dave Nelson

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 13:46:48 +0100
From: Phil Kitching <postmark.design@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

At 12:24 25/08/1999 -0700, Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com wrote:

>Nah, it requires a different kind of force.  It's true that a strangely
>shaped ship (close or open structure) will be subject to substantial torque,
>but many unstreamlined ships are basically shaped like large bricks, and
>aren't going to be terribly unstable.

Sorry, wrong answer!

A Brick (according to High Guard) is partially streamlined and can refuel
from a gas giant.

The only unstreamlined configurations are either asteroids or type 7.

Now an oil rig at sea could be given thrusters in their legs equivalent
to 1G and fly around in space without breaking up.

However I wouldn't want to try and fly one through an atmosphere.

Phil Kitching


- --
  http://www.btinternet.com/~salvo/
  Postmark Design Bureau, Emerging Technologies Division.
 "Microwaving half-baked ideas from across the Galaxy"

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:57:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Houghton <herveus@Radix.Net>
Subject: Re: OT but related: More art

Howdy!

> A quick note. I've uplaoded a render of the grav tank I've been working
> on. Take alook and let me know what you think.
> 
> P.S.If these notes are bothering people let me know and I'll stop, it's
> judt the feed back has been really helpful.
> 
> Address:
> http://members.home.net/travelleri/index.html
> 
Nice work...but what is OT about it? 

yours,
Michael
- -- 
Michael and MJ Houghton   | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
herveus@radix.net         | White Wolf and the Phoenix
Bowie, MD, USA            | Tablet and Inkle bands, and other stuff
                          | http://www.radix.net/~herveus/

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:52:46 -0400
From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>
Subject: Re: Will the real Strephon..... 

> >There's 'nearly undefeatable' and there's 'nearly undefeatable'.  Somebody
> >who's highly connected to the local politics and can get away with just
> about
> >anything is one thing.  An entity that takes the death of hudreds to
> >thousands to defeat is another.
> 
> 
> Okay Keven - guess which one of the above you guys are up against?

#2 of course.  Somebody who's gonna cost us a few hundred lives or more to take out.  *IF* we can take them out...

Keven

- -- 
tc++ tm+ tn t4- to ru++ ge+ 3i c+ jt au st- ls pi+ ta+ he+ so- vi zh sy
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Science-Fiction Adventure
                                                     In Reavers' Deep

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 99 13:23:02 +0000
From: igor@truserve.com
Subject: Re: starship materials

I'd vote for allowing military ships only to use some of the more advanced armor types -
 this just makes sense to me. I will be doing this in my own campaign (wait till later 
today, and the new Atlantis will be posted).

I would limit the armor types to the metal class - no composites or laminates. While 
this might be a largely artificial limitation, it bridges the gap - it allows a little 
variation between civilian and military, but still stays a little closer to CT.

IMHO, of course...

Andy

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:16:41 -0400
From: "Keven R. Pittsinger" <jamstar@accesstoledo.com>
Subject: Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard) 

> In a message dated 8/26/99 11:54:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
> eris@pcola.gulf.net writes:
> 
> << 
>  I'll refrain from asking "why in the world you'd want to do that!" and just 
> say, that I agree that the TML is a pretty civil list.  Yes, we have our 
> disagreements, but even at their worse they are more polite than most online 
> forums.
>   >>
> 
>     Sorry, but I seem doomed to DM D&D, since that's what the players I find 
> want ot play, and I got momentarily excited about the 3rd edition news about 
> D&D.  One day I'll run Traveller again,  I bide my time with my new D&D 
> players, but it will happen when they're ready.

Ever think of running a PBEM?

Keven

- -- 
tc++ tm+ tn t4- to ru++ ge+ 3i c+ jt au st- ls pi+ ta+ he+ so- vi zh sy
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                     Science-Fiction Adventure
                                                     In Reavers' Deep

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:18:03 -0400
From: Walter Smith <SmithW@HARTWICK.EDU>
Subject: OT but related: More Art

Michael Houghton wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
> A quick note. I've uplaoded a render of the grav tank I've been working
> on. Take alook and let me know what you think.
> 
> P.S.If these notes are bothering people let me know and I'll stop, it's
> judt the feed back has been really helpful.
> 
> Address:
> http://members.home.net/travelleri/index.html
> 
Nice work...but what is OT about it? 
>>>>>>>>>>
I concur, these notes (and the artwork they point me to) I find very 
*On* Topic. Once I start running Traveller again, I look forward to
saying to my players, "You get off the maglev at the starport
and see this**."

** I'll probably be pointing to one of Jesse's starport pics. I might,
however, be pointing to another pic of a grav tank opening fire....<G>

Walt Smith

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:30:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Prior <robert_prior@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: GT Armor - Cheaper Merchants, Faster Combat Craft

Comrade Husdon writes:
>...
>>Remember that we're trying to model CT here, not min-max GURPS Vehicles.
>
>  So rather than using Striker & CT, you're developing an entire separate
>system and trying to retroactively bug-fix it? What are you, some kind of
>Mac user or something?

I thought we decided I was Third Assistant Undersecretary For Superfluous
Redundant Rules. :-)

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:35:04 -0400
From: Ian Ferguson <ian@vax2.concordia.ca>
Subject: Formatting

Darryl writes:
<snipped>
>CgUBCAAAAAA9AnwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA>AAA
>AAAAAAAAAAABPgIBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA>AAA
>AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/////////////////////5P/S/8n/xP/C/8H//////////////////>///
>/+T/0v/J/8T/wv/B///////////////////////k/9L/yf/E/8L/wf///////////////////>///
>5P/S/8n/xP/C/8H//////////////////////+T/0v/J/8T/wv/B////2P/IANT/ANn/xwDt/>8cA
>xP8A1f8A///////////w/9j/zP/G/8P/wv///9j/APX/AMb/AOz/AMb/AMP/ANX/AP///////>///
>8P/Y/8z/xv/D/8L////Y/wD1/wDH/wDr/wDH/wDC/wDV/wD///////////D/2P/M/8b/w//C/>///
>2P8Ayf8Axf8Aw//EAMT/AMT/wwDE/wDB/8QAyP8Ax/8AxP/DAMP/AMT/AMT/AMT/wwDE/wDB/>8MA
<snipped>

and Alex Ingram writes:
<snipped>
>JVBERi0xLjIgDQol4uPP0w0KIA0KMTAgMCBvYmoNCjw8DQovTGVuZ3RoIDExIDAgUg0KL0Zp
>bHRlciBbIC9BU0NJSTg1RGVjb2RlIC9GbGF0ZURlY29kZSAgXQ0KPj4NCnN0cmVhbQ0KODtY
>RUxnTik6RScpX24zSzpYRlJoI09LJFUhJzNpSlJPbUwhOFNZT2lLcGh1NlopLSktLTc1JWxT
>a2tEPDw8N2wNCnAyJ0BnLEUrQ2FaOy4hNCZmQ3VTWig1bEkjPGc2YmdqW1IocVI1NUc+RDxP
>YyJnNVt0blQrQi5cTUpTYGo3TmtGDQpzL1NARkFlMD4qVFVwITxgWzg1MEloS1RjOCNDaTJx
>IiFPTENcQ0hWb1xqayVuOEkwQjpBP2Y8YlU7YCQuYm1dNQ0KaGksZzBtZVpEbGFOZjphUj5a
>IUZnRz04dTJuSSlxb2tpVD9eSEVNMCxHYDFDPDNvcDptOSphLGFOMytoVlIuYGgNCi9ucFVp
>OlMhOHUmUjdhNTd1KyFcLC1XTSZucEBQIj1TNT1BcHRnVVkjYmZfI1FhOGVzPGIsOk4sIkgo
>cyliWkpjDQpBLitlNCZdc0E3YT9EVmc5XGxnbFM+UDZDRUxKLiJQI18lRiYyR0RDJDBSW2Y0
>I2UiOERJYkhJYkk8VEBtMz5kNg0KTG8qLmsuI29IaShlJVNtUThJRjY1b3QiQSRVMCEvQStM
>M0NmQD1rKE9VWmNEK3FebFNNIlQ4IyZsck9XOSZfYlYNCk9RRlN0YVFdSnIjRW9raVomN1Uy
<snipped>

	You probably don't know that you are sending this stuff to
	the TML, I assume that it has something to do with the
	formatting that your e-mail uses (is this a MIME thing?).
	I got over 250 lines of that stuff in each post, is there 
	anything you can do to avoid it?

	:-) thanks

Peez

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:38:49 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: Reality-enhanced Traveller

For those of you who enjoy using Real Life(tm) photos of
planetary bodies to enhance the "Traveller experience",
the closest pictures ever taken by NASA's Galileo spacecraft of 
Jupiter's volcanic moon Io will be unveiled Friday, August 27, at
8 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time, at the following Internet addresses:

     http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov 
     http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/sepo	
     http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo
     http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

That's _today_, folks; about 90 minutes from now.

The images are in true color (as they would appear to the naked eye) and
in enhanced false color.  They reveal a patchwork of pastels, punctuated by
areas of black, brown, green, orange and red, near Io's active volcanic
centers.  The pictures were taken on July 3, 1999, as Galileo passed closer
to Io than it has since it entered orbit around Jupiter in December 1995.  

BTW, the spacecraft is continuing to lower its orbit toward Io, the most
volcanic body in our solar system, in preparation for two closer flybys of
Io in October and November.  The upcoming flybys are expected to yield
images of unprecedented clarity and detail.  In case anyone isn't
familiar with Io, the radiation belts of Jupiter are very intense at Io's
distance from the huge planet, and this can disrupt spacecraft functioning.
If fact, it already has but the flight team was able to compensate for the
damage. Unfortunately, some rather valuable data was permanently lost.
To insure that Galileo will be able to perform science observations from
this
unique vantage point, the Galileo flight team is preparing contingency plans
to protect against radiation-related problems.

Most of the above was plagiarized shamelessly from an email I received from
NASA.

Oh, yeah. Expect the sites above to be absolutely overwhelmed.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 01:51:15 +1200
From: "Andrew Moffatt-Vallance" <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
Subject: Website down (again)

It would appear that my website is down yet again. Anybody got any
good reccommendations for an alternative host?


Andrew etc
http://users.netaccess.co.nz/amv/
    Listening to way too much Dave Brubeck

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 08:54:14 -0500
From: "Smart, David J (David)" <dasmart@lucent.com>
Subject: OT : Dennis Ashelford

Darryl posted:
>
>For those gamers in NSW Australia, it is with deep regret that I write this
>(and appologise the waste of bandwith).
>
>Dennis Ashelford, long time gamer, former convenor of the SAGA conventions
>and manager of Atlantis Gaming, passed away last night (26/8/99).
>
>I have little details, but if you email me directly I will pass any news on
>about funeral arangements as I get them.

Darryl, remembering good friends who have been lost is never a waste of
bandwidth.

If I may...

"To absent friends"

David

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:59:32 -0400
From: Ethan Henry <egh@klg.com>
Subject: Metric Madness

> > "Eight-be-four sheet of six mil ply"  (8' x 4' x 6mm)
> 
> Isn't that 8' x 4' x .006"?

People who grew up on metric and are not particularly measuring-unit-picky
have a tendancy to abbreviate millimeters as "mils", which, of course,
is a really, really bad thing to do. 6 mils != 6 millimeters.

I also read something where someone who used "clicks" for seconds, when
__everybody__ knows that a click is a kilometer. ;)

Anyway, since there have been a dozen digests since my last post, I'll reply
in bulk here...

While the definition of an amp using two infinitely thin, long wires may seem
hard to use for calibration, it's onviously a good model to use for doing
mathematical calculations. Presumably there's some sort of ugly integral
you're supposed to do to turn the standard definition into something more
useful.

The fundamental quantities, for those curious, are: length, mass, time,
electric current, therodynamic temperature, amount of substance & luminous
intensity. A free peanut for the first person to name all the units.
(Hint: http://www.its.bldrdoc.gov/fs-1037/dir-019/_2826.htm)

Ah-ha. (Sorry for the train of thought post here). The definition of a second,
from encyclopedia.com:

   "Since 1967 [the second] has been calculated by atomic standards to be
    9,192,631,770 periods of vibration of the radiation emitted at a 
    specific wavelength by a cesium-133 atom."

And as for engineers wearing messy lab coats... lab coats?? My sister had one
when she was doing her chem eng research, but us over the the computer
engineering building, we just had to make sure not to drop the waveguides on
our toes. :)
- --
Ethan Henry                                            egh@klg.com
Java Evangelist, KL Group                       http://www.klg.com
               "Software Development Productivity"

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 23:44:23 +1000
From: "AB" <ab@rossmack.com>
Subject: Contragrav and GURPS Combat

A thought:

On pg170 of the GURPS Traveller rulebook it talks about gravity effects on
ship movement.

Why can't I just turn on my CG lifters and ignore this rule?

- -AB

------------------------------

Date: 27 Aug 1999 07:04:40 -0700
From: draper@uswestmail.net
Subject: Re: Duplicate Fleets of The Imperium.

IIRC, the germans at the end of WWII designated two SS divisisions with the
same number.  The book I was reading wrote it off to the confusions resulting
from the collapsing state.

The pre-rebellion Imperium has no such excuse.  It is probably just another
example of a misprint which becomes canon which players have to justify with
some dubious rationalization.

I like the rationalizations people are coming up with though.


Signup for your free USWEST.mail Email account http://www.uswestmail.net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 07:16:04 -0700
From: "Benyamene' ZeAbe' Akella" <xrp@sierratel.com>
Subject: Re: List Civility (was Re: Insulting Leonard) 

> Ever think of running a PBEM?

I've never done so, how are such things handled? Is there a PBEM FAQ? I have
begun to consider this as an option due to my three mile driveway. I would
rather play however. I've been the main arbiter for my group for around a
decade, and I want a break!
BZA
////////////////////////////////////////
Akella 0609 C654474-6 S kk+ hi++ as+ va+ dr+ da+ so@ zh- vi+  A523
IMTU tc++ ?t4 ru@ 3i+(-) c+ jt au@ st- ls+ pi+ ta@ he+

------------------------------

Date: 27 Aug 1999 07:23:05 -0700
From: draper@uswestmail.net
Subject: Re: Missing Fleets of the Imperial Navy.

I remember reading that squadrons would sometimes be permanently deactivated
for performing miserably or for being on the wrong side in the civil war or a
palace coup.  Was that in Spinward Marches Campaign?  Maybe these missing
fleets had the same fate befall them.

Historically, many states have disbanded units for participating in coups.
However, when a unit performs miserably in battle I can remember more
instances where a unit is shamed and then given a chance to redeem
itself.  Perhaps in a suicide mission.  But even units that are completely
anhialated are usually reconstituted (like Germany's 6th Army and its
components).


Signup for your free USWEST.mail Email account http://www.uswestmail.net

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 15:22:55 +0100
From: Phil Kitching <postmark.design@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Streamlining

At 15:57 26/08/1999 PST, shadow@krypton.rain.com (Leonard Erickson) wrote:
>In mail you write:
>
>> At 04:37 PM 08/25/1999 +0100, you wrote:
>>>At 10:11 25/08/1999 -0400, Kurt Feltenberger wrote:
>>>
>>> >I always figured that it could be done if enough time was allotted to the
>>> >process.  Even in Adv 7, Broadsword, it has the Broadsword "grounded" at
>>> >the starport.
>>>
>>>Isn't Broadsword one of those partially streamlined designs that can skim
>>>fuel from a gas giant?
>>
>> It can skim, but according to the hull form (and book 2) it was unable to 
>> land on a planet.
>
>Which is just plain *silly*. If you can skim, you can take strains that
>you'd *never* encounter in landing on a normal planet. <sigh>

Which is why I prefer FF&S2/T4 which doesn't have *this* sillyness.

Phil Kitching
- --
  http://www.btinternet.com/~salvo/
  Postmark Design Bureau, Emerging Technologies Division.
 "Microwaving half-baked ideas from across the Galaxy"

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 10:44:01 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: Website down (again)

[sound of throat clearing]  Well, in my not-so-humble opinion, Downport.com
would be a great choice. :-)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The TRAVELLER Domain
http://www.downport.com
Colin Michael, Webslinger

- ----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew Moffatt-Vallance <a.vallance@netaccess.co.nz>
> It would appear that my website is down yet again. Anybody got any
> good reccommendations for an alternative host?

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:47:25 -0500 (CDT)
From: Steven Bonneville <bonnevil@ima.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: Missing Fleets of the Imperial Navy.

Clifford N Linehan <cnl.rubicon@juno.com>, wrote:

> It had crossed my mind that the fleet numbers might have been "retired"
> because all ships of that fleet sacrificed themselves for the Imperium by
> "Holding the Line".

Or that they were defeated soundly enough in, say, the Solomani Rim War,
that the number was retired until memories fade or the defeat is erased.
To trot out the Romans again, during the reign of Augustus, three entire
legions were wiped out in a surprise attack while on an expedition in 
Germany.  (Prompting the famous quote from Augustus, "Quintilius Varus,
give me back my legions!"  Considering that Varus had been decapitated
and partially burned by the Germans, he really couldn't respond.)  I
don't think the Romans reconstituted legions with those designations.

> >One item I noted is that the 208th Fleet is not in imperial space
> >(Spinward Marches/SS M) but an imperial ally. In fact, the imperium is
> >separated by nearly a parsec.
>
> I noted that also; I would mark it up to being an area of "interest" to
> the Imperium.

Should be; isn't that Five Sisters subsector?  That's the furthest 
extension of the Imperium to spinward, cut off from the main body of
the Imperium by the Sword Worlds and District 268 (vaguely under 
Imperial protection but unincorporated).

  -- Steve Bonneville

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 13:07:02 +0100
From: Chris Thompson <u12ct@abdn.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: slightly OT: Looking to locate...

Could you please send the word 97 docs to me I've been trying to get in
to the site for ages but no luck.

Michael Peters wrote:
> 
> Well, I haven't been able to get anything but the subdirectory headers
> with a browser. My FTP program wouldn't register at all. Thankfully
> Keven sent me, what I beleive are complete copies of the files. I'm in
> the process of converting them to Word 97 format so that I can "scan"
> them.


- -- 
Chris T
If I should fall to rise no more
As many comrades did before 
Then ask the fifes and drums to play
Over the hill and far away

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:43:43 -0400
From: Juliean Galak <jg42@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Orion Drive Modules

At 02:43 AM 8/27/99 -0400, you wrote:


>
> > > Robert Prior <robert_prior@sympatico.ca> wrote:
> > >>
> > >>>> An interesting description of an Orion drive was in "Footfall" and 
> then
> > > one
> > >>>> was shown in "Deep Impact".
> > >>>
> > >>>Or, for a less spectacular (non-nuclear) variant, there's the
> > >>>explosive-shell craft in _King David's Spaceship_.
> > >>
> > >>
>
>Possible spoilers below for King David's Space Ship
>
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>=
>
>Seems to me that theis space craft was designed based on Jules Verns
> From the Earth to the Moon, which was found in the Imperial library
>archive that was the target of the first part of the book. A giant
>cannon launced the capsule which depended on the Imperial's kindness to
>recover. The heroes had recovered a number of other alternative but they
>couldn't be implemented in time with local tech (roughly 18th - 19th
>century). 'Course it's been several years since I reread it, so I could
>be wrong.

Umm, not quite.  What actually happened was a cross between that and 
Orion.  The ship had an Orion/style blast plate at the bottom, and a 
_ground_ based VRF Cannon fired explosive shells at it.  The shells were 
designed to go off just under the plate, and thus provide propulsion.

           -- Juliean Galak (a.k.a. Falcon)

- --
jg42@cornell.edu        "I do not agree with a word you say, but I will
                          defend to the death your right to say it."
                                              -- Francois Marie Voltaire
#include <disclaimer.h> "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
                          			     -- Albert Einstein
for PGP public-key and
more quotes, finger: jg42@gerfalcon.tzo.com
WWW Page: http://www.cadif.cornell.edu/~falcon/                

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 17:06:40 +0100
From: Martin Hardgrave <martin@deira.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: metric units

In message <37C48D55.7840056B@premier.net>, Black ICE
<wombat@premier.net> writes
>Ian Ferguson wrote:
>> 
>> Anthony Jackson writes:
>> >Why should it?  Americans mix terms all the time.  Volts, Watts, and
>> >Amperes are all metric units, and used in this country.
>> 
>>         Most people will look at you strangely if you ask them for
>>         a 0.08 horsepower lightbulb  :-)
>
>*cups hand to ear* Watt did you say?
>
>
ITYM "fluid ounces hand to ear".  HTH HAND.
- -- 
Martin Hardgrave

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 09:23:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Anthony Jackson <ajackson@molly.iii.com>
Subject: Re: Thrust effects (was HEPlar lives!)

Leonard Erickson writes:
> > Uh...no.  You can generate a 15 degree/second rotation in _one_ second.
> 
> Please re-read my post. 15 degrees per second gives a 24 second time to
> revolve 360 degrees. That makes the "period of revolution" 24 seconds.
> *That* is the "period of rotation" I'm talking about. 

My point is that the fact that you can rotate 15 degrees in one second, starting from _no_ rotation, does _not_ imply a 24 second time to rotate 360 degrees.
> 
> >> So if the ship is 20 meters long, you need 0.04g of acceleration from
> >> your thrusters to meet the turning specs for dodging.
> >
> > To do it in one turn, you need 0.96 Gs.
> 
> Huh? Where did you get *that* figure?

You can get a 15 degree/second turning rate in _one_ second.
> 
> a=4pi*2r/t^2
> 
> .96g=8pi*r/t^2
> 9.408=8*pi*10/t^2
> 9.408*t^2=80*pi
> t^2=80*pi/9.408
> t^2=~26.7
> t=~5.2
> 
> So a turn is 5 seconds? 

Probably.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:01:42 -0400
From: Juliean Galak <jg42@cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Large merchant vessels

At 04:58 AM 8/27/99 -0600, you wrote:

>"[L]arge scale trade calls for large scale ships to carry it out. Such
>trading ships are generally huge bulk carriers with displacements in the
>multi-kiloton range." Traders and Gunboats, p. 18.
>
>Fighting ships mentions "10,000 or 20,000-ton bulk [cargo] carriers" (p.
>25), but says that "commercial ships of [50,000 dtons] are unknown in the
>Spinward Marches" in 1101-1107 (p. 44). Whether they exist later, or closer
>to the core, is a matter for speculation.

yup.  I remember that.  I've always assumed they exist to coreward.

One thing to keep in mind, is that IRL, cargo vessels have always exceeded 
military vessels in size.  Even a modern aircraft carrier is dwarfed by a 
supertanker.  Just remember that the cargo ship are mostly empty space, 
whereas military ships are all equipment....



           -- Juliean Galak (a.k.a. Falcon)

- --
jg42@cornell.edu        "I do not agree with a word you say, but I will
                          defend to the death your right to say it."
                                              -- Francois Marie Voltaire
#include <disclaimer.h> "Imagination is more important than knowledge"
                          			     -- Albert Einstein
for PGP public-key and
more quotes, finger: jg42@gerfalcon.tzo.com
WWW Page: http://www.cadif.cornell.edu/~falcon/                

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1028
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