On Mon, Feb 03, 2003 at 10:26:57AM -0600, Ron Johnson wrote: > As much of a fan of "space" science fiction that I am, the pragmatist > in me must wonder if space planes will ever become practical until > some new, relatively compact and light-weight, thrust generating energy > source is invented.
Agree > Also, the *incredible* re-enrty speeds and friction will have to some- > how be ameliorated. (We're all impressed when the SR-71 travels at > Mach 3 at 26,000 meters, and it's titanium body expands so much to seal > the fuel tanks, but Columbia was traveling at Mach 17 and the nose of > the craft was so hot that it turned the atmosphere into plasma!) Agree > And it goes w/o saying that artificial gravity (that can be powered by > the same enery source that propells the ship) will have to be invented > so that man's skeletal system won't fall apart during prolonged space > travel. (Also, imagine how huch easier it would make eating, sleeping, > shaving, deficating, etc...) That sort of "artificial gravity" can be adequately simulated by spinning things - no problem there. "Real" artificial gravity would be very useful, so you could accelerate to relativistic speeds in a reasonable time without turning yourself into a monatomic layer in the process. And of course it's probably the key to building a "warp drive" (Star Trek, not an HDD with an IBM OS on it) Pigeon -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
