Craig,
The ship is stationary and accelerating from its perspective and current
velocity. Only outside observers believe that it is gaining mass. Another
observer might conclude that the mass of the exhaust radiation is greater in
the same proportion as the overall mass is increasing which would result in a
thrust that compensates. Try to look at the problem from the viewpoint of the
space man on board and you might come to some interesting conclusions.
For example, say the mass of the ship and everything on board has doubled from
our outside viewpoint at a certain velocity. Any radiation exhausting as
thrust would likewise have two times the earlier mass that we observed. This
extra momentum would generate a net total thrust that exactly balances the
extra ship mass so the total acceleration is the same. I suspect this
relationship holds true for outside observers. Those on board measure constant
acceleration regardless of the velocity of outside observers.
Dave
-----Original Message-----
From: Craig <cchayniepub...@gmail.com>
To: vortex-l <vortex-l@eskimo.com>
Sent: Fri, Nov 15, 2013 5:23 am
Subject: Re: [Vo]:Local Calculated Velocity of Space Ship
On 11/15/2013 01:44 AM, David Roberson wrote:
Steven,
The hypothetical ship is undergoing an acceleration of 10 "G's". This
is determined by an accelerometer on board that is quite accurate. If
this level of acceleration is applied for the 1 year period, then I
can calculate that my resulting velocity would be approximately 10
times c greater than the initial velocity of the ship.
As a ship approaches the speed of light, its mass increases such
that any force being used to accelerate it would be applied to a growing
mass. At the speed of light, the theoretical mass of the ship becomes
infinite, preventing any further increase in speed.
Craig
