Questions tagged [spaceships]
For questions involving implemented theory or technology for travelling through space. Consider also [space-travel]. See also the tag information (click "info") for more details on when this tag applies.
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Is a "20th century" spacefaring civilization plausible?
This civilization has computational technology roughly equivalent to Earth's in the late 20th century. We're talking post-moon landing, but pre-Internet (roughly 1969-1983). They may or may not have ...
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Interception of missiles in space combat
How to approach this problem!
Numerically. Trying to find some closed form equation to spit things out is extremely difficult, especially in the face of how well this lends itself to numeric methods. ...
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How fast can a cylinder spin, with a human on its inner wall, to NOT experience motion sickness?
Context
I'm working on an interstellar Ark made of a few (probably 3 to be more specific) layers of cylinders (modified O'Neil's concept), while trying to get the station to be as compact as possible. ...
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Why would a sublight Alcubierre drive be more useful for braking than for propulsion?
To get to the point, ships in the setting I'm working on still use a conventional, albeit very advanced, form of rocket propulsion.
However interstellar ships also use a sublight Alcubierre drive ...
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I have an unlimited supply of antimatter -- how do I actually make my spaceship go?
I'm making a book series set in the medium and far future of humanity, at various stages. Some elements are based in harder science than others. Throughout the timeline, Dyson swarms serve as the VIP ...
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How would a multipurpose railgun work
In my game, spaceships need to have weapons with more than one purpose, due to the cost of hauling extra weight across interplanetary/interstellar space. My railgun needs to be able to fire plasma ...
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is wood a viable material to build space craft?
So, Im writing a sci-fi universe, and a species in said universe is a low-population fox-like humanoid race who live on a forest-covered world. With a society that's like a summer camp and a tech ...
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Designing a portable space elevator
So, I have been trying to come up with ideas for space launch without rockets for this sci-if project, but then something occurred to me: rather than have craft jumping off and onto a planet’s surface,...
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How long would it take for an AI to build spaceships if it starts from 0? [closed]
I am writing a story were an AI, 1000 years in the future, wants to build spaceships to go into deep space.
It has all the information available for humans until the year 2100, when the global ...
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What is the best design for trans-atmospheric cargo ship?
Backdrop
This is set in a world after an empire-state that controlled the entire solar system fell. They have incredibly efficient catalyzed direct fusion drives, which powers the heavy mining and ...
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What is the difference between space-planes and rockets? [closed]
The Background
Well... for the first time, sort of, I have a question that doesn't tie directly into anything else. To define what I'm referring to, because I don't actually know the correct ...
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Orbital mechanics- 2 objects, different mass same trajectory
I have a multi-ring space station built around an asteroid, but not physically connected. Station has significantly more mass than the asteroid.
As the two approach a star and swing around it, will ...
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What is the minimum specifications for a ship to survive propulsive reentry?
Backdrop
In the ending of my book, the closing scene is the control room of the mangled and torn-up starship diving into the atmosphere (maybe not so dramatic) on its fusion engines, slowing down and ...
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How to harvest/produce industrial amounts of metallic hydrogen
For those not versed in theoretical states of matter, Metallic Hydrogen is a semi-fluid phase of hydrogen that acts like a metal, able to conduct electrons. It's also theorized to be potent rocket ...
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Maximum speed of 100% reflective light sails
So, it’s the 23rd century, and due to the cost of fuel these days, people are exploring new methods of interplanetary travel that does not require reaction mass. Light sails spring to mind.
Modern ...
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What would be the most effective shape for interlocking starfighters? [closed]
This is a question relating to my Safespace sci-fi setting, in which the Unified Intergalactic League attempts to keep peace between the litany of sapiods (a classification for intelligent creatures ...
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What would a laser-powered interstellar cargo ship look like?
Blurb
What would a ship with a 100 thousand tonne budged that needs to carry cryo-frozen cargo through 20 lightyears of interstellar space at 0.35C coasting velocity, using laser sails at both ends of ...
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Best material to make a solar sail
So, in this project o’ mine, a newly-formed world state is trying to whip humanity into shape and is making some major changes to society in order to protect the environment. First thing’s first, no ...
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What would destroying an antimatter ship look like?
The Backstory
The ship in question is a massive matter-antimatter annihilation powered starship, built by an imperialist and tyrannical government with basically unlimited budget.
The Ship
The ...
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Could fans be used to simulate gravity? [duplicate]
I am imagining alternatives to centrifugal force for creating artificial “gravity” on board spacecraft, and one idea I came up with was this: the ceilings of these craft are covered in fans, (which ...
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How to make a good landing pad for a start-up colony
Due to the expansion of humanity into the stars, landing pads have popped up on every planet with even a remote resemblance of a permanent human presence, whether they start with a dozen or a thousand ...
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How can I figure out measurements/distances and hyperspace jump time in my universe that is simple enough for readers to understand?
I'm using an alternate version of the Milky Way as my setting. I need to know how far it is from one planet/area to another, and know how long it takes to jump via hyperspace -- Yes, I realize ...
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Is there a point in a planets gravity that complex(human intelligence) life can exist but space flight is impossible?
Title but I've always wondered if there's a scale of a planets gravity and possible advancement of a species. If the gravity is too high what does it limit for technology? If the gravity is too high ...
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Can Dusty Plasma radiators protect against lasers?
From Project Rho:
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/heatrad.php#:~:text=Dusty%20Plasma%C2%A0radiator%3A
Example Image: https://twitter.com/toughsf/status/1154692082478526465
A dusty plasma ...
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Can we use magnetic fields to make metalic hydrogen for rocket fuel?
Metallic hydrogen is probably the best possible chemical rocket fuel. It would make single-stage-take-off possible. The trouble is the stuff is extremely hard to contain, and requires exotic fuel ...
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What is the maximum speed my space ship can crash at without killing people standing nearby?
The fluff:
My protagonist finds herself in an empty patch with everyone running away. As she looks up she sees a space ship come through the clouds at an angle, coming straight at her. Its on fire, ...
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Could you launch a spacecraft with turbines?
I am trying to device a spacecraft that is entirely fuel-less; that is it requires no reaction mass. It uses a wormhole-generator for interstellar flight and a magnetic sail for interplanetary ...
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If the current population of humanity along with necessities could fit on a spaceship, how large would that ship need to be?
Here's the picture. Earth is beyond saving and is too polluted to be habitable anymore. My plan is to have this ship built on the moon, using materials from our asteroid belt. A bit of a problem is, I'...
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How might derelict space ships/stations be only partially salvageable?
My setting is a fantasy where the average space-trekker subsides on scrapping derelict ships from a distant golden age in the past to maintain their own, with only the corporate rich being able to ...
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Hydroponically growing animal feed in a space ship
Same game i mentioned in my other questions. Artificial gravity, robotic harvesting/replanting, and plenty of energy are available on the ship. The farming block is 50x70x10 meters in total but i ...
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Countering Free-Electron Lidar?
In my hard sci-fi setting, there is a technology called free-electron lidar, usually deployed in space. Edit: Essentially, it is a lidar with the ability to change its laser frequency.
One free-...
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Theoretically, how well could endothermic chemical reactions work as a heat radiation system in space?
I was thinking about the problem of waste heat in a large military space craft. It seems beyond a certain technological point, the ability to dump waste heat becomes the largest problem in quickly ...
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Power Source in VENUS [closed]
**What is the best Power Source to use in VENUS to generate electrical Power by using the properties of the VENUS land? **
I was thinking about the RTG but I found a lot of disadvantages of it.
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An alien spaceship is predominantly "white" inside. What color does a human see this as? [closed]
Human-made space-travelling objects seem to follow certain colour palettes. For example the interiors of human space stations seem to have been predominantly white, or a similar neutral shade like ...
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Coilguns as spaceship thrusters second attempt
This is a second attempt for this question, the first time i put in too many different things that ended up derailing the question.
I'm in the early stages of designing a scifi game and want to use as ...
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Why can my spacefaring civilization maintain, use and even adapt their tech, but not manufacture it themselves?
What could allow a spacefaring civilization to actively construct and maintain ships, stations and weapons, but stop them from actually manufacturing the individual components?
First, let me try to ...
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Is it possible to Magnetize spaceship corridors to counter Aliens with iron weapons?
/-Transmission Received || Ansible-Sector-74 || To Prohibited Subject 248029:BA7-/
Trade Route Attacks
With the Triptite Federation being gently convinced to open their borders for trade, merchants ...
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19th century British moon landing [closed]
In the aftermath of the Monroe doctrine, the British empire decided to expand heavenward. As the nobles, captains, empiricists, electricians, and mechanics explained to the Majesty, technological ...
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How would a blind intelligent species navigate space?
I am writing about my own fictional cluster of solar systems where one planet had many environmental circumstances that lead to the majority of the planets species evolving to be blind and rely on ...
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Should cryo/hypersleep sections be placed in a rotating habitat/centrifuge? [closed]
So I have a lost colony ship that's been wandering space for "many many many" years. The entire crew of 500 is placed in hypersleep all those time.
I'm designing a colony ship(unfinished) ...
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Field Promotion to Captain [closed]
In a future space navy universe that is heavily based on modern wet navies, would it be acceptable for a vessel XO (rank of Commander) to be field promoted to Captain from a single Fleet Admiral?
To ...
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Pro's and Con's of a starship with a tractor configuration?
I'm working on a lost colony type story where 500 colonists have and their ship went missing in interstellar space. I thought of designing a realistic starship design and kind of remembered a quirk ...
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Where should I put the bridge of a warship? [closed]
I am currently designing spaceship for my world. I want to use good ol' physics, so no handwavium here.
I assume that my crew will remain in weightlessness during maneuvers. Since there is no up and ...
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Binary system travel time for war
To set the stage, 2 opposing groups exist in the binary Alpha Centauri system. The 2 stars have a roughly 80 year orbit that brings them as close at 11 AU together and as far as 36. A ship at a 1g ...
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would this Lenz law based inertial dampener work?
Basically this "Inertial Dampening" systems works like a magnet falling though a cooper pipe https://youtu.be/5BeFoz3Ypo4
But replace the falling magnet with a crew capsule surrounded by a ...
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Practical speed limit for torch-ships
This is for a sci-fi universe depicting an interplanetary civilisation using fusion torch-ships. Think "1G for days".
For a run to Neptune at 1G the peak velocity at turnover works out to ...
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Ideal materials for the outer layer of a whipple shield
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple_shield
What I'm looking for is the best possible materials for the outer layer of a whipple shield. From what I understand, the outer layer turns a hypervelocity ...
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How much safer would a spaceship clad in ice be?
Seeing as the brand new James Webb Space Telescope's main mirror was recently hit by a micrometeroid, I figured that now would be a good time to ask about spaceship hull protection. When we think &...
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Is this concept for very low energy space travel plausible?
Humanity is on its last lap. A once great empire has been reduced to a single Dyson sphere around the dying sun, and most of the matter of the solar system has already been incorporated into this last ...
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How would a spaceship not affected by gravity navigate between planets?
Presume there exists a metal called X-matter that has all the properties of steel, except it is repulsed by normal-matter instead of attracted. (For instance, a block of it would accelerate 9.81 m/s/s ...
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