Beta and Higher Notice for 01/03/2020
Added 2020-01-04 00:59:10 +0000 UTCENGINE LIST 1
added new section RADIOISOTOPE ELECTROSTATIC
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#radioisoes
UNOBTAINIUM
added new section STELLAR ENGINES
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/unobtanium.php#stareng
EMBARKING
added new section EHRICKE SLIDE LANDER
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/embarking.php#slider
MACROECONOMICS
added to Slower-Than-Light Economics a quote from THE FOURTH PROFESSION
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/macroecon.php#monk
ADVANCED DESIGN
added more images to the CARGO SHIP section
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/advdesign.php#newcargo
added more images to the CARGO CONTAINER section
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/advdesign.php#newbelly
added more images to the SPACE TRUCK section
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/advdesign.php#newtruck
FASTER THAN LIGHT
added to Common Handwaves a quote from THE SKY IS FILLED WITH SHIPS
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fasterlight.php#reducedist1
SPACE FIGHTERS
added to Space Fighters In Fiction a quote from THE SKY IS FILLED WITH SHIPS
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fighter.php#fillship
FABULOUS LOCATIONS
added to Secret Asteroid Base a quote from CITADEL OF LOST SHIPS
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/location.php#romany
SPACEWAR: DETECTION
added to Strategic FTL Sensors a quote from THE SKY IS FILLED WITH SHIPS
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/spacewardetect.php#ftlrad1
SETTLEMENT
expanded the quote A GENERAL THEORY OF LIVING SYSTEMS
http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/stellarcolony.php#livingsystem04
Comments
Yikes! that is a recipe for disaster. I know a designer can angle the exhaust nozzles but then you start having cosine losses.
Nyrath
2020-01-06 17:26:34 +0000 UTCIt also bugs me when they're not standardized within a setting. Air freight manages with about two dozen custom sizes, but they have a lot of infrastructure involved for that and the containers aren't intermodal--as I understand it, they break bulk and load into other containers a lot of the time just before/after shipping by air.
Rob
2020-01-06 16:47:30 +0000 UTCI wonder about the engines mounted just "above"/"below" or "beside" long trains of containers in the cargo trains or space trucks. NASA AMES did an analysis of the Skylon vehicle in 2015 and found that due to how far forward the engines are (attempting to avoid C.G. problems as the vehicle burns propellant by moving the heavy engines to the center of mass of the prop tanks, keeping consistent CG throughout burn), the SABRE plumes expand enough as the vehicle gets above Mach 12 and into low enough ambient air that the plumes would directly impinge on the aft end of the fuselage and tail, resulting in temperatures of 2250 C and above--pretty scary numbers. See page 14 or 15 of the linked PDF. I'd hate to see what the temperature from any plume impingement looks like if you get a little of a torchship's thrust hitting your thin-skinned cargo boxes the same way... https://www.nas.nasa.gov/assets/pdf/papers/Mehta_Unmeel_Skylon2015.pdf
Rob
2020-01-06 16:44:27 +0000 UTCWhenever I see cargo containers with beveled edges or octagonal cross sections, I go "Why? You can't stack them, and when it comes to packing them, you can't beat rectangles." We use rectangular cross sectional containers because they have the densest packing, and they are the size they are as the containers are designed for the lowest common denominator transport: A truck. They have to fit on a standard flatbed and be no wider than the smallest vehicle that can carry them.
John
2020-01-04 01:43:00 +0000 UTC
