200 ton frontier trader

[esampson]

Is there any reason the M-drive of the "zero-gee" version of this design cannot be used to provide 'artificial gravity' while in jump. AFAIK, while it has never been said that M-drives were needed while in jump, it was also never said that M-drives could not be used while in jump.

I can't speak about MgT directly since I don't have much experience with that system but under some settings standard maneuver drives lose a great deal of their efficiency when they are more than 1000D from any significant body. Being in J-Space is considered being more than 1000D from any significant body.

 

[esampson]

T5 specifies that gravitic maneuver drives CANNOT be used in jump to alter your vector, but newtonian ones can.

I thought they still could, but at only 1% of their standard ability (this is significant because 1% of a G over an entire week is still an awful lot of velocity).

 

[Whipsnade]

In the case given above the person is in zero-g for six months. They spent less than ten percent of that time exercising, which is not the same thing as being at a full g. Compare that to someone who is spending one week in zero-g, during which they are exercising two hours a day, and then another week under normal gravity.

While the article focused on Major Peake's case, the effects mentioned still occur regardless of the amount of time spent in zero-gee - especially the optic nerve issues. The length of time spent in zero-gee merely dictates the severity of the effect and not whether the effect occurs.

A ship's crewman could spend roughly half their career in zero-gee, albeit in one week chunks. What's the effect of such chronic exposure over 10, 15, 20, or more years? Do you know? Does anyone know?

It should probably be noted that during takeoffs and descents the ship will be experiencing periods of greater than one gravity since you will have the gravity of the planet combined with the thrust of the ship...

So now we have the known effects of high gee exposure in addition to zero-gee? Let's see, among other things zero-gee softens/weakens the skin while high gee induces hemorrhoids...

That's absolutely wonderful.

(effect of the gravity well drops off much slower than most people think. Astronauts on the ISS are still under something like 95% of Earth's gravity. It is simply offset by the station's orbital energy which the ship probably won't be experiencing).

I never knew that.

That isn't to say that there is no effect on these people but given the technological level and experience with zero g that occurs in the Traveller universe these much more mild effects can probably be mitigated....

... by the magic or McGuffins Wbyrd wanted to steer clear of.

 

[esampson]

... by the magic or McGuffins Wbyrd wanted to steer clear of.

The impression I had was he wanted to avoid handwaving significant issues away through a magical pill. If the issue isn't as significant as originally stated (which is what I am proposing) then I don't think he is against saying the remaining issues are mitigated through a combination of treatments. He simply didn't want 'magical pill makes huge problem go away'.

I mean the grav plates themselves are significantly more of a magical McGuffin than two hours a day of exercise, medical treatments, modified diet, and mechanical assistance.

 

[Whipsnade]

The impression I had was he wanted to avoid handwaving significant issues away through a magical pill.

And what are special medications, special diets, and the Nordic Track 5700 if not a magic pill?

 

[esampson]

An acknowledgement of a lot more work?

 

[mike wightman]

Astronauts on the ISS are still under something like 95% of Earth's gravity. It is simply offset by the station's orbital energy which the ship probably won't be experiencing).

Good point. This has been one of my pet peeves - which even so called professional scientists get wrong all the time.

Astronauts in orbit are weightless because they are in freefall, not zero g. Even microgravity is a bit of a misnomer because the prefix micro denotes a millionth. You have to be a long way from the Earth before the gravity falls to 9.8x10^-6 (m/s^2).

 

[mike wightman]

T5 specifies that gravitic maneuver drives CANNOT be used in jump to alter your vector, but newtonian ones can.

And thus reaction drives could be used to generate thrust related 'gravity' in jump space. MgT has reaction drives...



You wouldn't even need to thrust at a full 1g.

 

[mike wightman]

An acknowledgement of a lot more work?

They can do the exercise while studying the correspondence course material to raise their Education...

 

[flykiller]

takes those primitive goods back to an advanced world and sells them as unique art pieces to collectors and those trendy rich folks

(blink) I can see that being a vastly profitable niche market.

heh. sort of a "raiders of the lost ark" themed game ....

 

[Whipsnade]

(blink) I can see that being a vastly profitable niche market.

Vastly profitable indeed.

Of course, the same Golden Pair problems will arise. There will be the usual market vagaries involving what is currently "chic" or not. Fakes and forgeries will drive a need for sellers to provide provenance for their pieces. Import and export licensing problems will most likely develop too.

As with everything, getting in on the ground floor then getting out before the bureaucrats, rent takers, and other usual suspects get involved would be the key.

Squinting at the Marches...

Craw in the Glisten subsector could be likely. There's a primitive native race and you've billions at Glisten 3 parsecs off along with billions more on Aki one parsec further away. Trouble could be caused by Craw's government however. It was described in an early JTAS article on world building as Raj-like complete with native sepoy armies.

Such a government might take a dim view of unlicensed artifact trading, especially seeing how it may be an important source of hard currency.

Tionale in the Vilis subsector could be another likely candidate. It too has a primitive native race and the human colonial presence, while self-governing, is rather tiny. Traders could easily land in the back country, make their deals, and be away before anyone even suspects.

Markets might be a problem however. Arden's billions are five parsecs off, although Regina is only four.

During my years in North Dakota, came across Edgar Wallace's Sanders novels and thought about Tionale a lot.

 

[flykiller]

yeah, glisten was the first thought I had too. as for landing in "the back country" very likely that is possible on most worlds in general and low-tech worlds in particular, those that don't have an external source of monitoring.

as for counterfeits, depends. in the 1950's united states south pacific teak wood idols were popular, hard to fake a natural material. not saying it isn't possible - you heard about that fake swiss bank gold bar that the saudi buyer pried apart on the sales room floor didn't you? - but that could be part of the game too.

 

[Brandon C]

I'm working on a 1e version and have a couple of questions.

Are the batteries required in 2e, while they are an optional power source in 1e?

Does the level of ship armor translate between the two editions?

Since 1e doesn't have missile barbettes, I reversed weaponry and went for a railgun barbette and triple beam laster.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

I'm working on a 1e version and have a couple of questions.

Are the batteries required in 2e, while they are an optional power source in 1e?

Does the level of ship armor translate between the two editions?

Since 1e doesn't have missile barbettes, I reversed weaponry and went for a railgun barbette and triple beam laster.

The batteries are not necessary, they are a way of making do with a smaller power plant. That does not translate to 1e.
The level of armour is basically the same in 1e and 2e.

 

[wbyrd]

I'm working on a 1e version and have a couple of questions.

Are the batteries required in 2e, while they are an optional power source in 1e?

Does the level of ship armor translate between the two editions?

Since 1e doesn't have missile barbettes, I reversed weaponry and went for a railgun barbette and triple beam laster.

the batteries are an optional system as AnotherDilbert pointed out. they save a little volume and a lot of credits. I installed them so the ship could maneuver and fire while prepping for a jump without having to carry a much larger reactor.

Normally a ship without batteries is stranded if a critical hit or some other situation reduces it's power output below the level needed to operate its J-drives. the batteries can be trickle charged to store enough power for a jump allowing a ship with a damaged reactor to limp home if it has enough power for basic systems.

they also make it possible to use the battery charge to power M-dives for a short period of time to build u momentum and coast toward a planet, then fire the M-dives to decelerate and insert into orbit in the event of a reactor failure. solar cells allow it to run basic systems indefinitely but the batteries ive it the ability to maneuver while the reactor is offline.

I am a big fan of railguns as a close in killing weapon, but their short range didn't work with the idea I had...mainly since an enemy could stand off outside of their range and snipe at the trader.

the missiles allowed the ship to hit fairly hard, without allowing the enemy to stand off out of railgun range and snipe with lasers or particle beams. A triple missile turret might be a suitable replacement that fires a few less missiles around..