BlackBat242
SOC-14 1K
No, but they do collide over canyons.
http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/twa_united_airlines_grand_canyon.htm
Massive Luxery Liners?
- Thread starter spinwardpirate
- Start date
No, but they do collide over canyons.
http://www.aircraftarchaeology.com/twa_united_airlines_grand_canyon.htm
Just a quick comment on space being utterly predictable, that is not the same as being predicted. In the area in which spaceships will be operating, there are a variety of forces working on objects - mostly gravity but also smaller forces like solar wind. Objects will eventually reach stability or crash into something, but this can take millenia on the scale we are talking about.
What might a spaceship crash into? Biggest worry would probably be debris,say from a space war a few centuries ago or from a mining operation. Then again, at a relative speed of 100,000KPH, a candy bar wrapper (which could have been in a airlock when it evacuated) would pack a considerable wallop. I'm sure just about all naturally occurring 'junk' would not be a problem unless something really nasty happened recently (in solar terms) , but 'junk' leftover from 1000 years ago can easily still be around to cause problems.
Space may be vast, but the area where ships travel isn't as big, already Earth orbit has a litter problem and we have barely even begun to enter space. Sensors can be powerful and detect small objects at long distances, but if that object is moving at .01c (relative) the sensors have to spot it at 1,000,000 meters just to have a fraction of a second to change course, which might be a problem for the sensors if it is something small as a screwdriver.
Not that I'm saying it is inevitable that space travel will be dangerous, but that it is not necessarily utterly safe.
What might a spaceship crash into? Biggest worry would probably be debris,say from a space war a few centuries ago or from a mining operation. Then again, at a relative speed of 100,000KPH, a candy bar wrapper (which could have been in a airlock when it evacuated) would pack a considerable wallop. I'm sure just about all naturally occurring 'junk' would not be a problem unless something really nasty happened recently (in solar terms) , but 'junk' leftover from 1000 years ago can easily still be around to cause problems.
Space may be vast, but the area where ships travel isn't as big, already Earth orbit has a litter problem and we have barely even begun to enter space. Sensors can be powerful and detect small objects at long distances, but if that object is moving at .01c (relative) the sensors have to spot it at 1,000,000 meters just to have a fraction of a second to change course, which might be a problem for the sensors if it is something small as a screwdriver.
Not that I'm saying it is inevitable that space travel will be dangerous, but that it is not necessarily utterly safe.
Ran Targas
SOC-14 1K
^ I think your point is spot on, Max. On frontier worlds, space junk could pose a threat to safe navigation but I think as the worlds become more sophisticated, measures would be taken to reduce the problem. The local Scout Service Auxiliary or what-have-you could track and remove objects deemed dangerous; give them a chance to shoot something every once in a while 
Maybe it's another job for retired Scouts; a local government might just hire someone with this type experience to keep their space clear of such nuisances (adventure seed!). Then again, I imagine mining permits include a clause about reporting when dangerous bits are accidently fired toward the space ways or popular spots and the like; not much different than today when dangerous activities must be coordinated with public safety organizations.
As for mid-Atlantic collisions, there's a convention followed by airlines that, since the Atlantic lacks air traffic control for a large stretch, all air traffic uniformly travels west or east across the North Atlantic during set hours. There's a great video showing world-wide air travel that demonstrates this perfectly.
Maybe it's another job for retired Scouts; a local government might just hire someone with this type experience to keep their space clear of such nuisances (adventure seed!). Then again, I imagine mining permits include a clause about reporting when dangerous bits are accidently fired toward the space ways or popular spots and the like; not much different than today when dangerous activities must be coordinated with public safety organizations.As for mid-Atlantic collisions, there's a convention followed by airlines that, since the Atlantic lacks air traffic control for a large stretch, all air traffic uniformly travels west or east across the North Atlantic during set hours. There's a great video showing world-wide air travel that demonstrates this perfectly.
