FREEFALL1984

I would modify the design to remove any wobble making the results easier to see and record. Rebuild the machine but have it radially symmetrical both in weight and in dimensions, so the centre of balance of the device is exactly in the centre of the main shaft. Then point the whole thing at the floor and suspend it from dead centre using a cable and load cell. Then record the data recorded by the load cell onto a laptop. if you wanted to eliminate radial movement you could build two identical devices spinning in opposite directions. Once you have your weight over time data you can then determine whether the machine weighs more or less on average than it does at rest this method has far fewer variables than the est above. Also you need to consider the air resistance on the "arms" since it could be effecting the end result be performing a slight flapping action. best option would be to perform the whole test in a vacuum.

Minmus, i find it easier than landing on the mun and the science benefits per landing are far higher and there is a lower dv requirement for the actual landing itself, although there are a lot more biomes on the mun meaning extended missions to the mun are far more profitable. But yeah, i always hit minmus first

Just watched a few videos on this stuff on youtube and read your explanation and the whole prospect of probability waves baffles me

Sorry I'm really confused. So let me say what I'm thinking and you guys can correct me where I'm wrong and let me know if and where I'm right. Radiation is the transference of energy into subatomic particles with no mass. But the energy stored in these particles can only be measured by assessing the waveform, ie a high frequency radiation contains more energy, My layman's opinion is telling me due to the fact that a particle with no mass cannot contain "momentum" in the conventional kinetic energy sense the actual energy is not contained within the particle itself but in the waveform. So the momentum is in fact the momentum of this waveform, which then dissipates due to entropy. Also operating on my layman's logic this means that the universe must be always flooded with photons otherwise there would be no way for these waves to propagate. I know I'm probably miles away from the point here but does that not mean photons don't actually move? instead they just oscillate and propagate waves like water molecules in a pond.

My original comment did indeed state that the altitude effects the escape vector...

Aerobraking and gravity assists are two very different things, The altitude of a gravity assist only really matters if its a powered assist (ie where you burn at periapsis) in which case you want to be as low as possible in order to take maximum advantage of the oberth effect. With a passive gravity assist your angle of escape (or final orbit for gravity assisted braking) is determined by your altitude at periapsis, the lower the altitude the greater effect on the final vector. because the game doesnt use Nbody physics you wont gain experience a notable speed difference between a low peri and a high peri.

Ah ok I just thought radiation was just considered energy and is therefor without mass or momentum.

If some of the kinetic energy is lost as radiation then would that not violate conservation of momentum?

So, I'm a bit of a noob to physics, I enjoyed it in school but never really followed it up in my adult life and particle physics was never on my schools curriculum. I'm starting to get interested in it once again, and was wondering about the properties of electrons. Firstly if I fire an electron at a surface and it is absorbed by the surface, does it impart a force in that surface. Secondly does the act of firing the electron impart a force on the electron gun, I would assume the answers to be yes since electrons have mass like any other particle but would like confirmation. Also is there a material which can reflect electrons fired from an electron gun, and what happens if I fire electrons at a superconductor. Also what puzzles me is the phenomenon known as the photoelectric effect. Meaning photons hitting a surface cause the surface to release electrons, once the surface has lost too many electrons does it simple stop releasing them or do the properties of the material change as the material would have to shed protons to balance itself. also is there a way to force he electrons and protons back into the surface to reverse the process. Also a remedial question I know, but could an electrical charge help to prevent the material shedding protons and maintain its composition, if indeed it would shed them in the first place. If you guys could help me I would much appreciate it, I'm eager to become learned in the witchcraft that is particle physics....

I imagine sales of tinfoil hats will soar... Also would you be able to use the microwave power plant to remotely cook popcorn.

Tidal energy is the future, its a little like wind energy but more reliable and with a much smaller footprint.

What is an EmDrive and how can it seemingly defy the laws of physics by producing a force without the need for a reaction mass.

Indeed you are correct, which verifies my point that the difference between 0 atm and 1 atm is far greater than 1 atm to 2 atm

firstly the number of humans would depend on the nature of the mission, if the mission was to set up a small colony and terraform the planet, then perhaps only a few hundred would be sent in some kind of stasis. However if the mission was to populate and colonize an already habitable planet then there would likely be a few thousand, as well as donor DNA to ensure genetic diversity. The mission would require a crew capable of being woken from stasis at the first sign of a problem and be fully up to speed with the ships systems although the bulk of operations would be automated, at the same time the colony or cargo could be kept in stasis for the bulk of the voyage. The crew would be able to live in an artificial gravity environment provided be a huge centrifuge. The types of people selected would be naturally physically fit, highly intelligent people from excellent genetic stock, they would all be extensively screened for recessive congenital genes to ensure no genetic imperfections or diseases reached the target planet. The stock of colonists would be split about 60% females and 40% males to encourage reproduction and genetic diversity. The voyage could operate at about 10% light speed and reach the nearest systems in about 60 - 80 years. Although the first and manned phase of the mission where the crew remain active would last about 2 or 3 years as the vessel uses numerous gravity assists to build up the speed to leave our system likely making several passes around Jupiters moons and the inner planets. It would likely use some form of high efficiency microwave resonance chambers to provide a small amount of thrust in interstellar space. While for the departure it would use a series of conventionally fueled booster stages to gain speed while a simple RCS system would ensure the vessel meets its transfer keyholes. When arriving at the target system the vessel would use the gravity of other orbiting bodies to reduce its speed to achieve an orbit around the planets sun, it would then transfer to the target planet at the next viable window using the microwave resonance engines to provide just enough thrust. on arriving at the planet it would initially use the microwave resonance engines to slow its decent and use the planets moons to provide additional braking allowing it to brush across the target planets atmosphere and perform a gentle aerobrake into a circular orbit. Now there would be extensive surveying while the colonists are woken, and a network of communications satellites would be deployed to provide a communications grid and allow 2 way communication with earth (although there would be an 12-16 year delay so internet browsing would be limited to microsoft internet explorer) An alternative would be to develop a communication system based on quantum entanglement which in theory would allow instant communications with earth although this is entirely theoretical since quantum entanglement cannot be maintained for extended periods (yet) Now the colonists start making there way down to the surface in drop ships, each of which is capable of permanently housing several hundred colonists, These would all land withing a few hundred meters of each other on a site best determined from orbit. The main mothership, which would now be little more than an oversized laticework of space junk and communications relays would extend vast solar panels and a microwave beam to send power to each of the colony ships while retreating to a geostationary orbit. This should be able to provide power throughout the nights. Each of the colonists would be trained in basic survival in hostile environments as well as the maintenance of the drop ships themselves, They would be trained in farming, resource gathering and the many other skills to survive on the long term. The drop ships would each be packed with large quantity of GM seeds, designed to survive in the planets soil, as well as a diverse selection of livestock DNA which could be synthesized in an artificial womb, The DNA itself could also be modified to ensure the livestock can best survive its new environment. This of course is assuming that the target planet is perfectly habitable, and is an almost perfect analogue with earth (ie abundant fresh water, breathable air, oceans, tides, and wind and precipitation)

Haha yeah fair point,

Delta V, or Dv, is the amount your ship can accelerate, since all maneuvers are basically acceleration its a better way to describe how much bang you get for your buck. Much better than fuel content, since the amount of fuel you have doesn't account for the weight of the vessel. A good way to imagine DV is this, you have a ship in orbit with a DV of 1000m/s, and 500 units of fuel, if you add another 500 fuel, your DV will increase, if you then remove the 500 units of fuel your DV will drop to 1000 again, now you eject some weight from the vessel such as a lander or a few empty tanks, your DV will also increase even though the fuel qty is the same, this is because the vessel still holds the same amount of fuel but the net weight has reduced so you can accelerate a little easier. Its also worth considering that your original DV cannot be increased without either adding fuel or removing weight, T/W or Thrust to Weight is how fast your ship can accelerate relative to a specific body. A T/W on kerbin of 1 would allow the ship to hold its own weight off the ground but not move up or down, a T/W of more than 1 would allow you to climb, a T/W of less than 1 would not allow you to move. ie if your ship provides 1ton of thrust but weighs only 0.5tons, that ship would have a T/W of 2, which is thrust divided by weight,

my advice would be not to overfuel your upper stages, I used to end up with a huge lander which required immense amounts of fuel to reach an LKO and huge amounts of fuel to reach minmus SOI. Everything has a knock on effect. Try and build from the top down, so whats the last thing your rocket needs to do? 1 - it needs to land on kerbin so add a command pod and a parachute, 2 - before that it needs to leave minmus SOI and drop to kerbins atmosphere, So add a decoupler (since there's no point landing an engine with your command pod) and add a small fuel tank and a small engine (a tiny engine will do but aim for a high ISP) you might also consider adding a couple of solar panels to this stage you should need less than 300m/s since you'll only be dropping your kerbin periapsis and most of the lifting work will be done by the lander. 3 - before this it needs to land on minmus and depart (many people do these things separately but I like to do them together) So you're gonna need a nice wide base and enough fuel to get from a (possibly ballistic) minmus orbit/trajectory, to a soft landing on the surface and then get most of the way to leaving minmus SOI. This will take a good chunk of Dv but the lander doesn't need to be very heavy so that Dv is easy to include, just 3 or 4 FL-T200s and 3 or 4 small engines should achieve it just attach them with radial decouplers so you can ditch the dead weight. Also remember to bring science, Expect this stage to take around 800m/s (that allows plenty of extra DV for targeted landings ect. 4 - before this you need to reach minmus and hopefully circularize, this takes about 1000Dv, and remember you're carrying a lander so you'll need a stage which can cover this, I recommend something like an FL-T800 and an LV45 (or if you dont mind the long burn times and LV909) engine. Watch out of you're using the LV909s though they don't produce electricity so you'll need a power supply or a bunch of batteries, and dont forget to turn off ASAS when your finished with it. 5 - You need to get from the KSC into orbit. This will take about 4500 - 4800m/s of DV but since its your first stage and you're a new player you can afford a bit of overkill, aim for about 5200m/s the extra fuel can be used to get you on the way to minmus. The initial lifter can be designed in many ways, either in several stages or in a single stage, but the ultimate goal remains the same, get the payload into orbit. With a good initial lifter you should be able to get into orbit easily, Also you can try and incorporate your lifter and your TLI phase into the same stage. Now you can tweek some values, check your T/W on the main stage, if its too low, (less than 1.5) then consider removing some surplus fuel from one of the upper stages, this can be useful but if you're using fuel lines on your upper stages you could bog up your mission phasing by running low on lander fuel before landing for example, as long as your DV values remain as (or slightly more than) I've described you should be ok. If your T/W is too high, then consider removing some engines or limiting the thrust of the engines, but more importantly make sure you remain at terminal velocity during takeoff from kerbin, a T/W of 2 or more would be considered high but for your lander there is no such thing as too high. A few things to remember, if your science isn't attached to your return phase (ie it will never land on kerbin) you will need to collect the science in EVA before jettisoning it, I prefer to do this on the surface of minmus since the gravity helps me maneuver. Adding boosters to the lower stages does help a little, but only if you dont exceed terminal velocity, if you have to throttle back so much that your LOX engines are hardly providing control (only on engines with gimbals) they your potentially going to have problems. Avoid them if possible. Finally learn how to get to minmus in theory before you launch. I've seen too many people wasting huge amounts of fuel by misunderstanding basic orbital mechanics.

I generally go a little overkill on reaction wheels on my early stages, often one on the top of each radial engine stack so up to 8. I then have an additional wheel in my lower stage, then for my upper stage (or stages) I just rely on pod torque.

you should build something capable of landing the arc, then post a video.

I need a Cubli, who do I throw my money at

if you have KER or MJ installed make sure your munar T/W is about 2, too much more and you have to start slowing your descent with really fine throttle control which can only effectively be done with MJ translatron. With a T/W of 2 you should have more than enough engine control to reduce your descent to less than 10m/s and enough maximum thrust to perform a reasonable (albeit slightly inefficient suicide burn) but as Kasuha mentioned, killing your horizontal speed is much more important and it needs to be as low as possible depending on the design of your lander the taller and skinnier it is the slower you need to be translating.

sorry I got mixed up with the Chinese Compass system. which has 6 in GSO, and the rest at 21km, I also assumed the GPS system would be the only system really effected at any length by a passing body since its the only system with location critical satellites, most communication systems tend to have a little more tolerance in their exactitude providing they maintain line of sight,

Russian GNSS has several satellites in GSO

Its also worth noting that the GNSS' currently in operation do not operate in a geostationary orbit but in a network encompassing various altitudes and inclinations. The satellite itself regularly transmits orbital data and a accurate time stamp at regular intervals using a high frequency line of sight radio system, this data is then deciphered by the user end hardware and an exact current location and local time is established. at any given moment there are up to 8 satellites just from the NAVSTAR network alone within direct line of sight, removing one of these satellites has little to no effect on the final location, since you only really need 3 satellites to triangulate a Geospatial location. Currently the Indian IRNSS system is the only system based entirely on geostationary satellites and since there are only 2 satellites launched so far the system is not operational. haha ninjd

even in the in unlikely event that a satellite is pulled from its orbit or otherwise damaged, you wouldn't notice the difference. The system is far over engineered. losing even a couple of satellites could still provide you with navigable coordinates, depending on which satellites failed.