FleshJeb

All this time and not a single "your momma" joke--Honestly, you people are a bunch of squares. FleshJeb's mom / Went to Guam / To feast on the local Spam. As she landed / The island up'anded / And to the mainland they swam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll#Nicoll-Dyson_Laser Or a Stellaser per:

Yes, it's Making History exclusive.

That's extremely impressive, although I'd expect that there's a lot of fortunate geography that allows it to happen. I'd definitely like to see a lot more deep-well geothermal put into play. It's a perfect fit to transition the oil-drilling industry to. I'm fortunate to get all my electricity from the largest geothermal field in the world.

Deep water oil rigs are often semi-submersible and use dynamic positioning to stay in place. Still, I think towing it back would be a very slow process. These may be better suited to your idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drillship

@MaxKot I would reduce the thrust of the SRBs until KER gives you a starting TWR of around 1.7 or lower. Try 75%. This will give your second stage a higher TWR at SRB burn-out. While this will actually slightly decrease the effective dV, It will allow you to fly a more conventional profile, which may be a lot more efficient, and almost certainly easier to control.

You should take a look at the instances of PTSD among drone pilots. The accounts I've read think a major contributing factor is having to kill people during the day, and then go home to dinner with your spouse and kids and pretend everything is OK. There's no opportunity to compartmentalize it and stay in "war mode". Yeah, risking life and limb is serious, but mind and soul has always been part of that equation too. You can go back to the Romans, Greeks, and Assyrians and find them talking about the mental health of their troops. My anecdotal experience is that I used to know a guy who flew drones from stateside for the early part of the Afghanistan conflict--That's the only detail he would give about his service. It seemed to make him uncomfortable, so none of our circle of friends pressed him with any further questions.

The physics is the same in all modes. Sandbox is what you want if you just want to play with physics and engineering without restrictions. It will be good for experimenting with general concepts, but you won't be able to for example, specify the angling and size of a fin and have those numbers carry over to real life. Even modding KSP to be as realistic as possible won't get you usable data, as it's not a simulator. The aerodynamics in particular are very basic.

The throughput rate on turbines is much higher than pipes. Just connect them end-to-end, you can probably do 40 in a row.

You've unknowingly provided me with my answer to this thread, so I'll lay out my process: First we have to ask the question, what is the purpose of weapons? In the large-scale context of this thread we might say that they serve to defend a civilization/a society/an ideology or collection of ideologies. Secondly, science fiction's primary focus is ultimately sociology--At least according to the multiple and varied analyses I've read of the genre. So a discussion of sociology is fundamentally "sci-fi". Civilizations, societies, and ideologies seek to endure, so it stands to reason that those which are not long-term self-sustaining must be defined as deviant. For something to be self-sustaining it must have the ability to correct its flaws, to self-examine. DNA does this. Science does this in the pursuit of knowledge, which is why it's generally accepted that the methodology and practice of science will be durable and lasting. What do authoritarian leaders do with when confronted with criticism? They crush it, they seek scapegoats and enemies, they deny fault and place blame. These are considered defining, quintessential characteristics. Authoritarianism as a system is literally not "fault-tolerant". Ergo, it is a deviant system. Some of the most effective tools for societal critique and examination are satire and parody. Their purpose is to hold a mirror up and make people think (and feel), "Wow, what the heck are we doing?" They provide the chance to change direction. (Not coincidentally, authoritarian regimes are not known for their lasting contributions to these arts, although they are very frequently made the objects of them.) So, when it comes to societal defense, the most dangerous weapon in the universe might just be comedy.

I'm not allowed to use the words necessary to properly describe the feeling of diving into a gas giant with a sleek behemoth of a ship and an air scoop. Karbonite + OPM is an experience.

If we're talking actual Sprint missiles with no modifications: They were remote-controlled because they're too hot to use onboard targeting. Shoot the control radars. The first stage of the missile was steered with cold-gas thrusters--Not terribly maneuverable. The second stage was steered with fins...in space. The W-66 warhead was only a few kilotons. Given the above, they might miss by sufficient range even if you don't dodge. Since you're at a tech level that you can spare antimatter for guns: "A reaction drive's efficiency as a weapon is in direct proportion to its efficiency as a drive." — The Kzinti Lesson, Larry Niven You won't even need to warm the guns up, just point your tail at them, light the fires, and slew a little. I'm just guessing, but I bet the plume is radar-opaque as well.

I've purposely avoided reading about the whole "tic-tac" thing because I knew it would turn out to be silly, but this is ridiculous. The "evidence" is the functional equivalent of JPG artifacting, and the faulty perceptions of people who can't gauge relative motion to save their lives. Sheesh.

I only ever remember it being exploited in the opening sequence of Barbarella.

Former asteroids Phobos and Deimos are right there. They almost certainly have water ice. They're cheaper to get to than the Moon. They're tidally-locked, so you can have Phobos under your feet and Mars in the sky blocking out a significant fraction of the radiation. Illustrated:

If I read the dV chart right, it takes 5.71 km/s to get to Jupiter from the Moon with Hohmann transfer (lowest possible energy). a_cent = v^2 / r = 5.71 km/s * 5.71 km/s / 1737 km = 0.0187 km/s^2 a_cent_net = a_cent - a_grav = 0.0187 km/s^2 - 0.00162 km/s^2 = 0.0172 km/s ^2 g = a_cent_net / g_earth = 0.0172 km/s^2 / 0.00981 km/s^2 = 1.75 g, just to hold the craft down to the Moon. Since you're accelerating along the track at 1 g, and that's perpendicular to the centripetal acceleration, we use Pythagoras. g_total = sqrt(1.75^2 + 1.00^2) = 2.02 g, is what the craft experiences just before it leaves the loop. That's not bad. However, I know from reading Larry Niven's notes on Ringworld, that you can model it as a suspension bridge. Essentially, you'd have to build a bridge TWICE as strong as one on Earth, all the way around the Moon. Also it's upside-down, and loaded with very large superconducting magnets. I drove over this last week, it's HUGE: That's just to get to Jupiter, the nearer of the two gas giants. 10% lightspeed = 30,000 km/s (compared to 5.71 km/s). Even if you could find materials strong enough for your spacecraft, magnets, and bridge (you can't), you'd rip apart the Moon. Hopefully that helps you envision some sense of scale.

AI ship, no active life support on board, pirates wearing spacesuits, poke holes in spacesuits. EDIT: Or you could just make sure Gully Foyle is on board. I heard he's not a fan of pirates: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars_My_Destination

The radius of the Moon is 1737 km. The speed of light is 300,000 km/s. The equation for centripetal acceleration is a=v^2/r Solve for the centripetal acceleration necessary to hold a circular orbit at 10% lightspeed. (You may subtract 0.00162km/s^2 to account for the Moon's gravity.) Divide total by 0.00981 km/s to get G-force. Also, read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_driver http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/enginelist.php#massdriver Have fun doing math: http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/images/mission/deadfrog42.png More realistic idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Momentum_exchange_tether

You folks know what to do (If I still played KSP, I'd be working on it now):

Same. It's on my list if I ever start playing again. Although I've tested quite a few aircraft there. Let's just say Karbonite is a VERY fun mod.

Man, I'm still not over Aristophanes and you bring us this?!? Also, is that Tekto I spy? My favorite planet.

It's absolutely beautiful. Although I'm surprised you're not overheating nose on the ascent. Is that the Mk1 Pod behind The Avionics Hub?

Glad you got it back.

It'll probably only take you 4 hours to build it again, and now you have good motivation to make backups of your craft files. As far as life lessons go, that's a cheap one. FYI, your craft files are stored in: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Kerbal Space Program\saves\<savename>\Ships\(SPH or VAB)