Spacescifi

48 Hours Of Thrust Round Trip The Scenario: You have a propellantless scifi spaceship that can thrust up to 5g acceleration or less with 2000 ton payload. Max thrust is even higher if you reduce payload, but unlike normal rockers it WON'T your fixed ISP if you lower thrust. It runs off highly engineered fuel that can only be made or found back on Earth for now. Unless you drop 1 ton fuel packs elsewhere in the solar system. You will not be allowed to use any of the 1 ton fuel packs you seed throughout the system to fuel your vessel. Since that will be for future explorers. You are running off one fuel pack. Don't worry about how or why it flies. All I want to know is how far it can go roundtrip in the solar system and back to Earth. Assumptions: It would be foolish to waste thrust time, so I presume some coasting is in order. Even so, with thrust levels/times like these we can point and scoot wherever we want in the solar system. Questions: 1. What do planetary travel times look like with this drive? 2. Conservative travel times where you are trying to save on thrust time/fuel? 3. ASAP travel times where you don't care about wasting fuel and only want to reach a planet ASAP before the return trip to Earth. 4: What is your 2000 ton payload since it won't be propellant? What is your objective? Seeding fuel packs for future explorers? Dropping off colony equipment for other worlds? Research probes? 5. Where would you drop fuel packs? In orbit? Or on a moon or planet in a shallow grave covered with regolith and a beacon broadcasting it's location?

Diametric drives are theoretical, but would be really nice to have for space travel. How they work: Vessel separates into halves, and the rear half is attracted to the front half, but the front is repelled and therefore flies forward while the rear keeps up the chase. Both halves fly in tandem continously. It's like a runaway kinetic reaction of sorts. My be more aptly named Unending Chase drive. Limits: You want the rear halve, the one you land on or take off from, to be heavier or at least as heavy as the top halve when separate. As obvious problems happen otherwise (crushing on landing). Also I think if the leading halve is heavier than the halve that is supposed to push the pushing halve may not push as well...reduce overall thrust etc. Awesome stuff you can do: Since you take your reaction mass with you wherever you go you never have to refuel...unless the diametric is powered by some fuel reaction. Also you can pitch, yaw, and roll while accelerating, since both halves will continue to fly in the same direction so long as your reaction control thrusters are working OK. Would look weird with two halves chasing each other with a small gap between them, but would still occur. Correct me if I have anything wrong. You may add to information on diametric drives and how well they would fly, pros and cons etc.

Palladium can absorb water and thus...hydrogen. Metallic hydrogen would be far denser. The idea was to have as much dense hydrogen as possible before kickstarting a fusion reaction....hopefully not having it blow up in the face too.

After checking https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion, I wondered if metallic hydrogen, if manipulated by some means, could induce cold fusion? Fusion is still fusion. Cold fusion only requires less heat to trigger...and in this case metallic hydrogen...which is something of a red herring but I digress. Metallic hydrogen has high hydrogen content, higher than even the palladium they were using to attempt cold fusion so...what do you think about this?

Your jokes...while somewhat predictable, never cease to impress.

Never said it would go that way. You don't think 'we' would just let that happen do you? Besides, other kinds of secondary races exist who WOULD have a problem with that. Not to mention that not even all Alphas want that. Peaceful coexistence is a lot better than.... Earth is their home too.

I agree. I just realized that hey, why travel LY away at FTL to meet a somewhat different humanoid when you can make them here and now? No alien language barrier! Even better, not all results will be negative. The Alphas, the first viable race sold, are inherently smarter than baselibe humans and live a century without aging until their death day. That alone is a game changer. These guys and gals look nearly human anyway, just off colored and an addon feature or two. They could/would advance science by several factors within only a centuries time. People may resent these guys and gals trying to take over, but no would deny they were smarter. And theit lasting youth would have a huge impact as natural himans age and they don't. Death birthday for Alphas would be a ticking timebomb tgey have to outrun to get stuff done before it occurs Leading them at tinesto take drastic measures. Give this few centuries and Earth won't even be the same. It would be scifi.

Can the company guarantee that? They either will or 'it' won't exist. Remember how I said unsuccessful 'products' are not sold? The company's primary reason for existing is twofold. Science and profit. If it won't sell and it does not function as intended....well, such never see the light of day to the public if they can help it. Playing God requires a certain willingness to decide who will live and who won't....which, by the way, human gov already are used to doing...at least deciding that.

It all depends on what type they are making. I guess the best way to describe these transhuman types is...more or less human. Certain traits can be enhanced, modified or diminished. Since breeding with one's own kind makes offspring, they are wired to be attracted to them naturally. The less baseline humans resemble that, the less attractive humans will be. Conversely if a transhuman looks just like a space elf, chances are they still might find baseline humans attractive.

Testing like in Portal I agree is nonsensical, but that is for amusing those that play Portal. On the other hand, when bioengineeing is as ridiculously advanced as the OP company, if baseline humans are being experimented on then likely the goal is to modify them directly. Cyborg tech for example would easily go hand in hand with what bioengineering feats that they could pull off in baseline humans. Although the really game changing stuff they could only grow in a lab as transhumans via exowombs and embyros. A cyborg is still only human. A transhuman is something...more. The DNA is different. Even their blood is differently colored.

The needs of man are finite. The wants of man are infinite. I would like to think that infinite want and greed are NOT the same thing...but I am not so sure of that. Surely they are somewhat related even if not exactly the same. Man see, man want. Man think, man want. They are sold as adopted transhuman babies. No one actually legally owns them...except in cases where governments purchase them for specific job roles. Illegally the industry is large enough that the oldest profession and black market deals still occur, which the company does not support but cannot stop either. Evil finds a way, just like life will. They could...not sure if they could make them as durable though.

They don't market them as slaves though! They sell them as adopted upgraded babies. But I totally see your pont though. And the business model ensurs they look more like these or even star trek aliens than truly ugly montrosities. Although there IS a niche market for scary and ugly too.

The transhumans actually do reproduce over that number. The company made sure of that. Public does have conspiracy theories about world domination, but company says that is absurd and bad for business. Profits and all you know. It's not exactly difficult to get humans to want to reproduce...much less transhumans who often have modified behavior patterns anyway. They are still capable of free will though. The first succesful market version was designed to be a slave race but essentially backfired because: 1. They learn and retain info better than baseline humans. 2. Due to this AND the backfired attempt to hardwire them as slaves they tend to view the most intelligent person they know as a potential master, and anyone of lesser intelligence compared to themselves as potential slaves. 3. They are known for both high intellligence and stubborness. Yet if they do choose a personal master for life they are loyal to a fault, their master's death, or until they choose another mastet for life. That said, they do not take this decision lightly and don't make it whimslically either. 4. Lifespans for all of this type barring injury or disease are 100 years, durimg which they don't even age past their prime adulthood. They stay in their prime until their death birthday of a hundred. During which they age rapidly until they due when they go to sleep at night. 5. Due to exposure to human religions, sometimes it has occurred that transhumans of this type join them and even choose a deity as their master for life instead of the usual human or transhuman master. In all cases they remain loyal for life unless they decide to choose another master. Since gods don't die if one believes in them.

Quite right...secrets are bound to come to light sooner or later. So I guess really good PR and being good friends with media moguls would help.

That's fine. Superheroes are the same though. At any rate, it explains the humanoid 'alien' nicely WITHOUT a ton of worldbuilding required as an afterthought for an interesting character. Scifi aliens have always been what we wished...and this is about that....only for real.

I guess...I mean as the saying goes...."Dead don't tell tales". As far as ethics go...my version of crazy billionaire science company has managed the humanoid thing well...the rejects do NOT get sold. Only the successes. To grow a 'scifi' humanoid from scratch requires a baseline human mother who is 'prepped' BEFORE pregancy. The embyro is taken AFTER pregnancy and put inside a living exowomb that is nonsapient, but nonetheless modifies the baseline human embyro to take on the desired modifications for the 'scifi' humanoid they are trying to sell. The only drawback for the human mother volunteer is she will be sterile for life after. But she is reimbursed well. About nine or so months later you get the result. Meanwhile lab scientists rock the exowomb around gently regularly and speak to it, just to give the baby the simulation of a NORMAL mother's womb even though it is'nt. The other stuff they do that results in more deaths than survival rates they do their best to keep secret. That said, it is a lot more efficient to grow the humanoid population by having them simply reproduce among themselves as adults, which they do.

For a scifi scenario consider this setting: A multi-billion dollar company has a CEO who wants to do science at all costs...even if that means lives must be lost in the process. Basically he tries to pull a Cave Johnson from Portal 2. Cave offered human testing to the homeless, knowing good and well some of if not several may not make it through the tests alive...and we know that from the red stains in the test rooms. So is the following setting remotely plausible in our world? If so or not, what would increase or support plausibility? Ignore the company's ridiculously high bioengineering skills and focus on whether the world would let them even get away with this. The setting: 1. Multi-billion dollar company that started out with a founder who cured cancer, now has billions of dollars. Currently known for growing designer humanoids for sale...basically humanoid scifi 'aliens'. Since aliens did not exist and there was a market for them so they made them. Either altering behavior, intelligence, strength, lifespan and etc in the process. Ironically nekos ARE NOT a thing even though they could do it, since the current CEO hates that idea. They do have an alternative of sorts though, just not so...um furry. And yes...the humanoids CAN reproduce their own kind via normal reproduction with another of their kind. 2. They sell them as personal servants or as citizens of nations for countries that want them. Since they are designed to have traits and abilities higher than the average baseline human. One type is able to speak several words with meaning after the first month they're born as an infant, and can also hold their breath under water for several minutes without any special equipment. Others are more geared for other traits, even having retractable claws etc. In all cases they look DIFFERENT. As in odd skin/hair/eye color, so as to easily ID them as a company product. 3. They literally bought a country of their own and renamed it. Located somewhere along the equator. I think the Congo may be a good choice...only because it is not so highly developed and they would welcome the cash influx and tech. 4. In the country they own they perform 'tests' on the homeless after paying them a few hundred dollars each...just like Cave Johnnson. Sometimes they survive...other times...yeah you already know. So how plausible is it the world would let them get away with all this LOL?

About $1 in the economy.

Since reaching altitude anf velocity can take all of eight minutes IRL, I think 100 credits a minute is a reasonable price. Keeps folks, unless they are rich, from burning around at 1g all the time. Also allows for kilometer long tether pod rotation for graviyty to be cheap...or what average space folk do. Burn and coast.

Just curious....cannot common dirt from barren airless moons and worlds be melted down to fluids and be turned wholly into rocket propellant and burned off with high thermal energy out a rocket nozzle? The idea is to land and quickly refuel propellant without having to extract, separate, or purify or refine it. Off low gravity moons or asteroids without atmosphere, likely using an auxilliary tank other than the one used for launch to orbit. I know the ISP will be not great....but I also know the higher the thermal energy the higher the ISP becomes. So if energy portals connected to the National Igniton Facility were connected to a rocket engine using liquified moon regolith...what kind of thrust and ISP are we looking at? And I do mean ALL the powerful lasers of the NIF are focused down a portal to fire into rocket engine on the other side to ignite the regolith propellant. NIF's 192 powerful laser beams, housed in a 10-story building the size of 3 football fields, can deliver nearly 2 million joules of ultraviolet laser energy in billionth-of-a- second pulses to the target chamber center. EDIT: With this kind of power, will this allow for torch ships of any kind? Minus all the usual radioactive death?

Yeah I am interested in reading it. Short stories are often better than full length since they resolve things in a satisfying stand alone way...or they leave the reader with a hook or question.

I am not sure that going futuristic defeats Orion. Actually I think it only improves and scales it up. Fusion torch drives, seem like they scale up but would not scale down. And NSWR is the closest we have to that. That said, I think an Orion can out perform a NSWR for endurance if nothing else. With futuristic versions the more powerful the bomb the more thrust an Orion would gain, whereas internalized rocket engines are limited by how much heat the generate. Orions can handle their reaction mass heat better and gain higher thrust to. For futuristic spaceships Orion wins I think versus any kind of rocket. Because it can utilize more energetic reactions and convert them to thrust.

Hmmm....I see. So Orions are a round trip maiden voyage and come home type of vessel...if at all. Per day? Come now. Prep time. Give it about four years of manufacturing. Which is peanuts really..then send in the Orion explorer. There is no hurry.

Explore human behavior? Only in the what-if scenarios scifi brings about. Futuristic scifi tech is part of that, but it's only a means to an end as far as story telling goes. Take out all the tech of DS9 and it can be whittled down to a conflict of normal people vs the unknown and later an egomaniac AKA as Dukat.

Let's imagine that Project Orion takes off one day. According to Kerbiloid, an Orion may have about 48 hours worth of thrust from the maximum amount of bombs carried by the ship. At some point we both know the vessel is going to run out of nukes. 48 hours of thrust is nothing to underestimate, but more is always better. So....how feasible is manufacturing nukes in space with all theoretical futuristic tech we can bring to bear? Like I know a scifi alchemy machine would make it probably too easy, but more theoretical realistic options would involve: 1. Finding some place not Earth with raw nuclear bomb resources....not the moon by the way, since it has thorium for nuclear reactors but scant uranium. Where? What world is a good place to start with a bunch of uranium or sources to make plutonium? 2. Send a prep Orion ahead to set a up a base, and manufacture nukes in situ there. Yes that's right, an Orion devoted purely to being the nucleus of a nuke manufacturing outpost for orbiting Orions that come later. 3. Either land orbiter orions to collect bomb fuel, or mag rail launch them into orbit so the orbiters can catch them via nets and shuttles. Challenges: A lot of gear will come straight from Earth with no substitutes. The few things that won't will be what is plentiful at the outpost. Namely ore and minerals, and most important of all, uranium and sources for plutonium. Advantages: Nuke refueling outpost! Yay! Concerns: Nukes. In space. Operated by nations that sometimes act like... Challenges: Centrifuges and yellow cake in space anyone? That's what's required at the colony world outpost unless I am forgetting something. Water would be nice too. Your thoughts?