Torchship SSTO Effects...

[Spacescifi]

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Let's run this scenario to see what effects would occur... just to know.

SSTO: Is massive and has a wet mass of 9000 tons when fully loaded with payload.

Propellant/fuel is 10% of it's mass (900 tons).

The propellant is LH mixed with a powder to make it opaque to laser beams so as absorb the energy from them for propulsion readily.

Energy source: A laser portal... which only lets lasers through from one part of the universe to the next wherever two portals are linked. A power plant on the homeworld supplies the power for all laser portals linked, as well as the lasers that are fired through the portals.

Max Engine efficiency: Will burn through the 900 tons of fuel in 70 minutes at 3g. More time if you use slower accelerations.

Questions: How much energy would the laser need to accomplish SSTO with the 9000 ton SSTO?

Could the reaction chamber handle the heat if made with modern materials?

I hope so and I think so... otherwise you would need futuristic  or scifi ones.

Questions about the plume: I expect really long bright blue plumes coming from the main engines... like an ion drive but brighter and much longer.

Like any torchship, I expect the plumes to blast away anything they hit... the ship has VTOL engines that use the same lasers, but at reduced power since landing and lift off do not require 3g max acceleration.

 

Benefits of the drive: While scifi it is not overpowered... as there is no way you can make an uber RKV out of it using only the ship.

Space refueling is quite possible since hydrogen is abundant, and so is mass to make powders to make the LH opaque to lasers from the laser portals the ship carries... one for every engine.

Unlike real life theoretical advanced nuclear, fusion or antimatter rocket engines, the ship is not generating it's own power for propulsion as it is relying on a powerplant connected via laser portals.

As such it's waste heat is much reduced, since it is literally going out the nozzle with the propellant rather than being generated in the ship.

 

Obviously the ship has a hyper/FTL drive as well... but that is kind of obligatory. I also presume if you can do that then you are likely beyond fusion and antimatter rocketry... so why not use something safer and more reliable?

Going to planets is easy, as you just burn and coast, and 70 minutes 3g max is more than enough to literally stop an orbit and fall straight down so no heatshields would be required either... a steel hull could work just fine.

 

And scifi stasis/hypersleep pods could easily be employed for the crew during the months of  unpowered cruising between planets at far ranges in a solar system.

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by Spacescifi

[Terwin]

On 10/17/2022 at 5:59 AM, Spacescifi said:

Max Engine efficiency: Will burn through the 900 tons of fuel in 70 minutes at 3g. More time if you use slower accelerations.

On 10/17/2022 at 5:59 AM, Spacescifi said:

Benefits of the drive: While scifi it is not overpowered... as there is no way you can make an uber RKV out of it using only the ship.

70 minutes of 3g acceleration(~123km/s) of a 9000 ton vessel gives it kinetic energy equivalent to roughly 713 fatman bombs, or approximately 1/6 of a tzar bomba at max yield.  (not counting any boosts from the gravity of the planet it is attacking)

This will not disintegrate a planet, but it will be very effective are removing a large city, or even a small country from the map entirely while throwing up enough particulates to do bad things to the environment should it ram a planet.

Note: a 'Rod from god' is less than 11 tons, so any vessel of this size will be a massive kinetic weapon, even if it can barely deorbit itself.

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Terwin

[kerbiloid]

54 minutes ago, Terwin said:

'Rod from god' is less than 11,000 tons

11