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Posted by hayabusa on 06-12-2002 04:45 PM:

Hydrogene can exist in the metallic form but as far as I know it must be kept in low temperatures and high pressure. The temperature can be kept relatively easy in the outer parts of the ship, but the pressure can be a problem.
And don`t forget H reacts with the O - probably, after first shot it could contact with the atmosphere of the ship and immediately make it a hell of the flames.
So I think it wouldn`t be much practical.

The hulls, at least the outer parts, must be dense due to at least two reasons.
First, it must keep the crew safe from the cosmic radiation. That radiation consists not only from the Alpha Beta Gamma radtion types, but also extremely high energetic massive atom`s cores and other elements which are hard to stop and are present deep in the space, where the FS takes place ( we on earth are safe thank`s to the Earth`s magnetic field).
The second thing is that dense hulls should better get through the beam fire.
I `m almoust sure there are various materials beeing used for the ships.
The strong materials (or related) mentioned above are certainly used since the ships must get safely through the jump gates, must make fast maneuvres and so on and the construction of the ship must be strong enough to make it all possible ( don`t forget that a capital makes the jump at a really high speed and the hull must resist the results of the acceleration of many g.

They shouldn`t be also so heavy - the massive ships have usually poor saturation and maneuvrability. And some dense materials must be used as protection against the radiation.
With the beams I can imagine that there could be a gas, or a liquid , not a metal, which could resist strong beam -light exposure better as the dense metals. Who knows?

So I think really various types of materials should be used for these ships. And probably, not many ( if any) of them are known today. But since the rules of the economy doesn`t change these materials shouldn`t cost too much. Don`t forget the ships are beeing built in the space so they are expensive anyway.

__________________
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Posted by hayabusa on 06-12-2002 04:45 PM:

Hydrogene can exist in the metallic form but as far as I know it must be kept in low temperatures and high pressure. The temperature can be kept relatively easy in the outer parts of the ship, but the pressure can be a problem.
And don`t forget H reacts with the O - probably, after first shot it could contact with the atmosphere of the ship and immediately make it a hell of the flames.
So I think it wouldn`t be much practical.

The hulls, at least the outer parts, must be dense due to at least two reasons.
First, it must keep the crew safe from the cosmic radiation. That radiation consists not only from the Alpha Beta Gamma radtion types, but also extremely high energetic massive atom`s cores and other elements which are hard to stop and are present deep in the space, where the FS takes place ( we on earth are safe thank`s to the Earth`s magnetic field).
The second thing is that dense hulls should better get through the beam fire.
I `m almoust sure there are various materials beeing used for the ships.
The strong materials (or related) mentioned above are certainly used since the ships must get safely through the jump gates, must make fast maneuvres and so on and the construction of the ship must be strong enough to make it all possible ( don`t forget that a capital makes the jump at a really high speed and the hull must resist the results of the acceleration of many g.

They shouldn`t be also so heavy - the massive ships have usually poor saturation and maneuvrability. And some dense materials must be used as protection against the radiation.
With the beams I can imagine that there could be a gas, or a liquid , not a metal, which could resist strong beam -light exposure better as the dense metals. Who knows?

So I think really various types of materials should be used for these ships. And probably, not many ( if any) of them are known today. But since the rules of the economy doesn`t change these materials shouldn`t cost too much. Don`t forget the ships are beeing built in the space so they are expensive anyway.

__________________
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Posted by Brando on 06-12-2002 06:28 PM:

appearently FS ships have magnetic fields, artificial gravity, very dense alloys for their hull (or titanium, might be cheaper to mass produce by then). the weapons are what interest me

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Posted by ltnarol on 06-12-2002 08:40 PM:

Molybdenum is used on the Deimos and we have discovered Molybdenum, and no matter how metalic hydrogen gets, it is still not a metal. Just the same, even if you melt iron, it is still a metal. The possibility of using nonmetals for armor on ships is very possible, but titanium and molybdenum are far cheaper. Just because a ship is built in space doesnt mean expense is not an issue; cost is always a deciding factor.

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Posted by BabProj Team on 06-12-2002 08:41 PM:

Well...most of the weapons are Argon lasers if im not mistaken.

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Posted by IceFire on 06-12-2002 08:41 PM:

Well...most of the weapons are Argon lasers if im not mistaken.

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Posted by karajorma on 06-13-2002 09:56 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by ltnarol
Molybdenum is used on the Deimos and we have discovered Molybdenum, and no matter how metalic hydrogen gets, it is still not a metal. Just the same, even if you melt iron, it is still a metal. The possibility of using nonmetals for armor on ships is very possible, but titanium and molybdenum are far cheaper. Just because a ship is built in space doesnt mean expense is not an issue; cost is always a deciding factor.


Don`t confuse the term metal with solid. Mercury is a liquid yet it is still a metal. Hydrogen under high pressure is also a metal even though it is a gas at room temp. The defination of a metal has to do with it having a sea of delocalised electrons. Theory states that under certain conditions hydrogen does that too so therefore it is perfectly correct to refer to it as a metal.

As for the properties of metallic hydrogen we don`t know. It might be possible to squeeze hydrogen into a metallic form that is stable once the pressure is removed. Look at a diamond for proof of this. It doesn`t instantly turn back into graphite when the pressure that formed it is removed. It might be possible that the amount of energy needed for metallic hydrogen to turn back into it's gaseous form is too much for it to be able to do it easily.

As for flamability of hydrogen yes that is a problem but other metallic elements are also suseptible to attack from oxygen too (aluminium is a good example). How dangerous it would be to build out of metallic hydrogen is something that will have to wait until we know the properties of the metal.

I`m not suggesting that FS2 ships are built out of metallic hydrogen but it does prove that we aren`t anywhere near reaching a full knowlegde of metals and their properties. And that's without considering the properties of hydrogen alloys or buckytube reinforced steel or a variety of other sci-fi metals.

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Posted by karajorma on 06-13-2002 09:56 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by ltnarol
Molybdenum is used on the Deimos and we have discovered Molybdenum, and no matter how metalic hydrogen gets, it is still not a metal. Just the same, even if you melt iron, it is still a metal. The possibility of using nonmetals for armor on ships is very possible, but titanium and molybdenum are far cheaper. Just because a ship is built in space doesnt mean expense is not an issue; cost is always a deciding factor.


Don`t confuse the term metal with solid. Mercury is a liquid yet it is still a metal. Hydrogen under high pressure is also a metal even though it is a gas at room temp. The defination of a metal has to do with it having a sea of delocalised electrons. Theory states that under certain conditions hydrogen does that too so therefore it is perfectly correct to refer to it as a metal.

As for the properties of metallic hydrogen we don`t know. It might be possible to squeeze hydrogen into a metallic form that is stable once the pressure is removed. Look at a diamond for proof of this. It doesn`t instantly turn back into graphite when the pressure that formed it is removed. It might be possible that the amount of energy needed for metallic hydrogen to turn back into it's gaseous form is too much for it to be able to do it easily.

As for flamability of hydrogen yes that is a problem but other metallic elements are also suseptible to attack from oxygen too (aluminium is a good example). How dangerous it would be to build out of metallic hydrogen is something that will have to wait until we know the properties of the metal.

I`m not suggesting that FS2 ships are built out of metallic hydrogen but it does prove that we aren`t anywhere near reaching a full knowlegde of metals and their properties. And that's without considering the properties of hydrogen alloys or buckytube reinforced steel or a variety of other sci-fi metals.

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Posted by Brando on 06-13-2002 05:14 PM:

not to mention with the proper tools, we can build our own elements (proton accelerator, neutrons, electrons etc). it would just take a LOT of energy.

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Posted by aldo_14 on 06-13-2002 09:21 PM:

Unless the GTVa mainly uses metals not currently found on Earth - i.e. currently undiscovered.

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Posted by hayabusa on 06-17-2002 02:57 PM:

Well there can`t be much elements undiscovered, if any, because the atoms become too unstable.

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Posted by Ace on 06-17-2002 11:14 PM:

On the comments of radiation shielding, remember that at the walls of the lunar modules in the Apollo missions was at best paper thin in areas without electronics. Yet the modules themselves managed to avoid being torn by micrometeorites and the astronauts being cooked even in cases where radiation levels were becoming dangerously higher due to solar activity. (Apollo 17 I believe) The fact that a series of several spacecraft with such minimal shielding flourished beyond the magnetosphere states that radiation shielding is not as large of an issue as early sci-fi writers believed.

On propulsion, assuming that fusion isn't feasible solar sails and laser propulsion are excellent. Also in an emergency they can be quickly turned into weapons, an added plus

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Posted by Ace on 06-17-2002 11:14 PM:

On the comments of radiation shielding, remember that at the walls of the lunar modules in the Apollo missions was at best paper thin in areas without electronics. Yet the modules themselves managed to avoid being torn by micrometeorites and the astronauts being cooked even in cases where radiation levels were becoming dangerously higher due to solar activity. (Apollo 17 I believe) The fact that a series of several spacecraft with such minimal shielding flourished beyond the magnetosphere states that radiation shielding is not as large of an issue as early sci-fi writers believed.

On propulsion, assuming that fusion isn't feasible solar sails and laser propulsion are excellent. Also in an emergency they can be quickly turned into weapons, an added plus

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Posted by Akimoto on 06-18-2002 01:29 AM:

"Collapsed-core molybdenum" in it's application seems to indicate that it's an armour layer rather than what the ship's super structure is made of. It's name seems to suggest something that's been condensed to the point of collapse(A sort of do it yourself neutronium I guess), but that would be so immensely dense that I'm not quite sure if it's feasible to actually use in construction.(Which would explain why it's described as being a sheeth rather than the superstructure.) Mo IS an alloying agent, so it does make sense that they'd use something like this.

However you'd think by then they'd have more carbon composites, particuarly in the form of fullerenes with perhaps imbedded metal strands on an atomic level. Since carbons have the best tensile strength, and are relatively light, they'd make a good building material(especially if it's 300 or so years from now.)

There are theorized to be "stability islands" in a the periodic table past 110, with the first being around 112-114 the next few being at some figure past 120 but any of those proposed materials would probably be radioactive in any wait.

As for shielding, I'm sure by that age they would have electrostatic/magnetic shields for purposes of cosmic ray blocking and perhaps limited gamma ray shielding, thouigh from FS1 I guess that wasn't the case till the Shivans dropped in.

Powerplants seem to be "conventional" thinking based deuterium fusion, with outputs probably in the low-mid TW range(probably on the figure of about 200-300TW depending on how much space on ships is actually dedicated to power generation.) Propulsion I don't have the slightest clue what they use, though it's probably some form of inertia compensation based on gravity fields(Simply from the fact that speeds bleed off even with afterburners), and an electrostatic engine of some sort. Why the ships can't travel any faster than WW1 era bi-planes I can't tell at least in a "in-universe" sort of fashion.(Obvious reason is gameplay.)

As for stuff about that "fusion" needed for stronger materials, I don't have the slightest clue what that's referring to.


Posted by Akimoto on 06-18-2002 01:29 AM:

"Collapsed-core molybdenum" in it's application seems to indicate that it's an armour layer rather than what the ship's super structure is made of. It's name seems to suggest something that's been condensed to the point of collapse(A sort of do it yourself neutronium I guess), but that would be so immensely dense that I'm not quite sure if it's feasible to actually use in construction.(Which would explain why it's described as being a sheeth rather than the superstructure.) Mo IS an alloying agent, so it does make sense that they'd use something like this.

However you'd think by then they'd have more carbon composites, particuarly in the form of fullerenes with perhaps imbedded metal strands on an atomic level. Since carbons have the best tensile strength, and are relatively light, they'd make a good building material(especially if it's 300 or so years from now.)

There are theorized to be "stability islands" in a the periodic table past 110, with the first being around 112-114 the next few being at some figure past 120 but any of those proposed materials would probably be radioactive in any wait.

As for shielding, I'm sure by that age they would have electrostatic/magnetic shields for purposes of cosmic ray blocking and perhaps limited gamma ray shielding, thouigh from FS1 I guess that wasn't the case till the Shivans dropped in.

Powerplants seem to be "conventional" thinking based deuterium fusion, with outputs probably in the low-mid TW range(probably on the figure of about 200-300TW depending on how much space on ships is actually dedicated to power generation.) Propulsion I don't have the slightest clue what they use, though it's probably some form of inertia compensation based on gravity fields(Simply from the fact that speeds bleed off even with afterburners), and an electrostatic engine of some sort. Why the ships can't travel any faster than WW1 era bi-planes I can't tell at least in a "in-universe" sort of fashion.(Obvious reason is gameplay.)

As for stuff about that "fusion" needed for stronger materials, I don't have the slightest clue what that's referring to.


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