Post by Machina Haruspex on Dec 17, 2007 16:34:46 GMT -5
The Structure of Space
Early in history, space was thought to be an empty void. The ancestral humans of Earth, as they struggled to reach space, developed equations for the effort which assumed space to be nothing. These are the ancient rocket equations still taught today, even though they only apply to the low speed regime of space travel, used only for short ranges and by the Deepers.
As we all know, space is not nothing. As more and more experience was gained in space travel at higher and higher energy levels, it became obvious that space was not empty, and had a great deal of structure, resources, and hazards.
Over the many millenia of the expansion, long-distance space travel has become routine, and several broadly defined regimes of that travel have become widely recognized.
Interstellar Travel regimes
1) Low Speed: In general, low speed interstellar travel is anything below 0.3C. The upper boundary of the low Speed regime is the point where the interstellar medium can be gathered effectively via ramscoops. At .3C and below shielding requirements are not nearly as rigorous, effective maneuvers can be taken in extreme cases, and space travel is generally quite easy. The vast metaempire of the Deeper Covenant is by far the largest user of this regime of space travel, and large numbers of sophonts and considerable amounts of material move between the worlds using this regime.
2) High Speed: In broad terms, high speed interstellar travel falls in the regime between .2C and .84C. The relevant boundaries of this regime at the lower end is the point at which optimised ramscoops can obtain significant mass flows, and the upper boundary is the point at which relativistic mass effects make further ram-powered acceleration impossible even with total conversion drives.
Early in history, space was thought to be an empty void. The ancestral humans of Earth, as they struggled to reach space, developed equations for the effort which assumed space to be nothing. These are the ancient rocket equations still taught today, even though they only apply to the low speed regime of space travel, used only for short ranges and by the Deepers.
As we all know, space is not nothing. As more and more experience was gained in space travel at higher and higher energy levels, it became obvious that space was not empty, and had a great deal of structure, resources, and hazards.
Over the many millenia of the expansion, long-distance space travel has become routine, and several broadly defined regimes of that travel have become widely recognized.
Interstellar Travel regimes
1) Low Speed: In general, low speed interstellar travel is anything below 0.3C. The upper boundary of the low Speed regime is the point where the interstellar medium can be gathered effectively via ramscoops. At .3C and below shielding requirements are not nearly as rigorous, effective maneuvers can be taken in extreme cases, and space travel is generally quite easy. The vast metaempire of the Deeper Covenant is by far the largest user of this regime of space travel, and large numbers of sophonts and considerable amounts of material move between the worlds using this regime.
2) High Speed: In broad terms, high speed interstellar travel falls in the regime between .2C and .84C. The relevant boundaries of this regime at the lower end is the point at which optimised ramscoops can obtain significant mass flows, and the upper boundary is the point at which relativistic mass effects make further ram-powered acceleration impossible even with total conversion drives.