Spaceships that "fly" annoy me

[exdeath]

That's why in hard sci-fi you put a kilometer thick chunk of Ice at the front of the ship.

How much do two of those weigh and how much fuel do you have to burn to accelerate constantly while pushing them both to your destination, decelerating that same mass, ditching the one in front, and bringing the other one back with you and stopping again?

:awe:

 

[gorobei]

These space SHIPS don't have wings:

are you sure?

 

[skyking]

How much do two of those weigh and how much fuel do you have to burn to accelerate constantly while pushing them both to your destination, decelerating that same mass, ditching the one in front, and bringing the other one back with you and stopping again?

:awe:

No need for that second chunk. Phil's Kilometer Ice Shields will have convenient locations in the galaxy near you. Right behind that nebula.

 

[Gibsons]

These space SHIPS don't have wings:

fortunately they use a lot of ballast to keep the ships upright.

 

[DigDog]

Nothing wrong with rear thrusters. It really helps to put them in line with the center of gravity.

actually, if your thrusters point backwards, how are you going to change direction? a "real" combat-oriented space vehicle would need multiple thrusters facing different directions or, at lest, off-center thrusters.

 

[Puppies04]

... and why would a spaceship even *have* wings.

My first thought would be to allow it to enter a planets atmosphere and land on the surface. You don't lose anything in space being "plane" shaped but you would have a very hard time in a planets atmosphere if you weren't aeorodynamically shaped.

 

[Puppies04]

I'm looking forward to star citizen being released. If I recall correctly the ships will have individual thrusters and proper physics.

 

[CZroe]

actually, if your thrusters point backwards, how are you going to change direction? a "real" combat-oriented space vehicle would need multiple thrusters facing different directions or, at lest, off-center thrusters.

Or simple gas maneuvering jets to orient the opposite direction before activating the main thrusters. Just imagine little flashes on the left and right of the little ship in Asteroids that cause it to rotate. This is much easier in a "thrusters to the rear" setup even when a third dimension is in play.