Re: Quick question about a STL trip - and another...

In rec.arts.sf.science message <ab148998-ddf3-4c3d-bd80-904c80db7745@r66
g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>, Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:27:30, IsaacKuo
<mechdan@xxxxxxxxx> posted:

For a starship with spin gravity, the same basic principle will
apply. The starship's spinning axis is along the direction of
travel. Imagine it's a cylinder, with the central axis pointed
at the destination. The only difference is scale. Instead of
accelerating for just a few seconds, you're accelerating for
months or years on end.

The amount of slant depends on the degree of acceleration,
compared to the level of artificial gravity. For instance, with
an acceleration of 1m/s/s and an artificial gravity of 5m/s/s,
the slant is a quite significant 11 degrees. On the other
hand, with an acceleration of 0.1m/s/s and a gravity of
9.8m/s/s the slant is only 0.6 degrees.

ISTM likely that, for almost all of the time, the ship will be running
at constant acceleration; so skew its innards by design.

Otherwise, note that any such ship must have a perfect frontal
protection against impacts with particles from electrons to grit.
Therefore, there is no absolute need to minimise the cross-section. Put
the normally-inhabited parts in pods in the ends of arms, and adjust the
arms in the manner of a variable-sweepback wing to keep the apparent
gravity more-or-less perpendicular to the floors and parallel with the
walls.

--
(c) John Stockton, nr London, UK. ?@merlyn.demon.co.uk Turnpike v6.05 MIME.
Web <URL:http://www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/> - FAQqish topics, acronyms & links;
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