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The Expanse and its compatibility with OA
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(05-17-2019, 11:01 PM)Noclevername Wrote:
(05-17-2019, 03:01 AM)The Astronomer Wrote: I'm surprised nobody mentioned the lack of radiator. ... Without radiators, the waste heat from the drive would immediately turn the ship into plasma. While they can indeed be reduced, I don't believe we can completely direct all energy into the thrust. Some will remain as waste heat that you need to use gigantic radiators to dissipate.

Idle thought: open cycle coolant. That's really why Ceres ran out of water, they blew it all out into space as steam keeping their ships cool!

Now they have to use something less valuable as a coolant. Molten regolith? Aluminum? Vaporized into the torchdrive exhaust as a minor contribution to reaction mass. 

...Maybe not. Maybe it can't be justified.

Judging from the insane power involved, if you carry enough water to allow your open cycle coolant to last more than a second, your acceleration will drop wayyy below one gee. Then you're stuck with the same ol' problem...

There is a reason why this is actually the most ignored physics law (it looks like some OA ship pics also ignored it as well). Even special relativity's more loved.
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RE: The Expanse and its compatibility with OA - by The Astronomer - 05-18-2019, 01:43 AM

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