The Enterprise... Now?

[Dave]

Even at great distances from the Sun, there's still a rather large amount of radiation. The radiation from a nuclear blast in space would fade into the background rather rapidly.

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

You realise that the sun is one large nuclear blast, don't you?

[MolecularMan14]

Even so, I believe than there is a more civilized, let alone manueverable, way of propelling the craft.

[ydoaPs]

not only radiation, the bomb may get stuck when being propelled, and blow up in the ship

[ydoaPs]

i was thinkin for communications have something like two sets of entangled gasses and make 4 plasma display moniters with them. have one of each set of moniters with a camera hooked to it. then you could send and recieve video messeges at the same time. or instead of a camera you could use a keyboard.

[Edward]

The nuke pulse idea hsa been around for an extermely long time. I think that it could work but woulden't the G forces during each acceleration be extreme.

[Edward]

I think that there is a possiblity of using ION engines. Right now they are extremely weak and slow but they use virtually no fuel just massive amounts of electricity. I beleive that in the future they will become alot more powerful and the thing with constact accelereation would allow for a small amount of artificial gravity.

[Edward]

Finally I think that for exteremly long distance exploration you could terraform a small moon to have a self sustaning ecosystem and have a ion pro pultion system. This would probily be generational exploration.

[ydoaPs]

the nuclear thermal rocket has multitudes more power than ion engines, yet has smooth acceleration(if u want it)

[Edward]

Also if we where to build a ship I would use a space elevator.

[Edward]

the nuclear thermal rocket

What is a nuclear thermal rocket?

[MolecularMan14]

whats a space elevator?

It sounds farmiliar but I cant remember off hand

[Cap'n Refsmmat]

What is a nuclear thermal rocket?

READ THE WHOLE THREAD!!!!!!!!!!

 

Space elevator = a gigantic carbon nanotube structure stretching into space that has an elevator going up and down it.

[Edward]

This is a space elevator.

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07sep_1.htm

[Edward]

Ok I now understand NTP go here http://www.tsgc.utexas.edu/archive/fulltext/nuke.pdf

 

It is a PDF

[ydoaPs]

i don't think it should be intrepid class. it would take too much fuel to take off from a planet. it should have at least two ultralight shuttles.

[Edward]

I think the ship would be bulit in space. Also there are olny a few ships in star fleet capeable of a planetary landing. Most use shuttles or transporters. I think that shuttles would be nassary.

[ydoaPs]

edward, have you even read the thread? your last post has been addressed long ago.

[Edward]

which issue?

[ydoaPs]

all of them

[Edward]

I don't see any issues what do u mean by issues use quotes

[ydoaPs]

all of your posts have been previously addressed. read the WHOLE thread

[MolecularMan14]

why exactly would we need a space elevator?

[Sayonara]

Resource efficiency and safety.

[MolecularMan14]

...? how so? couldnt we just have shuttles, a space elevator would kind be restricting, seeing as it would have to have a top and a bottom, both attached to something. Why not have a space station connected to earth, then we would just fly to that?