Cpt Caordas yanking the incoming ships’ corda. (drum riff)
Looks like the buns are doing ok.
But always remember, the enemy gets a vote, too.
Now, is this real, or a ship generated sim?
Ah good thinking, best not tell her about Teresa’s ability until they
are sure she’s not going to cut and run. I have no doubt Seth
could tell just as Teresa did about him, a nice 1 on 1 chat with him
and her will hopefully teach him to keep it a secret from anyone
that might exploit either of them. Teresa has enough to worry
about with local terrorists and such.
Nice tactic there Capt. Caorda, Get your ships into position, give
them a warning, utterly destroy one ship, let THAT convince the
other to stand down.
I have a couple of things I’d like to share here.
1) Magnesium does 2 things, it burns at very a high temperatures
(over 10k F), and it makes it’s own oxygen, it’s a VERY hard material
to deal with for firemen. There’s a special foam that can put it out,
but it’s very expensive and few fire-stations have any on hand. SOP
is to bury it in sand and wait until it burns out.I think a kitty-litter
missile warhead made of magnesium with an igniter would be SUPER
effective in a space battle! A missile that does shot-gun damage that
keeps eating the hull… even minor damage would keep growing…
2) I wonder if after start of the sim, they find out that when
the computer detected the ships coming through, it canceled
the simulated attack and this all is in real time. There’s no sign
the P’tera are watching it that closely. (sudden flash outside the
view port and they start running)
I should add before anyone asks, ignition point of
magnesium is 5000 F, a road flare or something
along those lines works. Including a cutting torch
or welder (old story about a guy trying to weld
up a cracked mag wheel…)
LOW temperatures! magnesium’s ignition point is “883F”.
is why it is used in fire starting.
road flares average burn temp is 2500f (2000f – 5500f).
oxyace. torch burns at 6,332f
Kitty litter missiles are essentially buckets of gravel moving a fractional C velocities.
A single 10 gram pebble moving at .01C has the equivalent force of over 10,000 kilos
of TNT! No need for fancy metals like magnesium. A 10 gram pebble hitting the skin
of a vehicle is going to have the power of a bomb. Now imagine 100 kilos of gravel,
slightly separated by a small explosive charge. Fractional C kinetic kill weapons
would be devastating. Plus, a bucket of gravel with a grav node in the front will tend
to track whatever it’s locked onto. Kitty litter missiles are not to be sneezed at.
hyperkinetic weapons require no explosives.
a shotgun round does not require second charge.
AND you said it yourself.. at that speed, ONE
grain = 10k TNT.. (100 = 1,000,000k TNT)
so adding a little more isn’t gona change much.!
Imagine if they used sand instead of pellets…
This would add a whole new meaning to ‘sand blasting’…
But remember; even iron, impacting at a high enough
fraction of the velocity of light, will fuse. Big boom…
also, at that speed you are going to need a
quantum computer.! IF the components
survive the launch,. then you are going to
need VERY precise timing.!! as we are
talking about a fraction of a ‘attosecond’.!
fraction c, starts at *30,000km/s* ..
so at less than 30,000km/s you are working
in fractional seconds,, then the time dilatation
of the rounds speed on it’s self….
ok.. simply put.. all in a second.! missile is at 30,000km/s. so one
second to target. typical explosion takes a half a second to “Explode”.
now add in time dilation of .5%,, the missile would explode at the
point of impact.. doing nothing…. at that speed and time. they would
have to explode the missile in the tube.!!!!
You forgot that they are starting in the tubes with zero velocity and
accelerating all the way to the target.That is why there is a minimum
effective range, they need time and distance to accelerate to their
minimum effective velocity.
Well, maybe. Buckets of gravel would be harder to get consistent.
If I recall correctly from when the first Kitty Litter missiles
used on the pirates, the projectiles are 25mm (slightly less than
one inch) diameter iron balls. They’re not tiny, and they have
some heft, especially when moving at that speed. Yeah, they’ll
shred whatever they hit, no additional pyrotechnics needed.
stupid rob idea… nickel pellets…
the navy IS harvesting rocks in space.!!
from all the processing they will have alot
of Slag.. make the slag into pellets…
Magnesium only “makes it’s own oxygen” if you put water on it.
Mg + H2O = MgO + H2. It can also decompose iron oxides to
get oxygen, leaving elemental iron (the thermite reaction),
but I hope your spaceship isn’t that rusty!
It won’t burn in vacuum.
Your training was for on Earth in an oxygen atmosphere that will also burn magnesium, not for vacuum. (Any spaceship that’s been
hit bad enough to put a warhead through the skin will full of vacuum very soon.) Magnesium burning in air is bad –
I think whoever said the “ignition temperature” was 5000 degrees meant the temperature burning magnesium could reach rather
than the ignition temperature. The way I remember it, you can light a ribbon of magnesium in air with a match and it will burn hot enough to
ignite things you’d never light with a match or even a wood-fueled bonfire.
Magnesium burning in water under air is even worse – besides the heat of the magnesium-water reaction, it emits hydrogen,
which mixes in air to either make very hot _invisible_ flames, or an explosive gas mixture.
But in vacuum, magnesium won’t directly burn. Spray it with water and you’ll get a violent reaction, but I expect the water will boil away quickly,
there’s no oxygen to burn the hydrogen, and nothing to sustain the reaction after the water is gone. Thermite made from powdered magnesium
and iron oxide would still burn, but it’s not a dramatic fire. A high-explosive shell would burst with just as much energy, although
you’ll have to rely on the shell fragments to carry all the energy to the targets since there’s no air or water to transfer the shock.
Shock & Awe is definitely a deterrent tactic! Stealth kills
would be for when you have plenty of time for psychologies
of unknown fear to settle in. Though the success of either
depends on a lot of the attitudes of the targets :{
From the viewpoint of the targets, kitty litter missiles are an
undetectable weapon that causes a huge amount of damage.
No detectable energy output, no heat, just destruction.
Both races are easily frightened, so this would an “oh shit”
moment. With FTL, the exiling of prisoners would be easier,
take them to a system and drop them off with no tech, and
no WH, see how long it’ll take them to reach their people.
Since the grav drives in the missiles produce a lot of heat, they can be
picked up on infrared in the later stage of their travel.
Not that it will do the enemy much good once they realize that, of course.
By then their available reaction time will be measured in seconds, at best.
True they are just “on” but with that strong of a force, nothing short
of another ship or asteroid passing the grav beam would stop or
deflect it. It would take a grav weapon or a lucky shot to take out
just one missile. And at that range it wouldn’t help much, the shrapnel
is already moving in that direction. Plus the time dilation effect
would make it seem almost instantaneous.
Any training includes those accepted terms used by pretty much
everyone, it’s not hard to pick up. Only time it sux is when the
terms change over time and you’re not aware of them. Off the
top of my head is when “main breaker box” changed to “load
center” or “pump tank” was changed to “lift station.” Engineers
love to name things… Over and over…
Still on track for my staged scenario; the bunnies have assumed stage one already (in TGW 1155)
Next comic could reveal either the upgraded weaponry and systems or the reaction of the attackers
(I’m betting the Goblins in the cruisers and the Horned ones in the remaining ships)
All my other options are still open as well – including the red herring of it not being a simulation.
I’m sure after Diana talks to Teresa and a few other’s
she’ll be more agreeable, right now she’s scared they’ve
only changed hells.
You mean the shitbats? the goblins are the lil guys like that
one engineer on the Pride, Harold I think. But I agree, the
hornies run the freighters and the shitbats run “security.”
No big deal, PC has so much lore, if I wasn’t OCD about it…
We have some clear Imperial enemies, mainly the shitbats,
but the hornies will follow the leader, hammerheads are iffy
at best, i wonder about the P’tera, everything seems to be
going well, and that ship model suggests they know about
the core’s FTL ships, but that’s another story line.
Cpt Caordas yanking the incoming ships’ corda. (drum riff)
Looks like the buns are doing ok.
But always remember, the enemy gets a vote, too.
Now, is this real, or a ship generated sim?
So far, everything says it’s a sim, but it could be a mistake
by the P’terans. Wait and see woodman, wait and see…
I think you’re right, but it could be a
coincidental occurrence. Damn the waiting.
Good job Mr. Cat.
Heh I hear ya, PC and I seem to have a contest going,
he drops clues to see if I can pick ’em up heheh…
Ah good thinking, best not tell her about Teresa’s ability until they
are sure she’s not going to cut and run. I have no doubt Seth
could tell just as Teresa did about him, a nice 1 on 1 chat with him
and her will hopefully teach him to keep it a secret from anyone
that might exploit either of them. Teresa has enough to worry
about with local terrorists and such.
Nice tactic there Capt. Caorda, Get your ships into position, give
them a warning, utterly destroy one ship, let THAT convince the
other to stand down.
I have a couple of things I’d like to share here.
1) Magnesium does 2 things, it burns at very a high temperatures
(over 10k F), and it makes it’s own oxygen, it’s a VERY hard material
to deal with for firemen. There’s a special foam that can put it out,
but it’s very expensive and few fire-stations have any on hand. SOP
is to bury it in sand and wait until it burns out.I think a kitty-litter
missile warhead made of magnesium with an igniter would be SUPER
effective in a space battle! A missile that does shot-gun damage that
keeps eating the hull… even minor damage would keep growing…
2) I wonder if after start of the sim, they find out that when
the computer detected the ships coming through, it canceled
the simulated attack and this all is in real time. There’s no sign
the P’tera are watching it that closely. (sudden flash outside the
view port and they start running)
I should add before anyone asks, ignition point of
magnesium is 5000 F, a road flare or something
along those lines works. Including a cutting torch
or welder (old story about a guy trying to weld
up a cracked mag wheel…)
LOW temperatures! magnesium’s ignition point is “883F”.
is why it is used in fire starting.
road flares average burn temp is 2500f (2000f – 5500f).
oxyace. torch burns at 6,332f
Kitty litter missiles are essentially buckets of gravel moving a fractional C velocities.
A single 10 gram pebble moving at .01C has the equivalent force of over 10,000 kilos
of TNT! No need for fancy metals like magnesium. A 10 gram pebble hitting the skin
of a vehicle is going to have the power of a bomb. Now imagine 100 kilos of gravel,
slightly separated by a small explosive charge. Fractional C kinetic kill weapons
would be devastating. Plus, a bucket of gravel with a grav node in the front will tend
to track whatever it’s locked onto. Kitty litter missiles are not to be sneezed at.
hyperkinetic weapons require no explosives.
a shotgun round does not require second charge.
AND you said it yourself.. at that speed, ONE
grain = 10k TNT.. (100 = 1,000,000k TNT)
so adding a little more isn’t gona change much.!
Imagine if they used sand instead of pellets…
This would add a whole new meaning to ‘sand blasting’…
But remember; even iron, impacting at a high enough
fraction of the velocity of light, will fuse. Big boom…
also, at that speed you are going to need a
quantum computer.! IF the components
survive the launch,. then you are going to
need VERY precise timing.!! as we are
talking about a fraction of a ‘attosecond’.!
fraction c, starts at *30,000km/s* ..
so at less than 30,000km/s you are working
in fractional seconds,, then the time dilatation
of the rounds speed on it’s self….
Time dilation at .1%C is only approx .5%. Negligible.
ok.. simply put.. all in a second.! missile is at 30,000km/s. so one
second to target. typical explosion takes a half a second to “Explode”.
now add in time dilation of .5%,, the missile would explode at the
point of impact.. doing nothing…. at that speed and time. they would
have to explode the missile in the tube.!!!!
THIS is to give an idea what happens, in LESS than 4 seconds.!!
https://wediditforlove.com/techtalk21.html
You forgot that they are starting in the tubes with zero velocity and
accelerating all the way to the target.That is why there is a minimum
effective range, they need time and distance to accelerate to their
minimum effective velocity.
Well, maybe. Buckets of gravel would be harder to get consistent.
If I recall correctly from when the first Kitty Litter missiles
used on the pirates, the projectiles are 25mm (slightly less than
one inch) diameter iron balls. They’re not tiny, and they have
some heft, especially when moving at that speed. Yeah, they’ll
shred whatever they hit, no additional pyrotechnics needed.
How “consistent” would they have to be? Gravel is
(excuse the pun) dirt cheap and plentiful.
stupid rob idea… nickel pellets…
the navy IS harvesting rocks in space.!!
from all the processing they will have alot
of Slag.. make the slag into pellets…
Yes, gravel is cheap, buy my thought was for consistency,
missile to missile. With varying payloads, flight times couldn’t be
consistently calculated.
Magnesium only “makes it’s own oxygen” if you put water on it.
Mg + H2O = MgO + H2. It can also decompose iron oxides to
get oxygen, leaving elemental iron (the thermite reaction),
but I hope your spaceship isn’t that rusty!
It won’t burn in vacuum.
it was just a thought, as I had said. I was only
repeating what I was told in training.
Your training was for on Earth in an oxygen atmosphere that will also burn magnesium, not for vacuum. (Any spaceship that’s been
hit bad enough to put a warhead through the skin will full of vacuum very soon.) Magnesium burning in air is bad –
I think whoever said the “ignition temperature” was 5000 degrees meant the temperature burning magnesium could reach rather
than the ignition temperature. The way I remember it, you can light a ribbon of magnesium in air with a match and it will burn hot enough to
ignite things you’d never light with a match or even a wood-fueled bonfire.
Magnesium burning in water under air is even worse – besides the heat of the magnesium-water reaction, it emits hydrogen,
which mixes in air to either make very hot _invisible_ flames, or an explosive gas mixture.
But in vacuum, magnesium won’t directly burn. Spray it with water and you’ll get a violent reaction, but I expect the water will boil away quickly,
there’s no oxygen to burn the hydrogen, and nothing to sustain the reaction after the water is gone. Thermite made from powdered magnesium
and iron oxide would still burn, but it’s not a dramatic fire. A high-explosive shell would burst with just as much energy, although
you’ll have to rely on the shell fragments to carry all the energy to the targets since there’s no air or water to transfer the shock.
>going to be pretty spectacular
Shock & Awe is definitely a deterrent tactic! Stealth kills
would be for when you have plenty of time for psychologies
of unknown fear to settle in. Though the success of either
depends on a lot of the attitudes of the targets :{
From the viewpoint of the targets, kitty litter missiles are an
undetectable weapon that causes a huge amount of damage.
No detectable energy output, no heat, just destruction.
Both races are easily frightened, so this would an “oh shit”
moment. With FTL, the exiling of prisoners would be easier,
take them to a system and drop them off with no tech, and
no WH, see how long it’ll take them to reach their people.
Since the grav drives in the missiles produce a lot of heat, they can be
picked up on infrared in the later stage of their travel.
Not that it will do the enemy much good once they realize that, of course.
By then their available reaction time will be measured in seconds, at best.
True they are just “on” but with that strong of a force, nothing short
of another ship or asteroid passing the grav beam would stop or
deflect it. It would take a grav weapon or a lucky shot to take out
just one missile. And at that range it wouldn’t help much, the shrapnel
is already moving in that direction. Plus the time dilation effect
would make it seem almost instantaneous.
For a “just begun training” situation, the bunnies
picked up on the imperial slang quite fast.
Well, they’ve been at it for four months.
Ah, I missed this time jump, I thought it was like some days. (I guess I should re-read a bit later.)
Any training includes those accepted terms used by pretty much
everyone, it’s not hard to pick up. Only time it sux is when the
terms change over time and you’re not aware of them. Off the
top of my head is when “main breaker box” changed to “load
center” or “pump tank” was changed to “lift station.” Engineers
love to name things… Over and over…
Engineers or salespeople and managers?
Diane needs assurances and is getting them.
Still on track for my staged scenario; the bunnies have assumed stage one already (in TGW 1155)
Next comic could reveal either the upgraded weaponry and systems or the reaction of the attackers
(I’m betting the Goblins in the cruisers and the Horned ones in the remaining ships)
All my other options are still open as well – including the red herring of it not being a simulation.
I’m sure after Diana talks to Teresa and a few other’s
she’ll be more agreeable, right now she’s scared they’ve
only changed hells.
You mean the shitbats? the goblins are the lil guys like that
one engineer on the Pride, Harold I think. But I agree, the
hornies run the freighters and the shitbats run “security.”
You are right, of course I meant the Shitbats.
That is what I get for not checking!
No big deal, PC has so much lore, if I wasn’t OCD about it…
We have some clear Imperial enemies, mainly the shitbats,
but the hornies will follow the leader, hammerheads are iffy
at best, i wonder about the P’tera, everything seems to be
going well, and that ship model suggests they know about
the core’s FTL ships, but that’s another story line.