Breaking the sound barrier inside a station
- Thread starter Sloppy Pilot
- Start date
If you think that's bad, imagine the plasma-splat you'd make when you supercruise into some nebular dust particles or free hydrogen at 120c.
Greetings
Funny enough I was just thinking about this the other day, you should be able to break the sound barrier inside the station with all the effects that come with.
But there should also be a fine for breaking speed limits in stations, should have been from the start.
Funny enough I was just thinking about this the other day, you should be able to break the sound barrier inside the station with all the effects that come with.
But there should also be a fine for breaking speed limits in stations, should have been from the start.
The speed of sound is a function of density. The speed of sound (relative to the ground) at sea level is not the same as the speed of sound (relative to the ground) 40,000 feet up, where modern airliners fly.
Your ships speed - in metres/second - is displayed just to the right of your radar scanner.
440 m/s sounds quite fast, but I haven't flown a clipper. A Cobra and Asp can go over 300 m/s on boost.
I usually enter/leave stations at around 100 m/s unless I'm smuggling or in a desperate hurry.
440 m/s sounds quite fast, but I haven't flown a clipper. A Cobra and Asp can go over 300 m/s on boost.
I usually enter/leave stations at around 100 m/s unless I'm smuggling or in a desperate hurry.
Why waste time inside the station.
To quote a well respected and influential man.
Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you.
Jeremy Clarkson
To quote a well respected and influential man.
Speed has never killed anyone. Suddenly becoming stationary, that's what gets you.
Jeremy Clarkson
Hitting earths atmosphere, as it gets thicker, from the vacuum of space at a reasonable rate of speed results in the flames and violence of reentry we're all familiar with from various space programs. Those reentry pods are pretty small, though they re-enter at similar speeds to a boosting clipper. Meteors enter at similar speed, and have a tendency to break up from the pummeling.
Also, the docking bay is a sealed container - there's nowhere for the air to really go that moves out of the way when you enter the dock, so even under normal circumstances the bay likely has highly variable air pressure.
So with all that in mind, hitting the (essentially solid at that speed) air barrier in your boosting Clipper should be like flying into a wall. The ship would be vaporized instantaneously, and the resulting shock-wave of superheated air would likely kill every living thing in the bay that wasn't protected, and anything that was protected would suffer permanent hearing damage. In addition to that, smaller ships would be sent flying around the space since there's very little gravity to keep them in place. A sonic boom would be the least of your worries.
So, fortunately it's a game, and some level of suspending belief is required
Also, the docking bay is a sealed container - there's nowhere for the air to really go that moves out of the way when you enter the dock, so even under normal circumstances the bay likely has highly variable air pressure.
So with all that in mind, hitting the (essentially solid at that speed) air barrier in your boosting Clipper should be like flying into a wall. The ship would be vaporized instantaneously, and the resulting shock-wave of superheated air would likely kill every living thing in the bay that wasn't protected, and anything that was protected would suffer permanent hearing damage. In addition to that, smaller ships would be sent flying around the space since there's very little gravity to keep them in place. A sonic boom would be the least of your worries.
So, fortunately it's a game, and some level of suspending belief is required
Well.... So far I know..... It is 440 m/s faster then stations ( let's say 48000 km/h ) orbiting speed around planet.
So basicly...... You have past sound barrier long long time ago.
No, it's not. It's going 440 Km/h
This gives me an idea for a challenge
Who can get the fastest speed through the mailslot ? Bouncing off the sides on the way through disqualifies you (as well as more than likely disqualifying you from life)
Also awards for getting a type 9 through the slot at high speed without demolishing anything else that gets in your way.
Bill
Its only a game
Who can get the fastest speed through the mailslot ? Bouncing off the sides on the way through disqualifies you (as well as more than likely disqualifying you from life
)Also awards for getting a type 9 through the slot at high speed without demolishing anything else that gets in your way.
Bill
Its only a game
That's not correct...the Shuttle re-entered at about Mach 25 (8200m/s)...it's going significantly faster.
Fair point
But it's also not hitting a wall of the stuff, is and is angled on reentry, so the actual speed it's penetrating the atmosphere is considerably lower than the speed it's actually traveling. Maybe not as low as 480m/s though, so I totally concede that one. 
No, the speeds while in normal flight are measured in m/s.
Your Clipper goes 440 meters per second while full boosting.
Well maybe you should get a sound feedback, but honestly... if you could break the sound barrier, the bang inside the station would be ridiculously loud and I don't think that's what the inhabitants need, do they ?
Thats just a docking bay... It doesnt matter if its loud. Im sure they mastered the art of sound proofing.
The speedmeter in normal space is m/s, not km/h. You seem to know the game very well.
Hitting earths atmosphere, as it gets thicker, from the vacuum of space at a reasonable rate of speed results in the flames and violence of reentry we're all familiar with from various space programs. Those reentry pods are pretty small, though they re-enter at similar speeds to a boosting clipper. Meteors enter at similar speed, and have a tendency to break up from the pummeling.
Also, the docking bay is a sealed container - there's nowhere for the air to really go that moves out of the way when you enter the dock, so even under normal circumstances the bay likely has highly variable air pressure.
So with all that in mind, hitting the (essentially solid at that speed) air barrier in your boosting Clipper should be like flying into a wall. The ship would be vaporized instantaneously, and the resulting shock-wave of superheated air would likely kill every living thing in the bay that wasn't protected, and anything that was protected would suffer permanent hearing damage. In addition to that, smaller ships would be sent flying around the space since there's very little gravity to keep them in place. A sonic boom would be the least of your worries.
So, fortunately it's a game, and some level of suspending belief is required
But, we drop in pretty close to stars and even get close enough to scoop gases for fuel. Id say the ships can handle heat.
People that work outside ferrying planes and what not at airports wear hearing protection. I dont see why that would stop in the future.
Whose to say the atmosphere inside the bay area is as dense as our own atmosphere. It may just be the bare minumum and for those who are outside for an extended period must wear a jumpsuit kitted with a rebreather system.
Everything is for the most part sealed off, except for the road ways.
We will eventually have planetary landings so the ships must be able to handle high speed atmospheric entry anyways.
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Right... and the Earth surface is rotating at which speed? So you're saying we are all long past the sound barrier as we're constantly moving way above the speed of sound?
When I get shadowplay working on my graphics card I plan to have a docking contest. The idea would be to buy a stock 'winder and each contestant submits a video starting outside the toaster, doing a dock request, and then getting to the pad and landing as fast as possible. Extra credit for nauseating maneuvers on the way.
Einstein will tell you that speed is relative. Since the atmosphere has mass, it follows (mostly) the inertia of the Earth, while adhering to gravity and its own moment of inertia. So our atmosphere remains stuck relative to our planet, with many pockets that vary by up to a couple hundred knots/hour or so.
So we don't move past the speed of sound relative to where we are unless we are in a vehicle that can perform at Mach. This is because we set our speedometers to be relative. In an aircraft, you can chose GS ground speed or IAS indicated air speed to either get a sense of how fast you are going relative to your destination or how fast you are going with respect to the air around you, since overspeeds can cause stress that would rip off your wings.
Nothing stop us from setting the point of relativity to Mars, Jupiter, the Sun, or Betelgeuse, in which case we are indeed moving very, very fast. If we use the Sun as a reference and I walk to the corner store, I could say (avoiding big math) I am walking at 67,003.1 miles per hour. Guess where the 3.1 comes from?
So we don't move past the speed of sound relative to where we are unless we are in a vehicle that can perform at Mach. This is because we set our speedometers to be relative. In an aircraft, you can chose GS ground speed or IAS indicated air speed to either get a sense of how fast you are going relative to your destination or how fast you are going with respect to the air around you, since overspeeds can cause stress that would rip off your wings.
Nothing stop us from setting the point of relativity to Mars, Jupiter, the Sun, or Betelgeuse, in which case we are indeed moving very, very fast. If we use the Sun as a reference and I walk to the corner store, I could say (avoiding big math) I am walking at 67,003.1 miles per hour. Guess where the 3.1 comes from?