is atmospheric landing even possible with either of the 38 playable ships???

Sci-fi is something that in RL, right now is technologically not possibile, because we have no idea how to build that tech, but in theory it doesn't violate the physics rules or at least is strictly coherent with its own physics rules, and these physics rules aren't stated impossible to exist in a different reality.

Fantasy is, instead, something that it is already stated impossible also in theory that it violates its own physics rules, like magic, indeed, fantasy genre is usually associated to the use of magic, but actually it isn't just the use of magic, in general, as an example, the use of any deus-ex machina is fantasy, even in a futuristic setting, read it as quite infinite thrust/weight, read it as unmetered fuel consumption to gain that thrust/weight ratio and so on...

Just as a loose reference: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/difference-fantasy-science-fiction/

EDIT: It's pretty easy to note that is by far much harder to write a true Sci-fi space simulator instead of an ostensible Sci-fi but actually Fantasy one. Worse I am pretty confident that a true Sci-fi space simulator means a much more niche player base in comparison with a Fantasy one...

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke
 
I know that quote. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws

And it's one of the reason becasue a lot of authors prefer to set their lore in a far future or in a galaxy far far away... ...ironically not Arthur C. Clarke and his 2001...
The thing is that we have no clue about what's going on, our knowledge is limited to less than 5% of what's out there.
Even Einstein thought that nuclear energy will ever be obtainable, not to mention other things that were once thought scientifically impossible.
 
I am by no mean an aerospace engineer but after reading NASA's articles on their space shuttle , in particular the STS-120, I learned that it was built like a spaceplane.
What that means is, it can orbit Earth like a spaceship but when entering the Earth atmosphere, it glides down using its wings , taking advantage of basic aerodynamics.

Now, looking at some of the 38 playable ships we have today, some of them are literally a flying brick , (type 9, python, anaconda etc etc) , how on Earth are they going to land on an Earth like planet with a gravitational force of -9.41g and having no WINGS whatsoever?? the moment they enter an Earth-like planet atmosphere they will fall down like a bird high on cocaine.
Now I know this is year 3036 or whatever and technology is far more advanced but think about it, even today, when you try to land on a low gravity planet , you can feel the ship being pulled down so an Earth like planet with super high gravity AND atmosphere - there is no way those behemoths can safely land. Unless Frontier is cooking up some new guardian technology that upon entering an atmosphere, a set of wings come out and you can glide down like an airplane. I just hope it's not going to be as fake as No Man's Sky with like zero realism...

if there are any real aerospace engineers or real-life pilots here, feel free to comment. I am really curious what options they have in terms of allowing those monster ships to land on an Earth like planet and yet keep the game as realistic as possible.

cheers

It's a game.
 
The thing is that we have no clue about what's going on, our knowledge is limited to less than 5% of what's out there.
...not to mention other things that were once thought scientifically impossible.
Scientifically? Are you sure about your scientifically??? Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?

I don't know, I have no idea how to do it, it's a thing but being scientifically sure, having a scientific proof that there is no way to do it is a totally different thing... ...and please read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina
 
Without lift, one can't get off the ground, and if so, would fall back like a rock. Thus most of ED ships if using anything close to actual physics; Would crash!

Tell that to NASA then. No wings on their rockets, they apparently are doing it wrong.

In the end the whole thing boils down to this: you enter a planets atmosphere. With our present day technology you need to rely on some way to reduce speed. Every space agency for obvious reasons relies on aerobraking: you convert position energy into heat to slow the vehicle down to manageable speeds. The last meters you have to rely on something else. On the SpaceShuttle they resorted to wings for a glide aproach. Anybody else relies on parachutes to slow the speed down enough to land savely.

The pure reason behind that is the tyrany of fuel (Or Tyranny of the Rocket Equation). Look it up, it's an acutal term. It basically means that for every pound of fuel you bring along with you, you need to spend extra fuel in earlier stages. The costs rise exponentially. (Depending on which fuel you use, the fuel makes up between 83% and 96% of a rockets mass. ) So in the theoretical scenario that you want to slow down your spaceship not by aerobreaking but by using thrusters, you'd need to bring a full sized V5 rocket into space. Which means you'd need many of them to carry the one into space. (More exact: considering the best case scenario you'd need to use up 6 of them to carry one into space, which then could use its fuel to slow down when returning. ) Which gets a bit expensive.

In contrast, within the world of ED, every spaceship has a fusion reactor. It means it has an almost unlimited power supply. Fuel in ED is cheap and light. If you have so much energy available, basically for free, there's no reason not to use it for breaking down and controling your ship by thrusters. In the end, that's exactly what we already do on non-atmospheric planets. I mean, what else but our thrusters would slow the ships down?

The only difference for atmospheric planets actually is: depending on your speed, you still have to handle things like compression heat, turbulences, the sonic shockwave, etc. And yes, those can differ strongly depending on each ships shape. But the answer also was already given in this thread: we have shields. A shield strong enough to keep my ship alive when ramming a planets surface at over 500 m/s and a ship able to collect fuel by entering a suns corona should also be able to handle some compression heat, turbulences and a bit of sonic shockwaves.
 
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I am by no mean an aerospace engineer but after reading NASA's articles on their space shuttle , in particular the STS-120, I learned that it was built like a spaceplane.
What that means is, it can orbit Earth like a spaceship but when entering the Earth atmosphere, it glides down using its wings , taking advantage of basic aerodynamics.

Now, looking at some of the 38 playable ships we have today, some of them are literally a flying brick , (type 9, python, anaconda etc etc) , how on Earth are they going to land on an Earth like planet with a gravitational force of -9.41g and having no WINGS whatsoever?? the moment they enter an Earth-like planet atmosphere they will fall down like a bird high on cocaine.
Now I know this is year 3036 or whatever and technology is far more advanced but think about it, even today, when you try to land on a low gravity planet , you can feel the ship being pulled down so an Earth like planet with super high gravity AND atmosphere - there is no way those behemoths can safely land. Unless Frontier is cooking up some new guardian technology that upon entering an atmosphere, a set of wings come out and you can glide down like an airplane. I just hope it's not going to be as fake as No Man's Sky with like zero realism...

if there are any real aerospace engineers or real-life pilots here, feel free to comment. I am really curious what options they have in terms of allowing those monster ships to land on an Earth like planet and yet keep the game as realistic as possible.

cheers
By flying like bricks don't 🍻
 
Completely different setting and tech background. So basically apples and oranges.

Why do I bother to reply?

If the iconic and culturally accepted Millennium Falcon is an atmosphere capable ship, similar will be accepted in ED.

Fundamentaly ED is a sci-fi game, grounded in ideas of the genre. If certain ideas are accepted within the overall genre they will be generally accepted in ED. And don't go all hyperbolic with this. The story tellers can choose whatever elements they wish to include. You can argue all day about the physics of FTL travel, the science behind lasers, and dozens of other common sci-fi elements. Its part of the genre.

Frontier will make the choice, but obviously within the gaming genre if the Falcon can fly in atmosphere a Krait can too.

Millennium-Falcon.jpg
 
Why do I bother to reply?

If the iconic and culturally accepted Millennium Falcon is an atmosphere capable ship, similar will be accepted in ED.

Fundamentaly ED is a sci-fi game, grounded in ideas of the genre. If certain ideas are accepted within the overall genre they will be generally accepted in ED. And don't go all hyperbolic with this. The story tellers can choose whatever elements they wish to include. You can argue all day about the physics of FTL travel, the science behind lasers, and dozens of other common sci-fi elements. Its part of the genre.

Frontier will make the choice, but obviously within the gaming genre if the Falcon can fly in atmosphere a Krait can too.

View attachment 173726
Culturally accepted - what is that supposed to even mean? That apples are the new oranges now? I don't buy it.
 
I am by no mean an aerospace engineer but after reading NASA's articles on their space shuttle , in particular the STS-120, I learned that it was built like a spaceplane.
What that means is, it can orbit Earth like a spaceship but when entering the Earth atmosphere, it glides down using its wings , taking advantage of basic aerodynamics.

Now, looking at some of the 38 playable ships we have today, some of them are literally a flying brick , (type 9, python, anaconda etc etc) , how on Earth are they going to land on an Earth like planet with a gravitational force of -9.41g and having no WINGS whatsoever?? the moment they enter an Earth-like planet atmosphere they will fall down like a bird high on cocaine.
Now I know this is year 3036 or whatever and technology is far more advanced but think about it, even today, when you try to land on a low gravity planet , you can feel the ship being pulled down so an Earth like planet with super high gravity AND atmosphere - there is no way those behemoths can safely land. Unless Frontier is cooking up some new guardian technology that upon entering an atmosphere, a set of wings come out and you can glide down like an airplane. I just hope it's not going to be as fake as No Man's Sky with like zero realism...

if there are any real aerospace engineers or real-life pilots here, feel free to comment. I am really curious what options they have in terms of allowing those monster ships to land on an Earth like planet and yet keep the game as realistic as possible.

cheers
They will use the same capabilities that let them land without atmosphere though perhaps a little slower to allow for friction heating, they don't need to fly and use aerodynamic effects as they have more than enough power to take off and land like a rocket.

Also keep in mind all our ships regularly fly in an atmosphere, not for long and legally not very fast, but they do so every time we use one of the stations as there is atmosphere as soon as you are through the slot as proved by when life support switches off when you are flying with a smashed canopy.
 
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Scientifically? Are you sure about your scientifically??? Seriously?!?!?!?!?!?

I don't know, I have no idea how to do it, it's a thing but being scientifically sure, having a scientific proof that there is no way to do it is a totally different thing... ...and please read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deus_ex_machina
Kardashev Scale is a scientific classification of civilizations. You can't scientifically prove that a Type V civilization can't exist.
 
I kinda expected you wouldn't be able to answer it. I recommend just getting rid of empty phrases. That's culturally accepted universally.

I would guess he means that up to now there was no uprising, calling that the Millenium Falcon should not have been able to land on a planets surface. Within the scope of the SF worlds we frequent, a ship like that entering a planets atmosphere is considered to be fine.

Of course, when looking at that from a purely scientific point of view and our current understanding of physics, it doesn't seem realistic. But really, in this case start out with explaining the physics behind the power plants, shields and the FDS in ED. Once you're done with that, we can start to compare why those things would work but using thrusters and shields to control the entry into a planets atmosphere and to prevent problems for the ship would not be possible.

Until then, both StarWars and ED have some "space magic" on their ships, not rooted in our current science and understanding of physics, but rather based on our imagination, game mechanics and fantasy.
 
I would guess he means that up to now there was no uprising, calling that the Millenium Falcon should not have been able to land on a planets surface. Within the scope of the SF worlds we frequent, a ship like that entering a planets atmosphere is considered to be fine.

Of course, when looking at that from a purely scientific point of view and our current understanding of physics, it doesn't seem realistic. But really, in this case start out with explaining the physics behind the power plants, shields and the FDS in ED. Once you're done with that, we can start to compare why those things would work but using thrusters and shields to control the entry into a planets atmosphere and to prevent problems for the ship would not be possible.

Until then, both StarWars and ED have some "space magic" on their ships, not rooted in our current science and understanding of physics, but rather based on our imagination, game mechanics and fantasy.
I rather think that in movies the ships land because the narrative affords them too. It also affords Star Destroyers to hang around in atmosphere because it looks great on the screen. Video games are a different medium and function differently too, when it comes down to believable "lore", "tech" or setting. How much space magic ED will field is not determined yet, I'd say. At least not officially.
 
Kardashev Scale is a scientific classification of civilizations. You can't scientifically prove that a Type V civilization can't exist.
You are doing creative marketing coomunication:

You have taken something that is science: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale just until Type III civilization, and you are trying to state that something that isn't science yet, that is one of its proposed extension, that is Type V civilization, has the same soundness and proofness, worse even
Kardashev believed that a Type 4 civilization was impossible, so he did not go past Type 3.
... ...sorry dude, but your behaviour isn't scientifically acceptable.

Anyway you have missed my precedent examples let me quote them here:
...
the use of any deus-ex machina is fantasy, even in a futuristic setting, read it as quite infinite thrust/weight, read it as unmetered fuel consumption to gain that thrust/weight ratio and so on...
...

let me add just another example: that having such a quite infinite thrust/weight ratio is working just when you have to take off from any G planet, but when you are flying in normal space your ship RCS is instead heavily influenced in some ways from its mass... ...such a strange science fact, don't you think something is wrong if the same thrusters when you have to take off from high G planet have some performances, but when you need ship RCS they have such low performaces?... ...this is breaking its own rules, so these thrusters when have to take off your ship from a high G planet is a deus-ex machina, that is: magic, pure fantasy. And it's just an example, there are more...

EDIT: This is a game. Game designers and developers have to cope with practical issues in a practical manner, it's pure non-sense pretend that they have to do it in a realistic way and that everything in this sim has to be realistically acceptable.
 
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