[LORE / OOC / MATH] Six seconds to destination -or- Simon in Mathemagic Land

[Simon Darkstep]

Hail Commanders!

I think most of us are pretty familiar with the practice of setting throttle for a constant six-second approach time to our destinations. It's efficient and almost never overshoots.

The question of the day is: What is that measurement called?

After all, it's right there on our HUD, prominently displayed. It's certainly useful information to have, no matter how far or how long away we are from our destination.

It certainly is not the time to our destination. We can be at "six seconds" approach time for ten seconds, thirty seconds, maybe even longer if we have to meander through some gravity wells along the way.

What it's telling us is the ratio of present velocity to present distance. Both velocity and distance change, but the ratio remains whatever we're holding it to.


With that in mind, I went out searching for a proper term for this measurement.

We certainly don't want to stand around explaining to each other that we "set throttle such that the ratio of velocity to distance remains a constant value."

I think I found the proper term: arctangent


An arctangent is the angle between two perpendicular sides of a right triangle, trigonometrically speaking. In other words, it describes the ratio between the two values. No matter how large or small they may be, if the ratio between them stays the same, the arctangent remains the same.


So, what say you, Commanders? Is this the proper term? Can we say we're "setting throttle for a six second arctangent" without the math boffins laughing at us?



(Pardon if I was incorrect using tags for the title - I was trying to follow along with the practice and note that this was not exactly in-character, but would be informative for in-setting discussion!)

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

It sounds like a reasonably accurate way of describing, if a little sterile.

Spacers would have a shorter name for it, like "arctans" or perhaps something more morbid... like "SUCS" or Seconds Until Collision.

The process of determining the arctangent might be known as Calculating Miller Time, CMT, although the exact origin of this naming convention is lost in time.

 

[Simon Darkstep]

It sounds like a reasonably accurate way of describing, if a little sterile.

Spacers would have a shorter name for it, like "arctans" or perhaps something more morbid... like "SUCS" or Seconds Until Collision.

The process of determining the arctangent might be known as Calculating Miller Time, CMT, although the exact origin of this naming convention is lost in time.

I like where this is going!

 

[CMDR Byr Goefin]

Another one:

The "textbook" approach is to align the "sticks" on the left side for distance and speed. Thus the saying "On the stick".

Also known as "ducks" as in "keep your ducks in a row".

Overshooting a station is "f'ing the ducks"