So if i hit a planet on FSD engines. with maths!

RobotMan

R
So I was hurling through space at an unimaginable speed, many times the speed of light. Strait into a water world I was scanning during my exploration. Emergency stop kicked in. Now my ship was orbiting a beautiful planet in high orbit with only 2% hull damage and not even whiplash. This got me thinking…


Time to get geeky… with maths!!

So let’s pick the lightest ship in the ED arsenal: Sidewinder.
Hull Mass: 25 tonnes (25000kg)

Get some real world numbers:
1 light second (unit of distance) = 299792.458 kilometres, so speed of light in vacuum (1C) = 299792458 m/s (conveniently converts to velocity really easily)… and let’s not get into any relativity or quantum voodoo (but if you want to get into relativity or quantum calculation please do below!).

So, one basic equation:

Kinetic energy = 1/2 mv^2

And now a simple calculation (punching an oversized Ti-84), let’s assume I was still traveling at around 5C because I forgot to slow down.

So my Kinetic Energy would be ½ * 25000 * (5*299792458)^2.
That is: 2.83E+22 Joules of energy or 2.83E+10 Terajoules (TJ).

Now I found this fun number on Wikipedia:
Total energy released from all nuclear testing on Earth (that we know of) since 1996 is: 2.135E+6 TJ
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapon_yield)

Just for comparison Hiroshima released somewhere between 54-75 TJ of energy.

So my little Sidewinder has to bleed off equivalent to 13260.32 times the amount of total energy released from all nuclear testing on Earth since 1996. In an instant.

That is enough energy to probably vaporise all water on the planet if my Ship didn’t stop in time (or destroy the planet just like the Death Star from StarWars). This is just a guess now. Someone please run the numbers. How much energy do you need to vaporise all water on earth? (I’m lazy).

Thinking about it some more, releasing that much energy in planets near orbit would probably not end well for the planet as well (especially earth). I wouldn't want that exploding over my head. And that is just a sidewinder moving slowly.

Also thinking about war in space…. No Station or massive flagship could withstand an impact from a sidewinder travelling on FSD engines. Imagine humble FSD missiles.

Anyhow. That is my geekout for the day. Enjoy!
 

FoxTwo

FoxTwo
Your first assumption is that the ship is travelling in "normal space" where normal laws of physics would apply (and hence all your calculations would be correct if this were the case).

Apparently FSD makes your ship NOT travel in normal space (where lightspeed is the barrier).

So... I guess all your calculations are wrong? :D


EDIT - Example - if FSD warped space instead of propelling your ship, then your ship isn't moving at all, space is just compressed and expended. So kinetic energy of the ship totally not valid in the equation :D
 
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RobotMan

R
Well, there must be some normal space/FSD interaction because you can still see stuff outside of your ship. And your ship is affected by gravity in FSD so there is a link between normal and FSD :)

And bout the disintegrating Sidewinder.

Even if it does so. The energy is still there (conservation of energy and all that)
 
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FoxTwo

FoxTwo
RobotMan said:
Well, there must be some normal space/FSD interaction because you can still see stuff outside of your ship. And your ship is affected by gravity in FSD so there is a link between normal and FSD :)
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True but just HOW MUCH that interaction is, we don't know :)

So we cannot use "physics as we know it today" for the calculations.

The tech in ED is kinda like those in Battlestar Galactica (2008)... we know it's there, we know it works. We just don't know HOW. This ain't Star Trek where it's all technogeek speak and everything has to be explained.
 

Antichthon

Antichthon
FoxTwo said:
True but just HOW MUCH that interaction is, we don't know :)

So we cannot use "physics as we know it today" for the calculations.

The tech in ED is kinda like those in Battlestar Galactica (2008)... we know it's there, we know it works. We just don't know HOW. This ain't Star Trek where it's all technogeek speak and everything has to be explained.
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Yes it is. It's just as fantastic and unscientific. It just requires a bit more education to recognize it.
 

thewzdoc

thewzdoc
If ED was using "real" Alcubierre drives then you wouldn't "see" anything outside your little bit of space-time. So these FSD's are some kind of engineering based on physics we don't yet know.
 

anikaiful

anikaiful
I'm not so sure about the seeing part... light/photons are a bit exceptional... Somehow I imagine that you'd see just fine, but with extreme blue/red shift.
 

Antichthon

Antichthon
anikaiful said:
I'm not so sure about the seeing part... light/photons are a bit exceptional... Somehow I imagine that you'd see just fine, but with extreme blue/red shift.
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No, he's right. Technically. The current hypothesis of the Alcubierre drive suggests no information would penetrate your space-time bubble.

I say "technically" because Alcubierre drives are fantasy. Mere conjecture, extrapolated from the fact space -can- expand faster than the speed of light. There is absolutely no scientific support that they are actually possible.
 

RobotMan

R
I agree, old school physics don't mean anything at all in this game... (but the numbers are fun to derive and discuss).

Another thought.

Lets assume FSD doesn't interact with normal space in a way that we understand. BUT there is at least one fact that we know. FSD is affected by gravity. This means your own ships gravity field (every mass has gravity) will interact with other bodies. Now imagine your FSD ship passing through a station creating a gravity wake that would probably kill every living thing on board (including yourself as a pilot). Not a nice weapon to use on people... (CAUTION imaginative speculation)

:)
 

anikaiful

anikaiful
Antichthon said:
No, he's right. Technically. The current hypothesis of the Alcubierre drive suggests no information would penetrate your space-time bubble.

I say "technically" because Alcubierre drives are fantasy. Mere conjecture, extrapolated from the fact space -can- expand faster than the speed of light. There is absolutely no scientific support that they are actually possible.
Click to expand...

Hmm, well, we'll see how that hypothesis grows - I don't have brainpower to speculate on that. I think it'll fall to category "we'll see when they build it and try it". It might toss a few scientists off their throne, including Einstein, or it might not - remains seen.
 
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FoxTwo

FoxTwo
Also another thing to consider is this:

If your ship's computer could gather data and reproduce "sounds in space" in your cockpit for you to hear, then what is stopping the same computer from gathering some other data and plotting them on your HUD for you to "see" the planets as you're travelling to them?

It could be that they're really not the light coming in from outside the FSD bubble.. it could be just your HUD projection :D
 

RobotMan

R
FoxTwo said:
Also another thing to consider is this:

If your ship's computer could gather data and reproduce "sounds in space" in your cockpit for you to hear, then what is stopping the same computer from gathering some other data and plotting them on your HUD for you to "see" the planets as you're travelling to them?

It could be that they're really not the light coming in from outside the FSD bubble.. it could be just your HUD projection :D
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Nice try, but with the canopy broken you can still see planets etc in FSD (even tho you can't see targeting markers and all that) :)

Now if ED would make outside world disappear in FSD with broken canopy (and instead showed us hyperspace animations.... or the chaos dimension) that would blow my mind :D
 
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anikaiful

anikaiful
Antichthon said:
Well, no one does, but that's irrelevant. It wont be proven or disproven through brain power. It'll be through experimentation.
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Aye, we'll see - or our grandchildren.

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RobotMan said:
Nice try, but with the canopy broken you can still see planets etc in FSD (even tho you can't see targeting markers and all that) :)
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Canopy =/= HUD. Canopy's just the "windshield".
 
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