Key Tech 01

Gravity Control Systems

 “It is the essential device to make space travel practical rather than simply possible.”

In simple terms a GCS does 3 things;

1. It provides artificial gravity for a ship, including inertial compensation. So on a normal voyage the floor would be down, things would seem to weigh what they should and you would not feel like you are moving at all. Of course the GCS is not perfect and it can only deal with so many Gs at a time. Very fast maneuvers, like those in combat, will be felt by the crew.

2. It provides a reduction in the mass of the ship in relation to the rest of the universe. This has the effect of allowing more thrust from a given engine than would normally be possible. For example; an ion engine gives 0.1 G of thrust normally. With a GCS the effective thrust becomes 1 G.

3. It also provides a force field that can deflect small slow moving objects, as part of its normal operation. This is good for navigation not for combat. To be a real shield the GCS must be specially built and will use a lot more power when in defense mode.

Note; 1 G = 10m/s of acceleration

The GCS is part of all the alien crafts we have encountered. Attempts have been made over the years to reverse engineer the few examples of it we have gotten hold of, but there was little accomplished until the Arcadia's AI was able to explain a few very complicated points to our scientists.

The GCS in more detail

The gravity control system forms a field around the ship. To accomplish this, equipment is placed near the forward and aft points in large craft. In small craft a single central unit, holding forward and aft field generators can be used. To function the GCS needs both generators working in proper alignment. It draws a constant but modest amount of power.

There are limits to how large or small a GCS can be. Not only technical questions of equipment size but also in terms of the very complicated physics behind the system. Thus big space stations still use spin to create gravity, and we dont have anti-grav hover boards.

Simple units give a gravity arrangement within the field that is determined at their construction. For example all decks in the ship have the same down pull of gravity. Advanced units can create differing localized pockets of gravity within the field. This allows for some very strange internal architecture, including zero G rooms. For reasons of economy most craft have a fixed field setup rather than a veritable one.

Because of the GCS we can make a brick fly. Aerodynamics are not necessary, unless the gravity field fails. With this in mind some ships like the Rangers are built with wings and are fully able to land on a planet even with out main power. This is a good safety feature, however once you are down, you are stuck until the GCS is fixed. The engines equipped on most ships are not powerful enough to reach orbit without the mass decreasing effect the gravity field provides.

The GCS does distort sensors and communications and weapons fire, very slightly. Adjustments for proper function of theses systems are not complicated. Usually a ship’s systems are tuned to its GCS before it makes its test flight, then again any time the GCS undergoes repair work.

The GCS acts as a protective shield against small “slow” objects and standard radiation levels. It will not stop rail gun rounds or the radiation from a nearby nuke. It is an effective safety system for natural hazards in space. The more beefed up and power hungry military GCS is a real force field, specifically a deflection field. 

Theory tells us the field can also provide invisibility, however the gravity of it would be detectable. The study of space stealth tells us that the elimination of emissions and deflection of active sensors is key. Any active GCS is rather easy to spot with a gravitic-sensor. So ships running on stealth mode would likely be running with out gravity.

As a defense force field the GCS tends to deflect, not stop, incoming matter and energy. It does not weaken over time or with number of hits. The shields tend to be fully functional until the gravity control unit receives damage, and then the entire field usually fails. The amount of deflection depends a lot on the shield strength vs the power of the incoming weapon. The aim of the system is to avoid direct hits ripping through the main hull. Truly powerful weapons like 100ft rail guns will punch right through most shields with almost no divination in their path. 

History Notes;

As soon as the a workable Gravity Control System was created, the call went out for a test craft to be equipped with it. Even before the series of tests were complete, the call was made for space craft to be fitted with GCS.  The often derailed dream of a "single stage to orbit" craft was at hand. 

By 2002 the Skylon and the VentureStar projects were off the ground.