Other Tech 01

 

 Normal space engines

A ship only needs one, but most will have several, just in case. The drive provides thrust to move the ship, accelerating and decelerating it. Engines are rated according to the G-Force of thrust it will provide a ship of a given mass. For example; a ship may have 2 x 0.5G engines, giving it a total thrust of 1 G. All types used by Humans are reaction drives, meaning they require both power and some sort of reaction mass (often inaccurately called fuel) to function.

Ion Drives

Thanks to the work of Dr Kurita at revers engineering some alien tech, we now have ion drives more powerful than the early probes used. But without the Gravity Control Units these drives would still not provide much thrust. They would be limited to slow cargo missions. 

In combination with the GCU they provide efficiency in terms of power and fuel requirements.

The VASIMR type ion drive is currently the most popular in production. It is optometrist to use Argon as a fuel, but can function fine with Hydrogen, which is more abundant and easier to acquire. 

Unlike big rocket thrusters, the ion drive is actually many small units clustered together. 

Fusion Rockets

The theory was well established before the breakthrough in Zetonic alloys allowed effective small fusion reactors to be built. The rockets were a logical extension of the reactor system. They provide great thrust, however they do burn a lot of fuel in comparison to the Ion Drive. Never the less they are 100x better than the old chemical rockets. 

For any ship that needs sudden movement, as most military ships do, these engines are the best choice. The Nerva type is currently the most popular in production, it uses a mix of Hydrogen and Deuterium as its fuel. Where as an Ion Drive will not usually get above 1G of acceleration, Fusion Rockets can easily reach 10G, which is about the limit of most GCU for compensation.  

The Maneuver Thrusters

Small engines located all over the ship, they are intended to change its angle and attitude, to spin it, and to help in defensive moves. To this end they have high G outputs but for very short bursts of time. It is in this role that chemical rockets or compressed gas thrusters play their part.  Most ships use small fuel tanks right next to the M-Thrusters, some have refill lines connecting them to the main fuel tanks, small craft usually do not.

Power Plant

 

The Iso-Sterling type uses a radioactive isotope to generate heat, which provides the temperature differential for the Sterling engine to generate electricity. It is a surprisingly elegant system with no danger of explosive failure. The down side is the limited amount of energy it can generate. A fine power plant for ships with modest needs. No good for FTL requirements. 

The range of output is in the 10s of MWs 

The Corridi type Fusion reactor is the choice for a star ship’s power plant. It uses a deuterium & lithium mix for its fuel and provides lots of power. Of course it needs heavy shielding and redundant safety systems, as damage can cause an explosion or leakage of radioactive material. 

Excess heat is used in the fusion rockets to turn hydrogen fuel into plasma.

The range of output is in the 100s of MWs.  

The Rallaffy reactor combines both of the above into a single unit. A main Fusion reactor and secondary Sterling feeding off the excess heat. In the event of main reactor shutdown the residual heat would be able to run the Sterling unit for about 48 hours at peek effectiveness.  

Lots of Fuel Tanks

 

A typical star ship has the following requirement of storage tanks; 

1. Main power - deuterium & lithium. 

2. Fusion Drive - hydrogen & deuterium. 

3. Ion Drive – hydrogen. 

4. Hyper Drive - promethium.

There is some overlap and if necessary fuel can be shifted from one system to another.

A ship will usually have enough storage tanks for 1 year of regular operations.

Solar Sail

 

As part of its emergency equipment, most space ships carry a "solar sail".  These devices can be deployed to function as solar collectors, for charging the E-Cells, and as radio receivers to improve long range communications, also as a heat radiator. 

What they can not usually do is act as a sail to move the ship. The size of a sail needed to move a 1000 ton craft is huge, far greater than the rigs most ships have installed.  Smaller craft with a working GCU can take advantage of a sail, but doing never provides much speed.