first interplanetary spaceships

[JasonChapman]

I was scanning through other posts in this section and noticed a blakes 7 post a few pages in. I designed this up to date version of the Liberator last May. Sorry if the picture has been cut off a bit.

 

[ZenGalacticore]

The above looks similar to the ship in the original "Planet of the Apes". (Alp's pic.)

 

[a_lost_packet_]

The above looks similar to the ship in the original "Planet of the Apes". (Alp's pic.)

That's what it is... or will be in two days.. if I can get through in time. Then, it's texturing work. I haven't been able to do much work on it since I posted.

 

[bellch87]

Okay so we all know that after the Big Bang the Universe began to expand. Well it was expanding at greater the speed of light. So if we can find a way to expand and contract space and time then the ship would technically not be moving. Circumventing general relativity all together.

 

[bellch87]

Sorry i meant special relativity. There is no speed of light restriction on space. So finding a way to manipulate space might be the answer.

 

[clandistine1]

Hello Jason,
Something i would like to point out is that the scoop has to be proportional to the engines... for your craft i would say a good two time the width of the space craft it self at the very least

It could be a magnetic field, guiding charged particles in for collection. So, a slight luminescence extending away from the cone and projected forward of the ship might be appropriate.

Honestly good idea
But who is going to spend money on that when you can build a bigger scoop...
Depends who builds it; the Americans or the Russians and Chinese

For example when they learned that pens don't work in space the Americans spent millions on building one that would, the Russians brought pencils

Just putting that out there

 

[clandistine1]

Unfortunately, according to Mr Einstein (whose ideas have been repeatedly proven with great precision), since it would take converting the entire mass of the entire Universe to energy (using the E=mc^2 formula) to accelerate any object with mass to even close to light speed, you might just want to skip that faster than light design

Wayne

And all of that energy again to stop

I dont think anyone needs to neccessarily Break the laws of relativity so much as bend them or find a loop hole.

I figure our first interstellar ships will have to be based around there cargo/function, propulsion, etc. At first though exspect Something vaguely cylindrical with lots of bits on it. :mrgreen:

I like that idea to and that is what i advocate
But i am just saying to Mr Wayne that if you opt to do the impossible be prepared to do it twice

 

[a_lost_packet_]

..Honestly good idea
But who is going to spend money on that when you can build a bigger scoop...
Depends who builds it; the Americans or the Russians and Chinese

For example when they learned that pens don't work in space the Americans spent millions on building one that would, the Russians brought pencils

Just putting that out there

I've got a genuine space pen somewhere around here. But, it never actually went into space... same pen they used, though.

But, the explanation I offered for the observed effect is more in keeping with science fiction than science fact. It is, after all, the Science Fiction forum.

But, the advantages of somehow using a magnetic field to capture some supposed charged particles is actually better than building a "scoop" .. if it would work, that is.

A magnetic field can be adjusted to suite the needs of the ship in whatever conditions it is in. Ramming through the edges of some gas giant, collecting charged particles, would be much easier with an adjustable magnetic field scoop. You simply tune it down a bit. Otherwise, with a static scoop, you might have to adjust the entire ship's course. Still, it's all Sci-Fi stuff right now.

 

[JasonChapman]

This is good news, Obama challenging NASA to come up with new propulsion systems, I bet they already have something on the drawing board or in the test phase.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8623691.stm

 

[clandistine1]

Oi, does anybody know the construction time for one of these?
Would it be years, decades, centuries, more???

 

[MeteorWayne]

Since there is no realistic design, you can make up whatever time frame you want

 

[space_tycoon]

I think the M2P2 concept has merit. That, and the VASIMR.

Or even a kind of super ion drive, either nuclear electric or solar electric. Or both!

Apparently the Japanese have a solar sail/ion drive concept taking flight as we speak.

I am not a technical person, but any propulsion system which takes advantage of the energies given away freely by the sun has my support.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

...

...Jason Chapman

Just a headsup to anyone who would love to be able to render really cool space pics, planets, atmospheres, cities, etc...

Bryce 7 has just been released and it is..

/drumroll

FREEEEE!

/tada!

http://www.daz3d.com/i/software/bryce7

It is free for personal use. It's the complete package, no restrictions, no timers, no watermarks. You just can't do any commercial work with it. Other than that, it's good to go. Give it a spin if you're interested!

 

[JasonChapman]

YYYEEEEHHHAAAA!

Thanks for the headsup Lost, I have been wondering about that for quite a while now, I'll try and knock something up very soon.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

YYYEEEEHHHAAAA!

Thanks for the headsup Lost, I have been wondering about that for quite a while now, I'll try and knock something up very soon.

Sweet! I haven't messed with it yet. I don't use Bryce much so don't know how to tweak it. You're probably going to be able to get a heck more out of it than I would. I can't wait to see some of your renders with the new version!

 

[STC4476]

Hi guys... very new to the block here but stuff like this totally interests me..

I have been watching the NASA website and not that long ago apparently they test fired a "Ion propulsion system" and only about 3 months ago actually used it for the first time on a Satellite on a path to the Asteroid belt..

It's supposedly said that theoretically, it would cut a 2 year journey with the use of chemical rockets to only 30 days.. i dont necesarily believe it would be that close.. but wouldnt be far off..

 

[MeteorWayne]

Welcome to Space.com!

Your information is incorrect. Ion propulsion systems have been in use for almost a decade. None however have had the power for use in helping a manned mission.

See Hayabusa and Dawn (and there's another one I can't recall right now)

I'll add mission links shortly:

Hayabusa

Edit: Dawn site is down right now, will add the link when it's back up

 

[JasonChapman]

Bryce 7 Isn't free unfortunately, I downloaded it, now they want me to buy a password, bummer, but watch this space.

 

[eburacum45]

I'm still reading the tutorials, so I haven't managed to make any images yet. Thanks for posting the link, a_lost_packet, by the way.

 

[eburacum45]

Are you looking for the serial code?
try
SERIAL CODE: BDZPLED-070-0000000-NBA-001-HBUVMLF
it's on the download page.

 

[JasonChapman]

You are my all time number one saviour eburacum45, I have now got it working, cheers.
J

 

[eburacum45]

Glad to help.

 

[Avani]

Problem #1 in our efforts to create fast traveling space crafts is that we are using the kinetics, which work on Earth.

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Added Note: You can find free Bryce stuff all over the place. One place to look, especially for free "materials" would be http://www.sharecg.com. Search the Materials sections for "Bryce" and they should turn up.

IIRC, Bryce 7 also allows the import of wavefront.obj files and a number of other formats. You can import these objects and then apply materials and textures to them. I haven't worked with Bryce in years, so I don't remember the specifics.

In "3D Models" you can find Bryce specific models in its native format. Just do a "Bryce" search there.

If anyone really, really, really, "needs" a specific model built to import into Bryce and render, I might be able to help them by custom building one if it is not available anywhere else. So, post your requests. The object will be delivered when I have time and, preferably, in wavefront.obj format. Textures will be supplied if they're easy to do. If not, you're on your own as far as textures and materials are concerned. (Regardless, the model will be UVMapped appropriately so you can apply whatever you want to it. Don't worry about wondering what UV Map means at this point.)

If you need to search for something particular, there are plenty of free 3D model sites on the web. If you need help, post your request.

Terminology (just basic, not necessarily industry correct definitions, but reduced to easily understandable reading)

"Materials" in a 3D program can refer to all sorts of things specific to that program that allow one to alter the appearance of an object. However, normally, they refer to "procedural" materials in these types of applications. These are mathematical forumulas that apply colors, displacement, patterns, shading, relfections and all sorts of visual attributes to a surface.

"Textures" are usually referring to "image maps." Those would be pictures that are "pasted" onto the object, like one would wrap a printed out jpeg image around a coke can.

In most 3D applications, the use of both procedural materials and image maps on a model is common. In some instances, they're also used on lights, probes, etc.. It all depends on how much power you have using the application to alter materials on scene objects/lights/atmospheres/etc..

The reason for the explanations - Materials for Bryce are definitely "Bryce Specific." They won't work in any other program. But, "Textures", if they're image maps, are not and are simply images. So, you can use an image map across many applications, but only Bryce Materials can be used in Bryce. You can download textures all over the place and apply them using Bryce's methods. But, "Materials" are a bit harder to find. However, you CAN create your own materials in Bryce, that's how everyone who supplies the freebies does it. It's not difficult, IIRC.

 

[JasonChapman]

Since joining space.com I have met some pretty intelligent people, and a lot of people have contributed to this particular post, which I thought wouldn’t amount to anything. We are forever seeing concept designs churned out by the likes of NASA or Lockheed Martin.

So I propose the top minds at spece.com gather together and come up with a concept design for a spaceship, designed for an exploratory mission to Saturn. Using either current technology or technology in development. To be launched from Earth and have a crew of 9. We don’t have to design the ship down to every nut, bolt and equation. Just cover the main stuff, such as look of the craft, life support, fuel and rockets or engines etc. The time frame of the mission is also important, seven years or a bit less perhaps.

So what do you guys think?