message 0740

• Using the realspace/hyperspace interface

;Subject: cherryhlist - docking/fuel/questions
;From:	Peter Jakobi <jakobi@informatik.tu-muenchen.de>
;Date:	Wed, 19 Jan 1994 23:50:46 +0100

Hello folks,

re Bruce re Peter Jakobi on docking orientation:

BG> At least as far as the control room is concerned, on *Loki* I believe
BG> the control room and the galley were "swing sections" which would
BG> reorient themselves to station spin with the floor "down".  Is this
BG> also true on small merchanters like *Lucy* and Compact Space vessels?

Lucy  (KG  -  german  translation  by Heyne, as I remember):  The main
corridor  went around the ship, with the exception of 'segment-locks':
Sandor  used these locks to close down the 'upper cylinder section' (I
believe  it  was translated as 'Ring').  I don't remember any hints to
swing  sections  in  either  Merchanter's  Luck  (KG, Heyne), Pride of
Chanur  (SDC, Heyne) or Chanur's Legacy (CL, DAW).  On the other hand:
They  add some complexity to the ship's structure and do not help much
in merchanters.

BG> I don't recall it being mentioned, but it's been a long time.  The
BG> space at the "top" of the cylinder when in dock is called the "Loft".
BG> It being the furthest from the dock access, and thus the most easily
BG> defended, it is the place where the most precious items are placed
BG> when in dock...i. e. the children in a family merchanter.

Ahem,  you  mean:   the smallest kids stay in their upside down world,
the  bigger  kids  crowd  at the bottom of the cylinder.  On the upper
side  there are the precious items you DO NOT NEED in dock.  So either
you  have  a control room in a swing section or you have at the bottom
of the (locked) cylinder.

Defense of the loft (in dock): Is there a quote for this in ML?

BG> Regarding your discussion of docking:
BG> 
BG> I think I resolved in my own mind the possibility of balancing mass,
BG> but I share your skepticism about matching spins at the rim.  Yet
BG> there is nothing in any of CJC's books about docking at the hub.

Compact space - SDC: in-system ship dock at a separate dock section 
                (under (low?) g). SDC260/285: The lander is probably 
                NOT able to generate g by rotation, swinging passenger 
                sections/cabins/seats or whatever (p.266/282).
              - CL320: "Or you docked, like the ore carriers, 
                in null at the mast."
Earth         - HT: a LOW or 0 g dock especially for small in-system ships. 
                These ships CANNOT generate g by rotation. Anyway: these 
                ships can only dock near the hub (crew health!) or via their
                tenders.


concerning the fuel thread:
---------------------------

I tried to gather something more exact than "more than 0.02g" from the
stories. Normal space acceleration is not that important, since the
jump ships seem to be able to use the interface to gain speed.

Estimated normal space acceleration of ships:

   |          - in-system ("trawlers":tugs, miners): acceleration << 1g.
   | the      - lander: upto several g in gravity well, usually less.
   |          - long hauler: usually less than 1g, can do more.
   | ships'       SDC285: catching the lander/rendez-vous.
   |              SDC302: breathing was difficult under the preassure of
   | opera-               acceleration.
   | tions        CL85: "No more energy, in the long haul, to put a push
   |                      on it - v was v, and you pay for it, until you
   | are                  ran past your capacity; [...]"
   |                    "The Legacy achieved v at a gentle burn [...]
   | increa-              but the Legacy had a stsho aboard, a creature 
   | singly               that couldn't take more than 1.5g [...]" -
   |                      remember the cylinder already generates ca.
   | time-                1 (hani?) g.
   | critical - mahen/kif hunter
   |          - tca 
  \/          - knnn


a few questions concerning other topics:
----------------------------------------

- Any guess why Hunter of Worlds is consitently listed under the 
  heading 'Hanan Rebellion' (as in Chanur's Legacy (DAW))?

  There's only an ambigous quote (p. 75 or later in the german 
  translation in the PM sampler by Heyne) that some worlds where given
  up as insignificant, according to the Iduve. Is this insignificance 
  caused by the inability to defend those planets against the Amaut or 
  is this a hint that these were the remnants of the Hanan star cluster?
  The humans of these stars have a slightly lower tech level than the 
  Amaut.

- Maybe related: MacLaren Stars - do they occur anywhere in the stories 
  except possibly as neighbour stars to Gehenna (Map in 40000)?!?

  Guess I will add the named stars of that map to a text file at the 
  end of the month, so we may try to match up some locations to real stars
  (e.g.: Pell Station is in the Tau Ceti System). Perhaps somebody can 
  reproduce that map as a graphics file and put it into the archive 
  or add further data (e.g. from the games).

- Glass and Amber: any comments to this book? Is it an anthology?

- Bruce: Does the David Cherry Art book (something like Imagination - 
  the art and technique of D.A.C.) contain other Cherry_H_ related 
  authoritative graphics?

- The graphics at the beginning of DS (I have the Heyne edition):
  What are the 'pencil corrections' in the graphics of Pell Station and
  the Norway?

- Concerning an old thread:
  Using the interface (to subspace) a ship may accelerate/dump speed. 
  I think it's also possible to change direction within limits using
  the interface. Otherwise I'm not convinced of the disadvantage of
  small speeds, when any greater change of course must include a
  stand still of the ship... Perhaps the interface acts as kind of
  multiplicator of the normal space engines (Legacy: The Legacy cannot
  accelerate as fast as it could because of it's Stsho passengers'
  inability to stand more than 1.5g. But the main part of the velocity
  must be gained/dumped by use of the interface! Legacy p224: 4h from
  Kita and they were approaching jump (ship-time?)).

  [In the Chanur series there a few examples using the interface
  to speed up/speed down relative to mass centers. Especially
  in the battle at the end of Pride of Chanur: Some ships are around
  the mahen hunter ships so they cannot use the interface to 
  reverse course]

  Is this consistent with your view?


"It wasn't law that got you by, it was good manners." [CL258]
Peter