[gurps] Space Transport Costs at TL10

[David Scheidt]

On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:26 AM, Hal <alaconius at roadrunner.com> wrote:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: gurpsnet-l-bounces at sjgames.com
>> [mailto:gurpsnet-l-bounces at sjgames.com] On Behalf Of Onno Meyer
>> Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 1:38 AM
>> To: The GURPSnet mailing list
>> Subject: [gurps] Space Transport Costs at TL10
>>
>> I have the first draft of a TL10 shuttle with a 20-ton
>> payload for $3M. The maintenance rules in VE are very
>> generalized, not for daily reentry, and the more specific
>> rules in GT are only for that background (with CG and
>> reactionless thrusters), but I guesstimate the cost is below
>> $40,000 per launch, i.e. less than $1 per pound.
>
> I seem to recall that there were rules for how much DR a space craft must
> have to avoid the Damage from re-entry.  Might it not be possible to
> extrapolate rules for repairs to armor that undergo a given amount of
> continual damage?  I seem to recall something to the effect that for every X
> points of damage, the armor would ablat somewhat and degrade.  So if 2
> minutes of exposure to high re-entry heats would inflict Y points of damage,
> it should be relatively easy to determine how much damage is done to the
> armor and needs to be repaired for each incident of re-entry.

If you've got fuel, there's no reason you can't use that to slow
yourself down, instead of using atmospheric friction.  Current
vehicles don't do that, because it's too expensive to carry reaction
mass into orbit.  If you're using a fusion ram rocket, there's no
reason you'd expect to use the atmosphere to shed speed.  You use the
rocket.  that puts the damage close to zero.

I do recall the rule you're talking about, I don't remember where it
is, but if I remember correctly it's 150 or 200 DR.


-- 
David Scheidt
dmscheidt at gmail.com