Post 9uOmoOlCulAZ9XJsKu by ALWETP@lgbtq.cool
(DIR) More posts by ALWETP@lgbtq.cool
(DIR) Post #9uOmoO4JUErH0VFcTg by natecull@mastodon.social
2020-04-25T00:04:02Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
Ugh see I resume watching at 1:02 and already I'm fuming.They've gone through a wormhole to a single star system, right? With a black hole and three planets. Presumably a starAnd immediately they sit with very serious Science Faces and say 'well two of the three planets are orbiting the black hole'and I'm like, what? what's the third orbiting? and then omg, the pain'instead of orbiting the planet what if we'how you gonna land on a planet without orbiting it huh
(DIR) Post #9uOmoOEEtKnXVHtXwu by ALWETP@lgbtq.cool
2020-04-25T00:21:26Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@natecull to be fair, I think the idea was instead of going into a low orbit, to hang out at the L2 point, further from the black hole, and just send the lander. Not that that would make a significant difference, but... That's the only reasonable explanation for what they do in the movie.
(DIR) Post #9uOmoOR07t0S8rrjqC by natecull@mastodon.social
2020-04-25T00:24:54Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ALWETP I guess, but that lander must have engines made of miracletonium. I guess it must be nuclear but then what's the shielding? also something unobtainium?None of this would be such a problem if Nolan hadn't started with 'omg it's the future and we don't have any new technology' so immediately we start trying to think about it based on our current technology.If it's future magic Star Trek physics engines, sure, but it's supposed to be not.
(DIR) Post #9uOmoOaDZcNYbSB6Cu by ALWETP@lgbtq.cool
2020-04-25T00:32:51Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@natecull I remember there being something about the engines, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. I know for a fact though that they don't have enough space on that puny lander even for the reaction mass they'd need, never mind the engine fuel. I can't even imagine the specific impulse those engines would have to reach to do the kinds of things they show them doing, and to have that sort of Isp AND the thrust to weight ratio to lift off of a planet with gravity higher than Earth's is ridiculous.
(DIR) Post #9uOmoOlCulAZ9XJsKu by ALWETP@lgbtq.cool
2020-04-25T00:42:12Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@natecull they're apparently "hybrid aerospike chemical/plasma thrusters", powered by two tokamak fusion reactors. They also have an air-breathing mode. Like, sure, that's how to make an SSTO, but I still don't see it being capable of VTOL like the Ranger is in the movie. And it wouldn't carry enough fuel to be functional as an SSTO with chemical rockets either. There's not enough space in that fuselage for much more than a few tens of m/s of ΔV like the shuttle OMS.
(DIR) Post #9uOmoOt0RlPLXiy6Ua by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
2020-04-25T10:10:08Z
0 likes, 0 repeats
@ALWETP @natecull Fusion-powered spaceships are a sci-fi staple. Never mind the practicalities of the reactor, what I'd like to know is how one converts a silly amount of heat into thrust while surrounded by vacuum.