#oberth maneuver

[mindblowingscience]

NASA is very interested in developing a propulsion method to allow spacecraft to go faster. We've reported several times on different ideas to support that goal, and most of the more successful have utilized the sun's gravity well, typically by slingshotting around it, as is commonly done with Jupiter currently. But, there are still significant hurdles when doing so, not the least of which is the energy radiating from the sun simply vaporizing anything that gets close enough to utilize a gravity assist. That's the problem a project supported by NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and run by Jason Benkoski, now of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is trying to solve.

Continue Reading.

[baronetcoins]

trick or treat!

Treat! You get the chapter titles + some lyrics for the final two chapters of Oberth Maneuver

20: A dance with a carcass in space

My heart is cold

The sky is dark

I'm curled up in the ashes

We die alone

We die afraid

21: You’ll be standing when the music stops

It's been a long year

We've been so far from home

[…]

A story told before rewriting

[villainessbian]

Project Lyra's Jupiter fly-by explained:

[arcaneglitch]

Here's my @mcyt-valentines piece for @baronetcoins!

Inspired by a scene from their fic Oberth Maneuver (which I highly suggest checking out)

Happy Valentine's Day!

[ranababamboo]

“No.” Phil shook his head. “Phil, he’s—” “No!” Phil yelled. “Check again!”

Oberth Maneuver by @baronetcoins

[ sketch beneath the cut! ]

went through all the effort of drawing the armor as screen accurate as i could only to shade and blur it to the point of no detail 🫡

[iammyfather]

Anybody ever tell them that Oberth maneuver is how Enterprise travels in time?

[retroufo58]

Published Statements on Unidentified Flying Objects

A list of notable published statements on UFOs ​Transcribed below:

Published Statements on Unidentified Flying Objects Dr. Clyde W. Tombaugh, noted astronomer, discoverer of the planet Pluto and former chief of the Armed Forces search for unknown natural satellites, who has personally sighted UFOs: "These things, which do appear to be directed, are unlike any other phenomena I have ever observed...No one so far has sure-fire, absolute proof...Other stars in our galaxy may have hundreds of thousands of inhabitable worlds. Races on these worlds may have been able to utilize the tremendous amounts of power required to bridge the space between the stars." Dr. J. J. Kalizkewski, cosmic ray scientist on Navy project, who with other scientists, sighted two cigar-shaped UFOs near Minneapolis: "They were strange, terrifically fast. I think the Government should set up a 24-hour alert with radar, telescopes, sky cameras, and other instruments." Capt. Richard Adickes, TWA pilot who with crew and seven passengers saw a glowing UFO pacing their airliner near South Bend: "Before then, I wasn't convinced by the saucer reports. Now I know they do exist." William Lear, winner of the Collier Aviation Trophy and president of Lear, Inc. aircraft and electronics equipment, who sighted a UFO in bright daylight: "I believe that the flying saucers come from outer space and are piloted by beings of superior intelligence." Capt. Raymond Ryan, American Airlines who with 44 passengers was asked by Griffis Air Force Base to chase a UFO between Albany and Syracuse and to report by radio: "This was absolutely real. I'm convinced there was something fantastic up there." Capt. James Howard, British transatlantic pilot with 265 crossings who with crew and 12 passengers saw a huge UFO and six small ones pacing their plane: "It must have been some weird form of spaceship from another world." Capt. W. B. Nash, Pan American Airways, who with his co-pilot saw a formation of six huge discs maneuver below their airliner near Norfolk, Virginia: "I believe the discs were intelligently controlled machines from outer space." Hermann Oberth, co-designer of the V-2 rocket, noted authority on space travel plans: "It is my thesis that flying saucers come from other worlds outside our solar system." (Continued: Please turn to other side.) Col. Frank Milani, Director of Civil Defense in Baltimore, who has personally sighted UFOs: "It is a calculated risk to assume that the so-called saucers to not constitute a threat to the welfare and security of our citizens. We are given to believe they are not hostile, but information on UFOs is classified." Flight Lieut. J. R. Salandin, Royal Air Force in England, whose RAF Meteor jet almost collided head-on with a disc-shaped UFO in broad daylight: "The main body was like two saucers pressed together. It appeared metallic. The object was traveling at tremendous speed." Frank Halstead, curator of Darling Observatory in Duluth Minnesota: " Many professional astronomers are convinced that the saucers are interplanetary machines. I believe they come from another solar system, but they may be using Mars as a base." Albert M. Chop, former Air Force press official handling UFO information at the Pentagon: "One thing is absolutely certain. We're being watched by beings from outer space." Published Statments on the Question of Other Worlds Dr. Harlow Shapley, former Director of Harvard Observatory:  "We must now accept it as inevitable that there are other worlds with some kind of thinking beings." Dr. Harold C. Urey, member of the International Mars Committee. former commissioner of the Atomic Energy Commission and head of Chicago University Institute for Nuclear Studies: "It is exceedingly probable that there is life in the universe more intelligent than ours." Rear Admiral Delmer S. Fahrney, USN, Retired, famed as "the father of guided missiles" and formerly chairman of the NICAP Board of Governers: "Reliable reports indicate that there are objects coming into our atmosphere at very high speeds...The way they change position in formation would indicate that their motion is directed. As long as such unidentified objects continue to navigate through the earth's atmosphere, there is an urgent need to know the facts." Statement by Maj. Donald E. Keyhoe, USMC Retired,  Director of NICAP: " Our policy as set by the Board is to collect and evaluate reliable evidence by a NICAP panel of scientists, engineers, pilots, astronomers, and other experts. All authentic information on UFOs will be released uncensored to NICAP members and to Congress, with special releases issued to the press. To carry out its program, NICAP is developing investigative units and UFO research clubs which interested persons may join. Membership in NICAP - at $7.50 - includes special bulletins and a monthly 32-page magazine containing UFO sightings, reports on secret developments, special articles by pilots and reliable UFO researchers, a new serialized history of flying saucers - with new light on famous cases - answers to members' questions, and many other features. Regardless of membership, we shall greatly appreciate recieving news clippings or firsthand UFO sighting reports."

[streamdone]

New top story on SPARTA NEWS: Engineering the Oberth Maneuver https://ift.tt/zGcAHgt

[tediousfact]

Generation Ship Part 3, Oberth is worthless

This is going to be unfortunately short. I spent about an hour developing a model to let me calculate the benefits, or lack thereof, of trying to leverage the Oberth effect for an interstellar spacecraft. If you didn’t know, the Oberth effect is just the name given to the fact that since kinetic energy is proportional to the square of velocity and a given burn from a rocket results in a fixed increase in velocity, it’s always more energy efficient to burn your rockets when you’re already travelling at a high velocity.

In this case, the idea is that for an interstellar craft using fission pulse propulsion the limit to how hard the craft can accelerate is how much acceleration the craft and the passengers can handle. So, conceivably, our craft could burn half of its mass to accelerate to almost 1% of the speed of light in under five days. And at that speed, it could do most of it’s acceleration while it was still close to the Sun to take advantage of the Oberth Effect.

The case I tested was for craft starting out in an orbit similar to Jupiter, and then using a gravity assist from Jupiter to drop it into an orbit that passes to within half the distance between Mercury and the Sun before lighting up its engines. It was an obnoxious little spreadsheet model that had to account for the changing mass of the spacecraft, the resulting change in acceleration, and the effects of the continually changing potential energy of the craft relative to the Sun as it traveled. And for all of that, I found that a craft taking that path could shave just over ten years off of its travel time to the nearest star... out of 455 years if it just left directly from its original orbit.

So the title is a bit of a lie, it’s a 2% reduction in travel time, even counting the extra couple years spent falling down towards the Sun. And it’s better than using Jupiter to speed up the craft instead, which saves less than two years. 

Dropping from Saturn instead of Jupiter results in a net loss of time, thanks to the relatively small increase in final velocity and the extra three years of falling time. And dropping closer to the Sun helps, but passing twice as close to the Sun only cuts an additional six years off the travel time. So the maneuver would be worth doing, and in general the closer you can pass to the Sun the more benefit you get, but even if you scrape the Sun’s surface you aren’t shaving more than 30 years off your trip and at a certain point the extra damage from approaching the Sun will make getting closer self-defeating.

[kreuzaderny]

Project Lyra: Sending a Spacecraft to 1I/’Oumuamua (former A/2017 U1), the Interstellar Asteroid

The first definitely interstellar object 1I/'Oumuamua (previously A/2017 U1) observed in our solar system provides the opportunity to directly study material from other star systems. Can such objects be intercepted? The challenge of reaching the object within a reasonable timeframe is formidable due to its high heliocentric hyperbolic excess velocity of about 26 km/s; much faster than any vehicle yet launched. This paper presents a high-level analysis of potential near-term options for such a mission. Launching a spacecraft in a reasonable timeframe of 5-10 years requires a hyperbolic solar system excess velocity between 33 to 76 km/s for mission durations between 30 to 5 years. Different mission durations and their velocity requirements are explored with respect to the launch date, assuming direct impulsive transfer to the intercept trajectory. Several technology options are outlined, ranging from a close solar Oberth Maneuver using chemical propulsion, and the more advanced options of solar and laser sails. To maximize science return decelerating the spacecraft at 'Oumuamua is highly desirable, due to the minimal science return from a hyper-velocity encounter. It is concluded that although reaching the object is challenging, there seem to be viable options based on current and near-term technology.

[baronetcoins]

Double feature Oberth Maneuver updates + teaser for a Henry thing means six fact sunday (late edition) which is good because all the new writing I've done this week is for Yuletide and thus off limits.

I wrote the whole Dream speech in chapter 18 far before any of the finale stuff, and I feel like it wound up being proved pretty justified which I've been smug about forever

I would count it as the second time a plot point in this series managed to predict the plot of the DSMP, but the second one is in the theoretical second volume.

I fact checked the bit about the size of Eros in chapter 19.

Writing these scenes with a giant group of people in the same room is my least favorite thing ever. I hate having to juggle like 6 people's voices at once. Why do I keep putting them in my plots? I don't know

I'm quite fond of the bit in this section of the 5+1 where Henry super fucks up the pronunciation of a French word. This brought to you by Kangoo's commentary on the film being "If a guy spoke to me that badly in French, I too would marry him just to get him to shut up."

I spent so long looking up what horses could eat as a treat. I've talked to all the people I know who ride horses. I've been learning so much about horses for this fic in particular.

[baronetcoins]

🎈💞💌💋 for the fic asks :3

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

Oh boy that's a great question, isn't it? I guess it would be defined largely by a reliance on dialogue I think that's a thing I notice when I'm reading my own work. Can't say I'm good at noticing this kind of thing, though, so I couldn't tell you-I think it's changed over time though?

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

When I'm writing? Characters, definitely. That's what I focus on the most. When I'm reading, I don't know. I feel like I still tend to go for characters but I will read something with characters I only half care about if there's something particularly neat about the plot or worldbuilding so hard to say. Good figurative language is a big selling point for me though I love that shit-I just feel like I'm bad at pulling it off in my own work.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Okay I got asked this earlier so. Instead I'm going to go for some Direct Teasers of the stuff I'm looking forward to.

From Oberth Maneuver, Chapter 14: By the time you get this note (we’ll no longer be alive)

“We’re not dying, Tommy.” He heaved in a few more breaths. “I’ll figure it out.” 

“We’ve been poisoned and we’re being chased by zombies!” “They aren’t zombies.” Tubbo gritted his teeth. 

“Then what are they, bitch?” 

“We need meds. Antinausea. Stimulants. Finding a first aid kit can buy us some time.” 

“Zombies, Tubbo.” 

“Tommy!” He skidded to a halt. “Get it together. We aren’t going to die here.”  --------------------------------------------

They were probably going to die on Eros. Almost certainly. Tubbo stared at the ceiling from the spot he’d slumped to the ground, and wondered why it was his turn to go.

From the next Funeralverse installment

“Oh, we’re ghostbusters.” Scar offered from over his shoulder. Grian instantly winced. “Or ghost hunters, depending on how you want to call it. Grian’s business card says ‘non-dimensional exorcist’.” 

“Nondenominational—” Grian corrected him on reflex before realizing what he’d admitted to. “—is what I’d say, if that was on my business card.” 

“How come I don’t get a business card, Grian?” Jimmy turned to face him fully.

“If I, hypothetically, had a business card, it would, hypothetically, say ‘and associates’.” Grian sulked a little. “But I don’t have a business card that says that, of course.” 

💋when you leave comments on a fic, do you want to hear back from the writer?

I very much do! I like knowing they read what I had to say.

[baronetcoins]

🦋🕯️ 💌

🦋what are you most insecure about when you post a fic?

I'll level: I basically never feel insecure when I post a fic? When something is done I ride the euphoria of "task complete" to simply throw it at the internet without looking back at all. As soon as something is posted it ceases to exist in my mind. Surprised myself when I learned I had 81 things posted to ao3 today because I just don't think about what's behind me. I guess if I had to say something, it'd be formatting/grammar. Every time I post a fic with messy formatting (plays or that one chapter of Oberth Maneuver mostly) I quintuple check I got the formatting right and I'm still nervous.

🕯️was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

Hmm. Nothing is coming to mind in a big-picture way, but I can either point to some little moments or talk about a big back-burner semi-abandoned Destiny concept LMAO.

For the first: the eye trauma, light as it was, in Broken glass is glittering like diamonds squicked me the fuck out. Why did I put eye trauma in my fic when I am a person sensitive to eye trauma? IDK. Seemed fun at the time. Worth it. Also, learning about the history of s'mores for it makes a fiery ring fucked me up. I was somehow surprised both by how old and how new they are at the same time.

On a bigger picture, I've a Destiny concept I've been playing about with for AGES now called A Coward's Guide to the End of All Things, and after nursing it for like a year or more, forget how long, me and Kangoo realized it should be a time loop and that changed everything. But digging into what A Coward's Guide is is like. a whole other ask lmao.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

Ha-ha I'm cheating and sharing TWO THINGS! One: the next Oberth Maneuver chapters (14-16) are where I earn my major character death and body horror tags and chapter 14 has some of my favorite interactions in the whole fic. Two: I get to introduce three (or four, depending on how you count it?) new characters and a Bunch of backstory in the next installment of Funeralverse and y'all are Not Ready. Overall it's going to be Very Exciting in my WIPs extended universe for a hot minute and I can't wait for finals and life to get out of the way so I can show them off to people.

[baronetcoins]

I may be plotting. Scheming, even.

[baronetcoins]

well. that's it. that's the entire rough draft for Oberth Maneuver written. it's the longest thing I've ever written. been one hell of a journey to get here, though I'm definitely nowhere near finished yet. still going to take a moment of pride for sticking through it, because it's important to celebrate your achievements.

[baronetcoins]

oh BOY. this is. a big milestone for me, actually! Oberth Maneuver is now 5 times as long as my previous longest ever fic. I'm so impressed with myself for finding the will to keep writing this even through all the hard parts. it's been a joy and an honor and a struggle and it's not done yet (still have. 3 more chapters of a rough draft and then obviously all my rewrites (and then two other volumes but shh you didn't hear that from me)) but it's been such a journey. I'm so happy. not coherent, not finished, but happy.