I'm still working on some updates for it, and as such it's still isn't perfect. But if you are interested in a simple Newtonian arcade space shooter, my game Flank Speed is available on Steam. Kind of a modern take on the classic game "Space War". With multiplayer in the works.
Imagine being an alien en rout to invade Earth, then when your ship settles into orbit you detect dozens of nuclear detonation on the surface, followed shortly by your ship getting shredded by a swarm of tungsten cannonballs.
The printable parts of the rockets rotor recovery system are done. Will need to get the springs, screws, and probably a real bearing. It only needs to survive a flight, maybe 2.
I'm looking forward to making the full size rocket. The rotor recovery system will be much easier to make and likely based off a large RC helicopters rotor mount (which will also allow the rockets descent to be actively controlled).
the RTA-3 rocket is almost ready for printing. It will be the final RTA rocket, and test the rotor recovery system fully in flight.
It won't be the last Raven rocket, but the next rocket will be a new class, with new propulsion, and a new engineering goal. More on that later but i'm excited to reveal the new rocket class when the time is ready.
Multiplayer will be coming in a later update, as well as bug fixes that will undoubtedly be found, and reasonable game play suggestions I receive from players. It's just a simple arcade game but I worry about problems i've missed. Only time will tell now.
Whenever I see "there is a planet in the habitable zone, but it's a gas giant" I always think gas giants can have rocky moons so it's still a viable candidate for habitability.
Finding a gas giant isn't a downer. I would even go so far as to say a large gas giant in the habitable zone potentially increases the possibilities of a habitable world. Even accounting for radiation belts. The number of moons they can have ups the dice rolls.
Yeah, you'd think that the Avatar movies would have raised awareness about the possibilities of habitable moons (if not Return of the Jedi).
The number of potential moons is a bonus, as is the fact that they wouldn't be tide locked to the star (although it's unclear how much of a problem that is).
It may also up the chances of active geology, which may be important.
Very cool! I am particularly stunned by Iapetus' equatorial ridge, which I never knew about.
I wonder if it was an inspiration for Kim Stanley Robinson's early work, A Short, Sharp Shock, in which a man with amnesia awakens on a world which consists only of a narrow strip of land around the center of a planet, separating two oceans.
The local people's creation myth was of a snake encircling the world.
I found myself needing to design shoes for an anthropomorphic character with digitigrade legs. Honestly a lot of fun and the design is coming along.
This is for another project based on cartoon style games from my childhood. With Flank Speed finishing up I need a replacment small project I can work on some days to prevent burnout from just working on Cosmic Ocean non-stop every day. Alternating between 2 projects really improves productivity for me and keeps things fresh in my brain.
Thinking about lithium saltwater rockets again. The issue seems to be the initial neutron source. I'm not a nuclear physicist and no amount of compulsive reading will make me one. So I always hit a point where I would be better suited asking a professional these questions. But I don't want to bother people with random questions (aside for transport canada, they aren't safe from me).
@Aaron_DeVries In terms of unmanned missions, NASA has continued to do okay given its budget for unmanned (which will always be less than manned, just deal with it).
The failure of humanity to take advantage of this Jupiter-Saturn window is a failure of humanity, not specific to NASA. We collectively dropped the ball.
I know it can be frustrating when you're a fan of a specific mission that doesn't get selected or gets delayed, but that's how it always has been and will continue to be.
I like the idea of iodine ion thrusters. The trouble with iodine reacting with everything is a bit of a headache. But when built according iodine ion thrusters are neat.
When I was a little boy back in the 1960s, all the children's science books said ion drives would use cesium or mercury as propellant. Nowadays the trendy new ion propellant is xenon.
@nyrath@Aaron_DeVries For raw regolith ISRU propellant, I like electron beam vaporization/sputtering.
I think it's relatively low exhaust velocity - good for power requirements but bad for max delta-V. But that's good! You can refuel frequently and you don't need much delta-V per hop.
Also, for military spacecraft the electron beam can be concealed from the enemy - leaving only solid armor/propellant exposed. And the beam is a CIWS.
I'm thinking about the feasibility of building a small scale unscrewed stuhlinger umbrella ship. But replacing the reactor with a solar concentrator to heat silicon oil to run a generator. And replace the cesium grid ion drive with something more modern. Then send it to Venus from Earth orbit.
It wouldn't be the best or most efficient Venus spacecraft, but it would win major aesthetic points for being really cool.
@Aaron_DeVries One thing to bear in mind is that both Earth and Venus have pretty hefty Oberth effects, generally making boring chemical rocket propulsion better than exciting electric propulsion.
Electric propulsion has good potential for spiraling out from low orbit to near escape, though. Could have applications related to orbital atmospheric scooping. Although, spiraling out of low Earth orbit means dealing with a very annoying radiation belt environment.
If it is not nuclear powered, it will not need the heat radiator umbrella petals.
Nor the tall boom with the reactor at the bottom, boom is to hold the reactor far enough from the habitat module to lower the crew's radiation exposure.