Spaceships Of The Future(Quite A Bit Of Reading)

[Institute-Marksman]

I've been thinking of whatever kind of ships we fly in when space is a common thing to fly through. So far, I've come up with a few ideas. If you could be so kind as to tell me what you think of them.

At the first stage, we reuse them staged rockets used lately. The bulk of the ship is already there, we just have to repurpose it and make it fly. Then we'll start expandinf with the tech we have.

Later on, we can focus on building better spaceships.

Like organic spaceships. They are homegrown using special sites for planned biological growth. What this does, is allow for organic structures(such as the human body, but also other organics) to be replicated and rescaled into suiting our space traveling needs. Think bioluminescence as lighting, veins and arteries as a way of traveling through the ship, and a heart as a way to provide power. I think you can fit in the blanks yourself.

But we could also go the 'clean way', as you always see in movies etc, yet a little different. Here, humans have gotten used to living in zero-G(modded their bodies to not degenerate during long-term exposure to 0G), and have adapted their ships to it. Therefore, we no longer needed to limit ourselves to living in giant floating skyscrapers, and allowed for shipbuilding in probably any way imaginable. Controllable matter is important, since it makes up the bulk of spaceships and technology. Atoms and structures can be refit and reshaped as we desire. Ships can exist in any shape, but I tend to stick to orb-like structures slightly resembling a bunch of grapes. Each orb(or whatever shape is desired) can reposition itself as we desire, and thus a hundred orbs can form a ship, and later on break apart or reshape.

But for now, sci-fi tends to stick to rigid-hull ships, as bulky and slow as they are.

Propulsion

I sincerely doubt we'll still be using rocket fuel or plasma engines a hundred years from now. And thus I have come up with a truly scifi way of propulsion:
Dark- energy sailing/rowing.
What this 'engine' does, is 'row' or 'sail' on the giant yet-to-be-proven bubble of dark energy/matter that encloses us.

For now, that's all whats on my mind(on this matter). If I come up with something related, I'll be sure to add it.
Got something you wanna say about this? Leave it right below here \/

Edited June 18, 2015 by Institute-Marksman

[JefPlays]

Alcubierre drive.

 

The only way I can see us reasonably reaching interstellar flight, and even that depends on things we haven't found yet.

[CrazyCatLad]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/nanosail_feature.html

[Institute-Marksman]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/smallsats/nanosail_feature.html

This is a very impractical way of space travel. You'd have to keep your sail pointed at the sun at all time. Not even mentioning your sail could rupture with the smallest piece of debri coming at it.

 

Alcubierre drive.

 

The only way I can see us reasonably reaching interstellar flight, and even that depends on things we haven't found yet.

I've seen this before. It is, essentially, a realistic version of 'warp-drive'. I doubt this is possible, but we can only wait and see.

[OverlordMcGeek]

Make an indestructible spaceship out of superglue, duct tape and corn.

 

Think about it real good. I am making perfect sense.

[Dhrekr]

... Ok. I'm glad that you double as a spaceship engineer in your free time. Tell us when you have a prototype.

 

But for now, sci-fi tends to stick to rigid-hull ships, as bulky and slow as they are.

Probably because they are better.  "Bulky" and "slow" are your own additions.

 

In a (probably pointless) attempt to make you understand what you sound like, try substitute the word "spaceship" with the word "car". Yup, go on.

 

"Like organic cars. They are homegrown using special sites for planned biological growth. What this does, is allow for organic structures(such as the human body, but also other organics) to be replicated and rescaled into suiting our travel needs."

 

"But for now, industry tends to stick to rigid-hull cars, as bulky and slow as they are."

 

Yes, cars tend to have rigid hulls, and may be bulky. They are however much, much, much faster and better-performing as any "organic car" (horse) we have.

 

 

So... meh.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Dhrekr

[vaugahn]

Better ion thrusters, or those experimental reactionless engines. Unless it presents a significant advantage over current designs, they won't choose an exotic one. We're still using Soviet-era designs to get up to the space station, even though more interesting options are available. 

 

I don't think an organic spaceship would be a good idea. Radiation gets nasty out in space, and the effort involved in creating a fleshy ship that could withstand that would be better expended on a dozen conventional ships. You'd need lots of shielding to protect the fleshy components, and at that point it would probably be easier to just do away with the flesh entirely.

 

Rigid hulls will be a good choice in general. Bulky doesn't really equate to slow in space, the mass of the ship is important but the size and shape and weight don't matter. They just don't need to be the naval or atmospheric-style designs you see in most sci fi stuff, something like a modern submarine would probably do the trick. Another common design that gets tossed around is a central spine with modules attached to it. Something omnidirectional. 

 

Space combat wouldn't be super practical, though we'll no doubt find a way to do it. 

[Institute-Marksman]

-major snip-

 

So... meh.

Car hulls aren't exactly rigid, They deform with the slightest hit.

Also, 'horse' doesn't equal as an 'organic car'. Horses evolved in nature. Cars were made by us. No way of telling what we can do when we control organics better then we do right now.

Also, don't forget that the more mass is involved, the longer it will take to get the ship to the desired speed. Not even gonna start on the amount of thrust it will take to slow the thing down again.

Edited June 18, 2015 by Institute-Marksman

[vaugahn]

Car hulls aren't exactly rigid, They deform with the slightest hit.

Also, 'horse' doesn't equal as an 'organic car'. Horses evolved in nature. Cars were made by us. No way of telling what we can do when we control organics better then we do right now.

Also, don't forget that the more mass is involved, the longer it will take to get the ship to the desired speed. Not even gonna start on the amount of thrust it will take to slow the thing down again.

 

Spaceships have more in common with a car than they do with a boat. The classic "space is an ocean" trope generally falls through. They don't have a big hull piece like a naval destroyer, and unless materials science comes up with something pretty awesome they probably never will.

 

Like a jet, spaceships have an airframe (spaceframe?). Here's a cool diagram where you can see the space shuttle's airframe:

 

 

And the amount of thrust it takes to slow something down is the exact same it takes to speed it up. Mass is a consideration in that, but bulkiness isn't. A spaceship doesn't even have to be aerodynamic if it's purely spacefaring. 

Edited June 18, 2015 by vaugahn