New thread on Serenity's engines

POSTED BY: RaptorX
UPDATED: Monday, February 16, 2004 00:53
VIEWED: 13458
PAGE 1 of 5

1 2 3 4 5 NEXT PAGE

RAPTORX

Thursday, February 12, 2004 1:08 AM

To add something to the question about Serenity's engines, it appears to me that the big engine is just an increased power engine based off the Apollo engines that flew us to the Moon. Inside earth's atmosphere, and I'm sure Static can agree with this, for the most part you need an engine with a constant burn to stay airborn and at you're desired speed. In space, however, there is no friction to slow you down, only the occational gravity pulls from nearby planets, stars, and other spacial anomolies, and those pulls could be corrected by small bursts from the secondary engines. Initially you would need the great amount of speed supplied by the main engine, but after a short burn, you could just ride out the rest of the way with the engines refiring only in course adjustments and to slow the ship down once it reached it's destination.

Light speed drives are something that could be built at some point. However, given current beliefs in astrophysics, breaking the light speed barrier simply doesn't appear plausible at this point. I guess Joss was looking for something realistic and simple, and I think that Serenity is a very plausible ship for realistic space travel.

But if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you.

STATIC

Thursday, February 12, 2004 1:37 AM

Okay. . .I think Raptor hit it dead bang. . .I'd like to add a bit and emphasize a few points. . .

Raptor is right. . .in the atmosphere, you need constant thrust to stay airborne. I'm not led to believe that Serenity is equipped with any sort of 'anti-grav' technology, because if she were, you wouldn't get all of the cool shots of Wash gripping the yoke with his arms shaking and such.

I'm pretty convinced that there is no FTL drive in "Firefly". . .that they occupy a single solar system. I don't want to open THAT debate again, I'm just saying that's what I think, and what I base this next bit on. . .

Raptor, once again, dead bang. . .I think when they go from planet to planet, Wash sits down and 'plots a course' on the computer. The computer knows where they are, what planet they're going TO, and since planets MOVE, just WHERE that planet will BE in the next little while . .and they shoot a few blasts from the big shiny butt engine. . .and then the navsat antennas eventually pick up navigation points.. .remind the computer, and the computer then fires small directional jets to change course. I don't think any ships in the Firefly universe fly 'curves' in space. . .just a series of straight lines if that makes sense.

Anyhow, that's my opinion. . .I could be wrong.

Except about the first part of needing constant thrust in atmo.

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

TPOPE

Thursday, February 12, 2004 2:10 AM

Quote:
I'm not led to believe that Serenity is equipped with any sort of 'anti-grav' technology, because if she were, you wouldn't get all of the cool shots of Wash gripping the yoke with his arms shaking and such.

Actually Kaylee did explain that in "The Message" when the ship was doing all of those fancy evasive maneuvers to get away from the Feds.

I don't remember the exact quote, something about "...when the gravity drive works against real gravity"

--
Thomas Pope
Runebearer Webmaster < www.runebearer.com>

STATIC

Thursday, February 12, 2004 2:16 AM

The gravity drive she refers to is what creates gravity inside the ship when they're in space, since Serenity doesn't spin.

An 'anti-gravity' field would eliminate the resistance that creates the vibration effect you see in Wash's arms when he's doing those neato manuvers.

I also figure those 'wing' engines put out an ASSLOAD of thrust because Serenity has the aerodynamics of a BRICK.

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

AURAPTOR

Thursday, February 12, 2004 2:44 AM

Hey Raptor, great name there.

Anyway, not sure Serinity's main engine is for burn in ' atmo ' .... but more for inter-planetary useage. I only wish ( being picky here ) that the side engines on Serinity would show more nozzel action, but other than that, I'm in love w/ the old girl. I see what Mal likes about her.

TPOPE

Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:00 AM

Quote:
The gravity drive she refers to is what creates gravity inside the ship when they're in space, since Serenity doesn't spin.

Odd thing to call it, but I'm not sure I can disagree with you there.

There's certainly no apparent anti-gravity at work in the effects, just brute force, like you said.

To be honest though, I don't think they have a good tech bible for the show. They have a good idea of how they want things to look and 'feel' but there's very little in the way of explanation.

I'm willing to bet that while the individual scripts are screened by Joss and company, if someone puts in a techno sounding word for some piece of the ship (i.e gravity drive) they just run with it and make sure to call it that from now on.

It's not a complaint, but probably means that paying too much attention to what they call something in the script (as I just did) isn't necessarily worth much.

Still, it's a bit of a quandry. If they're using just inertial drives and not using a constant burn, that initial push needs to be a biggie. Not only does it mean they have some REALLY efficient inertial compensators (to keep everyone from being red smears on the aft bulkheads the first time they accelerate) but somehow not so big that they can't slow themselves down to come to a 0-0 intercept with wherever they're going.

Oh well, I'm starting to ramble. In the end I just think they haven't actually worked the math. No worse than Star Wars really, and it doesn't detract from the show.

--
Thomas Pope
Runebearer Webmaster ( www.runebearer.com)

STATIC

Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:10 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by tpope:
No worse than Star Wars really, and it doesn't detract from the show.

See. . .that's why I began to shy away from Star Trek. . .so many of their episodes were based on 'tech-based crisis', and I didn't want to hear about the tragedies that damn aft thermocoupler was living with.

Firefly gives you a little tech, but it seems that Joss and Co.'s attitude is summed up with this statement uttered by my gunner the other night:

"Look! It's a ship! It flies in Space! How? Nevermind that right now, the crew's got problems!"

And lo and behold, you're so wrapped up in Mal's angst, Simon's devotion to River, the budding romance between Simon and Kaylee, Wash and Zoe's strong but sometimes struggling marriage. . .and all those things that you downright forget that you don't quite understand HOW two big-assed engines can make a CINDER BLOCK fly at high speeds and manuverability through a canyon.

I'm glad you caught on. Who cares why the ship flies? We care about the guys inside it.

Oh yeah. . .and no goofy foreheads, either! (Except Simon's. . .can we say, 'different hairstyle' please?)

==================================================
"Wash. . .we got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss."

VETERAN

Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:14 AM

Quote:
In space, however, there is no friction to slow you down, only the occational gravity pulls from nearby planets, stars, and other spacial anomolies, and those pulls could be corrected by small bursts from the secondary engines. Initially you would need the great amount of speed supplied by the main engine, but after a short burn, you could just ride out the rest of the way with the engines refiring only in course adjustments and to slow the ship down once it reached it's destination.

This sounds pretty standard. Do you think they might use the gravity of planets and moons to generate inertia to get where they're going.(There's a good description of this type of manuver in one of the episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation when Picard's replacement is talking to Geordi about "Titan's Turn." Anyway, might be why Wash has to go through so much trouble to plot an "under the radar" course in OoG.

AERRIN

Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:31 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Static:

Oh yeah. . .and no goofy foreheads, either! (Except Simon's. . .can we say, 'different hairstyle' please?)

Hey, are you ripping on Simon? That's.. close to blasphemy! ;)

Great points, by the way. I love it when the tech matches up, because it makes it that much richer and satisifies the obsessive in me, but if it doesn't.. well. So long as the /plot/ lines up, I'll be a happy camper.

JASONZZZ

Thursday, February 12, 2004 3:47 AM

Our space programs do that today with the satellite travels to the other planets. They use the acceleration from a hyperbolic path thru the other planet's gravity wells to slingshot them thru the solar system. So, no reason why the tech in the show don't, but then again. It doesn't seem like the writers are too Sci-fi'ish or was thinking too much about tech.

Quote:
Originally posted by Veteran:
Quote:
In space, however, there is no friction to slow you down, only the occational gravity pulls from nearby planets, stars, and other spacial anomolies, and those pulls could be corrected by small bursts from the secondary engines. Initially you would need the great amount of speed supplied by the main engine, but after a short burn, you could just ride out the rest of the way with the engines refiring only in course adjustments and to slow the ship down once it reached it's destination.

This sounds pretty standard. Do you think they might use the gravity of planets and moons to generate inertia to get where they're going.(There's a good description of this type of manuver in one of the episodes of Star Trek the Next Generation when Picard's replacement is talking to Geordi about "Titan's Turn." Anyway, might be why Wash has to go through so much trouble to plot an "under the radar" course in OoG.

Like Fireflyfans.net?
Haken needs a new development system. Donate.
http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=3283

1 2 3 4 5 NEXT PAGE