Recent content by Ael Syd

Okay, so I was trying to come up with an inventive way to solve a friction problem... that doesn't really exist. Greeeeat! Well, this is all good stuff I'm learning, even if my brilliant idea went down in flames in the process!

How does that work? Where are you putting the magnets?

Well, that one had a tether and a rotating section on the ship. That's exactly what I was trying not to do! ---------- Post added at 10:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ---------- I was trying to come up with an idea that avoids the fuel cost of rotating an entire section of the...

Thanks you for that, Urwumpe! I'll check it out. I guess usually when you think you have a new idea, that just means you haven't done enough research! :)

In theory, it shouldn't require too much fuel. You could pretty much just have the hab section held up by a set of tripod legs that retract and leave it hovering some safe distance above the main body. Since constant velocity is indistinguishable from being at rest, it should stay put...

Okay, big dramatic title to draw you in. But seriously, I need someone much smarter than me to tell me why I'm talking crazy here. (and I guess I should admit right off the bat that I'm not fully "in the know" about these things, so this could be an idea that's already been thought about, and...

Thanks for the link! I'm definitely going to check those out! I know a lot of the very basics already, from Youtube University (not a real university... I think...). But I hope Orbiter will give me a better hands-on feel for this stuff! Actually, it already has. (EDIT to previous post: I meant...

I stumbled onto Orbiter through Youtube when I was surfing through those old 1990s NASA orbital mechanics videos. The Atomic Rockets page is awesome, though. That was the first thing that truly showed me how little I know about space travel!

Howdy, folks. I'm new to this whole Orbiter business and I figured this is just the place for me to pester people much more knowledgeable than myself! Um, my background, and how I got into Orbiter... Well, I'm a hobbyist writer and graphic novelist/webcomicker (not a word, according to...