Hi there, I am a translator from Czech Republic and I work on a novel "A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY" written by Vernor Winge. I came across A MILLION of subtle details clearly understandable for English speakers - who I am not. Hence I am looking for anyone willing to devote a portion of his (or her) free time answering for my dumb-looking questions.
First of them is - what exactly is a ramscoop drive (I have to find a proper Czech word for that).
P.S. If I am breaking any rules of this forum here, sorry about it - I�m kinda new.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Wow. That's quite a book to tackle. Damn good one though. I've read the book, I know Sol System has, we can generally answer any qauestions you might have.
Basically, a ramscoop drive uses magnetic fields to funnel interstellar gas (Hydrogen, generally) into the engine to use as fuel. A ship needs to be going quite fast for it to work properly, so you still need a normal fuel supply to get up to speed.
How you're going to put that in Czech, I don't know! 8)
Posted by TORI (Member # 687) on :
as for the ramscoop drive - has anyone else used it in his work? In any environment - ST, SW...
T.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
Larry Niven's "Known Space" dtories featured ramscoop drives. The red things on the end of the engines of Star Trek ships are ramscoops.
Posted by Nimrod (Member # 205) on :
I thought they were in the head of the nacelle, next to the bussard collectors?
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
I'm TRYING, Nimmychops, to put it simply. B(
Posted by Nimrod (Member # 205) on :
Well!
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Tori: I don't know if you're familiar with aeronautical (aircraft) engineering, but ramscoops are a fairly old engine concept. I'm no engineer, but ramscoop engines have something to do with air entering the front of the engine at high supersonic speeds, being compressed and mixed with fuel (I think), then being ignited. They work only at very high speeds (> mach 3?) but have very few moving parts. They've been tested, but I'm not sure if any aircraft are using them. I suspect there is already a Czech word for ramscoop.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
The problem I see is that Vinge calls his ships "ramships" in various parts of the text. While ramscoop might have a Czech counterpart, perhaps found in technical literature, "ramship" probably doesn't. You may have to invent a Czech compound word for it.
Posted by MeGotBeer (Member # 411) on :
Ramming ship as in, "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"?
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
No.
*clicks Add to Favourites*
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
I might have missed something, but I thought that the bussard collectors were the ramscoops. Bussard ramscoops.
You could buy a ramscoop upgrade for your Cobra mark III in Elite, I believe. Wasn't that useful?
Posted by MeGotBeer (Member # 411) on :
Not as useful as jet rocket boosters, or deployable explosive rockets.
Posted by Treknophyle (Member # 509) on :
Look up Dr. Bussard - the physicist who postulated them.