Re: [TML] Looking for a word to replace "General Aviation" Tim 28 Aug 2017 10:48 UTC
On Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 09:18:56PM -0700, Amber Witherspoon wrote: > Beanstalks are used in the really rich areas, where the flow of > traffic requires such an investment. As a side discussion, I can't actually think of any advantages of a beanstalk given Traveller technology. In the real world, beanstalks are primarily proposed as a way to avoid the diseconomies of the exponential rocket equation as applied to chemical rocket propulsion. Despite being extremely expensive, fragile, disrupting all non-synchronous orbits, and inconvenient in a great many other ways, it may be worth the problems (if we can ever build one). Traveller already has two ways to completely avoid the rocket equation's consequences for orbital travel: contragrav, and thruster plates. It also has other ways to mitigate the cost without those technologies. I'm not saying that they would never be built. However, in a Traveller universe it would be along the lines of a vanity project than providing serious practical benefits. Perhaps a real-world analog would be something like building a railway line from San Francisco to Tokyo. It could be done, and provide alternative transport to sea or air between the locations, but it's not going to be any cheaper or faster. - Tim