K
06-14-2011, 09:52 AM
This thread is a brainstorm for a concept known as "Drivespace", which will be available to multiple civilizations within the Cras Terra setting. As such, people can comment, ask questions, suggest ideas, and so on with regards to the ideas presented here.
NOTE: This is not a proposal, and should not be treated as one, either. If this idea garners enough interest, it will become a Proposal, though.
Drivespace
Drivespace is a region of spacetime much like that of Realspace, with major differences. The key difference is the fact that Drivespace allows for faster-than-light travel and communication. Other differences include the following:
Matter takes exactly 121 hours to reach its destination and exit Drivespace, no matter how far away that destination is. Energy, on the other hand, takes only 11 hours to do the same thing.
Once something enters Drivespace, it cannot be affected by the rest of the universe in terms of physical interaction or communication. It can, however, send energy that will reach the destination much faster than it will.
No two matter-composed structures can interact with one another if they enter Drivespace at different points in time or space. In short, unless they go together using the same Stardrive at the same time, no two objects can meet one another in Drivespace.
The environment of Drivespace itself is completely empty and devoid of all matter and energy. It is a pure vacuum, even more empty than intergalactic space.
When something enters Drivespace, it releases a burst of tachyons into Drivespace, which take 11 hours to propagate back into Realspace within a range of 50 light-years from the entry point. If a sensor is within this range, it can theoretically analyze the arrangement of the tachyons to determine when and where an entrance into Drivespace took place, along with the intended destination.
Access to Drivespace is blocked within 0.1 astronomical units beyond the surface of an object with significant gravity (planets, moons, stars, etc.). Anything that would normally have exited Drivespace within this region actually exits beyond this forbidden zone.
Stardrives
Stardrives are devices that allow access Drivespace, and rely on the combination of three fundamental technologies: artificial gravity, dark matter manipulation, and tachyon manipulation. The Stardrive itself is a large device that usually takes up about 5% of the structure that is to enter Drivespace. It functions by using artificial gravity to suspend dark matter between Realspace and the natural space dark matter resides in, generating tachyons that are collected and held within a Tachyon Containment Unit.
Once a Tachyon Containment Unit is fully charged, the dark matter is released, reacting with the tachyons and pulling the structure into Drivespace. If this reaction is properly tuned with artificial gravity, then the Stardrive can pin-point a destination. Otherwise, the Stardrive merely sits in Drivespace for 121 hours, and returns back to the same exact spot in Realspace.
Stardrives can send a structure up to 50 light-years across space within a single jump, a maximum range that cannot be exceeded. After it returns to Realspace, the Stardrive requires 2 to 5 hours to recharge its Tachyon Containment Unit. However, it is possible to have more than one Tachyon Containment Unit attached to a Stardrive, temporarily circumventing this waiting period.
Drivewaves
Drivewaves are an advanced form of the Stardrive which take advantage of the fact that energy travels much faster than matter in Drivespace. Instead of using the same method as the Stardrive to enter Drivespace, Drivewaves surround the entire structure they are transporting with tachyons. This causes the structure to be treated as energy instead of matter, effectively "cheating" the system. Aside from this, the two systems are completely identical.
Drivespace Relays and Detectors
Drivespace Relays are an application of Stardrives for the purposes of communication. They essentially are structures that transport themselves into Drivespace with no set destination, and use the 121 hours in Drivespace to transmit information in the form of electromagnetic energy. 11 hours after its transmission, the information the Relay sends out reaches all Drivespace Detectors within 50 light-years.
Drivespace Detectors, on the other hand, don't actually have Stardrives on them, and don't even enter Drivespace. By analyzing the propagation of tachyons back into Realspace, Detectors can determine when and where a certain Stardrive entered Drivespace within 50 light-years, along with its mass and destination point.
Simultaneously, Detectors have Drivespace sensitive sensors that allow them to receive information sent as energy through Drivespace. More often than not, the components of Relays and Detectors are built into the same structure, making for a hybrid device that can both send and receiver information through Drivespace.
NOTE: This is not a proposal, and should not be treated as one, either. If this idea garners enough interest, it will become a Proposal, though.
Drivespace
Drivespace is a region of spacetime much like that of Realspace, with major differences. The key difference is the fact that Drivespace allows for faster-than-light travel and communication. Other differences include the following:
Matter takes exactly 121 hours to reach its destination and exit Drivespace, no matter how far away that destination is. Energy, on the other hand, takes only 11 hours to do the same thing.
Once something enters Drivespace, it cannot be affected by the rest of the universe in terms of physical interaction or communication. It can, however, send energy that will reach the destination much faster than it will.
No two matter-composed structures can interact with one another if they enter Drivespace at different points in time or space. In short, unless they go together using the same Stardrive at the same time, no two objects can meet one another in Drivespace.
The environment of Drivespace itself is completely empty and devoid of all matter and energy. It is a pure vacuum, even more empty than intergalactic space.
When something enters Drivespace, it releases a burst of tachyons into Drivespace, which take 11 hours to propagate back into Realspace within a range of 50 light-years from the entry point. If a sensor is within this range, it can theoretically analyze the arrangement of the tachyons to determine when and where an entrance into Drivespace took place, along with the intended destination.
Access to Drivespace is blocked within 0.1 astronomical units beyond the surface of an object with significant gravity (planets, moons, stars, etc.). Anything that would normally have exited Drivespace within this region actually exits beyond this forbidden zone.
Stardrives
Stardrives are devices that allow access Drivespace, and rely on the combination of three fundamental technologies: artificial gravity, dark matter manipulation, and tachyon manipulation. The Stardrive itself is a large device that usually takes up about 5% of the structure that is to enter Drivespace. It functions by using artificial gravity to suspend dark matter between Realspace and the natural space dark matter resides in, generating tachyons that are collected and held within a Tachyon Containment Unit.
Once a Tachyon Containment Unit is fully charged, the dark matter is released, reacting with the tachyons and pulling the structure into Drivespace. If this reaction is properly tuned with artificial gravity, then the Stardrive can pin-point a destination. Otherwise, the Stardrive merely sits in Drivespace for 121 hours, and returns back to the same exact spot in Realspace.
Stardrives can send a structure up to 50 light-years across space within a single jump, a maximum range that cannot be exceeded. After it returns to Realspace, the Stardrive requires 2 to 5 hours to recharge its Tachyon Containment Unit. However, it is possible to have more than one Tachyon Containment Unit attached to a Stardrive, temporarily circumventing this waiting period.
Drivewaves
Drivewaves are an advanced form of the Stardrive which take advantage of the fact that energy travels much faster than matter in Drivespace. Instead of using the same method as the Stardrive to enter Drivespace, Drivewaves surround the entire structure they are transporting with tachyons. This causes the structure to be treated as energy instead of matter, effectively "cheating" the system. Aside from this, the two systems are completely identical.
Drivespace Relays and Detectors
Drivespace Relays are an application of Stardrives for the purposes of communication. They essentially are structures that transport themselves into Drivespace with no set destination, and use the 121 hours in Drivespace to transmit information in the form of electromagnetic energy. 11 hours after its transmission, the information the Relay sends out reaches all Drivespace Detectors within 50 light-years.
Drivespace Detectors, on the other hand, don't actually have Stardrives on them, and don't even enter Drivespace. By analyzing the propagation of tachyons back into Realspace, Detectors can determine when and where a certain Stardrive entered Drivespace within 50 light-years, along with its mass and destination point.
Simultaneously, Detectors have Drivespace sensitive sensors that allow them to receive information sent as energy through Drivespace. More often than not, the components of Relays and Detectors are built into the same structure, making for a hybrid device that can both send and receiver information through Drivespace.