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Post by Amistad on Oct 8, 2018 0:55:18 GMT
Hey all,
I was just wondering - how "far out" actually is COADE? Concievably, how soon could we have tech like nuclear-thermal rockets, multi-gigawatt space lasers, effective railguns and coilguns, etc?
I understand that everything in the game is "proven" tech via actual studies and formulas, but it's also clear that a lot of the technology isn't currently present. Could we, theoretically, have tech like this in 2030? 2040? Later?
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Post by apophys on Oct 8, 2018 1:46:11 GMT
Stock? About 1990 or so.
Customized vanilla or reasonably modded modules? Definitely sometime before 2050 if we actually try (though estimation is hard, and we may not actually try).
Extreme modded modules (abusing graphene, carbyne, & fusion)? Unknown, possibly never.
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Post by The Astronomer on Oct 8, 2018 3:04:45 GMT
lmao, impossible graphene tech
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Post by anotherfirefox on Oct 8, 2018 5:19:09 GMT
Nukethermal is 70's tech, let alone scale.
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Post by AdmiralObvious on Oct 8, 2018 6:27:52 GMT
Basically everything in a stock game already exists, or did exist at one point or another (within reason). You don't have multi gigawatt lasers on modern cruisers, because they take up too much power and don't play well with atmosphere. You do have a few hundred megawatt lasers currently in use for point defense on aircraft for example though.
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Oct 8, 2018 9:13:26 GMT
NERVA was deemed ready for integration near the end of the program (so the engine was physically built, tested and deemed space-worthy), and the program ended in '70s. Rod lasers pumped with arc lamps are an old tech, there are other laser technologies available IRL too. Nuclear reactors (although mostly using turbines rather than thermocouples) and RTGs (those are indeed thermoelectric) are in actual use. Low power MPDTs are in use on probes and satellites. Resistojets have actually been flown. Nukes are a thing, including Teller-Ulam devices that are more powerful than what we have in COADE. Cannons and missiles (both bi- and monoprop) are obviously a thing IRL, same with chemical rockets. Railguns and Coilguns have been built in various sizes and configurations, although performance of in-game railguns (especially) is somewhat questionable. The most speculative parts of COADE are making some materials in bulk quantities, pressing existing tech to work at extreme temperatures and power densities (but it should be doable, at least to the extent of stock modules, if not massively optimized radiators glowing at >2500K), scaling some things up (but then multiple smaller components are usually a reasonable substitute and would scale better in terms of personnel required than portrayed in game) and getting the entire civilization into space in the first place. You don't have multi gigawatt lasers on modern cruisers, because they take up too much power and don't play well with atmosphere. Neither do hypervelocity EM-guns, especially sandblasters. lmao, impossible graphene tech It's probably possible, but likely won't be as impressive and will be very hard to do (because it effectively requires graphene and derivatives sculpted on molecular level - unsculpted bulk graphene is well known and already present in stock COADE - try graphite). I am also disappointed you no longer use "graphememe".
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Post by gedzilla on Oct 8, 2018 9:21:03 GMT
Basically everything in a stock game already exists, or did exist at one point or another (within reason). You don't have multi gigawatt lasers on modern cruisers, because they take up too much power and don't play well with atmosphere. You do have a few hundred megawatt lasers currently in use for point defense on aircraft for example though. where are MW PD lasers in use ? |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Oct 8, 2018 9:36:11 GMT
Basically everything in a stock game already exists, or did exist at one point or another (within reason). You don't have multi gigawatt lasers on modern cruisers, because they take up too much power and don't play well with atmosphere. You do have a few hundred megawatt lasers currently in use for point defense on aircraft for example though. where are MW PD lasers in use ? Presumably this one:
It's a chem laser, but still.
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Post by treptoplax on Oct 8, 2018 11:37:34 GMT
Basically everything in a stock game already exists, or did exist at one point or another (within reason). You don't have multi gigawatt lasers on modern cruisers, because they take up too much power and don't play well with atmosphere. You do have a few hundred megawatt lasers currently in use for point defense on aircraft for example though. where are MW PD lasers in use ? Dunno about megawatt, but here are 100Kw prototypes: www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/print/volume-28/issue-7/special-report/at-long-last-laser-weapons-are-nearing-deployment.htmlAlthough AFAIKT that is output power, so it really might be comparable to CoaDE megawatt lasers. Also note these laseres are far more efficient than ours... |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Oct 8, 2018 13:06:52 GMT
I wonder if they would still be if bumped up to over 1000K. |
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Post by Rocket Witch on Oct 8, 2018 17:24:24 GMT
With all of the above known, one may still reserve doubts about the scale of the technology depicted. There's nothing inherently different about the tech level between a megawatt and a gigawatt laser, but the simulation's math can break down at the extreme ends of the mass/power/size/etc scales, and thus concedes the ingame infolinks article 'Ultimate Simulation Limitations':
Incidentally, does anyone know what exactly the aforementioned 'onset phenomenon' is? Most of my search results are to do with diseases and weather, with only one NASA record of a report talking about 'onset current' (searching which leads me to most of the weather results) without explaining what it is.
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Oct 8, 2018 21:15:00 GMT
With all of the above known, one may still reserve doubts about the scale of the technology depicted. There's nothing inherently different about the tech level between a megawatt and a gigawatt laser, but the simulation's math can break down at the extreme ends of the mass/power/size/etc scales, and thus concedes the ingame infolinks article 'Ultimate Simulation Limitations': Incidentally, does anyone know what exactly the aforementioned 'onset phenomenon' is? Most of my search results are to do with diseases and weather, with only one NASA record of a report talking about 'onset current' (searching which leads me to most of the weather results) without explaining what it is. Stock lasers (other than the joke one) are rather humbler than GW range, though.
As for the Onset Phenomenon - that one is notoriously hard to find info on, you might have better luck using
"onset current" anode cathode
keywords, though.
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Post by Amistad on Oct 9, 2018 17:23:13 GMT
even railguns? I always got the impression that firing more than a few hundred slugs from a modern-day RG wore out the rails.
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Post by AdmiralObvious on Oct 9, 2018 20:04:48 GMT
even railguns? I always got the impression that firing more than a few hundred slugs from a modern-day RG wore out the rails. It does. The game has a hard time showing that, at all. Granted being in space makes the effects less bad. |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Oct 9, 2018 21:11:51 GMT
even railguns? I always got the impression that firing more than a few hundred slugs from a modern-day RG wore out the rails. RG performance might be somewhat questionable, but CGs should fare quite a bit better. |
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