Darkness Within: Technical Note

Alistair Young

Nov 23, 2015

For those of you who read this for the space technology, it occurs to me that I should perhaps point out at this time that it’s only the militarized version of the Nelyn-class that comes with a nuclear-thermal attitude control system. The civilian one uses regular and more modestly proportioned hypergolics for the job.

(That’s because the civilian one isn’t expecting to have to dodge so much.)

Now, the Élyn-class microcutter, that comes with a nuclear-thermal ACS in all models, but that’s because the same motors double as the main drive.

← Trope-a-Day: Starship Luxurious | Sniff, Sniff →

Shipshape

I saw this picture today, via an Astral Codex Ten post on distinguishing human art from AI art, but that is not the context in which I reference it: Instead, I merely point out that it would be an accurate representation of what the Royal Alatian (later Imperial) Navy would

My To-Fu Is Stronger Than Yours

Pressed bean curds are a common item in many Eliéran cuisines, in recipes both savory and sweet. I refer to them using this long description since, despite being identical in many ways and produced from the same small group of plants, they are one of the very few foodstuffs to

Crazy Eddie

As a brief cultural note, today, I happened to be looking something up on the Atomic Rockets Future Mythology page, and was reminded of Crazy Eddie. (The one from Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle's The Mote in God's Eye, obviously. Even if, sad to say, that

Plumbing the Depths (2)

The DEEP STAR PROGRAM WANTS YOU To Make A New Life Around A New Star! Following the successful launches of our first three interstellar colony ships, we are preparing two more for launch in 3036, and we are still recruiting both colonists and crew for Destiny Ascendant. Destiny Ascendant is

Read more

Shipshape

My To-Fu Is Stronger Than Yours

Crazy Eddie

Plumbing the Depths (2)