 Quote by SHISHKABOB
if anyone is interested in how to try and make space ships realistic, you should read this website http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/
it's a nifty site where he talks about how to make a good space ship for a sci-fi book or something. Talks about weapons and how to make the ship go, etc.
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I've seen this site before and think it's excellent, especially this section
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/pre...s.php#johnslaw
Too many authors don't think through the ramifications of what they propose when they invent a plot device.
EDIT: Relevant to what we have been talking about
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Most people instinctively know Burnside's Zeroth Law of space combat: Science fiction fans relate more to human beings than to silicon chips. That is, while it might make more logical sense to have an interplanetary battle waged between groups of computer controlled spacecraft, it would be infinitely more boring than a battle between groups of human crewed spacecraft.
A one man fighter spacecraft would be a more effective weapon if you removed the fighter pilot, their life support, and their acceleration limits, and then replaced them with a computer. You would basically be converting the fighter spacecraft into a roving missile bus, and removing the logical justification for the existence of fighter spacecraft altogether. But fighter spacecraft have to exist, according to the Zeroth Law (well, actually not. Fighters don't have to exist if there are humans on the carrier/missile boat and/or the target ship).
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