The forum discussion centers on a fictional superhero, Mr. Brick, who possesses super speed and is equipped with an advanced alien skinsuit capable of withstanding speeds up to 4,000 mph and accelerations of 500 gees. Participants debate the physical limits of the suit, questioning whether it can maintain its integrity under extreme conditions, particularly in outer space. They explore the implications of acceleration and deceleration times for interplanetary travel, specifically to Mars, and discuss relevant equations for calculating travel time based on distance and acceleration.
PREREQUISITESWriters, physicists, and enthusiasts of science fiction who are interested in the mechanics of super speed and the implications of advanced technology in space travel.
Oops, my bad again. 25-26 minutes travel time.chasrob said:Spider silk can handle 109,000g? Amazing. So if the superman takes off from Earth orbit in the traditional flight stance, in his spider silk duds, I calculate he will land on Mars little more than 15 minutes later. Thanks.
According to the SUVAT equations, if Mr. Brick comes to a stop in one second (from 99,555 miles per second), his spider silk suit will suffer 16 million and change gees. He can absorb that, being invulnerable, but the suit will shred and the Martians will charge him with indecent exposure. :) The aliens also outfitted the suit with an altimeter, speedometer (so he wouldn’t trash the suit going faster than 4,000 mph in atmosphere), and a timer, which comes in handy when he wants to know when to coast or de-accelerate during interplanetary ventures. I could just give him an invulnerable outfit like Supes or Flash, but I thought I’d throw in that suit problem to give him another thing to deal with after he’s transformed into a super.Klystron said:Given Mr. Brick's unexplained abilities and as a long time Superman fan, why bother with decelerating?
Unless you have a pressing plot point midway in the trip such as an alien artifact for Brick, just have your hero zip to Mars. Superman only accelerated as required by the graphics and story lines and rarely bothered decelerating AFAIK. Ka-El simply 'absorbs' his momentum with a superhero landing on his strong legs.
Heinlein describes a "skew-flip" maneuver in "Have Space Suit -- Will Travel" so that his protagonists, Kip and Peewee, can determine they are halfway to Luna and also give the characters something to do during the boring trip. The propulsion system is otherwise not described. Kip Later calculates trip times and distance then velocities and accelerations for the alien flying saucer -- actually shaped as an oblate spheroid according to Peewee -- given a 5 day trip Luna to Pluto to occupy his time while trapped in a dungeon by the Wormfaces, but I digress.
Note: I have not read a Superman comic for many years but I have seen most of the major films and would be amazed if Ka-El now bothers to turn over midway in a trip to decelerate. For skin suits consider coping Flash?