Spring powered rocket?
Discussion
Balmoral Green said:Well it would still be a rocket if it needed rockets for changing direction in space, or deceleration rockets
It wouldnt be a rocket though, it's called a rocket because it's powered by a rocket motor. If it was powered by a spring motor, then what you have is a spring.
>> Edited by puggit on Wednesday 30th November 19:17
It's a nice thought but I'd probably say no. The spring would have to be extremely long and that would mean it lost it's springiness due to the weight. It needs to be travelling at 11km/s or somein like that to break the earths grav force, try it again with your pen and see if it arrives home before you.
By Jove I think PH has stumbled upon a way to protect the earth from that huge asteroid / comet deep impact thing! A giant spring, on a mobile platform, can be positioned at the impact site and BOING the asteroid back into space 
Not quite a rocket, but just as good!
would need that actor from the FLY and Holsten Pils ads to design the sping properly, of course, otherwise we're doomed
Not quite a rocket, but just as good! would need that actor from the FLY and Holsten Pils ads to design the sping properly, of course, otherwise we're doomed
wizzpig said:
And what about the Headlights,
if youre' going really fast, say the speed of light/boinginess,
would they illuminate anything when switched on
Yes, but it would depend on your prospective and speed relative to the light coming from the source.
Indeed, light is the only constant in the universe. As such, the concept of time is the variable. However, if travelling away from the earth then the light from the headlights would appear much redder to us on earth, because the wavelengths would appear greater. If the space ship did a big loop and returned to earth 20 years later (earth time) at a speed close to the speed of light, the astonaut concerned, from our perspective, will not have aged much at all. However, he would be surprised how much we'd all aged.
srebbe64 said:
And what about the Headlights,
if youre' going really fast, say the speed of light/boinginess,
would they illuminate anything when switched on
Yes, but it would depend on your prospective and speed relative to the light coming from the source.
Indeed, light is the only constant in the universe. As such, the concept of time is the variable. However, if travelling away from the earth then the light from the headlights would appear much redder to us on earth, because the wavelengths would appear greater. If the space ship did a big loop and returned to earth 20 years later (earth time) at a speed close to the speed of light, the astonaut concerned, from our perspective, will not have aged much at all. However, he would be surprised how much we'd all aged.
Absolutely
This red shift is known, if i'm correct, as the doppler effect. Sound waves have similar characteristics i.e when a plod car or ambulance is traveling toward you with it's siren on the pitch is higher than when it is travelling away from you.
slight thread hijack but i reckon a great way to launch spaceships would be to create a magnetic track underground in a huge tunnel. Make the tunnel a vacuum and fire the spaceship down it till its going darn fast then at the last minute have the tunnel ramp up to the surface and open the doors and wooooooosh up through the atmosphere without any rocket fuel! copyright deevlash
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