[TML] White Dwarfs, Black Holes & 100 Diameters

[Jerry W Barrington]

On 11/3/07 11:01 PM, Garry Ward wrote:

> No where near the speed of light here. The only velocity involved is the
> velocity needed to be at the jump boundary line. Since the ship doesn't
> travel any distance (the two points in space/time over lap and the
> intervening space is never passed through), there is no significant fraction
> of C involved. Yes, when the ship transits into the new system, if it
> doesn't have the velocity to remain at the .0001 G line for the target star,
> it will start being pulled towards it. Likewise, if it has too much velocity
> it will pull away from it. It isn't stationary like a car parked in the
> drive. Zero Relative is the term I use, implying that there is no change in
> distance from specific objects (like the primary) though the ship may still
> be following it orbital trajectory around it.

This is hard to explain well without drawing spacetime charts to show you.
But the thing is that the space and time measuring axes tip as you go
faster.  What this means, is that having only a .001 dilation effect from
speed away from the target system will make a 1 parsec jump take you 1 day
into the past!  If you can reverse your vector and jump back within 2 days,
you get back to your start before you left.  Sure, *you* want to use the
drive just for fast interstellar travel.  But that is a necessary result of
relativity, and somebody will exploit it.