[TML] Possible Contragravity Technobabble, was Re: White Dwarfs, Black Holes & 100 Diameters

[Richard Aiken]

On Nov 11, 2007 8:57 AM,  <shadow at shadowgard.com> wrote:
> Nope, because if it [preserved the near-flat slope of the well], folks in an air raft would be
> weightless. That fact alone rules out CG having *any* effect on the structure of
> spacetime.
> THE CG unit reacts against the
> local gravity well. Which means that the forces it generates get
> applied to the ship thru the mounting brackets.
> If it helps, think of it as grabbing onto "force lines" and pulling
> itself along or lowering itself along them.

So the CG unit is like the cable reel on a tram line.  It's pulling
the ship up and down by feeding the gravity through itself.  I guess I
could just say it does this (without explaining how, like every other
game does).  But any ideas about what it's actually reeling in and out
and how it's "latching on?"

> AG can't raise or lower you because it *is* a field effect. And the
> generator is attached to the field. Giving you a "bootstrap problem"
> (ie you can't raise yourself by pulling up on your bootstraps)
> CG has no effects on space time. AG bends it some.

> Gravitational *potential* on the other hand is a measure of how far
> from the bottome of the gravity well you are.
> Since the field inside the ship has to average out to zero potential,
> that means there will be areas near to "outside" sides of the grav
> plates where the gravity is reversed.

What I was meaning is that at the top of the well, the CG isn't doing
much - because there isn't much weight to cancel - whereas the AG is
doing a lot - because there is a lot of gravity to create.  As the
ship descends the well, these roles are reversed (proportionately?),
so that by the time we get to the ground, the CG is doing a lot of
work while the AG isn't doing anything.  So are they trading that
gravity potential back and forth between them?

> On the other hand, AG *can* be used to neutralize the acceleration
> from the manuever drive by adding a component in the opposite
> direction.

Yes.  Accel comp.  On a straight-line course, you wouldn't feel the
accel.  You would only feel something if the pilot starting dodging
too fast for the AG unit to keep up with the changes.

-- 
Richard Aiken

"Never insult anyone by accident."  Robert A. Heinlein