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It doesn't completely miss those points, it covers them actually. "The fighter is probably nothing more than a glorified chemical-fueled missile anyway, no mor
by rrss1122 12y ago
It doesn't completely miss those points, it covers them actually.
"The fighter is probably nothing more than a glorified chemical-fueled missile anyway, no more sophisticated in principle than the missiles you already expend by the dozen. You can at least double its effective range by replacing the pilot with a computer and turning it into a disposable missile bus (I say at least because the computer will probably mass a lot less than the pilot and the life support systems necessary to sustain him). It may be able to accelerate faster too, since it’s now freed from the restriction of having to not kill the pilot with bone-crushing sustained G forces."
Also this:
"This means that, unlike in many pop SF depictions, warship crews will probably be quite small. Human beings require a lot of supporting mass in supplies, life support, and crew quarters, so spacecraft in general will probably be heavily automated. A warship will probably basically be a can full of weaponry on top of a big fuel tank, with the crew controlling the thing from a small habitat module. The crew will effectively be command crew; there to tell the machines what to do, not to micromanage the operations of the ship. You’ll probably have a small core crew to fly the ship, a few damage control technicians, and maybe a medic or two. Serving on one will be more like serving on a WWII U-boat than anything else."
Makes me think you actually didn't read it.
- wmf 12y agoBut why even have manned warships at all? Why not control everything from home base?
- rrss1122 12y agoBest reason I could think of is just the sheer size of space. Say we have a fleet guarding Earth from the edge of the solar system, by edge I mean at or near the heliopause. Consider that at that distance, it takes home base, Earth, 10 hours to relay commands to warships at the edge of the solar system. If you have one "mothership" with manned crew stationed with the automated fleet though, that crew can control an automated fleet and respond to changes in real time, making the fleet better able to respond to threats.
- TheLoneWolfling 12y agoSpeed of light