Trinity RPG - Getting Orbital

[Slagheap]

Maybe this has been covered somewhere else, or maybe it just represents a part of the game best glossed over, but how do the ships get into orbit? It takes a velocity of approximately mach 11 to break away from Earth's gravity, so how do any of the ships get into space?

I don't really like the idea of huge rocket boosters still being used in the Trinity era. The way I figure it this situation is what keeps star ports important. What system do you have starports use in your games to launch ships into space? Maybe a big catapulting mechanism, or some other way. I'm planning on using some space flight in my next game, and I figure it'll be more emersive, if I can describe the launch process.

-Slag

[phoenix]

I think it's kind of just glossed over. I don't remember the Tech manual mentioning it, or the core book or the TPG (for all of the ten days PDF let me access it..).

[Ayre el KaBeer]

I just put it down to the hyper-fusion engines being strong enough to get them to the necessary speeds. I sort of picture it star wars style.

[madcat82]

In Luna Rising and the Darkness Revealed series it is shown that electro magnetic rails are used to "shoot" cargo out of the Moons gravity to Mars, something like that perhaps?

[Slagheap]

see, the magnatic rails were all I could find aswell, and thus far taht is what Iam leanin toward.

-Slag

[Ayre el KaBeer]

I didn't think the rails would have been powerfull enough to launch a ship from earth, I put it down to luna's low gravity.

Since there are ships (scarab for example) capable of landing and taking off in an atmosphere that the rails would severly limit them and prevent them from landing anywhere the rails weren't already established.

[Grizzly]

Ok, as a technic fan I read everything about spacetravel that´s published for Trinity. Packing all together it is as it has been mentioned before.

All these Hybrids take off an land like normal aircraft/VTOLs. The hyperfusion engines are mostly strong enough to let them fly ballistical (Gaining hight like a rocket) only those freighters with VS 1 or less. have to gain hight very slowly.

Remember, these Vessels are called HYBRIDs because they are able to operate in and out of athmosphere likewise. (or in Air and water , as some other vessels are capable of)

Getting orbital by flying up like a normal jet until you reach the point where your "normal" jet-engine gets no more oxygen an then switch over to your "space"-engine is much less fuel consuming as a vertical lifftoff like a rocket because you can use the lifting force of your wings. As far as I have seen all Hybrids are constructed to get some lift by wings or a shaped "lifting body".

Ever heared of the so called "Sänger-System"? That engineer talked about a two-part-system to gain orbit, a big jet that´s capable off reaching the uppermost regions of the stratosphere and a spacecraft piggypacked that will start from there to get into orbit. Now take the technical capabilities of Trinity an pack that into one Vessel.

[Slagheap]

Grizzly, that is very useful information. I had not heard of that system, but that does lay to rest many of my concerns about getting into space, and packages it in an explaination I can easily accept (thus making it easier for me to use it in a game). Thanks

-Slag

[madcat82]

BTW, an American company have recently constructed a "hybrid", check this article