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Old 01-May-2007, 01:43 PM
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Ilya Ilya is offline
Order of Kilopi
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Boston
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Quote:
Originally Posted by korjik View Post
I have a couple questions:
How big are these ships?
I don't think measurements were explicitely given, but my impression was on the order of modern naval shis. 100-200 meters, and fusion-powered.
Quote:
You have a ship that is big enough to have a railgun powerful enough to accelerate to 100kps, is that standard?
Not at all, in fact unique. Moreover, the power drain of the second firing (the one toward Jupiter) slagged the ship's fusion plant -- and that was planned. High cost of the tactic was part of what made is so surprising.
Quote:
How did they hide the reaction of the firing? (the chinese ship would change course)
Initial hydrogen bomb explosion. For a few minutes it masked both radar, and the ships was too far from any American eyes to resolve visually (or in infrared). By the time it could be seen again there was no indication of how quickly the course change happened.
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