EVE General Discussion

I like this one! Doesn't sound too far fetched!

Basically boils down to maneuvering jets that exhaust, (possibly heated), gases at high pressure into the vacuum, much like vectored thrust works on VTOL craft. The difference being that current designs, so far as I am aware, don't utilize heat to increase the pressure, (probably because of the energy required to heat the gases), and the gas is Oxygen afaik.

Honestly, I never looked that closely at any Spaceship, Shuttle, or Spacecraft, and the most attention I've paid to the subject of conventional Spacecraft is a really good Discovery Network show that went into some detail on the engineering of some Shuttle or other. Don't remember which one.

Principle is fairly simple. The ship travels in the direction of least resistance, and that direction is into the vacuum and away from the rapidly expanding ball of gas being vented from the ship. The maneuvering ports that exhaust the gas are or would be placed in locations engineered by design to create both precise and effective maneuvering while using the least amount of fuel to generate the motion required to do that maneuver.

I imagine a lot of that is based on surface deflection and I know some of it is based on simple principles like angles of exhaust in relation to the hull and similar concepts that will create either direct movement, or--in the latter case--cause the ship to move on its rotational axis which is related the position of that maneuvering jet with relation to mass and center of gravity with regard to that maneuvering jet.

Most maneuvering jets are--I believe--fixed on conventional Spacecraft. The new Private manned Spacecraft may use different means, and others elsewhere intended for exo-atmospheric flight primarily, may utilize more mechanical maneuvering jets.

The issue with non-fixed maneuvering jets is their impact on atmospheric re-entry and aerodynamics with regard to that re-entry, and--I imagine--any impact they might have on stable and complete lift-off and achieving orbit. Exo-atmospheric craft don't need to be as concerned with this as they are encapsulated within the hull of the rocket for lift-off and leave any non-aerodynamic components behind when they return to Earth atmosphere.

I suppose I took that question too literally?

..probably not as he indicated he was asking so he could explain it to his son. Of course, I might have got a bit carried away.

All done with magnets!

Now, explain how magnets work to your kid.

I thought ships turned in space due to Thrust Vectoring ...

I also always assumed it used thrust vectoring and pivoted around a gyroscope based on the way the ships bank to turn.
as for how they work in a "vacuum"

first of all...
Space != a true vacuum ... Nature abhors a vacuum. "Space" consists of gasses and dust and other particles at pressure much much lower than we are used to on Earth, think of it more like a slurry of plasma and garbage. The 7th grade science teacher called it a vacuum because it was easier to explain to 13 year olds that way.

Secondly the relative pressure outside a gyroscope is not what a gyroscope acts on. A gyroscope relies on inertia for it's function. We know in real life, that a gyroscope works in space because that is how ISS simulates gravity, by spinning.

If we throw science out the window and just go by eve... there are gyroscopes in game, anyone whose ever flown minmitar knows that, so however they work in eve-science... thats how they work :D

The engines actually tilt

Actually when you consider Solar Winds the principle of treating space as a super-fluid actually isn't that far-fetched.

NFL Blitz? hehe

I loved that game!