Hi David,

As Piper describes it, Collapsium is impervious to almost all radiation energy. It is a coating of neutrons only a single neutron thick that is “applied” to sheet steel. From Piper’s descriptions I would suggest it reflects the heat/energy with absolutely no absorption of said energy in any way. In fact, it would be an almost perfect insulating material.

Regarding this armor plating, Piper never shows any examples of “pure” collapsium being used to create physical objects nor any examples of “pure” Collapsium plate, implying that steel is necessary to create the armor in the first place. Collapsium armor is made by running sheet steel through a machine process that he describes as being like newsprint running through an old-fashioned newspaper printing press. It has to be cut using cosmic rays (or antimatter). Beyond that, who knows?

Tom

> On Aug 26, 2025, at 9:24 AM, dbernat <xxxxxx@gol.com> wrote:
> Citations in Space Viking indicate that collapsium can withstand nuclear explosions.
>
> The resulting question is whether collapsium absorbs the heat or reflects the heat.
>
> The next question is whether collapsium radiates away the heat from the outer shell or conducts the heat and thermal radiation takes place on both the outer and inner surfaces of a collapsium-shielded vessel.
>
> Thermal radiation into a vessel might not be too pleasant for the crew.
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