On Fri, Aug 07, 2026 at 09:44:22AM -0400, The Traveller Mailing List wrote:
>
> ============================================================
>
> Sounds like very good rules, essentially equivalent of the way "Maximum Military Power"
> applies to modern jet engines. E.g. the highest "dry" (non-afterburner) thrust setting,
> which inflicts increased maintenance when used.
>

I asked a similar question a few years  back. In my case I was asking if a 1G ship could
over boost it's manuever drive to escape a 10 m/s^2 surface gravity planet. After doing a
bunch of computer simulations I came up with several ways that such a thing could
happen. But I've been thinking about the mechanics of this since I started playing with my
ship builder and I've decided that it's really not even a question.

My line of thinking is this:

1. The 1G manuever drive rating of a ship says that in a _fully loaded_ condition the ship
   could achieve 1G acceleration in free space.

2. The issue comes from the fact in Traveller a 100 dTon ship has a **volume** of between
   1350 and 1400 m^3 depending on the ruleset you are are looking at. The important thing to
   know is that this conceit rides on the back of the definition of a dTon and the Volume
   that holds 1000 kg of Hydrogen fuel. One only has to consult a phase diagram of Hydrogen
   to see that a state exists where 1000 kg of Hydrogen fits in 13.5 m^3.

3. My thinking is that the mean density of the ship is such all dTons of the ship average to
   a mean density of 1000 kg / 13.5 m^3, or, a fully loaded 100 dTon ship has a mass of
   100,000 kg.

So, if 1G is 10 m / s^2, then the drives on a 100 dton, 1G ship can put out 1,000,000 N.

Here's the rub, if the drives can put out 1e+06 N then the ship can do more than 10m/s^s
simply by loosing weight. Thus, A 1G ship can leave the surface of a 1G world if it's fuel
tanks or cargo hold are partially empty.

-- Chris

--
Chris

      __o          "All I was trying to do was get home from work."
    _`\<,_           -Rosa Parks
___(*)/_(*)____.___o____..___..o...________ooO..._____________________
Christopher Sean Hilton                    [chris/at/vindaloo/dot/com]