They've been talking about rail guns in space for decades now...But issues about recoil damping are even more important there than here on the ground.
Just make a remote gun that fires a salvo. It runs away with the same power it uses to fire itself empty.They've been talking about rail guns in space for decades now...But issues about recoil damping are even more important there than here on the ground.
Unlike in Firefly, real world firearms ammunition actually provides its own oxygen and would probably work unaltered in vacuum.There's a blatantly obvious application that you're all overlooking here and so I feel bears pointing out: space-guns!
We're one-step closer to ruling the galaxy, humans!
Why is recoil damping more of an issue? Sure, your spaceship/satellite will get brought off course a little every time it fires, but that's what your engines are for. I would expect the craft firing the weapon still be heavier, so it would be accelerated a lot less than the projectile (and we're not talking about relativistic weapons).They've been talking about rail guns in space for decades now...But issues about recoil damping are even more important there than here on the ground.
Why is recoil damping more of an issue? Sure, your spaceship/satellite will get brought off course a little every time it fires, but that's what your engines are for.
I would expect that heating could become a larger issue, as without air to help transfer heat, it radiates only very slowly. And the craft itself has the same issue.
Hence Dave's annoyance at Hal...