Quick Fire Questions (A Place to Ask and Answer)

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Abernovo said:
Does anyone know how thick a dust cloud (in space) would have to be for it to disrupt communications? I need a natural phenomenon reason for transmissions to be blocked or effectively scrambled. It might be as simple as radio signal (or laser signal?) degradation, but I don't know enough about that, if it exists.

The distance is too far for effective communication, but the disruption has to make both sides think the other has ceased transmitting, or at least no longer cares about them.
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Not quite sure how you would do this one. The problem I see is that something like a dust cloud (at least one that is enough to disrupt comms - not too sure of the likelihood of that) should be easily observable (hiding stars and such like) from either end of the comms. In other words I don't see how they could not know that that is the problem. Unfortunately off the top of my head I can't think of anything that would block the comms that would not in itself be observable.
 
Thanks Vertigo. That's my problem. I might have to rethink this. It's not a major plot point, but implications for later parts of the plot. Oh, I'm loving the re-write!:p
 
Abernovo said:
The distance is too far for effective communication, but the disruption has to make both sides think the other has ceased transmitting, or at least no longer cares about them.
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A Black Hole is visible only by its effects on the surrounding light. We don't know much about these phenomena, so perhaps it's plausible that a previously undetected Black Hole may move into a position where radio signals can't get through.

Of course, in this case, light wouldn't get through, either, so perhaps it could look as though the planet has disappeared, as well as their radio signals. This would also have the effect you're looking for - each side giving up on the other.
 
I wondered about a black hole Inter but I felt that the chances of an undetected one big enough to have that effect and that close to the line of sight between the planets would have already been noticed. Even if it hadn't, it would surely be identified the minute the other planet disappeared and visible space around the other planet became distorted by the gravitational lensing.
 
...and the only solution to that that I could come up with is, I'm afraid, human error.

Also, given that the entire system in which either planet must reside would also vanish, it would more than likely pique curiosity, rather than make them give up on each other.

So, my mind ran to the possibility of a completely visible phenomenon moving into position, like a comet perhaps, whose characteristics are to absorb radio signals. A radio-sponge? As I see it, if an object is used it must be detected but unsuspected. In this case, it would need to be some kind of natural radio-signal-jammer. If FTL relays are being used to boost the signal, then only one of these relays need be affected.

And now I'm thinking in terms of natural prismatic and/or reflection effects caused by such a seemingly mundane natural occurrence, but my physics is woefully inadequate to the task of thinking what. However, a small deviation at source could result in a targetted information stream of whatever kind missing its target by several billions of miles.

Is it too, too SF to think in terms of clustered Dark Matter?

Or even extremely massive, and cloaked, alien vessels or devices?





 
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No FTL comms, I'm afraid Inter. In fact no FTL anything, which is why there's no actual communications, only receipt of broadcast signals (which cease).

A comet? Hmm, if it left a permanent dampening effect behind, that might work. But, again, we're back to whether that would do the trick or not. As I said, I'm willing to take a heavy axe to this part of the story, but I'd rather not. I thought of human error/malfeasance but I worried it might be a cliche.
 
Solar flares are good for disrupting communications.

If you're wanting to the effect to last a while; how about an asteroid field (or comet) that is known about, but the solar flare leaves charged particles in the asteroid field causing a lot of interference. You would know the solar flare has passed and think communications would be restored.
 
I like it! A combination of effects, one recognised and accounted for, the other phenomenal. Only in combination do they disrupt comms, but this isn't spotted because the effect itself is so unusual.
 
Suppose that, rather than a dust cloud we had a very diffuse but deep gas cloud, made up of some largish molecule whose absorption spectrum happened to have a peak at the particular frequency used by the masers used for communication (could be lasers, but it's far more likely that some visual astronomer is going to notice a notch in the spectra of stars over a considerable solid angle than a radio astronomer). The most likely molecule is the one used in the maser tube, but there are other possibilities. I could see a sort of cosmic algae tuning itself to the frequency of the strongest wavelength around, to glean the absolute maximum of energy in an environment drastically lacking.

If they weren't continuously transmitting/receiving, that is. If they are (the efficient way; optimum use of bandwidth, and continuous position feedback, meaning the transmitter/receiver arrays can optimise for tiny course changes. Not so efficient in energy use, or cooling, but surely an interstellar ship has to have masses of these spare, to take up drive periods.) the slow fade of the signal as the ship proceeded deeper into the cloud would surely be noticed. But if they sent a compressed message pulse every month (now, that would put a crimp in my Chrons posting, even ignoring light speed delay) it just might go fast enough that it was considered go/no go.
 
Thank you. Now off to do a bit of quick research on absorption spectra. As I said, it's not a huge section of the book, but I needed it to be viable if it was to remain as it has consequences. Thank you to all.
 
Re: communication problems. ok how about going really big. A solar flare but a really, really big solar flare.

In fact a Supernova in the "line-of-direction"* of the interstellar travellers but is:

- close enough to swamp the patch of sky that the Earthlings are looking at to communicate with the travellers with radiation so that can't pick out their communications and the space around the travellers is 'excited' into a churning 'noisy' plasma by the passing Supernova pressure wave that effectively scrambles the signals coming from Earth so that travellers can't pick up anything.

- far enough away so that hard radiation is not a problem in killing either travellers or the Planet Earth for that matter.

It's sortof plausible...

*i.e. not between Earth and the travellers but quite a distance further away from these two locations
 
What type of ship is this;

used by the Empress for interplanetary flights. Very luxurious. But, this is the important thing, good firepower, good shielding and very fast. (I think it does make sense that the personal craft for her Evilness should be able to defend itself.)

Not envisaged to be that big, but room for a stateroom cabin, a small office space and some crew quarters (which can be tiny and poky, and downright horrible).

I had a personal pleasure craft, but that's not giving a sense of its battle capacity, a shuttle seems too clunky, yacht seems a bit laid back, and a freighter isn't fit for purpose, a cruiser too little.
 
how about chariot.

If a small ship can be as powerful as you suggest, then you would probably have several of its size in the military already. Frigate might be a good name for small combat vessel, not so pleasant for an Empress.

Personally I would give the ship good speed and shields, but not necessarily powerful weapons; rapid-fire rail guns would be good for picking off incoming projectiles - depends on your space combat.

Alternatively give the ship a name, rather than a classification.
 
Cruiser too little? It sounds smaller than my idea of a cruiser. (Though "cruiser" is also used for gin-palace type yachts, I guess.)

Armoured yacht? Micro-cruiser?
 
Corvette has a nice ring to it. Wiki has them down as lightly armed warships.
 
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