Hello, my name is Charles

by on September 20, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Science fiction authors used to say we would use something better when we went into space, but three centuries later we still use rockets. Yes they are more advanced than what propelled our Apollo missions, but the German scientists that pioneered them knew what we still use. We dump fuel into a reaction chamber, make it explode, and use that push to send us flying in the way we want to go. But the Peloran gravtech changed everything. Now we use a gravitic generator to lower our effective mass so it only takes a very small push of the engines to send us flying far faster than we ever could in the old days. It is amazing how much just a single application of alien technologies can change all of our worlds.

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Hello, my name is Jack

by on September 19, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

HALO stands for High Altitude Low Orbit. Basically it means anything above the atmosphere but below the really stable orbitals. Of course there are disagreements on where space starts and the atmosphere ends. The United States Space Force still says space begins at 80 kilometers up. On Earth. The Navy took NASAs old definition of 100 kilometers, and other organizations claim other numbers. In practice against Earth-type planet most drops are in the 150 to 300 kilometer range. Though I’ve seen drops start anywhere between 60 and 1,000 kilometers above the surface. Life gets real interesting on the extremes.

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Hello, my name is Betty

by on September 18, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

Twilight season two ended with cameos of almost every Dixie character driving north to join in the real life Battle of Kansas City. It took place in the shattered remains of the computer grid, and was filmed on location in the city’s ruined streets. Rival gangs fought each other and the beleaguered police tried to restore order as Twilight’s people tried to track down Solo’s real world terrorist compatriots. It ended with the entire team falling into a trap and being confronted by Solo’s debonair smile and the realization that Solo was just the agent of a much larger organization.

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Hello, my name is Charles

by on September 17, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

For a hundred years we expanded into the void using rocket engines that an Apollo Astronaut would have recognized. Our ships and stations spun to generate gravity. We spent weeks accelerating up to interplanetary speeds and using planetary slingshots to send us out to the edges of our star systems. Fuel bunkerage was what held us back. No ship could carry enough fuel to keep accelerating for weeks or months at a time. Science fiction dreamed of drives that could run forever on different scientific theories, but it was old-fashioned rockets and our very good friend Newton that took us to the stars.

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Hello, my name is Jack

by on September 16, 2015 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Diaries

People sometimes ask me what HALO drops are like. Well, I’d like you to envision a bunch of grown men screaming like children. Cries for God’s helping hand to keep them from going splat at the end. OK, now that you’ve got the Hollywood version in your mind, forget it. It’s way scarier than that when HALO dropping into a prepared defense. Trust me. The sky lights up like fireworks but those things are trying to kill you. And there’s friendly fire raining down all around you as well, trying to suppress the enemy defenses. You might avoid every enemy shot only to get hit by the good guys. HALO drops are fun and scary at the same time. Part of me hopes I never see another one. Another part of me can’t wait to do it again.

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