[Traveller_TNE] Re: water in ship designs

--- In , wrote:
>
> Water - a good shield for Radiation?
>
Water is not really a good "portable" rad shield material. The
shielding really has to have enough atoms to block the radiation
particles/waves in order to work. A swimming pool reactor (which is
not use for electrical generation) uses a pool of water 20-30 feet
in diameter 8-12 feet deep. The reactor pile is at the bottom.
That is a really thick amount of material to put in a spaceship.
RAD shielding can be made thinner by using high-density materials
such as lead or gold. A solid shield needs similar mass as the
water but takes up far less volume. When we get to TL 10+ and start
using crystaliron or superdense materials, the shielding gets even
thinner.
>
> Could we have double-hulls on spaceships and circulate water
> around 'tween the hulls? If we're near a star, it could act
> as a solar water heater.
>
Yes - although it would be tanks and plumbing rather than just open
space between the inner and outer shell. In direct solar radiation
(AKA Sunlight) the whole ship will heat up. It is more likely that
the water would be used to cool the sun exposed side of the ship and
to distribute the heat evenly throughout the ship. The sun side will
+ 300ºC and the shade side will be -267ºC. A heat distribution
system should be included as a standard part of the life support
systems. (The US space shuttle uses orientation for some amount of
heat control - face the black tiles into the sun and the shuttle
heats up - face the white tiles into the sun and the shuttle cools
down. (Those NASA guys are clever that way.)
>
> Could we build some sort of temperature diff. engine by taking
> the warm water and the cold water?
>
These kind of thermal exchange systems are really not efficient
enough to run a ship. But in an emergency it might run your life-
support systems.
>
> Could future astronauts be equipped with gills and the ship be
flooded?
>
T20 added Dolphins as an uplifted race. They also added an aquatic
race. Neither of these races use liquid filled ships. Water and
Electrical circuts just do not mix very well.
>
> -Joel
>

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