The new Starship Operator's Manual is here!

[Vormaerin]

At some point someone wrote that the masses of hydrogen in fuel were used to fill the area of the jump bubble. I'm assuming this is an attempt to reconcile that era with the other explanations of jump tech. But I never liked that hydrogen bubble theory. Of course, I don't like the "power plant suddenly burns massive amounts of fuel in an instant, vastly faster than the normal rate" explanation either.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Yup, I'm not taking any notice of hydrogen filled jump bubbles because they contradict setting canon and are not part of T5 either.

In the DGP SOM it was a bubble of normal space, no mention of hydrogen bubbles.

This was misunderstood by a T4 author and fanon became canon.

TNE FF&S says this:
"Jump drives require fuel, displacement mass, and coolant, all of
which are collectively called jump fuel (liquid hydrogen being
used for all three functions)."

T4 FF&S says this:

"Once in jumpspace, the jump drive maintains a small
bubble of real space around the ship, using power input to
the jump drive from the power plant (0.018MW per cubic
meter per jump number). The fuel remaining in the jump
drive's surge tank is used to create a thin hydrogen atmosphere
around the ship during jump, which helps to delay the
collapse of the jump bubble"

which it immediately contradicts in the drop tank section with

"Drop tanks are possible since the fuel is entirely consumed
before jumpspace entry,"

Note that collector powered ships don't use hydrogen to jump, and neither do antimatter powered drives.

 

[WHULorigan]

Yup, I'm not taking any notice of hydrogen filled jump bubbles because they contradict setting canon and are not part of T5 either.

In the DGP SOM it was a bubble of normal space, no mention of hydrogen bubbles.

This was misunderstood by a T4 author and fanon became canon.

TNE FF&S says this:
"Jump drives require fuel, displacement mass, and coolant, all of
which are collectively called jump fuel (liquid hydrogen being
used for all three functions)."

T4 FF&S says this:

"Once in jumpspace, the jump drive maintains a small
bubble of real space around the ship, using power input to
the jump drive from the power plant (0.018MW per cubic
meter per jump number). The fuel remaining in the jump
drive's surge tank is used to create a thin hydrogen atmosphere
around the ship during jump, which helps to delay the
collapse of the jump bubble"

which it immediately contradicts in the drop tank section with

"Drop tanks are possible since the fuel is entirely consumed
before jumpspace entry,"

Note that collector powered ships don't use hydrogen to jump, and neither do antimatter powered drives.

Thanks for the reference-history. That is a helpful resource-post.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Shame the book authors didn't ask for help with tracking stuff like this down,,,

 

[Sailbad]

I still think they did an excellent job on the book, and information conflict is common throughout military/ aviation history. I was once part of a team that reviewed an Army manual for technical accuracy and we noted several issues which were not going to be fixed before publication. May never even been corrected in an errata. At the time we thought parts of the manual were written by grade school children when it was probably just miss information.

 

[Condottiere]

That hydrogen had to go somewhere.

 

[Sigtrygg]

It did, into normal space as either coolant or fusion products.

 

[Condottiere]

In less than six minutes?

 

[Sigtrygg]

Yes.

 

[The Canterbury Tail]

Same IMTU, the Jump Drive is really misnamed, it's a hugely powerful (for short bursts) power plant that rips open a hole (using a Jump Grid for focusing) into Jump Space. And yes, that fuel is all used to generate that energy in that time period. And yes, damage to the Jump Grid is a thing.

 

[WingedCat]

Shame the book authors didn't ask for help with tracking stuff like this down,,,

We did, but there was only so far our call went. We couldn't get the call out to everyone. The Lore Reviewers are those who responded.

 

[Sigtrygg]

You should have got someone who actually knew this stuff - what I posted about the evolution of the jump bubble above is just the tip of the iceberg. The inner circle don't know as much as they think they do. Having access to the entire back catalogue is no help if you haven't read it all, played it. and can remember where to start looking for quotes.
Or if you are biased against or for certain editions.
Or if your headcanon replaces real canon.

The MgT SOM authors could have checked the canon of the hydrogen filled bubble, it's been mentioned over and over on here, on CotI and other sites.
By going with the T4 misinterpretation you now have to explain how collectors work in setting without hydrogen and how a TL17 world can operate antimatter powered jump drives.

 

[phavoc]

At some point someone wrote that the masses of hydrogen in fuel were used to fill the area of the jump bubble. I'm assuming this is an attempt to reconcile that era with the other explanations of jump tech. But I never liked that hydrogen bubble theory. Of course, I don't like the "power plant suddenly burns massive amounts of fuel in an instant, vastly faster than the normal rate" explanation either.

Yeah, that showed in MGTv1. CT/MT had the lanthanum jump grids, zuchai drive crystals, etc. The WAY the jump drive was powered and the explanation that the plant fast-cycled all the hydrogen to energy in just a minute or so seemed a bit wonky (especially since you had black globe generators that could shunt power TO your drive and have enemy fire power your jump).

There's always something. That's all I recall off top of my head.

 

[WingedCat]

By going with the T4 misinterpretation you now have to explain how collectors work in setting without hydrogen and how a TL17 world can operate antimatter powered jump drives.

Don't antimatter powered jump drives still take liquid hydrogen jump fuel? Or if they take the same volume of antimatter - it still fills the jump bubble.

As to collectors, we did explain that in the original draft. It got cut, but I hear Mongoose is considering republishing that (and certain other cut content) in future JTASes.

 

[Vormaerin]

That seems to be the case in MgT2e's High Guard, which is all in on the hydrogen bubble description already. It does not appear to be the case in T5 explanation, which uses an "overclock" explanation for how the L-Hyd sipping fusion plant suddenly burns massive amounts of fuel for jump.

Obviously, SOM is for MgT2e so should work with that description. Which it does. I'm just going to change it IMTU

 

[Sigtrygg]

Yeah, that showed in MGTv1. CT/MT had the lanthanum jump grids, zuchai drive crystals, etc. The WAY the jump drive was powered and the explanation that the plant fast-cycled all the hydrogen to energy in just a minute or so seemed a bit wonky (especially since you had black globe generators that could shunt power TO your drive and have enemy fire power your jump).

There's always something. That's all I recall off top of my head.

CT did not have a lanthanum hull grid. Only MT, T4 and now MgT. Zuchai crystals were introduced in A4.
A black globe could power your jump capacitors, but the rules state you still need fuel to jump.

 

[Sigtrygg]

Don't antimatter powered jump drives still take liquid hydrogen jump fuel? Or if they take the same volume of antimatter - it still fills the jump bubble.

As to collectors, we did explain that in the original draft. It got cut, but I hear Mongoose is considering republishing that (and certain other cut content) in future JTASes.

No, antimatter powered jump drives don't need hydrogen.

Are you seriously suggesting a bubble of antimatter surrounding the jump ship?

What stops the antimatter reacting with the matter of the ship's hull?

 

[WHULorigan]

Are you seriously suggesting a bubble of antimatter surrounding the jump ship?

What stops the antimatter reacting with the matter of the ship's hull?

As strong repulsive electro-magnetic field and an acute outbreak of religion among the crew . . .

 

[Sigtrygg]

I think it is just easier to get rid of the hydrogen filled bubble to maintain compatibility with the setting and the majority of the iterations of the rules.

 

[WHULorigan]

I think it is just easier to get rid of the hydrogen filled bubble to maintain compatibility with the setting and the majority of the iterations of the rules.

I have never quite understood what this "bubble" or "atmosphere" of hydrogen gas surrounding the ship (however rarefied) is actually supposed to accomplish? The "Jump-bubble" is not a membrane that can be expanded if filled with a fluid like a balloon, and the subatomic-particles/nuclear-bonds/atomic-orbitals or molecular bonds comprising the hydrogen will be just as easily decomposed/mutated/altered/destroyed or whatever by the alien physical laws of the jumpspace as those which comprise the hull of the ship and the crew, so what is the "hydrogen-bubble" accomplishing?