The other thing to keep in mind is developing the Jump Drive is a difficult challenge. It’s only been done seven times in in the history of Charted Space. Based on the outcomes of the misjumps and a few other statements, the process of entering jump space is an unstable, chaotic one. You, the Astrogator and the computer system you are using need to know a number of factors to a high degree accuracy.
Factors would include the gravitational stress at the point on entrance ( the 100D limit), exit (same as before), the stability of the field generated for entrance, and any known potential masses along the flight path.
The use of unrefined fuel causes fluctuations in the power output of the BHHR, or in the density of the bubble. Which causes the jump field to fluctuate, and cause the misjumps. Scout and military ships avoid the problem simply by overbuilding the power systems and overcharging the hull grid.
In some cases the misjumps cause the field to collapse. In others the unstable wormhole leaps off in an unexpected direction through space time. The reason you can’t just repeat the misjump to extend the range of a normal jump is the initial conditions are not known with enough accuracy to safely replicate. And get them a little wrong, and you end up as a spray of quarks at the far end.
This is in fact the reason it’s so difficult to build a jump drive. The basic equations applied show the process won’t work. It’s not stable, and very dangerous.
There was a discussion earlier about aliens being amazed at the risks humans would take. Jump Drives are a version of that. No one who understands the jump space equations ever wants to fly in a ship, the margin for error is just too small.
I don't claim to have The Answer, but here's how I sorta reconciled all the
various aspects and descriptions of the jump drive.
First, there is textev for the following components for the Jump Drive:
1. The Drive itself. This is a big bulky piece of equipment that we know
for sure has...
2. ...Jump Coils in it. There are also associated with it...
3. ...Zuchai Crystals, and...
4. ...Jump Capacitors.
5. There is also a "Jump grid" embedded in the hull, of which Lanthanum is
a component. Except in some older Vargr implementations, which use
Barium instead.
We also know that 'fuel' is used in large quantities. Very large
quantities. This 'fuel' is canonically liquid hydrogen.
OK, here's my take on what happens, step by step:
0. INFORMATION: The Jump Drive's four most important components are [in no
particular order] (a) a Big Honking Handwavium-based Reactor (BHHR),
(b) the Zuchai Crystals, (c) the Jump Coils, which in some designs
surround the Zuchai crystals and in others are surrounded by the
crystals, and (d) the Jump Capacitors
1. The course is programmed into the computer. This causes some field
and/or beam generators surrounding the Zuchai crystals to align
themselves and set prospective power levels, and also sets a sequence of
changes therein. If there is a jump grid, it also specifies energization
levels and sequences for the segments of the grid.
2. When the command to jump is given, the BHHR goes into operation at its
maximum possible rate. This causes energy to be generated.
3. Most of this energy is sent to the Capacitors for storage. The
capacitors can take in the energy at least as fast as the BHHR can
generate it. A comparatively small amount is diverted to the field and
beam generators.
4. The fields and beams interact with the Zuchai crystals as described in
the General Field Theory of Mumble and Inaudible. This generates a
spherical field potential - not yet an actual field - around the ship.
5. If there is a jump grid, its various segments are energised per the
computer instructions. This allows the field potential to be reshaped to
conform more closely to the ship's surface.
6. The fully-charged capacitors discharge into the Jump Coils. This causes
the field _potential_ to become an actual field that "opens" a "hole"
from normal space into the non-space called jump space. The hole almost
immediately closes, but the ship is now in jump space. The duration and
exit point of the jump are now committed; the only thing that can change
them is a failure of the field - which will destroy the ship.
7. The BHHR is 'stepped down' to provide a low level of energy to keep the
field and beam generators and the jump grid energised, and thus
maintaining the field. This prevents jump space from interacting with
the matter of the ship, which is fatal to the matter.
8. At the appointed time, the field, which has been receiving a steady
input of energy, "pulses" entirely out of the control of the ship. This
opens the hole back to normal space, and when it closes (again, almost
immediately), the ship is back in normal space. The field and beam
generators and the jump grid de-energise, and the field and field
potential drop to null. Jump is complete.
Articles like my Color of Jumpspace suggest that the statement about
commitment in 6. above may not be entirely accurate, and it says nothing
about whether there is a hydrogen "bubble" within the field and around the
ship (but perhaps that's a 'safety' feature, on the theory that if there's
a field failure, _maybe_ having the hydrogen 'protecting' the ship itself
will give the crew a chance to restore the field before jumpspace interacts
with the hull itself...). Or maybe the jump engineer that explained it to
me dumbed it down a bit too much, and it's oversimplified. Or something.
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