On 24 Oct 2015, at 14:38, xxxxxx@comcast.net wrote:
>
> Hello Rob,
>
> A reactionless thruster requires accelerating, in the case of,
> turret missiles described in CT Book 2, a 50 kg mass from
> zero to whatever amount of meters or kilometers per second
> second in about the unknown length of the missile. Per Special
> Supplement 3 that length is 1 meter.
>
> How much stress does that acceleration place on the launching
> mechanism and materials that make up the system?

Answer is:-

We just don't know. Reaction-less thrusters are so far out there in terms of how they might work that it's pointless to try to put numbers to it. Some possibilities that come to mind:-

1.  If it's accelerating under the influence of a uniform gravitational field along it's length, then there's no stress.
2.  If it's accelerating under the influence of a generated point source "in front" of it, then indeed there might be gravitational stresses on it (see Niven's "Neutron Star" for a dramatic exposition of the effects)
3.  and I'm sure the real physicists out there can think of many more ways in which it might be possible to break the law...

Regards, Andy

--
Andrew Long
Andrew dot Long at Mac dot com