Rocket packs and the FIREFLY verse by reginaroadie

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Rocket packs and the FIREFLY verse

POSTED BY: REGINAROADIE
UPDATED: Friday, May 25, 2007 14:35
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VIEWED: 1416
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Thursday, May 24, 2007 9:01 PM

Hey All

I'm getting back into writing fanfics with only a week left in my first summer class before I have all of June off, and I've already gotten into a slight arguement with someone on the site about a bit of future tech that's sometimes seen in sci-fi.

I'm thinking of writing a one shot story about my OC Shooter. And one of the plot points in the story is a rocket pack, like the one in THE ROCKETEER. Now, I think that there'd be something like this 500 years in the future, and that it would be something developed by the Alliance and that only the super rich could afford something like that. But the guy I debated this with said that it's too over the top and that Joss would never have included in into the FIREFLY verse if it had continued.

Do you think that rocket packs would have been included into the FIREFLY verse? We've established that there are spaceships, space stations, lasers, force fields, hover technology, holo technology, supremely advance medical technology, memory sticks that can hold as many bits of information that a supercomputer of today has, robots and probably other stuff I haven't thought of. Would rocket packs be too big a stretch?

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"Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"
"No."
"Have you ever fired ONE gun whilst jumping through the air?"

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Friday, May 25, 2007 1:36 AM

ZZETTA13

I've read the manual on this and in section 5, subsection 6.2 of the Drivers Auto-Propulsion Space Manual it clearly state " The unauthorized use of jet-pack or rocket-pack or any self contained single or double occupant device or craft which does not include the complete encapsulation of said occupant(s) is by authority prohibited by law unless otherwise stated by vehicle premit obtained by STCAP, stay cap (Space Transportation Commission of Allied Planets).

Reason being that to many people were RWI (rocketing while intoxicated) and to many accidents were happening. Have you seen the result of said occupant hitting another object at 103 mph? Not pretty.

Anyway it's been outlawed by the Alliance to law abiding citizens. There's your answer. But knowing Malcolm Reynolds and crew and the multitued of other rim world marauders and pirates go ahead and use them in your story or any other illegal or forbidden device as well. I would

Z

Edit: just a little humor in my above post. Heck man it's your story.Write it the way you want. Remember there were dinosaurs in the Serenity pilot

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Friday, May 25, 2007 2:47 AM

CYBERSNARK

The trpouble with rocket packs is how off-centre the thrust is. The human body's centre of gravity is at the solar plexus (just below your navel). Most rocket/jet packs (*) have their thrust coming downwards from the back. This would effectively turn the flyer into a wheel, rotating around the centre of gravity: the upper body would go up and forward while the legs get pushed backwards --and the inertia won't suddenly change when you get horizontal. Your head would be rocketed into the ground, and if your skull doesn't go squish, your neck would snap, then your body would flop over with the rocket underneath, and "sled" along the ground until the pack takes critical damage and explodes.

(* Rocket packs are self-contained, and could theoretically be used in space, while jet packs have air intakes and need an atmospheric mixture to operate.)

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Friday, May 25, 2007 3:42 AM

06K64

http://www1.jsc.nasa.gov/er/seh/suitnasa.html (the section on MMUs)

We seem to have them, so maybe fair to say they would have figured something out in the 'verse? Not quite the Rocketeer, but with 500 years of tinckering, who knows...

Good luck!

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Friday, May 25, 2007 2:35 PM

BONANACROIN

I could possibly see the use of rocket-packs in space to get from one ship to another in dock. I have also seen the blue prints for a rocket assisted reentry suits used for emergance space-to-atmo reentry suits (Talk about a H.A.L.O jump. JERONIMOOO!) The idea though of atmo-to-space is a little much for me. In "War Stories" they had to use a rocket sled. Now the one most important senario is in-atmo flight, my answer is yes. My laws on this however would be a little differant. The rocket could only be used for a short-range, erratice flight (Example, Five miles heading south at 450 miles per hour and forget about landing on a dime. Just hope it doesn't break your legs on the tuck and roll manuver.) The other option is gyro mounting. The idea is that you put two or more hellocopter like propellers on a personal harness and stand and you can use the laws of physics in gyros to move forward. Doesn't go fast but it is alot safer and you can get alot farther. They all work on the principle of a brick will fly if you throw it hard enough.

I dyed my browncoat black for those whom have gone befor.....bwaaa.

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