Abstract
A meeting took place in March of 2007 at CSUF, instigated by Gary Hudson. Gary had attended the STAIF 2007 meeting a month or so earlier and had urged those of us working on Mach effects to get serious about getting organized. Having then recently done well with some Air Force and DARPA contracts, he, in his words, was looking to reinvest the then recently available government money in some promising projects that might not attract government funding.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
For those unfamiliar with the aerospace community, Gary had made a reputation for himself by designing and building a prototype of the “Roton.” The Roton was intended as a single stage to orbital system where the vehicle took off vertically with a pair of rocket powered counter-rotating rotors on its nose, and conventional rockets took over when the craft reached an altitude where the rotors were folded up as they were no longer efficient. The rotors could be redeployed for descent. Seriously proposing this project in the era of the space shuttle took real courage, and to stick with it, uncommon persistence.
- 2.
IR sensing of the device temperature with a suitable detector in close proximity to the test devices is a planned upgrade of the system.
- 3.
These nifty boards have long since gone the way of all good things. No longer available.
- 4.
STAIF, organized chiefly by Mohamed El-Genk, Regents Professor of Engineering at the University of New Mexico, had gone the way of all good things after the 2008 meeting and El-Genk’s retirement. SPESIF, organized chiefly by Tony Robertson, was a heroic effort to keep the meeting alive for the advanced propulsion community.
- 5.
That you are reading this book is evidence that the reactionary views of mainstreamers of my generation are passing. We are all retired, replaced by those with different experiences and views. Retirees, though, get to write books.
- 6.
- 7.
The thermal expansion of the crystals in the radial direction is positive, but that does not affect preload.
- 8.
The power – typically with a peak value of 100 to 200 W – is equal to the square of the voltage divided by the impedance of the device (at the operating frequency). Note that most of the power in this circuit is “reactive.” That is, most of the power is not dissipated in the device as it is operated.
- 9.
When I was a starting assistant professor, I shared an office with a Chinese historian, Sam Kupper. One evening, after a conversation on pedagogy, as Sam was leaving the office, he commented, “Remember! If you can’t dazzle ‘em with brilliance, baffle ‘em with bullshit!” I hope that this doesn’t strike you as a baffling exercise. The issue is too important, however, to be left to some casual comments.
- 10.
Tom’s recounting of all this is available on his website: OtherHand.org.
- 11.
The retaining bolts that hold the stack together were torqued to 8–10 in. pounds during assembly.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 James F. Woodward
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woodward, J.F. (2013). In Reality’s Grip. In: Making Starships and Stargates. Springer Praxis Books(). Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5623-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5623-0_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5622-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5623-0
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)