Tungsten Carbide or UHTCs?

[stormiel]

So, I'm trying to figure out what material to use for the outer surface of the shuttle in my story. Tungsten carbide (coated, not solid) or UHTCs (Ultra High Temperature Ceramics). Tungsten carbide is brittle so it couldn't be solid. If it were a coating it would look much cooler than ceramics. The reason I'm thinking about tungsten carbide is because it has a melting point of 5,198 degrees F. Ceramics (like what NASA uses) are lighter weight but don't look as cool. Maybe coated ceramics? Maybe I shouldn't be thinking about this at 1:44am

I'm still sifting through more information on both. Until I have a better grasp on the materials, does anyone have any thoughts on how to make cool looking shuttles?

The more I think about this, the more I think I should just change the description in that scene lol.

[Kessie]

Why does it have to be a shuttle at all? In Halo, the Covenant ships all look like whales and sharks.

[stormiel]

I can't figure out a short answer lol, so I'll just give you the long one. The setting for my story is a distant galaxy where most believers were once expelled to. 2000 years from expulsion many planets are overcrowded, some still use "old earth technology" along with new technology. Ships are assembled in space due to the fact that many are too large and not aerodynamic enough to operate within the atmosphere. Since this story is character driven not science driven I guess it doesn't matter too much. I do want the story to be convincing enough so that the reader isn't distracted. I kinda wanted the shuttle to look something like the Boeing's "Bird of Prey".

[yoda47]

"Old Eath Tech" would be ceramics.

You could always make up your own alloy too. There are still gaps in the Periodic table, and asteroids or other planets contain elements we don't have on Earth.

Also, if the ships aren't built on the surface, why do you need a high temp resistant shell? (or did I miss something here?)

[newburydave]

One common "material" for heat resistance is "Ceramasteel" in many space opera's.

You might look into Titanium or titanium alloys, they handle heat very well.

Why do you have Christians still using obsolete materials after 2000 years, Christians have been the cutting edge of technological development in "true history". Why not invent some whizz bang metallurgy that blows the doors off the "stagnant" unbelievers tech?

SGD
dave

[stormiel]

Hi Dave,

Nice to meet you

My story idea gets a little complex. I'm going to attempt to write a 3 book series which I've been plotting for the last 7 or 8 months. I'm still working out the details of the plot and in this case sanity checking some of my ideas. The following is the basic idea of what I've been plotting.

The story would be set approximately 2000 years in the future (I personally believe that Jesus will return very, very soon. However, this is fiction writing so I get to have a little fun with my imagination.) The history behind my story would be that humans would find a backdoor of some kind maybe a black hole capable of transportation to another galaxy of planets capable of supporting human and animal life.
By that time Christians would a problem that society at large would like to get rid of. So as an experiment they would send the Christians to inhabit these planets. They would likely not be able to bring much with them. So having the knowhow and raw materials available it would be practical for them to revert to some older technology.
Meanwhile Earth for some reason would not be able to send more people through this back door to check on them or control them. So within about 1,000 years later they would have had the know how to advance their technology to travel between planets, terraform others, and advance technology by leaps and bounds with new-found materials. Due to terraforming, lack of materials, practicality (what may be practical in one place may not be in another) or unwillingness to change certain planets might not be quite as advanced as others.
Also after that long human nature would once again rear its ugly head and most people would follow their own desires. So once again the Christians are the minority. When earth finally re-establishes contact with these planets they bring with them all their humanistic values and work themselves into high places. By the time my story takes place the Christians are harshly persecuted (While plotting this story I was inspired by a book called "Tortured for Christ") Many planets might not even allow religion of any kind. There would still be a few that would resist and they would be cut off from resources, trade and such in most cases. A lot of this is necessary to the plot to create tension (or reader anxiety lol).

So far there are 14 planets in my notes. I probably won’t use them all but I figure the more I have to draw from the better. They range from extremely advanced to frontier-like.
Some of my reasoning for older technology is for the simple reason of writing something I might be a little more familiar with. My background is in Photonics (lasers, optics and electronics). I’m still a beginner in that field but I’ve been around a lot of truly brilliant people and unfortunately my skill level is not that advanced. If anything I write ever by some miracle gets published I know there are people who can pick apart my mistakes quick enough to make my head spin. So for that reason I want to be as accurate as I can. My story would be categorized as “Soft Science Fiction” but I still don’t want a reader to read my work and think “Wow, what an idiot.”

Sorry for such a long response but hopefully that gives you an idea of what I’m trying to do. I would say a little about the actual plot of my story but this reply would be even longer…

[Kessie]

There'll always be people who pick apart your work. Write the story you want and fact-check it in the second draft. I know I've written hundreds of thousands of words of made-up nanotech science, but since it's presented as fantasy/soft sci-fi, it didn't bother people much.

As for your story, I think you could go nuts with whatever tech you want them to have. Maybe there's different resources on different planets, so they could have different kinds of fleets depending on what kind of minerals were available to them. Maybe one planet is all crystally and over a thousand years the resonance has made the people there into Psionics. Then you could use Psi to meld materials together and maybe have crystal starships or something.

[newburydave]

Stormiel

I can see your reasoning; however we Christians have always been a minority in the sea of humanists, or worse.

IMHO the reason that Christians have always been on the cutting edge of technology is that we have the Chief Inventor and Engineer of the Universe living in our hearts. Divine inspiration has been at the root or nearly all of the fundamental discoveries in Science.

I think that in order to write effectively for Christ we have to free ourselves totally from the secular world view. Just as there are not "Good" people outside of the action of God in Common Grace and specifically without Gospel truth in some form; so I don't believe there would really be fundamental breakthroughs without believers in God in the mix.

This is my reasoning:

Our Faith liberates us from the pagan view of the world that says it's all chaos without any coherence other than the capricious will of the "natural Spirits".

Assuming that the Secularists could isolate and exile all the Christian belivers (something I don't think God would actually allow, but I digress) that would leave the secular world berift of any genuine divine inspiration. They, not the Christian galaxy would be the ones to stagnate, merely building on the former fundamental laws.

On the other hand, even exiled to primitive conditions the Christian remnants within the exiled would still have their intelligence and the leadership of the Holy Ghost, plus His inspiration.

IMHO after the 1000 years I suspect that the impetus of the Great Commission would drive the surviving Christians to develop the tech to take the Gospel back to the secularists.

The true history of the world shows that the voyages of discovery out of Europe were driven by the desire to spread the Gospel (even though greedy men followed). Missionaries from the Irish monks, to Columbus to Carey of India and on to modern day, were nearly always the precursors of exploration and discovery.

Most of the modern technology development was rooted in the desire to increase the speed of the spread of the Gospel or defend the Christian homeland (again even though wicked men appropriated it for sin).

I think your idea has merit, but I don't think you need to buy into the secularist charge that people of faith are ignorant.

Write on Bro

SGD
dave

[stormiel]

What I wrote was only a partial back story. The whole story is still in the plotting stage. This post in particular was to sanity check one of my ideas. I appreciate the feedback.

I was in no way saying that people of faith are ignorant. I hope I didn't come across that way. If I did, I apologize.

I re-read my post and I left out a few things but I wont go into that too much now. (The more I think about this, the less relevant this back story actually seems to my plot.)

God will always make a way for the Gospel to be spread. So there would always have to be a remnant. Also, God protects Israel, and they would never be taken over.

If (most) Christians were to be exiled to another galaxy they would be free to get rid of false ideas prevalent in today's culture, (evolution, for example) at least for a while. Which I think would advance science tremendously.

I think the Secularist would make a little progress. However, I do agree that human knowledge can only go so far without devine inspiration.

I think technology would thrive in a Christian galaxy, but I also think that in less developed area's it would be slower than more developed areas. If there was a newly found planet vs one that's been inhabited 500 years it would have to be built up. Some less technical things just make more sense not to change, like the spoon. I think the spoon will be around for quite sometime (sporks are not the answer lol) Also, until Jesus does come back we will always live in a fallen culture and some will turn away from Him. That will always cause problems.

I'm hoping that will clear this up a bit. I certainly didn't mean that Christians were substandard in any way. I'm only trying to come up with an interesting plot.

Take care,

[Kessie]

Ooo, ooo, read this article about this lady's books: www.speculativefaith.com/2012/11/16/inside-another-mind/

She has GREAT ideas for people on other planets and ways they might adapt to unsuitable environments. I'm panting to read her books now.

[stormiel]

Thanks Kessie, you've been super helpful since I signed up for this board