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Titanian flight

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kingsley_zissou kingsley_zissou's picture
Titanian flight
Just going through some Wikipedia space colonization articles, and saw this:
Quote:
The very high ratio of atmospheric density to surface gravity also greatly reduces the wingspan needed for an aircraft to maintain lift, so much so that a human would be able to strap on wings and easily fly through the atmosphere.
I don't remember there being any mention of casual/easy flight in the sections of the book about the Titanian Commonwealth. Thoughts?
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Titanian flight
I assume most flight would be indoors, since outdoor flight requires pretty cumbersome environment suits. Still, it might be a fun hobby - just make sure you get back indoors before your heating elements run out and you freeze.
Extropian
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Titanian flight
Some more thinking: The Valkyria Wingsuit The wingsuit is intended to enable free flying in the Titan environment. While indoor flight is popular, it can be done with nearly any equipment (it is common to find children make their own wings out of scavenged clothing or home-fabbed cardboard). Outdoor flight requires a bit more preparation but has the advantage of both being easy and allowing the exploration of the unusual Titan environment. The suit consists of a airtight survival suit with wings, thermal regulation, closed-loop oxygen system with scrubbers and a parachute. While having some similarities to a high-dive suit it is generally light and usually very colourful. The helmet is equipped with sensors allowing navigation of the hazy and often dark Titan atmosphere, displaying the surroundings as AR overlays. The parachute is a safety measure: while falling in Titan gravity and air is far softer than anywhere else, it is possible to gain enough speed to hurt oneself badly. The parachute and special navigational reflexes in the suit fins are intended to deploy if a fall looks likely to lead to a crash. Some users like to end their flights by a nosedive, only to stop a few meters above the ground. While flying is relatively easy, lazy users sometimes activate the "heat elevator": thermals strong enough to loft the flier can be triggered by releasing more heat through the wing surface. This depletes energy reserves, but is a convenient way of gaining altitude for long-distance gliding. The suit has 6 hours of breathing air and can keep the inhabitant warm for up to 12 hours. It is armoured like a vacsuit (5/5) and equipped with self-healing nanites. Any damage that gets through the suit will lead to freezing gas penetrating: the Titan atmosphere will do 1d10 points of freezing damage per turn (contact with liquid ethane or the ground 2d10 per turn, plus fierce boiling giving -20 on all actions). The suit will self-heal in one turn if less than 20 points of damage hit it in the attack. Internal sealing will also protect the wearer from asphyxiation as long as the damage is not to the helmet. Flight Movement Rate 8/40 Cost: High.
Extropian
Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Titanian flight
I think you missed some stuff in the core book. It does actually mention that flight is quite common.
Quote:
Patagium for gliding and flying in the light Titanian gravity are a common biomod.
Quote:
The dome interiors are hung with lighting rods and heavily built up with tall, narrow buildings, most of which have upper decks where hazers on the wing and pedal-powered microlights can land.
So there you go; there is common flight on Titan. It doesn't mention that atmosphere (which is good to know), but it does mention pedal-powered microlights and wings.
kingsley_zissou kingsley_zissou's picture
Re: Titanian flight
Yeah, I assumed, like with most habitats, that low-grav flying was a common activity indoors, but the outdoor suit Arenamontanus created answers the question. It seems like serious mountain climbing as compared to casual hiking. It also paints a good picture about how Titanians view "outside." Unlike the nomads on Mars, it seems likes there's less of a "wilderness" culture on Titan, and for good reason.
GreyBrother GreyBrother's picture
Re: Titanian flight
Wouldn't it be far easier to create a biomorph capable of surviving in the titanian atmosphere?
Arenamontanus Arenamontanus's picture
Re: Titanian flight
GreyBrother wrote:
Wouldn't it be far easier to create a biomorph capable of surviving in the titanian atmosphere?
No. The outside temperature is -179 C, so any biomorph based on liquid water chemistry would lose heat like crazy - you would need a thermal protective layer that wasn't based on liquid water chemistry (since otherwise the outer side would still be 179 degrees hotter than the environment and would leak a lot of heat). It would likely need a very hot metabolism (requiring a lot of food) to just keep the morph warm enough. The lack of oxygen is a minor problem in comparison. In fact, it is likely easier to make space-adapted morphs since they don't have to deal with a dense medium with decent thermal capacity convecting away their heat. I can imagine synthmorphs designed for Titan temperatures, though. Would likely break if brought indoors (200 degrees of heating, and an oxidizing environment). No doubt some people are busy trying to design alternate biochemistries for ethane-based lifeforms that could survive on the surface.
Extropian
Axel the Chimeric Axel the Chimeric's picture
Re: Titanian flight
With the considerable issue of biomorphs aside, there is the possibility of winged synthmorphs (something I've not seen a lot of in the fiction, if not the art). With the potentially considerable weight difference (depending on composition) between synthmorphs and biomorphs, Titan might be the ideal place for synthmorphs to experiment in flight. While they certainly couldn't go inside habitats entirely, they'd be ideal for acting as security for resource shipments that must travel over land, during construction jobs, or simply to scout out possible new resources for exploitation. They can also be used for pleasure or for art projects. I can imagine more than one company allowing people to rent synthmorphs they either sleeve into or jam for an hour or so's flight outside. I have this concept for something statistically resembling a somewhat modified Dragonfly morph, albeit appearing more like a Rhamphorhynchus more than a Dragonfly, complete with modifications to make navigating the harsh Titanian atmosphere possible.