Idea Atomic Rockets!

[JonnyBGoode]

In looking up info on TTM24 and LANTR rockets, I came across this really cool page showing the ships from Avatar and a lot of other realistic nuclear rocket concepts. An add-on developer's gold mine!

http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/realdesigns.php

 

[Artlav]

An add-on developer's gold mine!

Indeed.
I'm expecting that site to be well known around here, there was even a link to it somewhere.

Nice collection of everything realistic space sci-fi, but the site design gets worse every year.

It also references a lot of good books, so if you want to find a good hard sci-fi to read, or something related to a specific story, it is the place to go to.

 

[Andy44]

The owner of that site is a member of this forum, IIRC. He used to update it frequently but has kind of let it go lately. That's site's been known to the Orbiter community since at least the mid-2000s. It is awesome, though. Giving that link to a new OF member is like saying, "Here, have some sci fi crack."

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

The owner of that site is a member of this forum, IIRC. He used to update it frequently but has kind of let it go lately. That's site's been known to the Orbiter community since at least the mid-2000s. It is awesome, though. Giving that link to a new OF member is like saying, "Here, have some sci fi crack."

Does he post here regularly? I would love to get a chance to talk to him about a few things.

@Artlav I dont know if the sites design is so bad, just absolutely not printer-friendly.

 

[Andy44]

Does he post here regularly? I would love to get a chance to talk to him about a few things.

@Artlav I dont know if the sites design is so bad, just absolutely not printer-friendly.

I don't remember his username, so I honestly couldn't say.

As for the site design, I noticed it's browser-dependent. It has the flavor of a 1990s website, which I kind of like, actually.

 

[Linguofreak]

I don't remember his username, so I honestly couldn't say.

As for the site design, I noticed it's browser-dependent. It has the flavor of a 1990s website, which I kind of like, actually.

Are you sure it wasn't on the M6 forums? I know he'd done some stuff with Orbiter before (or maybe around the time) I joined there (which he mentioned on his site somewhere, IIRC), but I've never knowingly seen him on either M6 or here.

 

[BruceJohnJennerLawso]

Are you sure it wasn't on the M6 forums? I know he'd done some stuff with Orbiter before (or maybe around the time) I joined there (which he mentioned on his site somewhere, IIRC), but I've never knowingly seen him on either M6 or here.

It appears that he has somewhat gone over to the dark side, eh I mean KSP :lol:

I was kind of miffed to see Orbiter labelled as "not entertaining" next to the gargantuan monument to KSP. IMS would be a perfect thing for Atomic rockets readers to experiment with.

 

[JonnyBGoode]

Well, to be fair, on his Seal of Approval page he calls Orbiter "stunning" and its add-on developers, "cunning".

 

[Andy44]

Are you sure it wasn't on the M6 forums?

Quite possible. I remember him talking to Orbinauts in a thread somewhere about his site.

I searched on "nyrath" on the OF search box and found a few things out. "nyrath" seems to be the name he uses on Twitter. His real name is apparently Winchell Chung.

 

[Linguofreak]

Quite possible. I remember him talking to Orbinauts in a thread somewhere about his site.

I searched on "nyrath" on the OF search box and found a few things out. "nyrath" seems to be the name he uses on Twitter. His real name is apparently Winchell Chung.

Yes. I tend to think of him more by his real name than his handle (which goes a lot farther than just Twitter), though I'm familiar with both. The title of the root page of his site (http://www.projectrho.com/) is "The Weird World of Winchell Chung".

I used to follow a mailing list where he's a fairly frequent poster (sfconsim-l on Yahoo groups), and have made some contributions to the "Future Language" section of Atomic Rockets.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

I remember him most for his artwork with Steve Jackson's OGRE and GEV.

 

[jedidia]

IMS would be a perfect thing for Atomic rockets readers to experiment with.

IMS owes a LOT to atomic rockets, really (just as much as orbiter galaxy owes to its less well known sister page, 3dstarmaps). I once sent him a few questions and inputs for the site, including a few corrections, as well as a link to IMS (just about in RC1 stage back then). He answered, but did not update the page. It's understandable, really. He maintained that page for a long time, and sometimes your focus just drifts, and you can't support all the stuff anymore you once started without making your life miserable.

It's a bit similar to GregBurch, really. One time he was one of the most prolific add-on developers, nowadays you can't even reach him anymore. I would really like he would learn of IMS and the new possibilities opening up for his once favourite hobby, but interests are fleeting things, and sometimes you just have to make a break.

Still, Chung certainly left his mark on the SF-scene, going as far as getting an easter-egg mention in Mass Effect 2. I think there aren't a lot of people that had this much influence on the scene appart from golden-age SF writers, and I'm very greatful for all he's done.

 

[Hlynkacg]

Indeed.
I'm expecting that site to be well known around here, there was even a link to it somewhere.

Nice collection of everything realistic space sci-fi, but the site design gets worse every year.

It also references a lot of good books, so if you want to find a good hard sci-fi to read, or something related to a specific story, it is the place to go to.

I know that I for one have used and linked to it on numerous occasions. This Along with Astronautix.com, Aerospace Projects Review, and obviously NASA.gov are all saved as shortcuts on my browser.

 

[Linguofreak]

It appears that he has somewhat gone over to the dark side, eh I mean KSP :lol:

I was kind of miffed to see Orbiter labelled as "not entertaining" next to the gargantuan monument to KSP. IMS would be a perfect thing for Atomic rockets readers to experiment with.

TBH, I've just spent way too much time since Sunday trying out KSP, and it definitely has some very attractive advantages over Orbiter (solid 3D terrain, liquid surfaces, and a native Linux version, to name a few). Then again, there are some rather significant disadvantages, not least of which is that it's a commercial product, the demo is rather limited, and I'm broke.

But he didn't say Orbiter wasn't entertaining, he just said KSP is far more entertaining.

 

[4throck]

Don't' want to derail the thread, but comparing a simulator to a cartoonish game doesn't make much sense to me...


Simulators are not fun by definition. They are immersive and you generally play yourself. It's more in your mind than on the screen.

Games are fun, have characters you play and are attractive. There's action and it's on screen.


So don't mix them, they are different things.

 

[Deleted Orbinaut]

Mr. Chung is actually pretty active over on the KSP forums under the username nyrath. He's even built a mod for KSP that adds his beloved pulsed nuclear engine to the game. You can do brachistochrone interplanetary transfers with it and skid in circles around Kerbin. I'd link but those forums are down presently.

 

[Andy44]

Mr. Chung is actually pretty active over on the KSP forums under the username nyrath. He's even built a mod for KSP that adds his beloved pulsed nuclear engine to the game. You can do brachistochrone interplanetary transfers with it and skid in circles around Kerbin. I'd link but those forums are down presently.

Next time you see him, tell him to come on over to OF and drop in here once in a while.

 

[Linguofreak]

One thing mentioned on Atomic Rockets that I'd like to see in Orbiter is Aldrin Cyclers.

 

[Andy44]

One thing mentioned on Atomic Rockets that I'd like to see in Orbiter is Aldrin Cyclers.

When Buzz Aldrin published his article on that in Popular Mechanics a few years back I started a thread on it around here somewhere. Never got to figure out how to make that work in Orbiter, though.

Edit: I just looked at all the threads I've ever started on OF (boy, was THAT interesting!), and couldn't find it. I may have strated that thread on m6. I distinctly recall doing it, but the Aldrin article came out when the Orion program looked like it was the real future, around 2005 or 2006, so we were all still on m6 back then.

 

[Izack]

Edit: I just looked at all the threads I've ever started on OF (boy, was THAT interesting!), and couldn't find it. I may have strated that thread on m6. I distinctly recall doing it, but the Aldrin article came out when the Orion program looked like it was the real future, around 2005 or 2006, so we were all still on m6 back then.

It's not an issue here, but when searching old posts it seems the forum will only display a maximum of 500 results. When trying that out I found we coincidentally both started exactly 144 threads so far. Huh. (Though most of mine are just reported posts.)