Rajvik Wrote:Quote:HRogge wrote:Quote:Rajvik wrote:Wolfboy chuckles, "Told you that there wouldn't be an explosion. Frigga builds are like their Soviet forebears, so bloody tough even an idiot isn't likely to break it."
"Just wait until you see Mackies designs for fast engines... even Soviet designs tend to burn up in nuclear fire!"
"I have, and we're tweaking the design so that it doesn't reach critical mass."
Point of nuclear order, Critical Mass in and of itself is not dangerous. A critical chain reaction is a stable one, neither increasing or decreasing and is generally a good thing. A sub-critical chain reaction is decreasing with each iteration, while a super-critical one is increasing. Neither state is necessarily out of control. A Criticality Accident is a suprise critical mass - and is usually bad because it's a large criticality, close to someone not expecting it who gets a faceful of lethal neutron and gamma radiation. Prompt Criticality and Super-Prompt Critical are the explosive ones, differing really only in the size of the explosion.
None of which apply in this case. The Moskito's core power generation is Fusion-based. While the initial launch acceleration engine is an unwaved liquid-fuelled rocket running off high-test hydrogen-peroxide and kerosene to skirt some PEPPER quirks and avoid the hassle of dealing with cryogenics. It has a delta-V of 'enough to get it clear and flying in Earth atmosphere at sea-level', at which point the main ion engines roar to life to keep it flying.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?