![]() ![]() The report would be like, “Emitter down on the ventral port quarter, Captain.” This would work better because the Captain now knows not to present the ventral port quarter to the enemy’s weapons. In such a case the report wouldn’t be, “Shields at 90%, Captain,” because that wouldn’t be very informative. These emitters would cover a ship, so even when you lost one, only a small portion of total shield protection went down. The devices project a small shield each until they absorbed more energy from a weapon than they could handle, and burn out. When I wrote, The Huralon Incident, I imagined shields that were directed by a number of emitters. Shouldn’t shields operate similarly? Plausible Spaceship Shields When the power supply on my computer died, I didn’t get a message saying, “Power at 42%, Captain.” It operated at its rated power level until something, perhaps a diode, stopped working and the power supply croaked. If we consider electronic components that we have now like the diode, for instance, they work at spec until they burn out and don’t work at all. If your power plant could not run all shields at max, that would suggest you need a bigger power plant. I understand that you could shift energy from one shield to the other in the trope, but why build in that capability? While in a battle, why not just run the whole thing at max capacity? Then you could focus on maneuvering and not bother with that detail. I’m not an engineer, so anyone who is out there can correct me, but I believe shields would either be working or not, operating at 100% or not at all. Obviously, it adds dramatic tension, but would it really work that way when spaceships and their shields become a reality? I tend to think not. ![]() Often, in a scifi show, we hear a phrase like, “Shields at 42%!” I’ve been wondering about that and why it would work that way. So, whether considering science fiction or real spaceships, it’s good to have shields. Depending on the speed of your ship and the speed of the meteorite, something the size of a sand grain can hit with the power of a bullet, or a howitzer shell. Then there are those pesky micrometeorites. And let’s face it, a trip to Mars is going to take more than a few weeks. ![]() If a spaceship’s crew is exposed to them long enough, more than a few weeks, they will sicken and die. Outside the protective magnetosphere and atmosphere of our planet, cosmic rays lurk. Even in a real world scenario they’re important to have. In so many science fiction stories involving spaceships, they almost always include shields on the vessels. ![]()
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