Hyperspace in TE

[Talon]

I'm trying to figure out something about hyperspace in the Terran Empire setting. As I understand it, a hyperspace drive puts you into hyperspace for a limited time -- the better the drive, the longer you can stay there. Once you are in hyperspace, you move at whatever rate your conventional thrusters dictate (times one million, of course). Thus, all ships move at more or less the same rate in hyperspace; what varies is the length of time you can be in hyperspace before the drive has to recharge or whatever.

 

First question: how does this jibe with the concept of hyperspace beacons? If you can only spend a limited amount of time in hyperspace, how do they get the beacons there?

 

Second question: the drives in TE are bought as Megascale Teleportation with Extra Time, then effectively converted to a LY/day or week velocity. How does this jibe with the fact that the drive doesn't actually let you move faster in hyperspace, just lets you stay there longer?

[DrTemp]

Re: Hyperspace in TE

 

As I understand it, a hyperspace drive puts you into hyperspace for a limited time -- the better the drive, the longer you can stay there. Once you are in hyperspace, you move at whatever rate your conventional thrusters dictate (times one million, of course). Thus, all ships move at more or less the same rate in hyperspace; what varies is the length of time you can be in hyperspace before the drive has to recharge or whatever.

 

That's how it is said in the book. Actually, it cannot be that way, because then, a ship's velocity in hyperspace would also depend on the distance travelled (time to accelerate and decelerate is needed). The ETA, however, seems to be a linear function, which also makes it much more usable for gaming purposes.

 

Thus, I personally believe that the hyperdrive can not only push one's ship into hyperspace, but also propel it there warp-like - the "maximum time in hyperspace" is an additionaln limitation of the drive separate from its speed, but somehow also linked. Beacons can stay in hyperspace almost indefinitely because they use their own special version of the hyperdrive optimized for their purpose.