Drive

Bob Shimer Directory
Guide Time Line
History Beginnings History Continued
History Chrispin Chrispin Info
Chrispin Desc Power & Drive
Drive Comm Misc
History & Mission Stats
Layout Sizes
Bridge Verdant Deck
Crew Uniforms

The ship travels through space with MacPherson velocity, that is the movement due to the MacPherson jumps, and also the real velocity that the ship picks up as a result of the MacPherson jumps. Because of the real speeds that the ship picks up, there has to be a slowdown phase to each trip where that speed is shed. This is accomplished by reverse phasing the drive so the jumps slow the ship down. Navigation using MacPherson drives is extremely complex because of the dual velocities.

Ships normally are constructed with 4 MacPherson Nodes for stability. They operate flat to any gravitational field they are operating in although in stable orbit they can operate in any orientation.

MacPherson Drive Modes:

S Stellar Mode:

In this mode the jumps are maximized and real velocity builds rapidly. Power requirements of this mode are very high.

P Planetary Mode:

Jumps are shorter and less power and has shorter jumps. Real velocity builds less rapidly. The mode is similar to Stellar however much less power and precision is required.

L Landing Mode:

Short jumps which generate enough real velocity to counter gravity. Actually a little more so the ship can rise. This mode allows the ship to hover and land slowly. This hovering ability causes some to incorrectly call this an antigravity mode.

M Maneuvering Mode:

Tiny jumps with small real velocities generated. This mode is used for close in maneuvering

Communications between the Chrispin is by both normal radio and sub-space radio. Sub-space radio is an off-shoot of the MacPherson drive. It was discovered early in the history of the drive, that radio signals sent during the time the radio (Spaceship) is in MacPherson space arrive almost instantly. The normal speed of light limitations do not apply.

Using this principle, sub-space communication devices were build that used miniature MacPherson drives phased at right angles so no movement occurred. These operate at extremely high MacPherson switching rates. Voice and video are stored in a buffer during the normal space phase and sent as a burst during the MacPherson space phase. Reception is during the MacPherson space phase and buffered to the normal space phase.