First image in a long time. Work is busy, but I'm glad to be steadily employed. Thanks to wblack for his images reminding me of the value and simplicity of Orion nuclear propulsion. This vessel which I had dubbed the Battlestar in that long interregnum between the first and second series of similar name, is a refugee ship of sorts, fleeing with a thousand spacers from the losing side of the Last World War. To get up to ramscoop speed, the asteroid-based ship first needs to dive down close to the sun using magnetic sails, then at its closest approach (thanks to Mr. Oberth), fire off several hundred atom bombs. Only after coasting clear of the solar system does the ramscoop engage. And yes, I know, the whole back end has to be jettisoned before the scoop can fire up. The model is in Bryce with metaballs for the asteroid (did you know that you can't make an object mask with metaballs? Weird and annoying.). Background, nuke and signature in Paint Shop Pro. Suitable for the Fourth of July in a way, don't you think? Thanks for viewing and any comments! --- It is difficult to find a reasoned voice when it comes to the Battlestar and the people we call the 'Easterners'. They would call themselves Japanese, Koreans and Russians, with a sprinkling of other nationalities; and they would call their cause the 'Anti-Hegemony League'. But eight hundred years ago this November, they lost that war, and certain deeds that followed over the centuries cemented their image as renegades, even traitors to Humanity. But before we condemn them, we have to acknowledge their courage -- attempting a crossing of almost twelve light-years with mid twenty-first century technology. And, yes, we have to acknowledge their humanity as well. It is difficult to authenticate primary source material from that age. Much has been lost in wars and disasters, and that which survives is often dozens of copies from the original media. But from multiple sources, we can determine that when faced with a choice, in fact with his duty, Admiral Narita chose to save his people, and possibly all people from extinction. It is important to understand how close to annihilation the human race stood in the fall of 2052. The founders of the Commonwealth had lived through it and understood it well enough to spend vast sums to launch the Genesis and Exodus projects. Narita must have understood it as well. After loading up the remaining Russian nuclear stockpile, his final orders were to take the Battlestar to Earth, raining nearly a thousand atomic bombs through devastated defenses, and then crashing the nearly four million ton Battlestar into the heart of North America. Instead, despite clear acknowledgement of the original order, he choose to request confirmation of that order fully one hour -- even taking into account light delay -- after he had seen the League High Command's lunar bunker destroyed. When no confirmation came from that molten crater, he turned the Battlestar sunward and used those bombs instead to propel one thousand desperate people on a century-long voyage to another star. We may owe our very existence to that choice. -- Prince Cleon Farrar,Into the Void, Copernicus Journal of History, Volume 352, October 2852