Posted by Anne Onymous on Fri, 09/26/2003 - 3:43pm.
Archived comment by Paul:
Actually, to continue with the commentary regarding Star Trek/Star Wars space battles-
If they wanted to make a ship truly maneuverable and hard to destroy, they would make them roughly spherical to decrease angular momentum and make it harder to shoot off bits. But since we're used to seeing aerodynamic needle shapes having fights at high speed a la Top Gun, they make them look like mutant airplanes. I'm waiting for them to be a bit more commonsense about that...
Actually, to continue with the commentary regarding Star Trek/Star Wars space battles-
If they wanted to make a ship truly maneuverable and hard to destroy, they would make them roughly spherical to decrease angular momentum and make it harder to shoot off bits. But since we're used to seeing aerodynamic needle shapes having fights at high speed a la Top Gun, they make them look like mutant airplanes. I'm waiting for them to be a bit more commonsense about that...