On 19-10-14 09:47 , JF Mezei wrote:
2 comments/questions:

if, after a few months, passengers on ship 1 have consumed more
consumables than on ship 2, won't the 2 ships then rotate in really bad
way because they wouldn't be at the same mass?

If by "consumables" you mean food, it depends on where the "end
products" (excrements) go. If they are stored on board, then the ship's
mass does not change, and there is no effect on the rotation.

If the excrements are ejected, that ship becomes lighter, and the centre
of rotation shifts a little towards the other ship. No big deal.

Secondly, wouldn't such tethered ships be unable to perform any burns to
adjust trajectory/speed during the trip and have to slow their rtation
down to 0 before they detach to peform any such burns?

Small burns with lateral thrusters could be done during rotation, I think.

For larger axial burns with the main engines, stopping the rotation for
the burn seems to be simplest. Fancy tricks with forking tethers could
perhaps be used to orient the ships properly for axial burns even during
rotation.

In both cases, the feasibility and efficiency of thrust during rotation
depends on the angle between the rotation axis and the desired thrust or
delta-V. Lateral thrust along the axis seems simplest, while thrust
orthogonal to the axis (in the rotational plane) seems to require
pulsing the thrusters at the rotational period.

--
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
. @ .