Bussard ramjet and Appleseed (2004 film): Difference between pages

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{{Infobox Film

[[Image:Bussard Interstellar Ramjet Engine.jpg|thumb|300px|Bussard ramjet]]

| name = Appleseed

The '''Bussard ramjet''' method of [[spacecraft propulsion]] was proposed in [[1960]] by the physicist [[Robert W. Bussard]] and popularized by [[Carl Sagan]] in the [[television]] series and subsequent [[book]] ''[[Cosmos: A Personal Voyage|Cosmos]]'' as a variant of a [[fusion rocket]] capable of fast interstellar spaceflight. It would use a large scoop (on the order of [[mile]]s in diameter) to compress [[hydrogen]] from the [[interstellar medium]] and fuse it. This mass would then form the exhaust of a [[rocket]] to accelerate the ramjet.

| image = Appleseed.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Promotional poster for ''Appleseed''

| director = [[Shinji Aramaki]]

| producer = [[Fumihiko Sori]]<br/>[[Hidenori Ueki]]<br/>[[Naoko Watanabe]]

| writer = [[Haruka Handa]]<br/>[[Tsutomu Kamishiro]]

| narrator =

| starring = [[Ai Kobayashi]]<br/>[[Jurota Kosugi]]<br/>[[Yuki Matsuoka]]

| music =

| cinematography =

| editing =

| distributor =

| released = {{flagicon|Japan}} [[2004]]<br/>{{flagicon|USA}} [[January 14]], [[2005]]

| runtime = 105 min.

| country = [[Japan]]

| language =

| budget =

| gross =

| preceded_by =

| followed_by = ''[[Appleseed EX Machina]]''

| website = http://www.appleseedthemovie.com/

| amg_id = 1:316288

| imdb_id = 0401233

}}

:''For other uses, see [[Appleseed]].''

==Design discussion==

{{nihongo|'''''Appleseed'''''|アップルシ－ド|Appurushīdo}} is an [[anime]] film, directed by [[Shinji Aramaki]] and originally released in [[Japan]] on [[May 17]], [[2004]]. It is based on the characters created by [[Masamune Shirow]] in the original ''[[Appleseed (manga)|Appleseed]]'' manga series that was published in [[1985]]. Although it shares some characters with the original series, this film's storyline is not connected to it.

A workable ramjet design could in principle accelerate indefinitely until its mechanism failed. Such a ramjet could theoretically accelerate arbitrarily close to the velocity of light, and would be a very effective interstellar spacecraft. How long it will take a ramjet driven starship to obtain a given fraction of the velocity of light is determined by the thrust to mass ratio of the interstellar ramjet.

== Plot outline ==

The velocity actually attained by a ramjet-driven starship arises by summing over time the acceleration supplied by the ramjet. If a ramjet accelerates at 10 m/s², slightly more than one Earth gravity, it can obtain 77% of light velocity within a year. However, if the ramjet has an average acceleration of 0.1 m/s², then it needs 100 years to go as fast, and so on.

Set in 2131 AD, Deunan Knute, a young legendary female soldier is a survivor of the Third World War which has brought Earth to the brink of destruction. Alongside her former lover and comrade Briareos, who is now a cyborg, Deunan is brought to a Utopian city called Olympus, also inhabited by a genetically-engineered species called Bioroids. There, she integrates into the prestigious ESWAT organization to serve as the city's guardian. But what she discovers is not the promised land of peace, but rather a deadlier, more elusive battlefield than before.

Bioroids have a lifespan much shorter than those of humans, due to the suppression of their reproductive capabilities. When the facilities that were used in the Bioroid's life extension processes are destroyed by a secret faction of the Olympus Regular Army in a terrorist attack as part of its demonstration of fear and hatred for the Bioroids, a crisis which requires immediate resolution is formed, and the Appleseed data is revealed to still exist, even though most thought it destroyed.

How fast a Bussard ramjet could actually go depends on four things:

Under the surface, as we can see, Olympus is plagued by conflicting factions. Some believe that Bioroids are a threat to the future advancement of mankind, whilst others believe that humans themselves are the threat. The ultimate question is over everyone's right to life, and whether or not one group deserves life more than the other. At the centre of this battle is Appleseed, the data that is able to extend Bioroid life, by restoring reproductive functions.

#How much mass is actually scooped up from space each second by the ion scoop.

#The ramjet's exhaust velocity, and the net thrust level obtained from the exhaust jet. The generated thrust can be calculated as the mass of ions expelled per second multiplied by the ramjet exhaust velocity (''V''_''e'').

#The thrust to mass ratio of the ramjet which is: ''A'' = thrust divided mass (N/kg = m/s²)

#How long the ramjet is actually able to remain under thrust before it breaks down.

== Characters ==

The collected propellant can be used as reaction mass in a plasma rocket engine, ion rocket engine, or even in an antimatter-matter annihilation powered rocket engine. Interstellar Space contains an average of 10^-21 kg of mass per cubic meter of space. This means that the ramjet scoop must sweep 10¹⁸ cubic meters of space to collect one gram of ions per second.

===Deunan Knute===

A massive energy source adds more mass to the ramjet system, and this makes it harder to accelerate the ramjet . Therefore, the specific power, (''A'') of the ramjets energy source is crucial. The specific power A is the number of joules of energy the starship's reactor generates per kilogram of its mass. This depends on the ramjet fuel's energy density, and on the specific design of the ramjets nuclear power reactors.

The daughter of Carl and Dr. Gilliam Knute, Deunan, who is considered as a beautiful and highly skilled warrior, has spent almost her entire life fighting in a war that was, for the most part, over. It was not until she was rescued by an ES.W.A.T. (Extra Special Weapons And Tactics) team, led by Hitomi and her former lover Briareos, in the middle of a ruined city just after Deunan had a short but fierce battle with unidentified enemies, that she was finally evacuated from the Badlands. When she arrived in Olympus, the change of environment was severe, but it was a greater shock to her when she found that Briareos had lost over 75% of his original body during the last Global War and was now a cyborg.

The obvious fuel source, the one proposed by Bussard, is hydrogen [[fusion power|fusion]]. Hydrogen is believed to be the most common component of interstellar gas. However an interstellar ramjet might be more easily powered by other nuclear reactions. Protium fusion based on the ''P+P + P+P'' fusion sequence has not been achieved in power reactors. It might be even harder in an interstellar ramjet. A fusion reactor used to power a ramjet starship could be a steady state magnetic fusion reactor based on the following nuclear fusion reactions . [[deuterium|²H]] + ²H → ³He + ¹n⁰ + 18 meV, or ²H + [[tritium|³H]] → ⁴He + ¹n⁰ + 20 meV <!--MeV? No- capitalize units from scientists' names. Insufficient answer -- what about m vs. M? -->.It could also be an inertial confinement fusion reactor in which pellets of lithium 6, or lithium 7 deuteride, undergo [[Teller-Ulam]] [[radiation implosion]] by high energy laser beams, maser beams, or proton or antiproton particle beams. This will heat and compress the fusion fuel pellet until its temperature is more than 100,000,000 degrees Celsius, and increase the density of the fusion plasma by up to 30 times. This will ignite nuclear fusion in the fusion fuel pellet.

The day after she was brought to the city of Olympus, Deunan learned that over half of the population of the city was composed of artificial humans called Bioroids and that her new friend, Hitomi, was one herself. Deunan also discovers that other people are looking for her, mostly because she possesses, without knowing it, the secret of "Appleseed". That interest will become extremely important when Hitomi's life will be at risk and the "Appleseed Data" will be needed to save her and the entire Bioroid population of Olympus. But the discovery of the "Appleseed Data" could condemn the human population to extinction without Deunan knowing about this detail. But that would mean defying the powerful Olympus Regular Army (O.R.A.), composed entirely of humans and under the command of General Edward Uranus III and Colonel Hades.

The mass of the ion ram scoop must be minimized on an interstellar ramjet . This is best accomplished by using an electromagnetic field, or alternatively using an electrostatic field to build the ion ram scoop. Such an ion scoop will use electromagnetic funnels, or electrostatic fields to collect [[hydrogen]] gas from space for use as propellant by ramjet propulsion systems. An electric field can electrostaticly attract the positive ions, and thus draw them inside a ramjet engine. The electromagnetic funnel would bend the ions into helical spirals around the magnetic field lines to scoop up the ions via the starship's motion through space. A [[magnetohydrodynamic]] generator drawing power from the exhaust could power the scoop.

{{anime voices|Ai Kobayashi|Amanda Winn Lee}}

The collection-radius of such an ionic ramscoop is the distance in meters from the ramjet at which the ramscoop's electric field is greater than the galactic electric field of 1.6×10^-19 volt, or the ramscoop's electromagnetic field is greater than the natural galactic magnetic field of 0.1 nanotesla ( 1×10^-6 gauss). The strength of the ramscoop collection field would decline proportionately to 1/''d''² in distance from the ramscoop generator.

===Briareos Hecatonchires===

==Discussions of feasibility==

Robert Zubrin and Dana Andrews analyzed one hypothetical version of the Bussard ramscoop and ramjet design in 1985. They determined that their version of the ramjet was infeasible by calculation. However, in their calculations they assumed that: 1, the exhaust velocity of their interplanetary ion propulsion ramjet could not exceed 100,000 m/s (100 km/s); and, 2, that the largest available energy source could be a 500 kilowatt nuclear fission reactor.

At one time, Briareos was Deunan Knute's lover, as well as a comrade-in-arms in battle. During two years of hard separation for both of them, he was severely injured on the North African front. When Hitomi and the Elders saved him, he had over seventy-five percent of his body replaced by state-of-the-art mechanical components, making him a highly advanced cyborg. During Deunan's stay in Olympus he is assigned by his ES.W.A.T. superiors to protect her and also begins to search for the "Appleseed Data." In the original story, Briareos was a black man who lived in the mediterranean who served under Colonel Carl Knute, Deunan's father. In the original manga, Briareos and Deunan are not separated, and she is well aware of his cyborg body replacement.

In the Zubrin/Andrews interplanetary ramjet design, they calculated that the drag force d/dt(''mv''₁) equals the mass of the scooped ions collected per second multiplied by the velocity of the scooped ions within the solar system relative to the ramscoop. The velocity of the (scooped) collected ions was assumed to be 500,000 m/s.

{{anime voices|Jūrōta Kosugi|Jamieson Price}}

The exhaust velocity of the ions when expelled by the ramjet was assumed not to exceed 100,000 m/s. The thrust of the ramjet d/dt(''mv''₂) was equal to the mass of ions expelled per second multiplied by 100,000 meters per second. In the Zubrin/Andrews design of 1985, this resulted in the condition that d/dt(''mv''₁) > d/dt(''mv''₂). This condition resulted in the drag force exceeding the thrust of the hypothetical ramjet in the Zubrin/Andrews version of the design.

===Athena Areios===

These assumptions may have been valid for the specfic version of the ramjet that was examined by Zubrin/Andrews. Many other serious researchers however have recognized that the assumptions made by Zubrin and Andrews were faulty, and they can not be applied to all other possible ramjet designs, and ion scoop designs.

Prime Minister of Olympus, Athena Areios is a first-generation Bioroid created by Deunan's mother, Dr. Gilliam Knute, and served as her lab assistant until Dr. Knute's death. Because Athena is a first-generation Bioroid, she doesn't have the emotional limitations the second-generation has, so she has greater latitude to use "extraordinary" methods to try to find Deunan. Of course, she also runs the risk that either the Council of Elders or General Uranus would find out and take action against her, so she, along with her chief-of staff Nike, have to be very careful.

The key condition that determines whether or not an interstellar ramjet will accelerate forward in the direction of its thrust is that the thrust of the ramjet must exceed drag that results from scooping up ions from space. Or, as discussed above, the condition d/dt(''mv''₂) > d/dt(''mv''₁) must be true.

* d/dt(''mv''₁) is the drag force experienced by the ramjet during its actual operation; d/dt(''mv''₁) is the mass of collected propellant per unit time times the velocity of the scooped ions relative to the ramjet starship.

* d/dt(''mv''₂) is the thrust produced by the ramjet; d/dt(''mv''₂) is the mass of the collected ramjet propellant per unit time multiplied by the exchaust velocity at which it is expelled from the Ramjet engine to generate thrust.

<!-- If you want to avoid all of the d/dt (which is more technically correct) you could substitute m-dot, the time rate of change of mass.-->

{{anime voices|Mami Koyama|Mary Elizabeth McGlynn}}

===Example===

For example, a ramjet might collect 1 gram of incoming ions per second from interstellar space beyond the [[heliopause]], at a velocity of 50 km/s relative to the ramjet driven spacecraft. In this case d/dt(''mv''₁) is (0.001 kg/s) (50,000 m/s), yielding a drag force of 50 newtons.

===Nike===

If the gram of ions is then accelerated to 500,000 m/s then d/dt(''mv''₂) is (0.001 kg/s) (500,000 m/s) = 500 N.

Nike is Athena Areios's chief-of-staff, as well as being commander-in-chief of ES.W.A.T. Although she is a second-generation Bioroid, and being such having her emotions controlled, she is fiercely loyal to Athena, not to mention the Bioroids' prime purpose: the salvation of humanity.

Therefore, -50 newtons + 500 newtons yields a net force forward of 450 newtons.

{{anime voices|Miho Yamada|Mimi Woods}}

The typical velocity of the solar wind within the solar system is 500 km/s. The typical velocity of the interstellar wind is 50 km/s beyond the heliopause. In the solar system, if the exhaust velocity of the ramjet exceeds 500 km/s there will be a net thrust that will accelerate the ramjet.

===Hitomi===

If the example were set in the solar system, the drag force, d/dt(''mv''₁), would be about (0.001 kg/s) (500,000 m/s), or 500 newton.

A second-generation Bioroid, Hitomi is charged with recruiting new members of ES.W.A.T.. She had led the rescue mission of Deunan Knute in the Badlands, as well as aiding her getting settled in Olympus. Although her emotions are regulated, she has interest in the emotion of love, and is disturbed by hate, as expressed by the human soldiers of the O.R.A, especially towards the Bioroids.

If the exhaust velocity of the ramjet were 1,000,000 m/s then d/dt(''mv''₂) = (0.001 kg/s) (1,000,000 m/s) = 1000 N of thrust, and -500 newtons + 1000 newtons = net thrust of 500 newtons to accelerate the ramjet forward.

{{anime voices|Yuki Matsuoka|Karen Strassman}}

If the Zubrin/Andrews assumption were correct then d/dt(''mv''₁) = 500 N, and d/dt(''mv''₂) = 100 N, and the drag forces would exceed the thrust of the ramjet.

===Yoshitsune Miyamoto===

==Related inventions==

The calculations (by [[Robert Zubrin]] and an associate) inspired the idea of a [[magnetic sail|magnetic parachute or sail]]. This could be important for interstellar travel because it means that deceleration at the destination can be performed with a magnetic parachute rather than a rocket.

Also a second-generation Bioroid, Yoshitsuni Miyamoto... or "Yoshi" as he is referred to, is ES.W.A.T.'s chief mechanic and Land Strider designer. He also would like to further examine Briareos' cybernetic armor more closely, if Briareos would allow it. His knowledge of mechanical workings would become useful later in the film. Yoshi seems to care for Hitomi.

Carl Sagan called the construction of a ramjet propelled star ship "engineering on the scale of small worlds".

{{anime voices|Toshiyuki Morikawa|Dave Wittenberg}}

There may be other practical modifications of this concept. For example, perhaps one could shoot nuggets of fuel in front of a spacecraft from a fixed base, and then the spacecraft would not have to accelerate its own fuel. More speculatively, if the hydrogen was somehow fed into the engine and fused without being accelerated to the spacecraft's current velocity first, there would be no drag. A problem that must be overcome is that most interstellar hydrogen is ordinary [[Hydrogen-1|protium]], instead of the easier-to-fuse [[deuterium]] and [[tritium]] [[isotope]]s, and so makes a poor fusion fuel; it is possible that this could be overcome by using a [[carbon]]&ndash;[[nitrogen]]&ndash;[[oxygen]] [[catalyst|catalysed]] [[CNO cycle|nuclear cycle]]. Potential relative velocities of such a ship are theorized to exceed 16 per cent (0.16) of the [[speed of light]].

===Edward Uranus III===

One useful modification of the ramjet design is to use an electrostatic ion scoop, instead of an electromagnetic ion scoop to achieve the ion collection from space. In an electrostatic scoop a negative electric field on a forward grid electrostatically attracts the positive charged ions present in interstellar space and thus draws them into the ramjet engines. This can be a 100% electrostatic scoop in which an electromagnetic field is not used at all. There will be no converging electromagnetic field lines that can potentially generate drag effects by scooping the ions from interstellar space if this pure electrostatic approach is used. The scooped ions will however have an electric field-induced velocity when they are drawn inside of the ion ramjet engine. So long as the velocity of the ramjet engine exhaust jet is greater than the electric field-induced velocity of the incoming scooped ions there will be a net force in the direction of the ramjet's flight that will accelerate the spacecraft forward.

Supreme commander of the O.R.A., General Edward Uranus III has a great distrust of the Bioroids, and wishes to either control them or totally eliminate them. But unlike his subordinate Hades, he is not given to irrationality. A friend of the Knute family, Uranus deeply regrets the death of Dr. Gilliam Knute and wants to persuade Deunan to help him in his quest.

Furthermore, the net potential difference of the galactic electric field in interstellar space is only 1.6×10^-19 volt. The effective ion collection radius of an electrostatic ion ram scoop will be the range at which the ramscoop electric field has a greater potential difference from the galactic electric field. This potential difference declines proportionately, too: 1/''d''² for distance ''d'' measured in meters, from the source of the ram scoop electric field.

However, when General Uranus was made aware about about the Council of Elder's plans to replace humans with Bioroids, then sterilize the humans using the "D-tank", he voluntarily surrendered, rather than be used as a pawn in the Council's plans.

The flux of the interstellar galactic magnetic field is 1×10^-10 [[tesla]]. This means that electric ion ram scoop field will have an ion collection radius that is the square root of 10¹³ times (about three million times) greater than the ion collection radius of the electromagnetic ion ramscoop.

{{anime voices|Yuzuru Fujimoto|Michael McConnohie}}

== In fiction ==

The [[ramjet]] has been used occasionally in [[science fiction]]:

===Hades===

* [[Poul Anderson]]'s [[1970]] [[novel]] ''[[Tau Zero]]'' is about a journey through the universe in a Bussard [[ramjet]]

Colonel Hades is Gen. Uranus's subordinate. Like Uranus, he has a great distrust of the Bioroids. However, his distrust has evolved into an irrational, all-consuming hatred, and wishes to see the Bioroids destroyed.

* [[Larry Niven]]'s ''[[Known Space]]'' [[fictional universe]] has several stories in which a ramjet play a key role.

Originally, Hades served under Carl Knute, Deunan's father, in Los Angeles' S.W.A.T., but was thrown out by Carl because of his extreme methods. He held a grudge with Carl, and is furious that Carl's D.N.A. is in all the Bioroids.

* In the novel ''[[Footfall]]'' by [[Larry Niven]] and [[Jerry Pournelle]], the alien invaders use a Bussard ramjet for interstellar travel.

In the end, he is killed by Deuan's pistol, which was her father's.

* In the [[Star Trek]] fictional universe vessels commonly have magnetic hydrogen collectors, referred to as ''Bussard collectors''.

{{anime voices|Takehito Koyasu|Jack Aubree}}

* In the [[computer]] [[game]] series ''[[Marathon (computer game series)|Marathon]]'', [[Mars]]'s [[natural satellite|moon]] [[Deimos (moon)|Deimos]] was outfitted with a ramjet and converted into a [[generation ship]].

===Kudoh===

* The Jupiter Mining Corporation ship [[Red Dwarf]] (from the popular BBC TV series of the same name) uses a Bussard Ramjet.

Kudoh is one of the top members of ES.W.A.T. He participates in some training sessions with Deunan and eventually earns her respect. When she and Briareos head to Dr. Gilliam Knute's old lab, Kudoh comes along. After they are betrayed by a fellow ES.W.A.T. member who is sympathetic towards the O.R.A., Kudoh stays behind, keeping his gun trained on Hades so that Deunan and Briareos can escape.

Shortly after this, Kudoh is gunned down by numerous O.R.A. soldiers and collapses dead against the wall of a hallway. Deunan expresses great distress over his death, but Briareos drags her away reluctantly, the O.R.A. hot on their trail.

* The massive Seedships ''Calypso'' and ''Tantalus'', from the PC game [[Alien Legacy]], are equipped with Bussard ramjets.

{{anime voices|Tadahisa Saizen|Jack Aubree}}

* The ''Argo'' from [[Robert J. Sawyer]]'s book ''Golden Fleece'' uses a Bussard ramjet for both locomotion and murder. In the latter case, the ship's deranged central computer, JASON, directs an occupied shuttle into the collection field. At near light-speed relative to the ''Argo'', the hydrogen acts as hard radiation and instantly kills the shuttle's unfortunate occupant.

===Dr. Gilliam Knute===

* Interstellar travel is accomplished with ramjets in the Slow Zone in [[Vernor Vinge]]'s books [[A Deepness in the Sky]] and [[A Fire Upon the Deep]].

Dr. Gilliam Knute was the scientist that created the Bioroids, as well as the "D-tank" virus, which is capable to redering normal humans sterile. It was during the creation of the first generation that she realized that the Council of Elders wanted to use the Bioroids to replace normal humanity altogether. Therefore, she arranged that the Bioroids would not be able to reproduce but kept the formula to activate their reproductive systems - codenamed "Appleseed" - in a pendant, which after she had her assistant Athena evacuated, she had given to her young daughter Deunan, with the promise to give it to Athena if she asked. Dr. Knute was later captured by the military - and mistakenly killed by a soldier in front of Deunan.

* [[Robert A. Heinlein]] also used the ramjet propelled ships in several of his books.

{{anime voices|Emi Shinohara|Mia Bradly}}

* In [[Peter F. Hamilton]]'s ''Night's Dawn'' an alien race, inhabiting massive "cities" orbiting a [[red giant]], uses a Bussard ramjet with an [[electromagnetic]] scoop. It does not only gather [[hydrogen]] for propulsion, but also heavier atoms as an alternative to [[mining]].

==Music==

* In [[Red Dwarf]], the titular craft has a large 'Hydrogen Scoop' on the front and the books make reference to it gathering fuel directly from space- presumably a Bussard Ramjet of some sort.

The original soundtrack and music to the series features an [[electronic music|electronic]], [[techno music|techno]] and [[trance music|trance]] theme, with the likes of [[Paul Oakenfold]], [[Basement Jaxx]], [[Boom Boom Satellites]], [[Akufen]], [[Carl Craig]], [[T. Raumschmiere]] and [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]] handling the music.

==Sequel==

Director [[Shinji Aramaki]] will also be directing the sequel to the 2004 movie, titled [[Appleseed EX Machina]], which is set to be released in fall 2007 in Japan. The movie will once again feature animated [[computer-generated imagery]] and [[John Woo]] is fully involved in the production.

==References==

*[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401233/ IMDB's Appleseed article]

*For more on ramjet math calculations see ''[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0471619124 The Star Flight Handbook].''

==External links==

*[http://www.appleseedthemovie.com/ Official ''Appleseed'' (2004) movie website]

* ''[http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/appleseed Appleseed]'' at [[MetaCritic]]

*[http://imdb.com/title/tt0401233/ Details of the 2004 anime] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]

{{Appleseed}}

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