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Re:Relativistic Spaceship by MilStdJunkie on Tuesday February 06, 2024 @09:59AM (#39274864)
Bussard ramjets will have problems at higher relativistic speeds. The fundamental issue[1] is that from the perspective of a near light speed system, everything else is near-frozen - which includes things like neutron capture and electromagnetism.

It's sort of funny, but dozens or hundreds of orders of magnitude below, the same sort of dynamics are at work in air-breathing ramjets. The impact velocity of the medium is starting to tell, and the exhaust velocity isn't particularly more energetic than what's threatening to ionize the air around your leading edges.

[1] Well, aside from the fact you're exceeding the average velocity of your exhaust mass

Re:Relativistic Spaceship by eru on Wednesday February 07, 2024 @12:19AM (#39284801)
You are right. But I wasn't talking about a ramjet. I was talking about a rocket that brings all the fuel and propellant it needs.

I'm not sure what you mean by electromagnetism being near-frozen? Doesn't electromagnetism also travel at the speed of light?