Weird Harold wrote:Joat42 wrote:
Doh! You are right. Sorry about that Harold.
Not a problem, I could have been more precise.
To summarize, travel in hyperspace, when NOT in a grav wave, uses Impeller Drive and is functionally the same as N-Space travel -- except it is in a hyperspace bad that multiplies velocity.
Travel in a grav wave or through a wormhole requires Warshawski Sails instead of an Impeller Wedge.
All three require a Hyper-generator. The Hyper-generator is what determines the Hyper-space band and thus the velocity multiplier and effective speed. (except for WH speed which is apparently infinite.)
Though if you want to get really technically only changing bands (including entering an leaving hyper) require a hyper generator.
It'd be a really bad idea - but in theory you could design a ship for travel through hyper that required special tugs on each end to just tow it into and out of hyper. After all, barring emergencies the hyper generator sits unused 99% of the time a ship is in transit - there's some hypothetical economic argument for concentrating them into tugs that do nothing but cycle ships into/out-of hyper so that expensive device gets much higher utilization.
However hyper drives aren't
so large or expensive that the crazy risks of not being able to divert, or possible not making rendezvous with the tug on the far end, are worth taking - no mater that the theoretical economic savings might be.
And we do occasionally see shuttles, pinnaces, or LACs (none of which have hyper generators) moving around in hyper (obviously while outside of grav waves) but never very far away from their hyper generator equipped parent ship.