Documents / Official release
This Defense Intelligence Reference Document, dated 1 November 2010 and numbered DIA-08-1011-002, was prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency's Defense Warning Office. It is one of a series of advanced technology reports produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications program. It draws mainly on the book Frontiers of Propulsion Science and speculates about breakthroughs such as control of gravity and inertia and faster-than-light travel. It then proposes a provisional cockpit design with six-degree-of-freedom controls, virtual displays and no windows.
From the source:Release of 2026-09-18 Incident: 11/1/10, Las Vegas, Nevada. Released with redactions. This document is a Defense Intelligence Reference Document (DIRD), a technical reference format used by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to capture baseline knowledge on a specific topic for later analytic use. DIRDs are best understood as reference and synthesis products rather than as original research. It is one of 38 DIRDs produced under the Advanced Aerospace Weapon System Applications Program (AAWSAP) between 2009 and 2011. Because AAWSAP’s scope permitted a broad range of supporting topics, not every DIRD in the series directly concerns aerospace systems or future threat assessment. The following summary reflects the DIRD’s scope and framing at the time of writing and should not be read as implying current validation of the concepts discussed. This DIRD examines how cockpit design might change if future aerospace vehicles were ever to achieve major propulsion breakthroughs such as control over gravity and inertia, “propellantless” flight, or faster-than-light travel. The report does not describe an existing or emerging vehicle class. Instead, it asks what such hypothetical capabilities would mean for piloting, displays, controls, and human factors, and it argues that the biggest design challenges would come from full six-degree-of-freedom motion, operation across multiple flight regimes from near-surface flight to orbit and deep space, and the possible separation between the craft’s actual motion and the crew’s internal physical sensations. It combines those assumptions with established human-machine-interface principles and with maturing inputs such as gesture, voice, and brain-machine control to outline a provisional cockpit centered on intuitive displays, stress-tolerant physical controls, and a virtual surround display.
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Extreme Relativistic 660
Million
1.07
Billion 0.99 970 Million 270 Million 180
Thousand
297
Thousand
Light Speed 670
Million
1.08
Billion 1 980 Million 300 Million 190
Thousand
300
Thousand
Faster Than Light? 13
Billion
22
Billion 20 202 Billion 6 Billion 4 Million 6 Million
Table 1 is designed to put a pilot's reaction time into perspective; it compares distances
traversed during the one second it takes the pilot to scan and comprehend his displays
("dwell time") and then react. 9 In addition, it will take time for those commanded
changes to take effect, but those durations are not known. The distances shown in the
table are those traversed before any corrective actions are initiated. If these distances
are determined to be excessive, then automated flight controls are mandatory.
Another aspect resulting from the effects of ultrahigh vehicle speed is the so-called
"relativistic twin paradox. 1110 Because of relativistic effects, there will be a mismatch
between the time measured aboard the craft and that measured at its base of
departure. The equations to track this situation are well established. 11 The challenge is
how to present this information so that both the crew and the mission personnel at the
base can easily comprehend the implications.
More provocative than the implications of relativistic speeds is the possibility of faster
than-light (FTL) travel. Beyond the perplexing issues of causal violations and closed
time-like curves inherent with all FTL notions to date, 12 there is the question of tracking
position, orientation, and motion when beyond light speed.
It is reasonable to assume that when a vehicle is traveling FTL, the normal flow of
electromagnetic waves (i.e., light) to and from the craft will be cut off. To better
visualize this, consider the Doppler shifts as a vehicle approaches light speed. The
colors of light heading into the flight path will be shifted to such a short wavelength
that it will cease to be detectable. Similarly, the light approaching the rear of the craft
will red-shift so much that it also ceases to be detectable. Again, do not count on
windows.
Navigation References
The main difference between navigating with existing vehicles and breakthrough
vehicles is that the breakthrough vehicles will have to navigate in deep space and
around other astronomical bodies where GPS systems and location beacons do not exist.
Another major difference is that the physics of the propulsion methods might distort or
block information that is traditionally used for navigation.
Inertial Navigation (Acceleration Measurement)
In inertial guidance systems, accelerometers and ring laser gyros accurately track the
changes in the vehicle's motion (lateral and rotational accelerations). These signals are
integrated to keep track of position by evaluating changes in both velocity and
acceleration.
In the case of the double hull, where the inertial effects might be different inside of the
craft, these tools become more diffi cult to apply. If we assume that the physics and
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14 Not linked to a story yet.
Official release, from the pursue collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. 57 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.