[President_Elect_Shang]

[/quote]Keep in mind that the size of a ship represents all of it's mass. It is not a measure of volume. Having a component be "external" does not mean that it hass less mass than an "internal" component.[qb]

Well first I don't see how the mass of an object plays into an external component for damage of a system that is being designed with the ability "Armor" because it is exposed on the outside of the ship.
Second this is a ship in space, and this ship has engines able to accelerate it to x% of c in a matter of moments without turning the crew into anchovy paste. A large percent of c that is.
Third if you are assuming a ship that CAN accelerate to x% of c than you can also assume (we all know what that means) that a little change in mass is not important if we can design a component that more closely mimics “external”. Right now the B5 Mod “external” systems are just small “internal” systems.
Wait. Not done.
Finally a true “external” system in a zero g environment (a ship in space); is only limited by the surface area of the ship; the true weight (mass) of this component would be near meaningless.
Right?

[ September 17, 2002, 05:41: Message edited by: President Elect Shang ]