Rymdsegment

Rymdsegment is a fictional or hypothetical unit of distance used to describe a discrete portion of a spacecraft's trajectory, typically between two defined waypoints. The term combines the Swedish word rymd, meaning space, with the English segment, reflecting its use in multilingual discussions of spaceflight planning or science fiction worldbuilding.

Definition and usage: In a given context, a rymdsegment has no universal fixed length. It is defined for a mission by factors such as planned speed, propulsion, thrust duration, and gravitation. A rymdsegment may correspond to a coast phase between burns, or to any leg of a mission where position and velocity are well defined. Using segments allows planners and writers to modularize a voyage into manageable units and to estimate total distance, fuel requirements, and time of flight.

Variations: Some definitions tie a rymdsegment to a fixed time of flight at a nominal velocity, while others relate it to a standard delta-v budget or to a gravitational assist opportunity. In fiction, the length is often chosen for narrative pacing rather than strict physics.

Applications: In speculative planning, an interplanetary mission can be described as a sequence of rymdsegment, such as Earth escape, interplanetary cruise, and planetary approach. In technical discussions, the term may serve as a placeholder for a segment of trajectory that is being analyzed or simulated.

Relation to other concepts: The rymdsegment concept is similar to trajectory legs or orbital segments used in real-world astrodynamics, but it remains informal and context-dependent.

See also: trajectory leg, orbital segment, delta-v budget.