A few questions about spacecraft operations

[Regnarts]

I am aware that the Starship Operator's Manual is coming soon and we are going to get a lot of info from it, but I would like to know your opinion on a couple of things.

Supply
1) Refueling on water/ice - do you need special equipment to get unrefined fuel from water or ice that you get from a planet surface or from a comet? The Fuel processor converts unrefined fuel to refined and Fuel scoops allow gathering from a gas giant, so those do not really fit.

2) If you have a modular cutter docked in a docking space, are you able to swap modules, or do you need a full hangar for this?

3) Construction deck - High Guard says that " A construction yard can build a ship of tonnage equal to half the tonnage of the construction deck at a TL equal to the ship the construction deck is on.". Would you say that one can use, given access to resources of course, a construction deck to produce missiles, torpedoes or sensor drones? That is, to resupply a ship during a long range patrol or exploration voyage? Or would you rather say such a construction would be in the Fabrication Chamber from CSC range?

Ship computer:
4) Would you allow the pilot/someone on the bridge to freely swap software loaded in the computer during action, or would you say it is a task that is conducted "in the downtime". For example the Kashu multirole fighter from SCC has a Computer/25 installed and has both Evade/3 and Fire Control/5 software listed. Computer/25 would allow for FC5/E0, FC3/E1, FC2/E2 or FC0/E3. Could the pilot change the setting in flight?

5) Speaking of software, would you allow for salvaging software from a ship? It is said that "Software packages of more than Bandwidth 1 cannot be copied easily", but can you for example remove a disk/hard drive from a ship computer and transfer it to another ship computer? And if yes, would you rule that software is interchangeable (or that the ship computers have an universal OS), or would it require some work with integrating software (a electronics(computers) task)?

6) High Guard has the Conscious Intelligence software, and it is stated that A Conscious Intelligence is treated as a computer-bound Traveller with INT 15 and EDU 15, with a range of skills that can be uploaded, changed and improved (typically in the skill level 3–5 range)." Would you treat the CI's skills as expert software and if yes, would you allow the players to upload personal computer-scale expert software into the CI?

 

[AnotherDilbert]

Supply
1) Refueling on water/ice - do you need special equipment to get unrefined fuel from water or ice that you get from a planet surface or from a comet? The Fuel processor converts unrefined fuel to refined and Fuel scoops allow gathering from a gas giant, so those do not really fit.

Traditionally, no.
In T5, yes (you even need special refineries).

2) If you have a modular cutter docked in a docking space, are you able to swap modules, or do you need a full hangar for this?

I would say no swapping in Docking Spaces, there is no free space.

CT A7, p22 said:

___ Deployment: The major drawback of the modular cutter design in the Broadsword class is the problem of timely deployment of modules. Each cutter can be launched in a matter of minutes. However, the handling of individual modules is hampered by the fact that the only access to them is through the cutter wells. In order to change a module, the following procedure must be followed.
___ Assume that a fuel skim module is currently installed in a cutter and that a passenger module is stored within the ship. The cutter leaves the well and detaches the fuel skim module, leaving it lying free in space. It then reenters the cutter well and attaches the passenger module. The cutter leaves the well and detaches the passenger module; it then reattaches the fuel skimmer and reenters the cutter well, finally depositing the fuel skimmer within the interior of the ship. At this point, the cutter can leave the well and attach the passenger module for needed operations. The procedure can become quite a shuffling match, and the ship captain must give a lot of attention to the exact placement of modules for use in any current mission. Having the modules in the correct positions can become of overriding importance.
___ The times required for performance of basic cutter procedures are shown in the following chart.
Enter cutter well - five minutes.
Leave cutter well - five minutes.
Detach module in free space - two minutes.
Attach module in free space - five minutes.
Detach module in cutter well - two minutes.
Attach module in cutter well - two minutes.
Move cutter from orbit to world surface - twenty minutes.
Move cutter from world surface to orbit - twenty minutes.

As can be seen, the procedure can take about 37 minutes to complete. Planning is thus essential for efficient operations. Of course, with two cutters, simultaneous operations are possible.

3) Construction deck - High Guard says that " A construction yard can build a ship of tonnage equal to half the tonnage of the construction deck at a TL equal to the ship the construction deck is on.". Would you say that one can use, given access to resources of course, a construction deck to produce missiles, torpedoes or sensor drones? That is, to resupply a ship during a long range patrol or exploration voyage? Or would you rather say such a construction would be in the Fabrication Chamber from CSC range?

Smaller stuff is made in factories, not shipyards. I would use Manufacturing Plants from High Guard, if that's still a thing. A full chain of Smelters to Refineries to Manufacturing Plants, can make anything, but is bulky and expensive.

I use Construction Decks aboard carriers for craft repairs. Combine with a chain of Smelters to Manufacturing Plants to allow construction of new craft. It's rather expensive...

Ship computer:
4) Would you allow the pilot/someone on the bridge to freely swap software loaded in the computer during action, or would you say it is a task that is conducted "in the downtime". For example the Kashu multirole fighter from SCC has a Computer/25 installed and has both Evade/3 and Fire Control/5 software listed. Computer/25 would allow for FC5/E0, FC3/E1, FC2/E2 or FC0/E3. Could the pilot change the setting in flight?

Choose every round.

5) Speaking of software, would you allow for salvaging software from a ship? It is said that "Software packages of more than Bandwidth 1 cannot be copied easily", but can you for example remove a disk/hard drive from a ship computer and transfer it to another ship computer? And if yes, would you rule that software is interchangeable (or that the ship computers have an universal OS), or would it require some work with integrating software (a electronics(computers) task)?

Given enough time, yes. I would assume all Imperial craft use compatible computer systems, but presumably not other races/empires' craft.