jump space repairs

[PsiTraveller]

Odd question: assume a ship makes a jump during combat because it got damaged. There is hull and sensor damage, possibly a fuel leak.
Is it possible or safe to go out onto the hull while in jumpspace to work on and repair the ship? I admit I have not thought of the question, but the bubble universe inflated with liquid hydrogen may be problematic for outside repair, even with a suit and your thermal undies on.

What are your thoughts on this? The talk of repairs to spacecraft got me thinking. Can you change ships in hangars while in jumpspace, launch at close range and shuffle ships around?

 

[arcador]

I play it completely impossible to go outside of the ship in jump space. I even go further I and rule that a ship collapses if it tries to enter the jump space when not sealed or with sufficient integrity.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

It depends on if the jump bubble is huge and you can EVA inside of it, or if the bubble is more like a skin-tight film covering the ship and you die if you stick your arm out an airlock.

 

[Wizard]

On page 148 of the Traveller Core Rulebook, it talks about a jump bubble and a tiny parallel universe that is blown up like a balloon by injecting hydrogen into it.

On page 334 of T5, it talks about Jump Fields stating there are 2 types, Jump Bubble and Jump Grid. The Jump Bubble is the default. It even gives a formula to work out the bubble's diameter. The Jump Grid is like a skin that conforms to the hull shape.

 

[DALT]

Within the last A5 copy of the JTAS it talked about the first person surviving direct exposure to Jump Space - even looking at the bubble was considered unhealthy.

 

[phavoc]

I treat the bubble as forming around the hull of th ship, not in the true sense of the word. So essentially it's like the old lanthanum grid that generated a field a few meters away from the ship.

I do this because if you look at most Traveller ships they aren't spheres, they are much longer than they are wider. This means the radius of the sphere would have to accommodate the length of the ship, thus making its overall radius quite large. And with many different possible variations, but all consuming the same among of fuel ton for ton, it dsent make sense to use a true spherical bubble. If you postulate it only forms a few meters away from the hull then the explanation universally fits. And it explains why it is so hazardous going Eva during a jump.

 

[Reynard]

Traveller editions have described the field as a ship grid projection with the 'bubble' about a meter over the entire ship while other sources and I believe Mongoose too use the sphere concept with an actual bubble some distance from the ship and would have to be at a decent radius out since deck plans show the Jump engine mostly aft. I assume the bubble would center at the engine so the bubble must be large enough to reach all the way to the bow of the vessel. A hull breach should be no issue with the sphere model. The warning were often made for the grid type because hull damage meant grid damage and could mean the bubble at a meter above would warp into the ship. Also, try moving and working on the outside of the ship with only a meter of space between the ship and Certain Doom.

 

[PsiTraveller]

well there goes my idea of repairs while in Jumpspace. They can patch things from the inside, but no sensor repairs, no hull repairs until they rejoin the universe.

Thanks folks!

 

[Condottiere]

You can place a diving bell over the outside starship shell.

This changes the volume within the the bubble, unless it's a permanent feature that can roam along like a barnacle.

 

[Reynard]

Do remember Traveller normally doesn't have giant dish antennas mounted on the hull like the Millennium Falcon or the Enterprise. Where are the sensors on a modern jet? That's why the avionics on Traveller deck plans are shown internally. Like today's phones and radios, sensors become part of the hull itself and probably are accessed internally for some repairs.

 

[NOLATrav]

How about repair drones? I've always imagined that they're rather small, could be small enough to scurry along the hull between surface and bubble...

There was a post on COTI last year where someone allowed an EVA during jump, the character's hand touched the jump bubble and was lost forever (kind of like Skywalker's getting severed at the end of Empire) but the character survived. The poster was playing with his kids so he was just going for cinematic action but it sounded like loads of fun.

IMTU I center the jump bubble on the center of the ship so the "nose" and "tail" are dangerous areas, but the rest of the ship is accessible. I keep some of the "looking at jump space makes you crazy" aspects from CT so no one really ever wants to EVA during jump but it's possible if it makes for a better session.

 

[AndrewW]

There was a post on COTI last year where someone allowed an EVA during jump, the character's hand touched the jump bubble and was lost forever (kind of like Skywalker's getting severed at the end of Empire) but the character survived. The poster was playing with his kids so he was just going for cinematic action but it sounded like loads of fun.

Could be a problem with also severing the vacc suit.

 

[phavoc]

Do remember Traveller normally doesn't have giant dish antennas mounted on the hull like the Millennium Falcon or the Enterprise. Where are the sensors on a modern jet? That's why the avionics on Traveller deck plans are shown internally. Like today's phones and radios, sensors become part of the hull itself and probably are accessed internally for some repairs.

Well, modern sensors (active ones at least) are the the front under radomes. Even the AESA (active electronically scanned radar) are in the same place. Granted phased array used flat scanners rather than the standard sensor dish to do it's work. Most fighters with AESA radars are newer generation or refits. Under the radome they also are mounted and controlled the same was as older radars with parabolic antenna's (called mechanical steering). Sweden has an airborne AWACS unit that has a full phased array, and the E-8 uses a SAR too. Old-school rotating radomes are going away.

At the time of Star Wars, the antenna made sense to any person who has ever seen a dish-style antenna. But yeah, most likely they would fall along the wayside in the future. I don't know if they would be totally gone in the future as they do have some specific advantages to them that may stay with them even as tech increases.

 

[nats]

The way I see it any opening of doors or airlocks etc would destabilise the bubble and cause it to collapse with a misjump being the result not to mention probably significant ship damage. I seem to remember viewports are also all closed for the entirety of the jump so passengers will not be driven mad by looking at the bubble for a week.

 

[High Orbit Drifter]

The jump bubble means you could easily do EVA on the hull. I would think the jump drive could be "tuned" so that bubble was centered on the center of the ship, or otherwise crudely shaped into a more cylindrical shape. Most ships have a horizontal aspect and have the drive in the back, so a j-sphere centered only on the drive would be huge, compared to the ship, and be mostly trailing the ship. A 1m jump grid "skin" would still allow an EVA, if only much more dramatically. It would definitely allow drones and bots to scrabble along the surface.

I don't think the bubble is literally filled with liquid hydrogen, although it might have hydrogen gas in it. I think the hydrogen is used by the drive, somehow, to power the bubble. I've played it that the drive accelerates the hydrogen to tachyon speeds - the "bubble" or "skin" is the point at which reach a velocity or energy state that balances the pressure of the jump space. A further derailment - the surface of the jump bubble is clearly visible as a film of various colors, much like a soap bubble, rippling over the ship, impurities in the fuel (i.e., atoms that are not hydrogen) causing the occasional flash or flare, and ripple in the bubble, or irregularities in the grid causing bulges (as was stated above).

So either way it looks like the rules means it is possible to do an EVA.

 

[Hopeless]

A meter clearance between the hull and the jump bubble's edge?

Why am I getting flashbacks from the Phantom Menace and that sequence where the droids saved the flashy Naboo Cruiser?! :twisted:

Speaking of which how big are drones or something able to move around on the outside to perform any repairs they can't do on the inside with these problems within jump space?

You know I always assumed any damage to the ship would prevent the jump drive from engaging after all wouldn't the safeties prevent just that in case the damage causes a misjump?

Oh there was that Clone Wars episode with the droids that almost killed off R2... :shock:

 

[Condottiere]

The jump bubble diameter should be fixed around the jump drive, which makes sense if it's located in the rear if you have a trailer.

 

[Reynard]

So many books but I know one or more sources described the bubble as energized hydrogen suspending 'exotic particles' which create the event horizon that holds a ship in the jump space. It's not a hollow or nearly hollow shell of fluffy harmless gas. It's that energy that drives unprotected or lightly shielded lifeform insane and can kill.