Lab Ship

phavoc

Emperor Mongoose
(1) On the docking appendage the lift section has an airlock at the end of it, but it’s listed as a lift.

(2) Is the space on the docking appendage meant to be exposed to space, with only the lift tube pressurized? The illustration shows crossbeams that make it possibly appear that way, but it isn’t clear.

(3) Quadrant 1 laboratories have the entire section as a single one. And the main passageway through the entire area winds its way through every workspace. Scientists would become quite annoyed with people walking in their experimentation zones, not to mention if there was a leak of a substance it would get into the entire compartment. Labs COULD be handling dangerous chemicals, animals, energy, etc, and should be self-contained in the event of an emergency. The single corridor on the outside of the ring should continue through this zone as well. Also quadrant 1 has additional space in it that is not replicated elsewhere. Is this intentional? Since the idea of the ring is to rotate having one section that is larger and more massive than another can cause instability if they are not using internal grav plating.

(4) There is an airlock placed right next to the bridge. From a security standpoint that is not good. The command and control sections should be furthest away from external access points.

(5) It would be easier to read the deckplans if they were laid horizontal instead of vertical. This would also allow two sections and a drive pod to be displayed so a player or ref would only need to pay attention to the connections on the ends. It also makes it easier to print and use the deckplan to draw upon when playing since there are fewer sections to worry about connecting together.

(6) What is the small craft that is listed on the illustration? It’s supposed to be a 40ton pinnace, which is illustrated later. This craft appears to be in the 20 ton range
 
The engineer in me cringed when I saw the layout... maybe it has always been this way and I never noticed.

If you are going to shut off the artificial gravity and spin this puppy (as the books says can be done), then the pinnace needs another arm extending off the opposite side and connecting to the ring. If you spin this design as shown, it won't make a single revolutionb before becoming dynamically unstable and wobbling around.

The second arm doesn't have to be a full section, just a simple truss structure to hold it and balance the rotational forces. It would connect near the middle of Quadrant 1.

Also, as mentioned in other posts about fuel, the lab ship, designed for long science missions, needs more than 2 weeks of fuel.
 
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