Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering, Reactionary Rockets, and g-LOC

Q. Travellers must make END checks to avoid suffering the negative effects of high-g, receiving DM+1 if they remain seated in an acceleration seat or similar assistive furniture for the duration of the increment.

R. Travellers who have the Pilot or Flyer skill are trained to deal with high g-forces. Equipment includes g-suits and drugs that mitigate the effects, both of which may be found in the Central Supply Catalogue.

S. A G-suit will not assist movement in a high-G environment but will reduce the total load on a wearer by 1G for any task checks required to maintain consciousness during uncompensated high-G operations; this bonus stacks with any G-tolerance drugs (see page 96) consumed. A liquid-filled version provides better compression and adds another G to the wearer’s tolerance.

T. The short-term injectable version increases G-tolerance by one G for one hour. This effect is instantaneous and will stack with the benefits of a G-suit (see page 106) for tolerating high-G manoeuvres. A voice or radio activated auto-injector (Cr500) for up to 20 doses (sold separately) of this drug is often built into seats of vehicles expected to engage in such manoeuvres and is often available to G-suits or hostile environment vacc suits.

U. Here I was looking forward to acceleration tanks.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering, Reactionary Rockets, and g-LOC

V. Seated, liquidated and drugged could get you upto thirteen point nine gees within a reasonable risk.

W. Minus drugs, twelve point nine.

X. Unliquidated gee suit, eleven point nine.

Y. Bleeding edge within reason would be equipping a spacecraft with thirteen point nine (twenty seven point eight percent volume) afterburners.

Z. Successfully seating yourself eliminates one point of task difficulty, which at default four gees means modified none, and higher means modified minus one.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering, Reactionary Rockets, and g-LOC

1. The practicality of installing rocket motors.

2. You might not have a choice, if the local industrial base can't manufacture manoeuvre drives.

3. Deep space, or so I hear; you won't go fast anywhere, and I suggest ramscoops.

4. Rocket boost for planetary lift off, and probably a smoother landing, for those times the manoeuvre drive is overmatched by the local gravity well.

5. Intercontinental travel.

6. Orbit or satellite connectors.

7. Afterburners, when speed really is life.

8. Missiles and torpedoes; stick on a manoeuvre drive and what you have is a cruise missile, really long ranged.

9. And if you're a cheapskate, like me.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering, Reactionary Rockets, and g-LOC

A. The rules say you only need to overmatch local gravity to achieve escape velocity.

B. Since we tend to have large tanks and let's assume comparably economic rockets, we don't need to accomplish orbit in six minutes.

C. The manoeuvre drive contributes one gee, and eliminates the inertial effects thereof.

D. You have local gravity, plus rocket thrust, let's say nominally one plus one equals two gees.

E. Passengers and crew will experience two gees, being seated eliminates task difficulty.

F. In theory, no issue with planetary gravity of upto one point nine Terran norm.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering, Reactionary Rockets, and g-LOC

G. Factor thirteen point nine reactionary rocket, twenty seven point eight percent volume.

H. Technological level eleven.

I. Fuel consumption per hour 34.75% default, 43.4375% budget, 27.8% technological level twelve, 20.85% technological level thirteen, 13.9% technological level fifteen.

J. The actual cost of the rockets is fractional to manoeuvre drives, and diverts no power from the energy pool.

K. It's more the volume they consume.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering and Reactionary Rockets

Q. Budget variant factor one two hundred tonne hull

R. Two tonnes, two hundred thrust tonnes, three hundred kilostarbux.

S. Fuel consumption six and a quarter tonnes per hour

T. Five eights of a tonne per turn.

U. Transit times says one gee is two thousand seconds to ten kiloklix, or orbit, so two turns?

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering and NASA's clever technique to make combustion chambers

Today we're looking at how the regenerative cooling channels on Space Shuttle's main combustion chamber were manufactured. They used a combination of conventional machining with electroplating, in a really clever technique to mimic what we can do with 3D printing nowadays.

1. Regenerative cooling.

2. Thin pipes/plumbing.

3. Knarley zee.

4. Liquid hydrogen.

5. Electro plated nickel.

6. Brittleness.

7. Hot isostatic pressing.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

1. Technological level seven.

2. Thirty kilostarbux per tonne, streamlined, non gravitated.

3. Thirty tonnes, rationale?

4. Calculate Firmpoints or Hardpoints separately for the main hull and any module but the total cannot exceed the total number that would be allowed for a non-modular ship.

5. I would say that means that either the cutter or the module would need to be thirty five tonnes, independently, to have two firmpoints, otherwise one each.

6. It seems that the module has to conform configuratively with the host's hull.

7. Cannot have six five tonne modules each with a firmpoint.

8. However, could each have a ground weapon system embedded.

9. At technological level seven, no self sealing.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

A. I guess I shouldn't have been, but I was surprised when I read the Vehicle Cradle Module.

B. That fifteen tonne docking space for the vehicle costs four and a quarter megastarbux.

C. I guess it's to ensure that the vehicle is secured during descent or ascent.

D. The only advantage that has would be immediate deployment on landing.

E. You probably could secure it with chains in a more form fitting cargo bay.

F. Much like those flown in cargo aircraft.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

G. Personnel Transport Module.

H. Sixty passengers in thirty tonnes sounds like a squeeze.

I. Seems more like business class in acceleration chairs.

J. Except, not enough toilets and stewardesses.

K. Cattlecar class would be thirty acceleration benches.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

L. Cargo Transport Module.

M. Given the option, just have acceleration benches.

N. These can easily blend back into the deck for any configuration of cargo.

O. Separation of compartment more of a passenger safety issue?

P. Again, toilets.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

Q. Fuel Skimmer Module.

R. Fuel scoops are required externally.

S. This would be more of a continuation of the external fuel scoops of the cutter itself, leading to the fuel tanks.

T. The UNREP system is a logical capability, purification plant might take up unnecessary space.

U. Optionally, fuel/cargo container an interesting option.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

V. Fighter Frame Module.

W. I don't really think it's practical, certainly not for an actual interstellar navy.

X. On the other hand, reminds me of that multi layered Iranian drone launcher, and seems to have a different hull configuration, which makes me question why you would need a hangar hatch to begin with.

Y. Also. not quite if you can have clamps in four corners, and the spacecraft in the centre.

Z. I'm unclear as to the accuracy of the costs involved in this module.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

1. Assault Boat Module.

2. I think the assault party is screwed.

3. Sure, we're back to trenches, but that's meant as a medium/long term defensive measure, and provides covered lines of communications in a network.

4. Not an overlarge foxhole or shell crater.

5. You'd have to reinforce it, so that the soil sides don't collapse.

6. Better still, drop the module, and use that as a ready made bunker.

7. Or automatically bury itself.

8. To be honest, on the whole, sounds more like a defensive action, rather than an assault.

9. Assault implies movement away from whatever this protective measure confers.

 

[JustEastOfTheEdge]

Sorry to sound rude, but what are these endless posts? Most don't even make sense.

 

[Condottiere]

Mostly my reflections on spacecraft design; I tend to think they make sense within that context.

For those immediately above, it's laying the groundwork for when I deviate from canon.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

A. Pressurized Shelter Module.

B. I guess instant shelter, instead of setting up the stuff from Central Supply.

C. Fairly innocuous, you can just drop it from the cutter and instant base of operations.

D. I'm thinking that waste water could be funnelled to the fusion reactor.

E. However, you probably want something that solidly anchors it to the ground.

F. In case of hurricanes and tornadoes.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Designing Spacecraft Lineages

Computer or otherwise, licensed game inspired designs did tend to get more innovative.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Modular Cutter and Cutter Modules

G. Gunship Module.

H. The cutter isn't armoured, which made me first compare it to the Huey.

I. If you did have to make an assault module, this is probably better configured.

J. You could make the firmpoint missile armed, and place a laser into a turret, though you'd need to find a power source.

K. Though still as currently envisioned, would be extremely reluctant to take it into non permissive airspace, and just taxi the armoured fighting vehicle to a safe landing zone.

 

[ProfGrizzlyJon]

I always saw the Modular Cutter as the Eagle from Space:1999. I can't remember the edition, but there was an 80-ton version with two modules in a very similar configuration as the Eagle.

With that being said, one of my favorite game sessions involved using modular cutter modules as the building blocks to a space station.
TKDR: those modules were actually a de facto jump bridge and "cargo of dubious pedigree" storage location tied to an asteroid of zero-mining value, and it eventually grew into a full blown grey-market cross-docking warehouse for "pre-customs" items.

As a former Huey pilot, I love the shout-out.