Tag: space

Worldbuilding – Deep Interplanetary Transport

The Caravan Transport carries several hundred people on long-duration, deep interplanetary missions. The transport is pushed by several (4-10) shuttle escorts. These ‘Dagger Skiffs‘ also provide defensive capabilities.

‘Dagger Skiff‘ Escort/Shuttle Characteristics:
  • Size : 32 m (length) x ~ 14 m (width) x ~ 4m (height)
  • Mass:
    • unfueled: 6,000 kg
    • fully fueled: 17,000 kg
  • Powerplant: h-torch ignited fusion
  • Atmospheric propulsion: Magneto Hydro Dynamic Ionisation Boundary Flow
  • Vacuum propulsion: direct fusion
  • Max acceleration: ~15g (max permissible acceleration with human crew 6g sustained)
  • Defensive systems:
    • Precision Standoff and Point Defense, Directed Energy Weapons
    • Adaptive Directional Magnetic Confinement Plasma Shielding
    • Zeno-cognition active Information Warfare and exploit database

 

‘Caravan Transport’  Characteristics:
  • Size : 200 m (length) x ~ 12 m (width) x ~ 12m (height)Mass:
    • unfueled: 190,000 kg
    • fully fueled: 2,200,000 kg
  • Powerplant: h-torch ignited fusion plant.
  • Propulsion: high specific impulse vacuum ion thruster or coupled with ‘Dagger Skiffs’ for extended and high delta-v mission profiles.
  • Max acceleration:
    • using onboard ion-drive: 0.2 milligees
    • fully fueled and loaded with constellation of 4 ‘dagger-skiffs’: 0.7g
    • typical mission profile: 0.1g
  • Defensive systems:
    • Point Defense Directed Energy Weapons
    • Adaptive Directional Magnetic Confinement Plasma Shielding
    • Zeno-cognition active Information Warfare and exploit database
    • Primary defensive capabilities supplied by ‘dagger-skiff’ escorts

 

The ‘Caravan Transport‘ switches between a thrust-phase and coast-phase configuration. In the thrust-phase, the habitation modules are aligned with the axis of thrust. Acceleration in the range 0f 0.1 – 0.4g provides inertial gravity. In the coast-phase configuration, the habitation modules are deployed in a classic rotating hoop configuration generating spin-gravity for passengers and crew.

 

Tech from Singularity’s Children: Printing Organs in Space

I was talking to a friend recently. He pointed out that people will read my books and find them quite topical, noting perhaps that many of the fictional events and technologies parallel developments in the ‘Real‘… and not checking the dates when I wrote about the topics!!

Here’s one: “Astronauts growing new organs on International Space Station”

“The experiment uses ‘weightlessness as a tool’, according to Cara Thiel, one of the two researchers from the University of Zurich who are conducting the research.”

My next book is going to be written either in the far-future, or distant past! 😉