Report no. 2 Shuttles, Tugs, drones, and Transports:2.0 - Our Space Station, a home for our group, is much too big and awkward for maneuvering to consider landing on a planet or for capturing a comet or asteroid. Even with our fusion rocket engines, our acceleration rate is slow and ponderous. To overcome the problems of transporting useful loads to and from planets, for transport between other space stations, for mining, and for providing security from hostel attack by other species or by space junk, we have developed four types of smaller, more maneuverable vessels. This is to say that in addition to the huge artificial Planet, we manufacture and maintain a large fleet of smaller space ships. The first and most useful is a large fleet of Drones, used to scout ahead for hazards as we travel in our Space Station among or in orbit around the Stars. A second type is a Space Tug, used to collect matter such as comets, asteroids, gases, ice (water), and other raw materials that might be useful, i.e., space mining. One such ship is capable of entering and leaving an atmosphere as found on inhabitable planets, much like the Space Shuttle use on earth but with a better, less polluting power source. For entering into maneuvering on planets with gas atmospheres, we use an aerodynamically sound Shuttle. To transport personnel and equipment between Space Stations and Planets without atmosphere, our Transports are design to fill this general utility need.
2.1 - Drones and Robots:coming 2.2 - Space Tugs:coming Report 2.3 - Shuttles:The basic shuttle is very much like a cross between a flying wing the lifting body and the NASA Space Shuttle. Triangular in shape but with slightly curved leading edges from a pointed nose to the wingtips, it is 50 meters long with a 30 meter wingspan. The trailing edge is slightly concave from tip to the engine pods. The body section is thickened to five meters divided equally both top and bottom along the wing root, providing room for 15 persons including the pilot, plus all the equipment, controls, life support, and storage required for missions to planets with atmospheres. more coming 2.4 - Transports:coming Back to the Reports Preface |