This week...
...I have been mostly making a spaceship:
This is a 3D model of a design I made for GURPS Transhuman Space, several years ago. I used to have details put up on my old ISP's free domain, but as I never seem able to log onto my present ISP to find out if I even have any free domain space, I guess I'll have to cut and paste from this old file on my hard drive:
Tenzan Industries Kirigirisu Ki1 Personal Transport Pod
(For GURPS TranHuman Space)
Based on a failed proposal for a fusion-powered military drop-pod, the Kirigirisu ("Grasshopper") is being marketed as a personal airless-body transport for the off-earth upper professional class, similar in concept to a light business aircraft on Earth.
The compact fusion pulse drive is the smallest such drive ever designed, and its average acceleration of over two martian G combined with its generous delta-V enables the Kirigirisu to fly a complete surface-to-orbit-to-surface cycle on any of the airless bodies in the Solar System, fly from LEO to Luna and back, or fly minimum-fuel orbits from one Jovian moon to another (life-support allowing).
Two things are holding back sales at the moment: type qualification practically mandates sales to professional pilots only, until such time as pilot schools evolve training courses aimed at the part-time high-performance pilot; and lack of certification for the streamlined model for flight in the Martian atmosphere (Tenzan anticipates a high proportion of sales to Martian customers when the vehicle passes environmental tests).
In addition, the first model had a vibration problem arising from the low pulse frequency of the fusion drive that caused discomfort and nausea in some passengers; Tenzan have improved the vibration dampers on the latest models and are offering a free upgrade to all owners of the old model.
The nickname "Doodlebug" is beginning to spread among English-speaking users; this is believed to refer to the sound of the engine, similar to that of the 20th century V1, an early German cruise missile. Tenzan marketeers are at present uncertain whether to promote the nickname to encourage familiarity, or to derogate it entirely due to its association with a weapon of indiscriminate destruction.
Craft is an unstreamlined cylinder, 10' long by 6.25' diameter. Removal of the passenger seats provides up to an extra 0.1875 spaces for cargo. The Kirigirisu has no airlock; the vehicle must be depressurised for entry and egress.
Crew: Pilot/Navigator (Pilot (High-performance Spacecraft)), Electronics Op. (Comm), Electronics Op. (Sensors).
Design: Unstreamlined cylinder hull (0.625 space, diamondoid, smart, medium frame). cDR/cPF 0.2/1 (diamondoid armour). Hull radiators (0.1875 ksf).
Modules: New simple cockpit; Very small radar; 0.1875 passenger seat (3 seats); 0.25 compact HT fusion pulse; 0.05 tank (ultralight, nuclear pellet); 0.04 cargo.
Statistics: EMass 2.2; DMass 2.7; LMass 3.3; CMass 3.0. Cost M$0.93. cHP 4. Size Modifier +1/+2. HT12. Maintenance Interval 41.6 hours. RRA 0.1875.
Performance: sAccel: 1.0 G. Burn Endurance: 0.833 hrs. Burn Points: 3022. Delta-V: 9.1 mps. No airspeed.
Variants: Streamlined model, Kirigirisu Ki1su, stats as above except Cost M$2.1
Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are
comments.
This is a 3D model of a design I made for GURPS Transhuman Space, several years ago. I used to have details put up on my old ISP's free domain, but as I never seem able to log onto my present ISP to find out if I even have any free domain space, I guess I'll have to cut and paste from this old file on my hard drive:
Tenzan Industries Kirigirisu Ki1 Personal Transport Pod
(For GURPS TranHuman Space)
Based on a failed proposal for a fusion-powered military drop-pod, the Kirigirisu ("Grasshopper") is being marketed as a personal airless-body transport for the off-earth upper professional class, similar in concept to a light business aircraft on Earth.
The compact fusion pulse drive is the smallest such drive ever designed, and its average acceleration of over two martian G combined with its generous delta-V enables the Kirigirisu to fly a complete surface-to-orbit-to-surface cycle on any of the airless bodies in the Solar System, fly from LEO to Luna and back, or fly minimum-fuel orbits from one Jovian moon to another (life-support allowing).
Two things are holding back sales at the moment: type qualification practically mandates sales to professional pilots only, until such time as pilot schools evolve training courses aimed at the part-time high-performance pilot; and lack of certification for the streamlined model for flight in the Martian atmosphere (Tenzan anticipates a high proportion of sales to Martian customers when the vehicle passes environmental tests).
In addition, the first model had a vibration problem arising from the low pulse frequency of the fusion drive that caused discomfort and nausea in some passengers; Tenzan have improved the vibration dampers on the latest models and are offering a free upgrade to all owners of the old model.
The nickname "Doodlebug" is beginning to spread among English-speaking users; this is believed to refer to the sound of the engine, similar to that of the 20th century V1, an early German cruise missile. Tenzan marketeers are at present uncertain whether to promote the nickname to encourage familiarity, or to derogate it entirely due to its association with a weapon of indiscriminate destruction.
Craft is an unstreamlined cylinder, 10' long by 6.25' diameter. Removal of the passenger seats provides up to an extra 0.1875 spaces for cargo. The Kirigirisu has no airlock; the vehicle must be depressurised for entry and egress.
Crew: Pilot/Navigator (Pilot (High-performance Spacecraft)), Electronics Op. (Comm), Electronics Op. (Sensors).
Design: Unstreamlined cylinder hull (0.625 space, diamondoid, smart, medium frame). cDR/cPF 0.2/1 (diamondoid armour). Hull radiators (0.1875 ksf).
Modules: New simple cockpit; Very small radar; 0.1875 passenger seat (3 seats); 0.25 compact HT fusion pulse; 0.05 tank (ultralight, nuclear pellet); 0.04 cargo.
Statistics: EMass 2.2; DMass 2.7; LMass 3.3; CMass 3.0. Cost M$0.93. cHP 4. Size Modifier +1/+2. HT12. Maintenance Interval 41.6 hours. RRA 0.1875.
Performance: sAccel: 1.0 G. Burn Endurance: 0.833 hrs. Burn Points: 3022. Delta-V: 9.1 mps. No airspeed.
Variants: Streamlined model, Kirigirisu Ki1su, stats as above except Cost M$2.1
Also posted at Dreamwidth, where there are
comments.