Mission: Outpost 3

Since my fantasy RP seems to be going slowly... I present to you

Mission: Outpost 3

Preparation, Ship building:
January-March 2051
April-June 2051
July-September 2051
October-December 2051
January-March 2052

Launch

Journey Part 1: 2052-2057
Crisis 1 resolution
Extra Maintenance
Journey Part 2: 2058-2063
Midaway, 2064-2066
Journey part 4, 2067 - 2071, Deceleration
Crisis 2 Resolution
Picking up the pieces
Back on flightplan
Journey part 5, 2072-March 2075.
Cutting losses
Computer wizards gods
Approach, April 2075 - August 2075
Orbit, closer look at EE-IV, August 2075

Planetfall

post-fall Op
Action-slots explained
Hero update
Outpost Sheet Aug-Sep 2075, Action Resolutions
Oct 2075 Action Resolutions
Nov 2075 action resolutions
Dec 2075 action resolutions
Did you think it would be that easy? Planet Event #1
Jan 2076 action resolutions
Feb 2076 action resolutions
Mar 2076 action resolutions
Apr 2076 action resolutions
May 2076 action resolutions
Outpost statistics
Hazard's compiled mission requirements
Hazard's compiled requisite structures
Jun 2076 action resolutions
Jul 2076 action resolutions
Aug 2076 action resolutions
Sep 2076 action resolutions, Catastrophic damage
Oct 2076 action resolutions
Nov 2076 action resolutions
Dec 2076 action resolutions
Jan 2077 action resolutions
Feb 2077 action resolutions
Mar 2077 action resolutions
Apr 2077 action resolutions
Outpost statistics after Apr 2077
May 2077 action resolutions
Jun 2077 action resolutions
Jul 2077 action resolutions
Aug 2077 action resolutions
Sep 2077 action resolutions
Oct 2077 action resolutions
Nov 2077 action resolutions
Dec 2077 action resolutions
Jan 2078 action resolutions
Outpost statistics after Jan 2078
Hazard's updated mission requirements list
Feb 2078 action resolutions

Background:

In a Sol system, one multiverse away, mankind first spread amongst the planets with relatively primitive technology. The first colony to Mars was kept supplied by nuclear pulse drive ships – codenamed Orion. By the time the turn of the millenium came, asteroid mining was becoming economically viable using first generation Ion Engines, and plans for a scientific outpost on Titan were completed. Industrial production of nano-scale materials was being looked at, AI research while basic was providing promising vision within a few decades, engine technology was improving to allow for STL interstellar mission. Anti-matter was being synthesized federation wide at particle accelerators in milligram qualities per year, to study containment, transportation and first-generation proof-of-concept type power generators. And despite Einstein's cruel trap appearing inescapeable, plans to slowly spread to surrounding systems were being made.

However, a glorious future was ground to a halt, as in 2040 it was discovered that life in system as a whole was doomed. The system was about to be engulfed by a storm of extra-solar radiation of rapidly increasing lethality from a supernova in relatively short order, from the direction of Wolf 359. Plans and technologies were developed, forecasts made. And the end result looked bleak. Propability of all life dying to the last bacteria within the system was rated at 90 percent. Propability of mankind surviving as a technological civilization: zero.

It was estimated mankind had only ten to fifteen years to evacuate, depending on vessel speeds, to anywhere over 7 Light years away from the approaching doom, preferably slightly further.

So, humanity has chosen to abandon the cradle. Three separate Outpost missions are about to be launched into three nearby starsystems beyond the destructive effects of the supernova, to be followed by three different Ark-missions, so that the fate of humanity does not rest on the success or failiure of any single vessel. The intention is to launch a vessel carrying industrial assets, and land on the planet. The Outpost vessel will then be disassembled to prepare a colony, so that the Arks - each carrying as many humans as possible and little else - can arrive safely.

The Outpost missions face a large challenge. They have scant years to prepare as best as they can for the incoming, hopefully millions strong, humans. Yes, billions will die due to lack of transport capacity. Thankfully, the population at large has not yet realized this and is tirelessly working towards building equipment and ships, in the false hope that they all will be saved. Practically all western infrastructure on Earth was repurposed to build the Ark-vessels. Eiffel Tower and Golden Gate Bridge ceased to exist 6 years ago. The colony on Mars was abandoned 4 years ago. The entire rice production of China for the past decade has been processed into liquid nutrients to allow for supplies to the massive cryo storages of the Ark vessels. The (much expanded) International Space Station became part of the Outpost 1 superstructure. There are no storages left to raid.

And all hell will break loose on Earth, once people realise that United Federation leading council has been feeding them bullshit for over a decade, and that all their efforts have managed to potentially save only a few million people, as opposed to the billions living in Sol system.

Conditions at the target planet are entirely unknown aside from estimated gravity and presence (or lack) of an atmosphere. The availability of construction materials beyond base metals cannot be guaranteed. Due to the extremely tight schedules in evacuation, reliability of equipment packed and even the vessels themselves is unknown to a degree rarely seen in the products of an industrialized society.

Yet, no other options remain, if mankind is to survive at all.

Can you ensure not only ensure continued survival of mankind... but regain the once so bright and prosperous future that seems snatched away by the cold hands of reality, to become a true power once again?

It is the year 2051. You, SB, have opted control of Outpost Mission 3. The basic superstructure of the vessel is complete, and internal systems are being installed on a construction yard in the lunar orbit. Some systems have already been installed, such as the rotation system ensuring 1G simulated gravity in cryogenic section (among others) and the overall shape of the basic superstructure cannot be changed. However, small customization can still take place on the structures lenght itself, subsystems can still be freely installed (but not removed!) and the final destination has yet to be selected from a small list of targets.

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Think of this game as a combination of space management and RTS type games. For inspirations, see games like Space Colony, Startopia, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and the abandoware game this was named after, Outpost.

During this phase of the game, each turn lasts 3 months. You have until the time you launch, to customize your vessel, to order cargo or subsystems built, and to wait for any final scientific breakthroughs or engineering improvements. You may order an unlimited amount of cargo as long as your Resource Units are sufficient (though if you cannot carry it, it is useless to you), but only 2 modifications may be made to your vessel during any three month period. Installing a subsystem counts towards this limit! The number of your ship systems is limited only by the total size your basic superstructure can encompass. However, the more Mass your ships has, the less acceleration it can generate for any given engine and thus it will take longer to actually arrive at your destination. That's more chances for stuff to go wrong during the journey, and the less time to prepare you have at your destination before the following Ark vessel arrives.

The total assets available to you for customization at start, are represented by Resource Units. Barring possible special events, this is a non-regenerating stat. You must build the ship and select your cargo with what you have been given.

You may also request scientists and engineers to focus attention on a single project, per turn. This is extremely unlikely to result in massive breakthroughs, but can refine and improve specific technology, add to your scientific knowledge to be used at your destination (basic research), refine existing subsystems or cargo items, or design new subsystems or cargo to match one or more of your criteria. You get to choose the subject yourself – planning and ingenuity can help a lot in giving you the best out of this one.

So... are you interested?

Outpost Vessel 3 (Gaia's Missionary), Final Configuration

Installed subsystems:

• Command centre (optronic central computer) Size 1, Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW.
• Expanded Superstructure. Mass 15 units. +30 to size.
• Planned deconstruction. Mass 2 units. Size 2 units
• Airlock. Size 1, Mass 1.
• Basic Optical Sensor package. Size 0.5, Mass 0.5
• He-3 Inertial Fusion generator /w external radiators. Size 5. Mass 5. Generates 50 MW.
• Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster. Size 8, Mass 20. Electricity 5 MW
• 2x He-3 Fuel Tank, Massive. Size 8. Mass 12. (including fuel).
• Cryogenic pods (minimal crew; 15 persons). Size 5. Mass 5. Electricity 5MW
• Multipurpose Care- and Habitation Bay. Size 12. Mass 9.5 Electricity 7 MW.
• Closed Loop Life Support /w hydroponics. Size 4. Mass 3, Electricity 6 MW.
• Cargo Bay (Medium; 20 units of cargo). Size 22 units. Mass: 1 (+ held cargo).
  
  - My First Factory kit. Size 10, Mass 20
  - Basic Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1. (75% depleted)
  - Basic Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1.
  - Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1. (35% depleted)
  - Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1.
  - Air tanks & vac suits. Size 1, Mass 1.
  - Optronic Central Computer. Size 2. Mass 2.
  - Orbital Survey Satellite. (70% damaged, non repairable)Size 3, Mass 3.
• Cargo bay (Large; 40 units of cargo). Size 43. Mass 2.
  
  - Chemistry Lab Kit. Size 4. Mass 2.
  - Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units. Size 3, Mass 2.
  - Digging & drilling vehicles. Size 4, Mass 4.
  - Mining Bot Team. (30% damaged, 20% repairable) Size 5, Mass 4.
  - Organic Sludge Compressor kit. Size 2, Mass 1.
  - Meat-vat kit. (25% damaged, non repairable) Size 4, Mass 5.
  - Air tanks & vac suits. Size 1, Mass 1
  - 2xFood. Size 3, Mass 1.
  - 2xBasic Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1
  - Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Size 1, Mass 1
  - Weather Satellite. Size 3, Mass 3.
  - Free Space remaining in bay: 5
• Project Legacy. Size 0, Mass 0.
• VR computer simulator.

Total Crew On Vessel: 30 (pods) + 9 (awake) -1 Insane
Total Mass of vessel: 166 units
Total Size Of Vessel: 119.5 / 120
Total Electricity Required For Ship Operation: 24 MW.
Total Maximum electricity production: 50 MW

Destination: Epsilon Eridani (10.5 LY)
Estimated date of arrival of Ark 3: January 2080
Estimated travel time for Outpost 3: 26 years 2 weeks (Standard) / 23 years 5 months (Full Burn)
Launched on March 2052.

Launch:
Recommended: LAUNCH WINDOW MISSED (before or at January 2052)
11th hour: IMMEDIATELY (March 2052)
Danger of damage and/or deaths among Outpost crew: 3 months. (June 2052)
Dead at launch: 6 months ( September 2052 )

All Critical Systems Online. Vessel Ready To Launch.

Hero Selected:
Stig 'Nailer' Svensson
A brute and old-looking nordic man even at 30 years old, Nailer was never one for the books. Still, he managed to cram through a University of Applied Sciences for a formal competency of Chief Engineer after a troubled youth. Always of the more physical sort, Nailer has not only been working on and with machines of all sorts since his childhood, but has also a physique of an amateur body-builder thanks to his frequent visits to the gym. A hands-on type who has little regard for paperwork, meetings or complicated plans; give him a problem and a toolset, and he'll be on the job before you can even finish telling him that you need a rover instead of a flat-bed truck. He gets away with it, because he works without complaint, effectively and efficiently, and is highly competent at building, maintaining and designing basic machines.

Hero Health +
Engineering (basic) +
Maintenance ++
Disorganized --

Outpost Mission 3: Gaia's Missionary.

Vessel Launched on March 2052

Yes

Sure. Alpha Centauri was a great game. If this is similar...

January 2051 – March 2051:
Ship Modifications (2 slots)
[ ]
[ ]

Scientists & Engineers project(1 slot)
[ ]

Cargo purchase? (Limited only by RU and available cargo space)
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]
[ ]

Resource Units available: 250

Notice! Ark 3 is about to set off with slower engines. Select Destination for Outpost 3, so that Ark 3 can launch.

Possible destinations:
Star (Distance; Theoretical travel time with a massless ship), Known characteristics.

Lyuten 726-8 A (8.7 Light Years; 17.4 years). A binary system of M-class main sequence stars known to have Flare star characteristics, where the luminosity can suddenly increase drastically for a period of minutes to hours. Advanced telescopes have confirmed presence of 3 planets within the system, two of which have gaseous atmospheres of unknown composition or pressure. All three planets are within 10% variance of Earth's size.

Ross 248 (10.3 LY; 20.6 years) A small M-class main sequence star (red dwarf), with minor Flare characteristics. Otherwise wholly unremarkable. However, telescopes have discovered a small asteroid field within the system, and two minor planets the size of Titan orbiting very close to the star. One of these has a gaseous atmosphere.

Epsilon Eridani (10.5 LY; 21 years) A young, main sequence K-class star with high magnetic activity and strong stellar winds. Six planets and two asteroid belts have been confirmed within the system. Planets range in size from Mercury to Neptune, and all but one have atmospheres.

Lacaille 9352 (10.7 LY; 21.4 years) M-type main sequence star aka Red Dwarf. Hot for its kind. System is known to contain 3 planets, two without atmospheres. Planet sizes approximated between Venus and Mars.

EZ Aquarii (11.2 LY; 22.4 years) A trinary star system, with all three stars being M-class main sequence stars. The motion of the three stars has made long-range survey of this system challenging. Presence of at least one asteroid field and a planet the size of Earth with twin moons and atmosphere, confirmed.

Groombridge 34 (11.6 LY; 23.2 years). Binary system of two M-class main sequence stars, with Flare characteristics. Two asteroid fields, and at least 3 planets. At least 1 planet has atmosphere, scientists are debating the existence of one on a second planet.

Epsilon Indi (11.8 LY; 23.6 years) K-class main sequence dwarf star, orbited by two brown dwarfs (T-type stars). Presence of large amounts of heavy elements confirmed within the star's corona. A protoplanetary disk has been confirmed around the second brown dwarf, with at least two actual planets orbiting the main star – mor may be hidden, due to the obscuring movements of the brown dwarfs. Neither known planet has an atmosphere.

Selected destinations of Outpost/Ark 1: Tau Ceti
and Outpost/Ark 2: 61 Cygni 2.

For graphical representation...
http://www.solstation.com/47ly-ns.htm

Resource Units available: 250

Available Subsystems:

Provides Command And Control:
Command centre (electronic central computer). 10 RU. Size 2, Mass 1. Electricity 0.5 MW. Basic ship command. Requires 5 persons awake at all times.

Command centre (optronic central computer) 20 RU. Size 1, Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW. Improved processing speed, reliability and hard drive storage capacity over electronic command. Requires 5 persons awake at all times.

Smart Command centre (optronic central computer /w Expert Systems) 40 RU. Size 2, Mass 2. Electricity 3 MW. An optical-electronic computer connected to a series of high-tech expert systems for increased automation, navigation, self-optimization, software debugging and crisis management. Requires 1 person awake at all times. Warning! Advanced technology: major components not in storage. Time to build functional unit: 3 months.

Provides Thrust:
Electrostatic Ion Engine. 30 RU. Size 3. Mass 5. Electricity 5 MW. Does not require fuel. Warning: Low thrust! Removes 3 months from Launch Timers, adds 30% to journey lenght.

VSI Magnetoplasma Rocket. 20 RU. Size 20, Mass 30. Electricity 1 MW. Requires fuel. Note: Rugged technology, unlikely to malfunction.

Fusion Plasma Torch. 10 RU. Size 30. Mass 10. Requires fuel. Note: High fuel consumption system. High Thrust: Removes 10% from journey lenght. Note: Rugged technology, unlikely to malfunction.

Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster. 20 RU. Size 10, Mass 20. Electricity 5 MW. Requires any fuel tank. Note: Fuel Efficient. High Thrust: Removes 20% from journey lenght. Warning! Advanced technology: major components not in storage. Time to build functional unit: 9 months.

Provides Power:
Radioisotope thermoelectric battery. 1 RU Size 1. Mass 1. Generates 1 MW for 50 years. Note: Simple technology, fast and easy to install. Extremely unlikely to malfunction. Cannot be refuelled.

He-3 Inertial Fusion generator /w external radiators. 20/50/100 RU. Size 5/15/35. Mass 5/12/25. Generates 50 / 150 / 500 MW. Requires fuel. Note: Rugged technology, unlikely to malfunction. Reactor design maintenance-friendly. Minimum output at all times 50%. Medium design is High-Consumption. Largest design uses twice that.

He-3 MTF Fusion generator /w external radiators. 10 / 30 RU. Size 5 / 20. Mass 3 / 12. Generates 50 / 200 MW. Requires fuel. Warning! Advanced technology, major components not in storage. Time to build functional unit: 3 / 9 months. Lack of widespread practical use means not all reliability or maintenance issues are fully understood. Larger version is High-Consumption. Minimum output at all times: 50%

Provides Life Support:
Biodome /w hydroponics. 5 RU. Size 20. Mass 2. Provides near-indefinite life support for 10 awake persons / 50 cryosleepers. Note: Meditative atmosphere and living plants help stave off psychological issues. Vulnerable to external damage.

Oxygen scrubbers & water recyclers. 5 RU. Size 2. Mass 3. Electricity 3 MW. Provides life support for 20 awake persons / 100 cryosleepers. Note: Does not provide food. Crew requires food stores. Requires 1 additional person awake.

Closed Loop Life Support /w hydroponics. 20 / 40 RU. Size 4 / 8. Mass 3 / 5. Electricity 6 / 10 MW. Provides near-indefinite life support for 15 / 30 awake persons or 75 / 150 cryosleepers. Requires 1 additional person awake.

Other subsystems:
He-3 Fuel Tank. Cost 2 / 4 / 6 RU. Size 2 / 4 / 6. Mass 3 / 6 / 9 (including fuel). Small fuel tank provides fuel to run a single small fuel-dependant system for 5 years, 2.5 years if high-consumption.

Cargo bay /w industrial cargo handling system. S / M / L. Cost 1 / 2 / 4 RU. Size 11 / 22 / 43. Mass 0.5 / 1 / 2. Allows the Outpost vessel to carry greater amount of cargo, adding 9 / 20 / 40 units of cargo space.

Cryogenic pods (15 persons). Cost 10 RU, Size 5 units, Mass 5 units. Electricity 5 MW. Additional crew for the Outpost mission, this unit allows the vessel to carry a larger complement of human workforce.

Automated Satellite Launcher. Cost 5 RU. Size 2. Mass 8. This system is connected to the cargo bays with loading rails, allowing a simple program from the command centre to load, prepare and launch into desired trajectory a stored satellite, prior to landing on target planet.

Damage Control & machine shop. Cost 3 RU. Size 4. Mass 2. Electricity 1 MW. Series of metalworking machines, cutting equipment and tools, and diagnosis computers intended to give minor manufacturing and modification capability to a ship. A large help in repairing broken systems, and can even be used for small construction projects. Note: Hands-on types of the crew will find it relaxing, to be able to unleash their imaginations into something concrete.

Interstellar Communications Laser. Cost 20 RU. Size 0. Mass 1. Electricity 15 MW. Previously a theoretical concept only, this massive mirror and modulated laser should be able to communicate with e-mail type messages, still images and very short small-resolution videos at short interstellar distances – up to 25 light years. Of course, you need someone with similar equipment on the receiving end for this system to be any real benefit. Note: The system is by necessity exposed to space – micrometeors might cause damage. Reliability unknown. Ability to communicate to outside the vessel might help, or cause, psychological issues.

Medical Bay. Cost 3 RU. Size 2. Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW. Tightly packed, this subsystem provides small scale medical support to a handful of persons. Reference libraries, small drug stores and basic equipment for anything up to and including basic emergency surgery allows for treatmen of most common ilnesses and mundane injuries.

Available Vessel Alterations:
Expanded superstructure. Cost: 20 RU. Mass 15 units. Additional support beams are welded on to the existing superstructure. Increase available size by 30 units. Cannot be done, if >60% of ship size has already been filled with subsystems, or this improvement has been applied twice.

Reinforced outer hull. Cost 20 RU. Mass 20 units. By applying a layer of high-quality duranium-steel armor and a layer of lead on top of the more mundane existing plating, the internal systems of the vessel become far better protected from external threats, such as micrometeorite impacts, radiation sources and possible local phenomena at target planet.

Atmospheric flight conversion. Cost 10 RU. Mass 15 units. Size 5. While not exactly living up to a promise of flight in atmospheric conditions, the added fixed wings, enhanced thrusters, steering and landing gear do add a degree of maneuverability. The vessel will not be a fighter jet by any means, but will exceed the previous 'falling brick' levels of aerodynamics, allowing pilots far greater control over the vessel during the landing operation if doing so in an atmosphere.

Planned deconstruction. Cost 5 RU. Mass 2 units. Size 2 units. The plan has always been for the Outpost vessels to be deconstructed at the destination. However, due to the time and size limitations at hand before departure from Sol must begin, to save time the vessels have not been purpose-built as default with systems and designs to make this particularly easy. Executing this modification ensures the outer shell, all subsystems and even controls and cabling are easy to remove and repurpose at the destination, without compromising structural integrity of the completed vessel for the journey.

Available Cargo:

Basic Maintenance Supplies. Cost 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. Each unit of supplies is essentially a standard truck container filled to the brim with a wide variety of replacement parts. Can be used to repair or create basic mechanial or electronic systems.

Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Cost 3 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. A truck container of non-standard high-tech and/or high-precision replacement parts for a variety of advanced technologies. Includes complex optronic computer parts, high-performance materials, and so forth. Can be used to repair or jury-rig new Advanced Technology systems.

Food. 0.5 RU, Size 3, Mass 1. Compressed protein and vitamin bars, carbohydrate sludge and other such forms of slightly distasteful if highly nutritious examples of deep space food. Minimal quality, but sufficient for a healthy diet, for 10 awake persons for 1 year.

Air tanks & vac suits. 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. For some strange reason, people who routinely travel in space feel better if emergency vacuum suits and pressurized air tanks are available for those rare hull-breaches or life-support failures, for someone to have a chance at fixing them. Provides 5 suits and 24h per suit of breathable air.

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Orbital Survey Satellite. Cost 10 RU, Size 3, Mass 3. Highly developed satellite intended to be launched in to stable orbit over a planet or a moon. Using a variety of technologies, it slowly if steadily scans the body below it for mineral deposits and transmits the data regarding location, depth, materials and size of deposits to a ship or a ground installation using radio. A single satellite can fully scan an Earth-like planet in 10 years.

Weather Satellite. Cost 10 RU, Size 3, Mass 3. A combination of passive and active technologies, this satellite is intended to gather information of atmospheric conditions. Moisture-analyzers, high-atmosphere wind speed measurers, cloud radar, lightning bolt detectors, particle density optometers and other technologies make this satellite an effective orbital weather- and atmospheric analysis laboratory. Unfortunately, the design cannot incorporate the complex and power-hungry Expert Systems to collate and analyze the data for an on-the-spot prediction of weather conditions. This satellite can only provide a remote user with all the necessary information. In addition, a single satellite can only observe a limited area at a time – the size of central Europe, for reference.

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Habitation Dome S / M / L. Cost 4 / 6 / 8. Size 1 / 2 / 3, Mass 0.5 / 1 / 1.5 An inflatable, basic, vacuum rated plastic habitation dome with aluminium/titanium supports. Provides near-instant, basic empty space for equipment, living space or other such purposes. Simply find a flat piece of ground, assemble the supports, and inflate with air.

Armored Habitation Dome S / M / L. Cost 6 / 10 / 14, Size 2 / 4 / 6. Mass 2.5 / 5 / 7.5. With a core of basic Habitation Dome, this upgraded version includes a rigid outer shell of military-scale composite armor. It naturally weights quite a bit more and takes longer to fully assemble. However it provides solid protection from aggressive weather phenomena or micro-meteors, nearly guaranteeing the physical integrity of the Dome even in the most hazardous environments. Small dome is 300, medium 600 and largest 1000 square meters, with top height ranging from 5m to 20m.

Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units. Cost 2 RU, Size 3, Mass 2. A pair of advanced, 2.5m tall constructor units. Forget searching for the right tool, waiting for a crane to swing over or even most common hazards. Simply get into one of these, and you're a single-man hybrid of a constructor team and a cargo loader. The variants being offered to Outpost missions are atmospherically sealed.

Digging & drilling vehicles. Cost 2 RU, Size 4, Mass 4. A pair of advanced vehicles powered by electric engines, intended to be operated by a single person each. These drill-headed, tracked vehicles can dig, burrow and drill through most rock without any real problems. Advanced servo technology allows them to dig even straight down, or make 90 degree turns in spaces smaller than they are, the haul out the materials with their internal containers. Atmospherically sealed and rollcage made from starship-hull grade materials make these excellent, modern tools for basic groundworking or underground drilling.

Constructor Bot Team. Cost 15 RU, Size 5, Mass 4. A team of ten remote-operateable semi-automated constructor robots, that can build anything on personal or industrial scale. These things are not intelligent, but work tirelessly and with precision as long as intelligent oversight is present. They multiply the amount of physical labour a single human can accomplish to staggering amounts. You only need to periodically recharge their batteries. User's manual, remote-interface program, recharge station and maintenance manual included, as usual.

Mining Bot Team. Cost 12 RU, Size 5, Mass 4. Used all over the place in the Sol-system asteroid fields, a single mining bot team works as a unit to dig into rock, excavate the materials, transport them to a site nearby and sort them according to rough criteria (such as "Iron ore here, porous rock there"). They are also often used for underground excavations, for constructor bots to create entire subterranean installations to the space opened up by these units. The bots are not intelligent and a team requires oversight from one human, if they are to accomplish anything. However, they are precise and efficient, and have to pause only for recharging. As usual, everything except actual spare parts are included in the package, to ensure stable long-term operation.

Manufacturing equipment. Cost 8 RU, Size 3, Mass 3. A low-tech workshop-type solution for early manufacturing needs. This set contains all the necessary equipment and work benches to construct basic electronics, practice small-scale metallurgy, and turn simple raw materials into spare parts and components, and with time, more complex tools. However, the limited use of robotics makes this manpower-intensive solution and unsuitable for large-scale manufacturing. Requires 8 persons and 1MW of power for optimal efficiency. Effectively zero maintenance required.

Automated Production Line. Cost 20 RU, Size 4, Mass 7. Robotics based self-contained small assembly line. Provide 10MW of power, intelligent oversight from 2 persons and basic raw materials, and simply watch finished parts and components come out. Given time, it can produce all the parts of simple bots, or even an unassembled copy of itself. The basic model is unable to produce Advanced Technology parts, such as optronic circuitry. As these units are often used to provide basic manufacturing capability on remote locations with manpower concerns, they have been optimized for batch type work. This makes the units more complex and overall only somewhat faster than manual labour from a skilled team with basic facilities. As such, it requires high-maintenance, though all the information and tools required to operate and maintain this unit safely are included.

My First Factory kit. Cost 40 RU, Size 10, Mass 20. A package of parts and equipment simply waiting to be assembled at a suitable location and plugged to a power generator. Once finished, this heavily automated batch-type industrial unit is capable of turning raw materials into any finished basic technological product, up to the size of a semi-truck and to the complexity of a simple Bot in a single go. Given time and resources, this facility can produce Advanced parts, and eventually produce components to assemble another one like it. Due to heavy use of robotics, expert systems and simple 3D printers, along with in-built ore processor and electronics fabricator, only a single person is required to oversee the entire factory and blueprints can be directly fed to the system to being production of the intended finished component or product. Compared to simpler automated systems, this unit is highly effective and productive. You only need 20 MW of power, along with unprocessed requisite raw materials (though availability of pre-processed materials speeds up the function of this unit). Users however often note that complexity of this unit also results in high maintenance demand and periodic breakdowns. Note: Advanced Technology, on-order only. Construction time: 12 months.

Ore Processor. Cost 6 RU, Size 4, Mass 5. Basic, rugged design intended to crush rock and ore, and separate materials within by weight, density and/or magnetic properties. 2 MW of electricity required, throughput per day of 2 tons raw ore.

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Bio-recycler kit. Cost 3 RU, Size 2, Mass 4. Nearly all organic materials can be broken down, when mixed with water and put under sufficient preassure and heat. The rest break down just as easily if you add ozone or some recently developed chemicals as catalysts. This kit provides industrial scale mixers, pressure boilers, separator columns, ozone injectors, necessary chemicals and so forth, to reduce any and all organic waste produced by up to 200 people into basic but useable hydrocarbons. Simply select a place, assemble the kit, provide water and 5 MW of electricity for continued and fully automated operation.

Hydroponics kit. Cost 7 RU, Size 6, Mass 5. All the equipment – barring water – to begin farming at the target planet. Simply excavate a suitable cavern, build a dome, or deploy outdoors if you are lucky, pickup a wrench and begin assembly Within a matter of months, you'll have your first set of harvest coming along nicely. Provides sustainably sufficient food for up to 50 active individuals, as long as water, and warmth with sunlight (or 15 MW of electricity) is provided. The kit also includes full blueprints and technical manuals as hard copies, for easy repair, maintenance and expansion of the farm.

Organic Sludge Compressor kit. Cost 2 RU, Size 2, Mass 1. Newly established installations often have to contend with limited space or resources. Even hydroponics can at times be an unaffordable luxury. The most recent solution: Organic Sludge Compressor, based upon the theoretical concept of protein resequencers. Sophisticated analysis unit recognizes organic materials and a chemistry expert system calculates required input to turn that material into basic edible nutrition. As long as an organic base is provided, even simple inorganic materials can be processed for the missing elements. Once all requirements have been fulfilled, it processes them into basic nutritious goo containing artificial vitamins, proteins and so forth. 5 MW of power required for continued operation, can sustainably feed up to 100 persons. Note: Advanced Technology.

Meat-vat kit. Cost 15 RU, Size 4, Mass 5. More than one army has fallen due to poor food supply, more than one rebellion started from hunger. With the wonders from stem-cell research, an industrial scale petri dish, nutrients and a little power, a juicy beef steak ready for cooking is born. This facility takes in 2 MW of power, any organic materials, and intelligent oversight from one person, to produce fresh and artificial meat as a supplement for dietary needs. At full production, this facility can feed up to 20 individuals with a meat-based diet.

Water Synthesizer. Cost 1 RU. Size 2, Mass 2. Liquid water is a necessity for all known life. Too bad it cannot be counted upon to be easily available at the destination. This 'synthesizer' plant burns hydrogen in a series of fuel cells in presence of almost pure oxygen. Old-fashioned, but effective and reliable. As long as sufficient raw materials are present, a single unit can provide up to 100 kg of water per day, along with 1 MW of power.

Oxygen Extractor. Cost 5 RU. Size 2, Mass 4. Oxygen is a must for human life, but it is not always conveniently available in a breathable format. Recycling units can also break down, and do not offer a solution to expand a population. This all-purpose unit can process any atmosphere containing even trace amounts of the precious gas, and separate it from the other - probably lethal – compounds present. Requires 10 MW of power, produces up to 5 000 liters of pure oxygen a day, provided high enough concentrations in input material.

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Solar Panels. Cost 20 RU, Size 10, Mass 6. Latest technological improvements at Sol have given solar panels a staggering efficiency, approaching 30% limit. While power output might not be stable, or as high per ton of equipment as fusion generators, solar power is simpler, cannot explode and does not depend upon fuel. Simple take a panel, point it at the sun, and plug in a cord. A single set contains enough panels to provide 30 MW of power on Earth-like conditions.

He-3 Inertial Fusion Generator kit. Cost 15 / 40 / 75 RU, Size 2/10/20. Mass 4/10/20. Generates 50 / 150 / 500 MW. A prefabricated, tightly packed construction kit of the same shipboard systems widely used in ships of mankind – sans the massive heat radiators required to operate such a power plant in space. Lay down the groundwork and keep building, and faster than you'd might think you'll have a stable, easy to maintain, tried and tested type of fusion generator ready to provide your Outpost with power. As long as you can provide it with fuel, and intelligent oversight to make sure it doesn't go boom.

Radioisotope thermoelectric battery. 1 RU. Size 1. Mass 1. Generates 1 MW for 50 years. Take some radioactive isotopes, surround them with heat-to-electricity converters, encase it all in radiation shielding. Presto; cheap, long term battery. Too bad about the radioactive waste and poor efficiency though.Note: Simple technology, fast and easy to use. Extremely unlikely to malfunction. Cannot be refuelled.

--

Optronic Central Computer. Cost 5 RU. Size 2. Mass 2. A large series of Expert Systems, combined with centralized databases and computing power, along with wirelessly connected tablet-computers, this unit is ready to function as a central computer hub for a small to medium installation or colony. It provides capability to run oversight or control programs on a large number of other machines, various other programs, collate and store data, or even provide advice. Extensive knowledge of historical applications to solve problems an Outpost might be facing, is combined with special-built Expert System to accept input from the colonists regarding problems and available materials and equipment. The system then analyzes the requirements and seeks to match it with a solution programmed to its database, finally providing the colonists with the fastest, simplest or cheapest solution that fulfills the restrictive criteria. When required, the system can print out blueprints, assembly guides or historical records regarding the solution, as long as such exist within the system's databanks. Note: Advanced Technology.

So, I scared you away?

Building ship draft now.

Question - what is the effect of taking two thrusters of the same or different type? And what's with fuel tank sizes?

As for science\engineering project - power source, a submarine style nuclear reactor, how good it could be? I guess it would be reliable as a well tested technology, and it's power output would be nice too. And require no fuel.

Also, my draft is 1.5 space short, tell me which system would be easiest to downsize a bit.

I could downsize the life support, just found out...

Is there any way to get more cryopods without wasting another subsystem construction slot on it?

Here it goes:

Outpost Vessel 3 (Fast long term use ship draft mk2)

Maximum size: 90 units.
Base Mass: 20 units.

Installed subsystems:

Airlock. Size 1, Mass 1.
Basic Optical Sensor package. Size 0.5, Mass 0.5
Cryogenic pods (minimal crew; 15 persons). Size 5 units, Mass 5 units. Electricity 5MW
Cargo Bay (Medium; 20 units of cargo). Size 22 units. Mass: 1 unit (+ held cargo).
Bay Empty

Systems for installation:

Command centre (optronic central computer) 20 RU. Size 1, Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW. Improved processing speed, reliability and hard drive storage capacity over electronic command. Requires 5 persons awake at all times.

Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster. 20 RU. Size 10, Mass 20. Electricity 5 MW. Requires any fuel tank. Note: Fuel Efficient. High Thrust: Removes 20% from journey lenght. Warning! Advanced technology: major components not in storage. Time to build functional unit: 9 months.


He-3 Inertial Fusion generator /w external radiators. 20 RU. Size 5. Mass 5. Generates 50 MW. Requires fuel. Note: Rugged technology, unlikely to malfunction. Reactor design maintenance-friendly. Minimum output at all times 50%.

Closed Loop Life Support /w hydroponics. 20 RU. Size 4. Mass 3. Electricity 6 MW. Provides near-indefinite life support for 30 awake persons or 150 cryosleepers. Requires 1 additional person awake.

Cryogenic pods (15 persons). Cost 10 RU, Size 5 units, Mass 5 units. Electricity 5 MW. Additional crew for the Outpost mission, this unit allows the vessel to carry a larger complement of human workforce.


Damage Control & machine shop. Cost 3 RU. Size 4. Mass 2. Electricity 1 MW. Series of metalworking machines, cutting equipment and tools, and diagnosis computers intended to give minor manufacturing and modification capability to a ship. A large help in repairing broken systems, and can even be used for small construction projects. Note: Hands-on types of the crew will find it relaxing, to be able to unleash their imaginations into something concrete.

Medical Bay. Cost 3 RU. Size 2. Mass 1. Electricity 1 MW. Tightly packed, this subsystem provides small scale medical support to a handful of persons. Reference libraries, small drug stores and basic equipment for anything up to and including basic emergency surgery allows for treatmen of most common ilnesses and mundane injuries.

He-3 Fuel Tank. L Cost 6 RU. Size 6. Mass 9 (including fuel). Small fuel tank provides fuel to run a single small fuel-dependant system for 5 years, 2.5 years if high-consumption.


Cargo Bay (Medium; 20 units of cargo). Size 22 units. Mass: 1 unit (+ held cargo).
Bay Empty
104 ru
Total Mass of vessel: 70.5 units
Unused Size remaining: 2.5 Units.
Total Electricity Required: 24 MW.

Oh, wow...this is really, really complex. Well, why not? I'll give it a try. Here's a first proposal for the ship...

Destination: Epsilon Eridani


Subsystems:

1. Command Centre (optronic central computer)
1. VSI Magnetoplasma Rocket

Project: ?

2. Radioisotope thermoelectric battery
2. Closed Loop Life Support with hydroponics

Project: ?

3. He-3 Fuel Tank
3. Cryogenic pods

Project: ?

4. Medical Bay
4. Reinforced Outer Hull

Project: ?

--> 12 months




Cargo:

1. Air tanks & vac suits
2. Weather Satellite
3. Armored Habitation Dome M
4. Constructor Bot Team
5. Water Synthesizer
6. Optronic Central Computer
7. Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies
8. Construction Bot Team

Really, seriously, you expect to power everything with this? Also, do your calcs.

Ion Thrusters cannot be coupled with anything else, but can be put on top of itself. EDIT: Actually, they can be combined with anything as well. I thought it owuld become broken like that, but it wont. It's all still electricity you need to supply, and a module you need to install.

Additional engines add surplus thrust. Expect great boost to travel time.

Fuel tanks provide different amounts of fuel. One small fuel tank is enough to provide a small generator OR a single non-high-consumption engine for the full duration shown at optimal efficiency. On the other hand, Surplus fuel might be nice at your destination, or can be used during the journey to keep an ongoing engine burn for faster travel time.

A medium tank provides double the fuel of a small tank, a large tank triple. The advantage is that larger fuel tanks are installed as a single system, and as thus faster to weld into the ship's structure.

You have moved past nuclear fission in terms of power production per ton of reactor, by utilizing fusion. You can ask engineers to give you such a module and indeed require no refuelling. However, power output will loose to established Fusion-based solutions.

At this stage, no. Cryopod technology is in it's infancy. It requires constant oversight from intelligent personnel, a regular supply of power along with nutrient feeds. Extensive connectivity to ship's struture is required. A 'cargo' type solution does not exist at this time.

Fuel and subsystem llimit make builing a sensible ship nearly impossible. The trip is going to take at labout 15-20 years with the fast fusion thrusters. That's a large fuel tank for a normal power system alone, at least. What about fuel for propulsion? It's supposed to be fuel efficent, what does it do? Also, does a fusion reactor use less fuel when not running at 100% capacity?
Do the travel times rely on engines working all the way?

Yes.

Uses less fuel.

Yes. That's why minimum output figure is there. For sake of simplicity, fuel expenditure is equal to power output in percentages.

No. Assume 33% accel, 33% coasting, 33% decel as default. Less fuel -> less accel and less decel -> greater travel lenght. More fuel -> greater accel and decel phases -> faster travel.

Can we develop a modified cargo bay that contains several other subsystems, then mount that onto the ship using only a single install action? I'm thinking of stuff like the medical bay, life support systems & damage control machine shop.

Sure, you can ask engineers to do something like that.

Edited my ship with smaller life support, no need for the big one, solves the size problem too.

Is there any chance to research more size efficent cargo bays, fuel tanks, and bigger fuel tanks?

As my ship stands now, will it be able to arrive anywhere without running out of He-3?

Good idea.


I've also made (i have no idea how) a pretty barebones, but industrially powerful cargo set that fits just into my 2 med cargo bay set and costs just 102 RU.

Optronic Central Computer. Cost 5 RU. Size 2. Mass 2. A large series of Expert Systems, combined with centralized databases and computing power, along with wirelessly connected tablet-computers, this unit is ready to function as a central computer hub for a small to medium installation or colony. It provides capability to run oversight or control programs on a large number of other machines, various other programs, collate and store data, or even provide advice. Extensive knowledge of historical applications to solve problems an Outpost might be facing, is combined with special-built Expert System to accept input from the colonists regarding problems and available materials and equipment. The system then analyzes the requirements and seeks to match it with a solution programmed to its database, finally providing the colonists with the fastest, simplest or cheapest solution that fulfills the restrictive criteria. When required, the system can print out blueprints, assembly guides or historical records regarding the solution, as long as such exist within the system's databanks. Note: Advanced Technology.


My First Factory kit. Cost 40 RU, Size 10, Mass 20. A package of parts and equipment simply waiting to be assembled at a suitable location and plugged to a power generator. Once finished, this heavily automated batch-type industrial unit is capable of turning raw materials into any finished basic technological product, up to the size of a semi-truck and to the complexity of a simple Bot in a single go. Given time and resources, this facility can produce Advanced parts, and eventually produce components to assemble another one like it. Due to heavy use of robotics, expert systems and simple 3D printers, along with in-built ore processor and electronics fabricator, only a single person is required to oversee the entire factory and blueprints can be directly fed to the system to being production of the intended finished component or product. Compared to simpler automated systems, this unit is highly effective and productive. You only need 20 MW of power, along with unprocessed requisite raw materials (though availability of pre-processed materials speeds up the function of this unit). Users however often note that complexity of this unit also results in high maintenance demand and periodic breakdowns. Note: Advanced Technology, on-order only. Construction time: 12 months.

Powered Exo-skeleton Constructor Units. Cost 2 RU, Size 3, Mass 2. A pair of advanced, 2.5m tall constructor units. Forget searching for the right tool, waiting for a crane to swing over or even most common hazards. Simply get into one of these, and you're a single-man hybrid of a constructor team and a cargo loader. The variants being offered to Outpost missions are atmospherically sealed.

Digging & drilling vehicles. Cost 2 RU, Size 4, Mass 4. A pair of advanced vehicles powered by electric engines, intended to be operated by a single person each. These drill-headed, tracked vehicles can dig, burrow and drill through most rock without any real problems. Advanced servo technology allows them to dig even straight down, or make 90 degree turns in spaces smaller than they are, the haul out the materials with their internal containers. Atmospherically sealed and rollcage made from starship-hull grade materials make these excellent, modern tools for basic groundworking or underground drilling.

Mining Bot Team. Cost 12 RU, Size 5, Mass 4. Used all over the place in the Sol-system asteroid fields, a single mining bot team works as a unit to dig into rock, excavate the materials, transport them to a site nearby and sort them according to rough criteria (such as "Iron ore here, porous rock there"). They are also often used for underground excavations, for constructor bots to create entire subterranean installations to the space opened up by these units. The bots are not intelligent and a team requires oversight from one human, if they are to accomplish anything. However, they are precise and efficient, and have to pause only for recharging. As usual, everything except actual spare parts are included in the package, to ensure stable long-term operation.


Orbital Survey Satellite. Cost 10 RU, Size 3, Mass 3. Highly developed satellite intended to be launched in to stable orbit over a planet or a moon. Using a variety of technologies, it slowly if steadily scans the body below it for mineral deposits and transmits the data regarding location, depth, materials and size of deposits to a ship or a ground installation using radio. A single satellite can fully scan an Earth-like planet in 10 years.


Ore Processor. Cost 6 RU, Size 4, Mass 5. Basic, rugged design intended to crush rock and ore, and separate materials within by weight, density and/or magnetic properties. 2 MW of electricity required, throughput per day of 2 tons raw ore.


Oxygen Extractor. Cost 5 RU. Size 2, Mass 4. Oxygen is a must for human life, but it is not always conveniently available in a breathable format. Recycling units can also break down, and do not offer a solution to expand a population. This all-purpose unit can process any atmosphere containing even trace amounts of the precious gas, and separate it from the other - probably lethal – compounds present. Requires 10 MW of power, produces up to 5 000 liters of pure oxygen a day, provided high enough concentrations in input material.


Meat-vat kit. Cost 15 RU, Size 4, Mass 5. More than one army has fallen due to poor food supply, more than one rebellion started from hunger. With the wonders from stem-cell research, an industrial scale petri dish, nutrients and a little power, a juicy beef steak ready for cooking is born. This facility takes in 2 MW of power, any organic materials, and intelligent oversight from one person, to produce fresh and artificial meat as a supplement for dietary needs. At full production, this facility can feed up to 20 individuals with a meat-based diet.


Basic Maintenance Supplies. Cost 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. Each unit of supplies is essentially a standard truck container filled to the brim with a wide variety of replacement parts. Can be used to repair or create basic mechanial or electronic systems.

Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Cost 3 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. A truck container of non-standard high-tech and/or high-precision replacement parts for a variety of advanced technologies. Includes complex optronic computer parts, high-performance materials, and so forth. Can be used to repair or jury-rig new Advanced Technology systems.


Air tanks & vac suits. 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1. For some strange reason, people who routinely travel in space feel better if emergency vacuum suits and pressurized air tanks are available for those rare hull-breaches or life-support failures, for someone to have a chance at fixing them. Provides 5 suits and 24h per suit of breathable air.

Yes, though this will likely result in cargo offloading penalties to the downsizing or removing what little in-built cargo handling equipment there is.

Yes, though major breakthroughs in fuel density are unlikely.

Easily yes. Just a matter of building a bigger cylinder.

Yes, though at reduced travel speed. Problem is you'll have to run your reactor the entire time, and cannot complete a full acceleration phase with the fuel you have.

Any thoughts on the destination?

We will probably do that.

That too, if the damage control\med bay\cryo pod thingy will work and save us a few space points.

Also, what's the easiest component to modify in order to spare more space in my design?

Considering the fuel problem, hmm, the closest one?

So:

January 2051 – March 2051:
Ship Modifications (2 slots)
[ ]
[ ]

Scientists & Engineers project(1 slot)
[ ]

(Cargo purchases - if any - at this time)

Destination?

After a quick examination, engineers suggest working on the Thruster design, or improving the cryopod module. Neither technology is rugged and throughly tested, and inefficiencies are bound to have cropped up during original design.

January 2051 – March 2051:
Ship Modifications (2 slots)
[ ]Closed Loop Life Support /w hydroponics. 20. Size 4 . Mass 3 Electricity 6 MW.
[ ]He-3 Inertial Fusion generator /w external radiators. 20 RU. Size 5. Mass 5. Generates 50 MW.

Scientists & Engineers project(1 slot)
Perfect the Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster. More reliability, fuel efficency, less size.

(Cargo purchases - if any - at this time)
My First Factory kit. It's pretty much either now or never.

Also these, we will need them 100%:

Basic Maintenance Supplies. Cost 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1.
Advanced Technology Maintenance Supplies. Cost 3 RU, Size 1, Mass 1.
Air tanks & vac suits. 1 RU, Size 1, Mass 1.

Destination?
Epsilon Eridani (10.5 LY; 21 years)



And is there any way we get a second research slot?

Maybe swap the medium cargo bay with expanded superstructure to allow larger fuel tanks & cargo bays? I'd also start on the thruster research immediately since it takes 9 months to build that type of engine.

No.

Already starting the thruster research. We can't do superstructure now, didn't fill enough structure yet. Swapping for other stuff though.

Do larger fuel tanks take a research project too?

Also, are other ship's teams researching stuff? Can we know what is it, and can we make use out of it?

The superstructure requirement is less than 60% of space used, we don't have to fill it up first. The life support can hopefully be combined with the medical and repair bays in a later turn research project to avoid using up a subsystem slot on just it.

The 'superstructure expansion' cannot be done once 60% of hull space has been used. The technicians cannot make the expanded structure safe at that point, since installed equipment is hampering their work too much.