Horus Lupercal
The mothership's design phase is around 80% complete. Actually its 3 motherships in one plus some other cargo pods for other experiments I wanna try out once at Neptune, 2 smaller ships to explore the moons and 1 main ship as the deliverer of all the needed cargo and to care for 12 crew members.
The link below is the crew section orbital assembly plan:
View attachment 32101
The most important part of the ship by far is the crew module, for crew health and happiness.
You can't spell "Mother" without "Love and Care". To ensure the maximum comfort for the 12 crew members for an approximately 12 year journey in order to remain psychologically and physically healthy;
1) The main mothership will have 2 large
Habitation Modules (around 700m^3 living volume each) with personal quarters for each member (116 m^3 per person; 8m diameter x 2.3m height). You won't be feeling much claustrophobia here.
2) There will be 3
EDEN Modules, 1 will be used to replenish or maintain the ship's oxygen supply throughout the journey. 2 will be used to replenish the ship's food supply by growing various kinds of vegetables to ensure our astronauts receive a full spectrum of vitamins during their voyage. (P.S. I might make some nutritional mistakes here, cuz Im not a nutritionist)
The EDEN modules are also responsible for scrubbing CO2 from the air and cleaning drinking water. It also has a state-of-the-art food processing system to preserve all harvested food, it is also equipped with advanced robotics that will tend to the crops and plants while the crew are under "deep sleep".
Available Crops Variety:
Leaf lettuce (Thin to 3 plants/ft. of row) 8 ft. [24 lettuce per person, 96 ft for full crew] (29m)
Onion (4 sets/ft. of row) 12-20 sets [12 onion per person, 144 for full crew, 36 ft] (11m)
Peas (6 plants/ft. of row) 15-20 plants [180 for full crew, 30 ft] (9m)
Potato (1 plant/ft. of row) 10 plants [120 for full crew, 120 ft] (37m)
Tomato (1 plant/2 ft. of row) 2-4 plants [24 for full crew, 48 ft] (15m)
Available Oxygen Replenishment Plant Variety:
Epipremnum aureum (24 inch sep. per plant) [Can grow 828 plants per module]
3) A
Recreational Module and artificial gravity wheel. It contains mainly entertainment and exercise for 6 crew members at a time and is used according to each member's work schedule to prevent overcrowding. The modules includes:
- 1 gym (inside the wheel, important to prevent bodily degradation)
- 1 cinema
- 1 library
- 1 canteen (can be re-purposed as a games room so the crew can mingle and play board/card/video games together)
- 2 cupolas (offers a 360 view of space, expect awesome views of Earth & Neptune through these.)
- 1 immersion chamber (also inside the wheel, this chamber replicates the sensations of living on Earth for those who are homesick, a few examples are thunderstorms, rain, sea breeze, cherry blossoms, a walk in the Autumn forest)
4) A
Hypothermics Module to significantly reduce the metabolism rates of all 12 crew, this significantly reduces the amount of life support supplies needed, it is also possible that this reduced metabolism will slow down aging. This module also places the crew under a medically induced coma so they do not have to experience the great passage of time.
However, they will not be kept in this state all the way till Neptune. The hypothermics module does not prevent bodily degradation due to microgravity, and the ship's automated systems can only do so much to maintain the ship by itself. Throughout the journey, within 3 year intervals, the crew will awaken from their slumber to undergo:
1) artificial gravity therapy (working out at the gym to maintain or attempt to regain lost muscle and bone mass)
2) intensive nutrition to maintain muscle and bone mass,
3) perform full IVA ship inspection and check in with ground control
4) perform full EVA ship inspection to check for FOD
5) practice depressurization, fire and hazardous substance leak drills
This awakening period will last for anywhere between 8-10 weeks before the crew will return to their deep slumber.
(Controversial subject ahead): In the event of an emergency, the ship's systems will force the crew awake by injecting powerful stimulants and rapid warming of the crew's bodies. This may sound very unpleasant, but is needed when events that cannot be handled by the ship's systems occurs or requires the crew's decision, say a severe hull rupture or a fire that destroyed many crucial components needed for the mission.
Speaking of the ship's automated crew protection systems, it will be capable of:
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Automatic course correction, both casual or emergency.
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Pressure monitoring, in the event of a hull rupture, the computer will shut off all access leading to the affected module and jettison it from the ship. It will then re-assemble itself, check the seals, and reopen the hatches, at this time the crew will be awoken to assess the situation and decide if that module is worth repairing or salvaging.
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Internal temperature monitoring, to detect fires or possible insulation failure.
5) The
Laboratory Module. Actually, the laboratory is more than just a lab. It has an infirmary (self explanatory), a multipurpose airlock (for EVAs or for sticking experiments into the vacuum of space) and a dual commercial deep space microsat deployment section (might as well earn a quick buck from this mission).
The infirmary bay is also equipped with a UV light therapy chamber, to provide the crew with artificial sunlight to prevent Vitamin D deficiency, which will heighten the risks of developing cancer.