Horus Lupercal Alright, here it is, the next presentation on the Triton Colony Mothership.
As you can see it took me long enough to discover Lenovo Photo Viewer's auto resize function so the forum's chat box can fit the massive image in here properly without turning it into a link.
Now with all that out of the way. Here is the assembly plan for the Triton mothership, its the largest of the two sub-classes weighing in at around 400 tons. As shown in the window to the left side of the image above, the ship consists of:
- A multi-purpose shuttler module where the crew will work and live in.
- A long cargo spine that allows for the storing and releasing of 4 cargo landers without the need to sever the connection of the ship from the reactor.
- A 4-manned lander docked to the front of the shuttler crew section that will ferry 4 people to Triton's surface and back.
- A nuclear electric ion propulsion unit at the far end of the ship.
Although this ship does not come with an artificial gravity wheel, it adopts another method of generating artificial gravity, which is by spinning the vehicle about its pitch.
As illustrated, the 4-manned lander shall be stored in a ballistics fairing to protect it from micrometeorites or other forms of debris during the long journey.
There will be 4 unmanned cargo landers that will be tasked with delivering all the needed scientific equipment and habitation hardware to Triton's surface before the crew does. The procedures have been numbered as shown above, and the number points will be explained below.
1- The surface laboratory lander shall be released first as one of its side mounted cargo which is the survey orbiter needs to be activated first to help find the best landing site.
2- The survey orbiter is released and activated.
3- The seismic experiment impacter probe is released, at this point the surface laboratory lander shall remain dormant, orbiting Triton until further orders are given.
4- At this point in time, the survey orbiter have done its job and the crew have dicussed with ground control back on Earth about the best landing site according to the topographic data allocated. Unmanned cargo lander No.1 is released into Triton orbit to prepare for landing.
5- Unmanned cargo lander No.2 is released into Triton orbit to prepare for landing.
6- Unmanned cargo lander No.1 lands on the designated landing site and releases the cargo.
7- Unmanned cargo lander No.2 lands on the designated landing site and releases the cargo.
8- Surface Laboratory Lander lands on the designated landing site.
9- Surface Habitation Lander is released into Triton orbit.
10- Surface Habitation Lander lands near the laboratory lander.
11- Mini Fission Reactor is released from the habitation lander and will move away from the landing site until a safe distance is achieved, it will generate around 4000 watts of power for the colony.
12- The S/X-Band uplink transceiver unit is released from the habitation lander, it will establish communications from the Triton colony to the orbiting mothership above.
13- Finally, when all modules check out. The 4 crew members will climb into the lander and detach from the main ship, preparing for descent.
14- The 4-manned lander lands near the colony, and the crew will exit and make their way towards the colony, this shall be their new home for around a year.
15- At the end of the mission, the crew packs up their ground samples and scientific documents back into the 4-manned lander. Boot up the flight computers, and ascend from the moon to rendezvous with the mothership.
After the lander has redocked with the main ship with all crew and scientific bounty transferred over, the lander will be left in Triton orbit to shed weight. The mothership will leave Triton to rendezvous with Poseidon to once again transfer everything over, before finally being left in Neptune orbit.
The 4 Triton crew will reunite with the 4 Poseidon crew, and if everything goes as planned, the other 4 Neptune System Exploration crew
would've already returned and are awaiting Triton crew's reunion. And yes, there 4 people in each crew, or should I call it the "444 Squadron".
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With the basics explained. I would like to bring your attention to procedure steps 6 and 7, because the illustration below will explain more details after the cargo is released.
There are 4 trays worth of cargo altogether, 2 in each lander. The first two trays will be surface science equipment (with all relevant equipment annotated below), and the other two are vehicles, one of which is an unmanned aerial exploration vehicle and the other is a 2-manned pressurized exploration rover.
After the cargo lander has done its job, both will fly off and crash elsewhere so as to not get in the way. Both surface science packages and UAEV will jettison their airblast fairings that are needed to protect their internals from engine blast.
All scientific equipment used and their purposes will be listed below after the image, specifications will also be included.
[Surface Science Experiments List]
-Active Seismic Experiment (ASE)
(To determine the detailed structure of the upper kilometer of a moon's crust)
-Cold Cathode Gauge Experiment (CCGE)
(Measures the total pressure of the atmosphere on a specific moon)
-Charged Particle Environment Experiment (CPEE)
(To measure the energy spectra of low-energy charged particles striking the body surface.)
[To see how Triton's thin atmosphere affects this.]
-Heat Flow Experiment (HFE)
(To determine the rate of heat loss from the interior by temperature and thermal property measurements at the surface and in the subsurface)
[If the specific heat reading says 1, dunno, prolly water.]
-Moon Surface Gravimeter (MSG)
(To obtain highly accurate measurements of the surface gravitational acceleration and its temporal variations at a selected point on the surface.)
-Moon Surface Magnetometer (MSM)
(To detect the presence of a magnetic field and to measure the intensity of the field.)
-Passive Seismic Experiment (PSE)
(To detect seismic activity and provide information about the internal structure of a moon.)
-Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
(Main power supply)
-Seismic Impacter
(To induce seismic activity by crashing into the surface)
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[Surface Survey Orbiter]
-VHF and UHF Antenna
(Communications)
-Gravitational Mapping Magnetometer
(Gravitational mapping of a specified moon)
-Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
(Main power supply)
-Moon Exploration Neutron Detector (MEND)
(provides measurements, creates maps, and detects possible near-surface water ice deposits)
-Compacted Orbiter Laser Altimeter (COLA)
(provides a precise topographic model and geodetic grid of specified moon, and to find a proper landing spot)
-Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (ROC)
(determines the measurements required for landing site certification, and for visuals to send back to Earth to be examined by geographers.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Unmanned Aerial Exploration Vehicle]
- Wide Angle Camera
(For PR stunt)
- Pulse Modulation Radar Altimeter
(To determine the true altitude relative to ground)
- Photometer
(To determine how light levels are affected by the atmosphere relative to altitude, even in the slightest)
- Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
(Measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in the atmosphere.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Triton Exploration Colony; Specifications]
Maximum Crew Accomodation: 4
Minimum Crew Needed: 1
Dry mass (start of mission): 346.5 ton (excl. fuel and fuel tank mass)
Dry mass (end of mission): 100.7 ton (excl. fuel and fuel tank mass)
Wet mass: 400 ton approx.
Isp: 1020 sec
Life Support Duration: 3 years
Modules:
1- Crew Habitation Module*
2- Shuttle Command Module*
3- Nuclear Electric Propulsion Unit
4- Main Fuel Tank
5- Orbital Observation Module*
6- Cargo Spine
7- 4-manned Lander
[Shuttler]
Dry Mass: 36.1 ton
Wet Mass: 40.6 ton
[Propulsion Unit]
Mass: 44.5 ton
[Cargo Spine]
Mass (Unloaded): 20.1 ton
Cargo:
1- Additional Cargo Delivery Lander No.1 (ACADELA); Surface Rover & Unmanned Atmospheric Exploration Vehicle
2- Additional Cargo Delivery Lander No.2 (ACADELA); Surface Science Package No.1 & Surface Science Package No.2
3- Surface Habitation Lander
4- Surface Laboratory Lander
[4-Manned Lander]
Maximum Crew Accomodation: 4
Minimum Crew Needed: 0
Dry mass: 15.25 ton
Wet mass: 22 ton
Total dV: 1010 m/s
Isp: 281 sec
Life Support Duration: 1 week independant /or/ Reliant on shuttler when docked with it.
[ACADELA; No.1]
Transport mass: 57.9 ton
Dry mass: 43.95 ton
Wet mass: 55.2 ton
Isp: 281 sec
Total dV: 628 m/s
Cargo:
- Triton Unmanned Aerial Exploration Vehicle
- 2-manned Pressurized Rover
[ACADELA; No.2]
Transport mass: 55.2 ton
Dry mass: 41.25 ton
Wet mass: 52.5 ton
Isp: 281 sec
Total dV: 665 m/s
Cargo:
- Surface Science Equipment No.1
- Surface Science Equipment No.2
[Surface Habitation Lander]
Transport mass: 55.2 ton
Dry mass: 34.5 ton
Wet mass: 52.5 ton
Isp: 244 sec
Total dV: 1005 m/s
Life Support Duration: 1 year
Side mounts:
- Mini Fission Reactor Package
- S/X-Band Uplink Transceiver Package
[Surface Laboratory Lander]
Transport mass: 55.5 ton
Dry mass: 20.4 ton
Wet mass: 38.4 ton
Isp: 244 sec
Total dV: 1514 m/s
Life Support Duration: 1 years
Side mounts:
- Triton Survey Satellite
- Seismic Impacter
As you can see it took me long enough to discover Lenovo Photo Viewer's auto resize function so the forum's chat box can fit the massive image in here properly without turning it into a link.
Now with all that out of the way. Here is the assembly plan for the Triton mothership, its the largest of the two sub-classes weighing in at around 400 tons. As shown in the window to the left side of the image above, the ship consists of:
- A multi-purpose shuttler module where the crew will work and live in.
- A long cargo spine that allows for the storing and releasing of 4 cargo landers without the need to sever the connection of the ship from the reactor.
- A 4-manned lander docked to the front of the shuttler crew section that will ferry 4 people to Triton's surface and back.
- A nuclear electric ion propulsion unit at the far end of the ship.
Although this ship does not come with an artificial gravity wheel, it adopts another method of generating artificial gravity, which is by spinning the vehicle about its pitch.
As illustrated, the 4-manned lander shall be stored in a ballistics fairing to protect it from micrometeorites or other forms of debris during the long journey.
There will be 4 unmanned cargo landers that will be tasked with delivering all the needed scientific equipment and habitation hardware to Triton's surface before the crew does. The procedures have been numbered as shown above, and the number points will be explained below.
1- The surface laboratory lander shall be released first as one of its side mounted cargo which is the survey orbiter needs to be activated first to help find the best landing site.
2- The survey orbiter is released and activated.
3- The seismic experiment impacter probe is released, at this point the surface laboratory lander shall remain dormant, orbiting Triton until further orders are given.
4- At this point in time, the survey orbiter have done its job and the crew have dicussed with ground control back on Earth about the best landing site according to the topographic data allocated. Unmanned cargo lander No.1 is released into Triton orbit to prepare for landing.
5- Unmanned cargo lander No.2 is released into Triton orbit to prepare for landing.
6- Unmanned cargo lander No.1 lands on the designated landing site and releases the cargo.
7- Unmanned cargo lander No.2 lands on the designated landing site and releases the cargo.
8- Surface Laboratory Lander lands on the designated landing site.
9- Surface Habitation Lander is released into Triton orbit.
10- Surface Habitation Lander lands near the laboratory lander.
11- Mini Fission Reactor is released from the habitation lander and will move away from the landing site until a safe distance is achieved, it will generate around 4000 watts of power for the colony.
12- The S/X-Band uplink transceiver unit is released from the habitation lander, it will establish communications from the Triton colony to the orbiting mothership above.
13- Finally, when all modules check out. The 4 crew members will climb into the lander and detach from the main ship, preparing for descent.
14- The 4-manned lander lands near the colony, and the crew will exit and make their way towards the colony, this shall be their new home for around a year.
15- At the end of the mission, the crew packs up their ground samples and scientific documents back into the 4-manned lander. Boot up the flight computers, and ascend from the moon to rendezvous with the mothership.
After the lander has redocked with the main ship with all crew and scientific bounty transferred over, the lander will be left in Triton orbit to shed weight. The mothership will leave Triton to rendezvous with Poseidon to once again transfer everything over, before finally being left in Neptune orbit.
The 4 Triton crew will reunite with the 4 Poseidon crew, and if everything goes as planned, the other 4 Neptune System Exploration crew
would've already returned and are awaiting Triton crew's reunion. And yes, there 4 people in each crew, or should I call it the "444 Squadron".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the basics explained. I would like to bring your attention to procedure steps 6 and 7, because the illustration below will explain more details after the cargo is released.
There are 4 trays worth of cargo altogether, 2 in each lander. The first two trays will be surface science equipment (with all relevant equipment annotated below), and the other two are vehicles, one of which is an unmanned aerial exploration vehicle and the other is a 2-manned pressurized exploration rover.
After the cargo lander has done its job, both will fly off and crash elsewhere so as to not get in the way. Both surface science packages and UAEV will jettison their airblast fairings that are needed to protect their internals from engine blast.
All scientific equipment used and their purposes will be listed below after the image, specifications will also be included.
[Surface Science Experiments List]
-Active Seismic Experiment (ASE)
(To determine the detailed structure of the upper kilometer of a moon's crust)
-Cold Cathode Gauge Experiment (CCGE)
(Measures the total pressure of the atmosphere on a specific moon)
-Charged Particle Environment Experiment (CPEE)
(To measure the energy spectra of low-energy charged particles striking the body surface.)
[To see how Triton's thin atmosphere affects this.]
-Heat Flow Experiment (HFE)
(To determine the rate of heat loss from the interior by temperature and thermal property measurements at the surface and in the subsurface)
[If the specific heat reading says 1, dunno, prolly water.]
-Moon Surface Gravimeter (MSG)
(To obtain highly accurate measurements of the surface gravitational acceleration and its temporal variations at a selected point on the surface.)
-Moon Surface Magnetometer (MSM)
(To detect the presence of a magnetic field and to measure the intensity of the field.)
-Passive Seismic Experiment (PSE)
(To detect seismic activity and provide information about the internal structure of a moon.)
-Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
(Main power supply)
-Seismic Impacter
(To induce seismic activity by crashing into the surface)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Surface Survey Orbiter]
-VHF and UHF Antenna
(Communications)
-Gravitational Mapping Magnetometer
(Gravitational mapping of a specified moon)
-Radioisotopic Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
(Main power supply)
-Moon Exploration Neutron Detector (MEND)
(provides measurements, creates maps, and detects possible near-surface water ice deposits)
-Compacted Orbiter Laser Altimeter (COLA)
(provides a precise topographic model and geodetic grid of specified moon, and to find a proper landing spot)
-Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (ROC)
(determines the measurements required for landing site certification, and for visuals to send back to Earth to be examined by geographers.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Unmanned Aerial Exploration Vehicle]
- Wide Angle Camera
(For PR stunt)
- Pulse Modulation Radar Altimeter
(To determine the true altitude relative to ground)
- Photometer
(To determine how light levels are affected by the atmosphere relative to altitude, even in the slightest)
- Gamma-Ray Spectrometer
(Measures the spectrum of the masses of the atoms or molecules present in the atmosphere.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Triton Exploration Colony; Specifications]
Maximum Crew Accomodation: 4
Minimum Crew Needed: 1
Dry mass (start of mission): 346.5 ton (excl. fuel and fuel tank mass)
Dry mass (end of mission): 100.7 ton (excl. fuel and fuel tank mass)
Wet mass: 400 ton approx.
Isp: 1020 sec
Life Support Duration: 3 years
Modules:
1- Crew Habitation Module*
2- Shuttle Command Module*
3- Nuclear Electric Propulsion Unit
4- Main Fuel Tank
5- Orbital Observation Module*
6- Cargo Spine
7- 4-manned Lander
[Shuttler]
Dry Mass: 36.1 ton
Wet Mass: 40.6 ton
[Propulsion Unit]
Mass: 44.5 ton
[Cargo Spine]
Mass (Unloaded): 20.1 ton
Cargo:
1- Additional Cargo Delivery Lander No.1 (ACADELA); Surface Rover & Unmanned Atmospheric Exploration Vehicle
2- Additional Cargo Delivery Lander No.2 (ACADELA); Surface Science Package No.1 & Surface Science Package No.2
3- Surface Habitation Lander
4- Surface Laboratory Lander
[4-Manned Lander]
Maximum Crew Accomodation: 4
Minimum Crew Needed: 0
Dry mass: 15.25 ton
Wet mass: 22 ton
Total dV: 1010 m/s
Isp: 281 sec
Life Support Duration: 1 week independant /or/ Reliant on shuttler when docked with it.
[ACADELA; No.1]
Transport mass: 57.9 ton
Dry mass: 43.95 ton
Wet mass: 55.2 ton
Isp: 281 sec
Total dV: 628 m/s
Cargo:
- Triton Unmanned Aerial Exploration Vehicle
- 2-manned Pressurized Rover
[ACADELA; No.2]
Transport mass: 55.2 ton
Dry mass: 41.25 ton
Wet mass: 52.5 ton
Isp: 281 sec
Total dV: 665 m/s
Cargo:
- Surface Science Equipment No.1
- Surface Science Equipment No.2
[Surface Habitation Lander]
Transport mass: 55.2 ton
Dry mass: 34.5 ton
Wet mass: 52.5 ton
Isp: 244 sec
Total dV: 1005 m/s
Life Support Duration: 1 year
Side mounts:
- Mini Fission Reactor Package
- S/X-Band Uplink Transceiver Package
[Surface Laboratory Lander]
Transport mass: 55.5 ton
Dry mass: 20.4 ton
Wet mass: 38.4 ton
Isp: 244 sec
Total dV: 1514 m/s
Life Support Duration: 1 years
Side mounts:
- Triton Survey Satellite
- Seismic Impacter
Can't wait to see it in action.
