Quote:
Originally Posted by Anaraxes
The point of cracking water was that it was commonly available in the "wilderness" (which is to say, away from a starport). Ice from asteroids, moons, icecaps, or even the occasional liquid water source. You wouldn't normally store it in ship fuel tanks; you'd crack it at the source and keep the hydrogen (liquified) and possibly some of the oxygen (for life support, or simply resale as an industrial gas).
It's possible to find ammonia, but it's more scarce than water.
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In my current campaign set in the year 98 (Milieu Zero), the Deneb Sector and the Spinward Marches sector are a little less populated and/or industrialized then their 1105 counterparts will eventually become. The mad race to reach Mora and colonize it - along with the surrounding worlds nearby - has to trace a route through areas that are lacking in facilities.
Now, if I were to have a Jump 1 scout that for what ever reason, was designed to carry extra fuel for two parsecs worth of jumps before refueling, it would be possible to carry 10 dTons of Hydrogen Fuel along with 7 dTons of tankage that carries water. If said ship were to be discovered floating about somewhere as a derelict, then it might be an "interesting" aspect to the ship's design.
Yes, the ship can crack the water itself, but without fuel tankage to hold onto the oxygen that it cracks free from the water, chances are good that it either outgasses while on the world surface, or it is dumped directly into space - because I can't see the crew being willing to bleed it directly into their ship's atmosphere - thereby increasing the ratio of Oxygen to other gases mixture.
Later on, perhaps in the 600's or so, the route directly leading to Mora from Vland will be more heavily populated and the like, but until then, the route is going to be somewhat primitive.