[Spaceships] statting life pods and drop capsules

[Agemegos]

On p.232, Ultra-Tech includes operational descriptions and basic stats for three models of one-use disposable re-entry vehicles.

• There is the "life pod", which has a loaded mass of only a single ton, but carries four people and 400 lb of supplies, has a little manoeuvring capability, and chamaeleon surface etc., and is capable of a soft landing.
• There is the drop "capsule", which weighs a ton, must be launched from a vehicle bay or missile launcher on a trajectory that will de-orbit it, carries two people and 600 lb of stuff, disintegrates a mile up in the air, and costs only $10,000.
• There is the stealth capsule, which is like the drop capsule but carries only one person, and has radar stealth, sensor jammers, and IR and radar decoys.

Ultra-Tech was written well before Spaceships, so naturally the drops capsule &c. were not designed using Spaceships. But they are as sort of space vehicle, and Spaceships is impressively flexible. How close can we come to reproducing the function of these things using Spaceships? Can we make things that do their job better, faster, or cheaper?

Note well that the life pod is TL9, and that the drop capsule and stealth capsule are TL10.

[Langy]

Here's my go at the life pod. It has no seats, no amenities, no life support - just a place to put your butt while you wait, hopefully in a space suit. It's also ridiculously armored for some reason, but that's required by the original stats.

Front
[1] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[2] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[3] Soft-Landing System ($1K)
[4] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[5] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[6] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[C] Control Room (C5, TL-10, $2K)

Central
[1] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[2] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[3] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[4] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[5] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[6] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)

Front
[1] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[2] Advanced Metallic Laminate Armor (dDR 1, $2K)
[3] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[4] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[5] Cargo Bay (0.05 Tons)
[6] HEDM Chemical Rocket (2G, $3K)
[C] Fuel Tank (0.05 Tons, $300)

It costs $18,300 and has slightly better maneuverability than the stock Life Pod (higher acceleration), though the stock Life Pod doesn't have any listing on what it's delta-V capacity is.

[Snoman314]

Looks good Langy. One nitpick though; Unless I messed up somewhere, that gives a Load of 0.5 tons, or 1000lbs. Going with the optimistic usual average of 200lbs per person (including space suit etc) , that only leaves 200lbs for survival gear. Taking some armour out would fix that of course.

Edit: Just read Ultratech and I see that it states there is 200lbs of storage.. Nevermind. I was looking at Brett's numbers.

BTW, much of the cost of the Life pod could be attributed to the survival gear. I'm sure $ 81,700 worth of TL9 gear can be made to fit into 200 lbs.

As for the Drop Pod, If you remove the fuel and engines and replace with cargo, reduce the control stations to 0 and call the resulting system $1K (1/10 a similar system from SM +4) that still puts you at $14K, and with too much cargo: 0.6 instead of 0.5.
I cant see a way to match all the stats in Ultratech - the price is just too low for one. For another, all the drop pod really needs is soft landing, a control system, some armour and cargo space to cram a pair of battlesuited marines. Everything I try ends up with too much cargo space unless I just pile on the armour.
Ultratech says they get themselves to the ground by parachute or whatever. You could either allow emergency ejection system to do the job, or just call it a feature of this particular craft.

Stealth capsules I'll look at tomorrow, unless someone else beats me to it.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Langy

Here's my go at the life pod. It has no seats, no amenities, no life support - just a place to put your butt while you wait, hopefully in a space suit. It's also ridiculously armored for some reason, but that's required by the original stats.

The item listed in UT has "90 man-days of limited life support". I really don't hope to be able to match that.

It costs $18,300 and has slightly better maneuverability than the stock Life Pod (higher acceleration), though the stock Life Pod doesn't have any listing on what it's delta-V capacity is.

We know it has enough for a de-orbit burn (unlike the drop capsules, which have to be placed into a suitable trajectory by a co-operative ship), and presumably it must be able to cope with a less-than-ideal orbit. 2 mi./sec. would not be too much, I think.

Originally Posted by Snoman314

Edit: Just read Ultratech and I see that it states there is 200lbs of storage.. Nevermind. I was looking at Brett's numbers.

My mistake. I misread "a pair of lockers containing 200 lbs. of cargo" as "a pair of lockers containing 200 lbs. of cargo each", misled by each having capacity for a person at need.

BTW, much of the cost of the Life pod could be attributed to the survival gear. I'm sure $ 81,700 worth of TL9 gear can be made to fit into 200 lbs.

This, besides which it is specified as having a chamaeleon surface, medium radio beacon, inertial locator, batteries for a month....

[Langy]

Originally Posted by Brett

This, besides which it is specified as having a chamaeleon surface, medium radio beacon, inertial locator, batteries for a month....

The chameleon surface adds about $18k to the cost of the life pod, but the radio beacon and inertial locator come standard with the control room, and Spaceships auxiliary power systems (the stuff that powers anything that's not a high-power system) last indefinitely.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Langy

The chameleon surface adds about $18k to the cost of the life pod

Wow! That's an expensive upgrade on a coat of safety orange paint.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Snoman314

As for the Drop Pod, If you remove the fuel and engines and replace with cargo, reduce the control stations to 0 and call the resulting system $1K (1/10 a similar system from SM +4) that still puts you at $14K, and with too much cargo: 0.6 instead of 0.5.

Don't forget the the drop pod is TL10. That allows you to substitute nanocomposite armour.

I cant see a way to match all the stats in Ultratech - the price is just too low for one.

Perhaps the one-use disposable nature of the armour and airframe allows the use of cheaper materials and construction.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Brett

Wow! That's an expensive upgrade on a coat of safety orange paint.

Why does a civilian life-pod need it anyway? Am I missing something?

[Agemegos]

Should these things be streamlined?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Why does a civilian life-pod need it anyway?

According to the description it is used to create high-visibility colours and patterns on the surface to aid rescue. It strikes me that this would be a very silly suggestion unless chamaeleon surfaces were very cheap and surprisingly robust.