Life & Temperatures on Titan

DataPacRat · 07-01-2020, 04:04 PM

If you visit Saturn's moon Titan, you can expect temperatures around -290 F. As best as I can figure from p430, this counts as a 'cryogenic environment', so a PC who wanders outside of a nice, warm dome without a heated suit would roll against HT every minute at -29, with the PC losing one FP (and then HT) per point of failure; implying an average survival time of under a minute. Given that I've found webpages suggesting that survival times at -40 F are on the order of 5 to 7 minutes, that seems approximately reasonable.

I'm looking to build the cheapest Titanian heat-suit I can manage, and am willing to apply Pulver's armor-building system from Pyramids 52, 85, and 96. Assuming a standard human wearer, and roughly no-superscience TL10, I've ended up with this; I'm having a hard time gauging is plausibility. Anyone care to comment?

** Basic Titanian heatsuit (150 lb wearer, TL10):
* Face: 0.7 sf
- Transparent Bioplas, DR 1, Fabric: 0.0105 lbs, $12.60
* Everything other than face: 20.65 sf. (Actually in pieces: feet, trousers, jacket, gloves, hood)
- Kevlar, DR 1 (vs pierce/cut, DR 0.25 vs crush), Fabric: 2.065 lbs, $41.30
- Total cost so far: $54. (Stylish: $216. Fashion original: $1,080.)
* Addons
- Sealed: $5*21.35 sf = $106.75
- Extreme Climate Control: $200, 1 lb
- Air supply, tiny tank (15 min): $50, 0.5 lbs
- Power Pack, C cell (18 hours): 0.5 lb
* Stats
- Total weight: 4.0755 lbs
- Total cost: $410.75 + $10 battery (or $572.75, or $1,436.75)

(And for less-cheap versions, all sorts of other options can be thrown in from the Pyramid articles or Ultra-Tech.)

I'm a little hesitant to go with that strictly as written, that a thin para-aramid bodysuit with an electric heater is enough; but maybe I can throw in some extra lingo, such as 'aerogel insulation'. (I found an article suggesting such suits could have 'trapped gas insulation 7.5 cms thick'

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Anyone have stats for Titanian strap-on wings? Or do I need to dig into 3e Vehicles' for, say, a muscle-powered engine, ornithopter drivetrain, and strap-on harness crew station?

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Anyone have any good numbers on how large a dome would be feasible in 0.138 G? (Stresses on the frame could probably be made a bit easier by keeping internal and external pressures the same.) UltraTech suggests at TL9+, something 2 miles wide and 1 mile high is feasible... and 3e's GURPS Mars suggests $25M per square mile.

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Anything I might be forgetting about, beyond what has to be worried about for colonies on more ordinary, airless moons? (Eg, I've already found a note that, on average, the lighting is about 1/3000th the lux of Earth, and I can use that table from High-Tech Electricity for vision penalties.)

07-01-2020, 04:04 PM	#1
DataPacRat Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Niagara, Canada	Life & Temperatures on Titan If you visit Saturn's moon Titan, you can expect temperatures around -290 F. As best as I can figure from p430, this counts as a 'cryogenic environment', so a PC who wanders outside of a nice, warm dome without a heated suit would roll against HT every minute at -29, with the PC losing one FP (and then HT) per point of failure; implying an average survival time of under a minute. Given that I've found webpages suggesting that survival times at -40 F are on the order of 5 to 7 minutes, that seems approximately reasonable. I'm looking to build the cheapest Titanian heat-suit I can manage, and am willing to apply Pulver's armor-building system from Pyramids 52, 85, and 96. Assuming a standard human wearer, and roughly no-superscience TL10, I've ended up with this; I'm having a hard time gauging is plausibility. Anyone care to comment? ** Basic Titanian heatsuit (150 lb wearer, TL10): * Face: 0.7 sf - Transparent Bioplas, DR 1, Fabric: 0.0105 lbs, $12.60 * Everything other than face: 20.65 sf. (Actually in pieces: feet, trousers, jacket, gloves, hood) - Kevlar, DR 1 (vs pierce/cut, DR 0.25 vs crush), Fabric: 2.065 lbs, $41.30 - Total cost so far: $54. (Stylish: $216. Fashion original: $1,080.) * Addons - Sealed: $521.35 sf = $106.75 - Extreme Climate Control: $200, 1 lb - Air supply, tiny tank (15 min): $50, 0.5 lbs - Power Pack, C cell (18 hours): 0.5 lb Stats - Total weight: 4.0755 lbs - Total cost: $410.75 + $10 battery (or $572.75, or $1,436.75) (And for less-cheap versions, all sorts of other options can be thrown in from the Pyramid articles or Ultra-Tech.) I'm a little hesitant to go with that strictly as written, that a thin para-aramid bodysuit with an electric heater is enough; but maybe I can throw in some extra lingo, such as 'aerogel insulation'. (I found an article suggesting such suits could have 'trapped gas insulation 7.5 cms thick' --- Anyone have stats for Titanian strap-on wings? Or do I need to dig into 3e Vehicles' for, say, a muscle-powered engine, ornithopter drivetrain, and strap-on harness crew station? --- Anyone have any good numbers on how large a dome would be feasible in 0.138 G? (Stresses on the frame could probably be made a bit easier by keeping internal and external pressures the same.) UltraTech suggests at TL9+, something 2 miles wide and 1 mile high is feasible... and 3e's GURPS Mars suggests $25M per square mile. --- Anything I might be forgetting about, beyond what has to be worried about for colonies on more ordinary, airless moons? (Eg, I've already found a note that, on average, the lighting is about 1/3000th the lux of Earth, and I can use that table from High-Tech Electricity for vision penalties.) __________________ Thank you for your time, -- DataPacRat "Then again, maybe I'm wrong."