[THS] [Vehicles] Seeking Advice: Detailing a One-Biont Tugboat

[DataPacRat]

I'm hoping that someone can think of anything important I'm missing...


The current goal: Add as much detail as possible to a PC's personal spacecraft, in order to have a better idea what's on-hand when they're thousands or millions of km from support.

The PC: A bioshell living in Islandia, working as an independent Vacuum Cleaner and hustling for whatever other gigs they can find to help get by. Somewhere between "The Beachcombers" In Space and a one-sophont Serenity.

The ship: Used. Originally an experimental design for a low-cost ambulance in L5, stuffed into a 40-foot cargo-container frame for ease of logistics. Bought mainly because it was available for a low down-payment when the PC finished getting their licenses and certifications.

The ruleset: Primarily 3e THS spaceship-design, with a smattering of 3e Vehicles, Traveller: Far Trader, and anything usable from 4e.


Current design draft (though I need to re-calculate a few numbers after the latest tweaks):

-----8<-----

"Pumpkin"
Flying Cargo Pod USV

* Structure:
- 8' X 8' X 40' Box Hull (5.12 Spaces Nanocomposite Light Frame, 2,560 cf), 1.408 ksf, cHP 10, 0.384 tons, $0.0768M
- Armor cDR 1, cPF 1, Carbon Composite, 10.56 tons, $0.2112M

* Modules:
- Cockpit, old: 0.1 spc, 0.44 tons, $0.21M
-- Autopilot NAI-8 (PF1p55): "Cindy", $6200 ($0.0062M)
-- High-Security Burglar Alarm: $3k ($0.003M)
- Sensors:
-- 1 Very Small PESA; 0 spc, 0 tons, $0.027M
-- 1 Very Small Radar; 0 spc, 0 tons, $0.0045M
-- 1 Very Small Ladar; 0 spc, 0 tons, $0.0045M
-- Basic Radiation Sensor: 0.5 lbs (0.00025 tons), 0.01 cf (0.000005 spc), $25 ($0.000025M)
-- Laser Chemscanner, range 1,000 yards (0.6 miles): 2 lbs (0.001 tons), 0.04 cf (0.00008 spc), $1k ($0.001M)
- 0.25 Fusion Pulse Drive (High-Thrust); 0.25 spc, thrust 2 tons, mass 1 ton, $0.2M, output 0.25 MW, reaction mass 0.04 spaces/hour nuclear pellets, ISP 15,000
- Light Tank; 1.5 spc (750 cf), 1.325 tons, $0.1005M.
-- 1.5 spc nuclear pellets: 18 tons, $0.009M
- Radiothermal Generator, new, 0.005 spc: 0.05 MW, 0.125 tons, $0.0125M, endurance 14 years
- 1 Cabin; 1 spc, 1 ton, $0.01M, req 0.02 MW (20 kW).
-- Diagnostic toilet: $200 ($0.0002M)
-- increase to Total Life Support, 2 people: +1200 lbs (0.6 tons), +$6k ($0.006M), +90 cf (0.18 spc).
- Magnetic field generator, PF 100, field 500 cf (radius 4.92 feet): 750 lbs (0.375 tons), 15 cf (0.03 spc), $75k ($0.075M), 50 kJ
- Luxury Interior, for 2: 50 lbs (0.025 tons), 1 cf (0.002 spc), $10k ($0.01M)
- Large Airlock, 3-person: 0.3 spc (150 cf), 0.75 tons, $0.003M
- Robot Arm, Small: 0.25 spc, 0.37 tons, $0.1M, 0.02 ksf, 12' long, ST 280.
- Surgery: 0.5 spc (250 cf), 0.14 tons, $0.05M.
- Anti-meteor defense:
-- Turret, 0.5 VSP, light frame, carbon composite (2.5 cf, 0.005 spc), 11 sf, 8.25 lbs, $2,750, 8 HP, SM -1
-- Pop Turrent volume, inside vehicle: 0.6 VSP (3 cf, 0.006 spc)
-- 2.5 kJ Laser: 0.0029 spc (0.29 VSP), 0.0368 tons (73.6 lbs), $7,100, 0.04 MW (40 kW); Dmg 3d Imp (~10.5), SS 20, Acc 19, 1/2D range space 27,800 yards (15.8 miles), Max range space 40,000 yards (22.7 miles), RoF 8
-- Twin E-cells Power Pack, 0.16 VSP: 4 kWh (14,400 kJ, 2,880 shots, 360 seconds of fire, 3.6 turns of fire), 40 lbs, $1200
-- Empty space, 0.05 VSP (0.25 cf)
-- Total: 0.006 spc, 11 sf, 121.85 lbs (0.061 tons), $11,050 ($0.01105M)
- 2nd Turret & Laser: 0.006 spc, 11 sf, 121.85 lbs (0.061 tons), $11,050 ($0.01105M)
- Searchlight, range 9 miles: 90 lbs (0.045 tons), 1.8 cf (0.0036 spc), $4500 ($0.0045M), 9 kW
- Parachute: 0.072 spc (36 cf), supports 45 tons, 0.45 tons, $0.009M
- Cargo Space: 0.915315 spc (457.6575 cf)
-- Generic cargo, 0.915315 spc, 4.576575 tons

* Surface Area: 1.408 ksf
- Drive Radiator panels: 0.125 ksf
- Generator Radiator panels: 0.05 ksf
- Robot Arm: 0.02 ksf
- Two turrets: 0.022 ksf
- Remaining space: 1.191 ksf
- Self-Sealing Hull: +$14,080 ($0.001408M), 70.4 lbs (0.0352 tons)
- Spall Liner: 506.88 lbs (0.25344 tons), $5,068.80 ($0.0050688M)
- External Impact Absorber (front), reusable: 100 lbs (0.05 tons), 0 cf, $10k; speed of collisions reduced by 3.5 mph

* Statistics:
- Empty Mass 18.000089, payload 4.776575 tons, reaction mass 18 tons; Combat Mass 31.776664, Dry Mass 22.776664 tons, LMass 40.776664 tons
- Cost $1.1535018M ($1,153,501.80)
-- Maintenace: 4 hours work every 18.62 hours (5.155 man-hours/day)
-- Buy Used: Health 8, cost $461,400, $46,140 down payment
- SM +1/+5
- Health: 12

* Performance:
- sAccel: 0.0629 G
- Burn Endurance: 37.5 hours
-- Burn Points: 8,491
- THS Delta-V: 0.003 * 15,000 * (ln (40.776664/22.776664)) = 26.2 mps
-- (Actual delta-v: 15,000 seconds * 9.8 m/s^2 * (ln(40.776664/22.776664)) = 85.6 km/s)


* Shipboard gear:
- Basic Tool Kits (Armoury, Electronics, Engineer & Mechanic): $4k, 0.4 tons
- Medical gear:
-- Medkit, Vehicle: $5k, 50 lbs
-- Cyberdoc, $160k + $10k microframe computer, 150 lbs
-- LAI-7, 46 years old, 153 points in doctoring skills: $25,300
- Salvaging gear, assorted: vacc suits, "broomstick" MOX rocket, small cybershells, Tenzan THI-200bis tech-spider, duct tape, etc
* Home port gear:
- Garage/dock, workshop
- Apartment, ro-ped, backup cheap microframe

* The PC & support crew:
- "Me", main body's skull, ghost
- "Myself", xox running in body's backup computer, ghost
- "I", offline backup in home mainframe, ghost
- "Doc Smith", cyberdoc, LAI-7
- "Nancy", 40-lb spider-bot, LAI-6
- "Cindy", ship's autopilot, NAI-8
- "Celest", main body's internal assistant, NAI-6
- "Bob", forearm-worn multitool, NAI-5
- "Doug", 2-lb snakebot, NAI-5
- "Scooter", Ro-Ped, NAI-5

* Financials (partially from Traveller: Far Trader):
- Income: Vacuum cleaner work, salvage, charters, etc
- Outgo: Monthly Cost-of-Living, mortgage payments (partially subsidized), insurance, fuel pellets, union dues, docking fees, and corporate taxes on any profits above expenses

----->8-----

[weby]

couple of notes:
if being remote: what is the plan for life support breaking?
I think chemscanner is one one the super science things not available?

[DataPacRat]

Originally Posted by weby

couple of notes:
if being remote: what is the plan for life support breaking?

The PC is what THS calls a "ghost", a piece of software that emulates an uploaded human mind. For most day-to-day work, they run that software on the computer inside their bioshell's skull; but should something unrecoverable happen to that organic body, their software will probably be all right, and still be able to run in that computer, experience VR, and communicate with the cybershells and AIs nearby. If the computers inside their bioshell are kaput, their nearest backup copy is on the Pumpkin's computers; their next backup is back at their apartment; and they near-certainly have insurance covering further backups stored elsewhere.

I think chemscanner is one one the super science things not available?

That scanner's from 3e's Vehicles Expansion 2 page 17, and is a TL8, non-superscience precursor to Ultra-Tech's superscience chemscanner. Seems like it'd be handy to check for atmosphere or fuel leaks from whatever the PC is trying to salvage, without having to drop off a cybershell or swarm to sample things directly.