Project Long Duration Deep Space Vessel

[Sky Captain]

170 kn at 1,000,000 meters per second is still quite a lot, but I kinda like the figures. It seems like the radiators are a bit on the small side for 85 GW, but I have no sense of scale of the model, so I might be quite wrong.

Total radiator area is 260000 m2 radiating away 65 GW of waste heat. I assume total power conwersion efficiency at 55 % - that is from nuclear heat to thrust power.
Later I will try to figure out masses of warious components.

Ever thought about cargo lander able to deliver cargo to and from Mars? There is serious lack of cargo landers able to land on Mars on the OrbitHangar. It will make your vessel even more versatile.

Well, the lander is supposed to be used only on airless bodies, however if you use engines to kill most of the orbital speed and then descend slowly into the thin Martian atmosphere then it should work.

 

[PeterRoss]

Well, the lander is supposed to be used only on airless bodies, however if you use engines to kill most of the orbital speed and then descend slowly into the thin Martian atmosphere then it should work.

Will it have enough fuel for it?:blink:

 

[T.Neo]

VASIMR in high gear can only reach 294 000 m/s, how do your engines reach such a high exhaust velocity?

I think a mass flow of 0.17 kg/s is quite doable, considering the size of the engines...

 

[Sky Captain]

Will it have enough fuel for it?:blink:

Yes, although the payload will be less than on the Moon and you may have to refuel lander on the surface for return trip.

VASIMR in high gear can only reach 294 000 m/s, how do your engines reach such a high exhaust velocity?

I think there will be some improvements in the next 70 - 80 years.
LDDSV is envisioned to be built in the late 21st century for exploration of the outer solar system and establishment of bases there. By that time improvements in propulsion is quite likely.

 

[jedidia]

Total radiator area is 260000 m2 radiating away 65 GW of waste heat. I assume total power conwersion efficiency at 55 % - that is from nuclear heat to thrust power.

sounds plausible. You'll need low-temperature radiators too, though, for the low-temperature heat generated by onboard systems.

 

[n122vu]

I for one like the design. A unique approach to a subject where, as was mentioned, a lot of the craft start to look the same. Very cool.

Maybe I'm not seeing it, but is there any type of communication array on this vessel?

 

[Sky Captain]

sounds plausible. You'll need low-temperature radiators too, though, for the low-temperature heat generated by onboard systems.

For that purpose there are 2 radiator panels on hab section.

Maybe I'm not seeing it, but is there any type of communication array on this vessel?

There are two antenna near the hab section. Check the images I posted earlier and you will see it.

---------- Post added 09-11-10 at 12:21 PM ---------- Previous post was 09-10-10 at 10:53 PM ----------

With help of an Atomic Rockets site I have figured out masses of main components. All masses are in tons.

truss     210       
propellant   tanks     2000      
hab modules   2100       
engines    1500       
reactors   11500       
radiator   1340       
total   18650       
  
LH2 propellant   43700

Mass of a structural truss and engines currently is a guestimate since I couldn't find a way how to calculate that.

 

[T.Neo]

The Discovery II (warning, 3 MB .PDF file) study includes quite interesting mass figures for trusses as well as propellant tanks.

 

[Sky Captain]

I have finished the lander and LH2 tank payload for it



Liftoff



2 landers and their LH2 payloads docked to LDDSV.

 

[Hispa]

The Discovery II (warning, 3 MB .PDF file) study includes quite interesting mass figures for trusses as well as propellant tanks.

Thanks!

I made it by the numbers...

 

[Sky Captain]

That's cool, when reading the paper about Discowery II my first thought was it would be awesome to have it in Orbiter.

 

[Hispa]

The toroidal fussion engine has been a harsh work to model, but here it is.

 

[n72.75]

The toroidal fussion engine has been a harsh work to model, but here it is.

That looks great; what do you plan to do for exhaust visualization?

 

[Hispa]

That looks great; what do you plan to do for exhaust visualization?

I suppose that a normal exhaust could look fine.

Open section of command module. The cabin is almost finished.

---------- Post added at 21:24 ---------- Previous post was at 20:54 ----------

The mesh is almost finished. I have to model the front docking port/EVA hatch, the antennas section and then start to texture it. It's an easier model than Antares ship I'm also making (and parked for some days)

---------- Post added at 22:27 ---------- Previous post was at 21:24 ----------

Virtual cockpit over spacecraft3.

---------- Post added at 22:31 ---------- Previous post was at 22:27 ----------

Another view of virtual cockpit.

-----------------------------

Thinking about the specs of this ship, It doesn't seem too playable in Orbiter. It's a low/continuous trust ship, capable to reach distant planets in nearby "linear" trajectories. There isn't navigation tool in Orbiter to simulate such thing, so it can be a dilema.

Also, what sense have to send some people to a distant planet without a lander to explore the surface? This ship is a kind of "ultralight" model, designed to have a low weight, with a limited radiation shield on resting zones (bedrooms). I think it will need some changes to be playable in Orbiter. Any ideas?

 

[Sky Captain]

Now that's fast:thumbup:, it woud take me at least twice as long to model that vessel.

Thinking about the specs of this ship, It doesn't seem too playable in Orbiter. It's a low/continuous trust ship, capable to reach distant planets in nearby "linear" trajectories. There isn't navigation tool in Orbiter to simulate such thing, so it can be a dilema.

IMFD with help of IEATT mfd and Attitude mfd can be used to fly low thrust vessels. It's not as propellant efficient as dedicated navigational tool would be but it works and when you have hundreds of km/s deltav in high ISP mode few wasted km/s is not a big deal.

Also, what sense have to send some people to a distant planet without a lander to explore the surface? This ship is a kind of "ultralight" model, designed to have a low weight, with a limited radiation shield on resting zones (bedrooms). I think it will need some changes to be playable in Orbiter. Any ideas

You could use it as a ferry to rotate crew and carry some light cargo between Earth and bases on distant planets/moons. Once the base is established it would be waste of resources to send a massive ship just to replace 10 - 20 crewmembers, bring some fresh food and some light hardware.


I have also by ~80 % finished a surface hab module

 

[Hispa]

It's nice!

You know? I was studying how to model a venus lander. It's like trying to land a strongbox on the hell. I thougth to model/code some air balloon system to liftoff, at least the first kilometres from surface, but it's still only a project.

As every planet/moon is different, I think this ship should be equiped with a specific lander for each mission. I assume that Discovery II will reach unexplored planets to preform a first recon, so there won't be any help.

 

[T.Neo]

The original purpose of Discovery II was to fly to either Jupiter or Saturn, and the study assumed that there was already considerable infrastructure at the destination, including a surface lander.

That's why Discovery II had a docking port, but didn't physically carry any landers or auxilliary craft.

 

[Sky Captain]

The report also assumed the reactor would use He-3 which is nearly nonexistent on Earth and would have to be mined from extraterrestrial sources which would already recquire significant off Earth infrastructure.

---------- Post added 09-14-10 at 11:00 AM ---------- Previous post was 09-13-10 at 07:11 PM ----------

Surface Habitat module is finished. With StationUCGO addon I made my hab to be able to house UMMU crew and UCGO cargos. Now I will work on crew lander/shuttle.

 

[Sky Captain]

Crew lamder/shuttle is ready to fly.







It's main purpose is to carry personel and some light cargo between orbiting ship and airless moons and also function as a shuttle to carry crew between the various moons of gas giants.

 

[Frogisis]

This looks great; I'm really excited to fly it. I've been looking for a tasteful, realistic interplanetary vessel like this for a long time.

Do you have any plans for textures (AMSO-style metal, thermal blankets, etc) on the larger sections, or are you just sticking with flat shading?