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Do-Mo — The comet chaser...again #2
#3d #3ds #big #centrifuge #comets #concept #drill #exploration #fusion #future #kuiper #model #nuclear #realistic #rocket #science #venus #spacespaceship #rocketpunk #plutonid
Published: 2021-01-26 17:54:16 +0000 UTC; Views: 9455; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 18
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So I gave this thing a revisit, I didn't want to change much, just updated the textures, fixed the foldable heatsinks and added the brilliantly forgotten radiation shielding on side engines. In a way I feel bad for touching it at all since it's one of the best things I've ever made, and I feel like its original roughness gives it some charm, but here it goes anyway...
And here's a short animation of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4ZHKM…
Originals: Link 1 , Link 2 , Link 3 , Link 4
Length: 304m
Height: 56m
Width: 60m (94m with radiators deployed)
Structural mass: 3 850 tons
Full load: 8 000 tons
Complement: 20
Main engine: Magnetic Confinement fusion
Thrust: 50 KN
Fuel: He-3 - D
Propellant: Liquid hydrogen
Propellant supply: 4 000 tons
Mass flow: 0,14kg/s
Acceleration: 6,25 mm/s
Peak acceleration: 12,5 mm/s
Delta-v: 242,6 km/s
Side engines: 2x Open cycle gas core nuclear rocket
Thrust: 5,7 MN
Propellant: Liquid hydrogen
Propellant supply: 4 000 tons
Mass flow: 60kg/s
Acceleration: 0,71 m/s
Peak acceleration: 1,42 m/s
Delta-v: 69,3 km/s
Thrusters
Hydrogen - Oxygen chemical rockets
Support vessels carried
2x Virga class
Laurus Nobilis class is a type of Venerian science vessel, built for extremely long survey missions into Kuiper belt, and scattered disc. Its mission is to reach Trans-Neptunian space, then to conduct close range scans of various comets and plutoids, as well as to send off away missions that will land and collect surface samples. Primary goal is to find and mark comets of desired size and composition, which will be repositioned closer to Venus in future missions.
Once launched, it would spend 165 days accelerating with its main fusion engine, followed by approximately 540 days of drifting, followed by another 165 days of slowing down. At that point the ship would be at its desired location, and the mission would begin. While surveying Kuiper belt objects, main engine would be offline, instead, its side, nuclear rockets would be used, to provide faster "hops" in shorter distances. Hopefully, before all propellant is used out, the ship would position itself near a suitable comet, and once there it would extend its large telescopic drill, which would suck in ice, which would then be processed into propellant, oxygen and drinking water when needed. Large machinery would be used for processing ice drilled from comets. Taking into account vast distance that this mission would take the ship and its crew, it is highly important that these "hops" and refueling sessions be timed correctly, since help is really far away. For the same reason, this ship is built with many redundancies, propellant is split among several large fuel tanks and its crew is prepared for higher than normal levels of maintenance and repairs. After 8 years, the ship would finally start its long journey home, giving this mission a total duration of approximately 13 years.
The most prominent feature in its design is a large, forward facing, shield, meant to protect the rest of the ship from various debris that might be encountered while traveling at high speeds, and chasing comets. Right under the shield is a section that contains 6 large separated hydroponics gardens. Plants inside are meant to provide additional food sources, as well as to assist with maintaining oxygen levels. Crew is housed in two large contra rotating habitat rings. Having taken mission length into consideration, measures have been taken to provide crew with good accommodations, and a large living space. Two Virga class support vessels are carried, which are able to get a closer look at certain objects, as well as to land and liftoff from comets and most plutonids. Excess heat is radiated with passive radiators, and while there are fixed radiators near the engine section, most are foldable, and can be hidden behind the forward facing shield. Other than its shield, this ship is very fragile, a measure that had to be taken to reduce weight, which makes the entire structure highly dependent to its external support struts. For the same reason its maneuverability is very low.
While there aren't many of them, several ships like this one are used at all times, covering various sections of Kuiper belt and Scattered disc, searching for appropriate comets, and conducting scientific missions at the same time. Not as capable as many warships within Sol, but they are still regarded as a highly useful ships, and even with their extreme mission durations, it's a great honor to serve on these ships.
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Comments: 10
Designing engine nozzles can be a bit boring, it can end up very repetitive with all of the looking the same. So I try to copy the look of real world concepts. The main engine nozzle(as well as its stats) here is almost a direct copy of the NASA concept "Discovery II". It's also interesting to design nozzles to look like real world concepts since it gives an opportunity to visualize just how it would all work :)
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Yeah, bulky looks aren't exactly the most efficient ones, I'd imagine that future designs will be a bit more elegant looking.
Which accessories are thinking of?
I do add a bit to the looks, but I usually try to make it be functional-looking parts :)
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There is a practical reason actually - Mass. Large bulkheads are high in mass, same as clunky/boxy ship chunks. More elegant, more "organic" looking designs could be made to be a lot less massive, which would give it more range for less propellant. In real world applications the less-boxy designs also tend to last longer, there's less stress on the materials and less degradation due to wear&tear.
A lot of this can be handwaved, but so can pretty much anything else if you really want to.
Important note here is that this isn't my area of expertise, I'm not an engineer, nor a materials scientist. Which is why I'll never claim my designs to be completely realistic, I'm primarily trying to have fun with what I'm making, and I hope it shows.
The shape of things matters less and you can get away with interesting shapes, but I have to admit, I designed myself into a corner with that one! For a while now, I want to make physical models of some of my ships (this one in particular), but it's spine is unreasonably thin, and would need a major redesign to be able to remain stable, even while externally braced 😁
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It's an easy way to distinguish "us" from "them". I'm of the opinion that aliens should look ALIEN, the less recognizable the design, the better. Now, making that, and making it look functional, that would be a challenge!
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