Before I put this into the Ship Registry...

[robkelk]

...I'd appreciate feedback on it.
Concept: A "speedster" (ref. the Lensman series) which conforms to the Rules of the Handwave.
Specifics: Approximately one-fifth form-fitting spacesuit (with ship controls in the gauntlets and a HUD in the helmet), approximately four-fifths main drive, with small maneuvering drives and a thin layer of 'waved metal or carbon-fibre sheet on the outside to keep everything together (and provide a modicum of armour).
Top Speed: This is where it gets tricky. In Fenspace, the smaller a ship is, the faster it can travel. This would be the smallest class of ship (for a generous definition of "ship") that could possibly be built. It should be faster than 0.1c, but by how much?
Crew: By necessity, one person who doesn't mind being cooped up alone and essentially unable to move for the entirety of a trip. This limits the utility of such a craft to AIs and some biomodded people, except for very short trips.
Weapons, Comm Systems, and Other Frills: Absolutely none. Edit: Except for a short-range radio, so the pilot can contact traffic control. There's no room for them, and the extra weight would slow the ship anyway...
Intended Purpose: Emergency evacuation of ships and space stations that are close to inhabited bodies.
(If it wasn't for the atmosphere problem, this could be used as a Earth/Island shuttle. However, the L5 Warsies and the Stellvians could use these to get to Luna...)
Dramatic Purpose: Getting one of "Noah's angels" from L5 to Phobos before the end of Day 2 of the Con.
Is this "doable" in Fenspace? Does it step on anyone's toes? Am I overestimating the problems that appear to restrict its use to AIs and other people who can remain completely motionless for hours?

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Hm. Interesting...

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Top Speed: This is where it gets tricky. In Fenspace, the smaller a ship is, the faster it can travel. This would be the smallest class of ship (for a generous definition of "ship&quot that could possibly be built. It should be faster than 0.1c, but by how much?

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*number crunching* Assuming that I managed to get my travel calculator to get the right orbital positions, it wouldn't have to be faster than 0.1c to get Character A to Phobos - the travel time would be around two, maybe three hours.
As for a total top speed, I'd aim for somewhere around 0.4c. That's hella fast but just within the time-dilation window.

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Intended Purpose: Emergency evacuation of ships and space stations that are close to inhabited bodies.

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In all honesty, the design feels overpowered for a lifeboat, especially one intended for use in crowded space like L5. A better purpose would be something like "special courier" or somesuch.

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Am I overestimating the problems that appear to restrict its use to AIs and other people who can remain completely motionless for hours?

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Maybe overselling the use a little, or you're overselling the whole "onoes I am trapped in a box" thing. Not sure which just yet.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Feinan]

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Maybe overselling the use a little, or you're overselling the whole "onoes I am trapped in a box" thing. Not sure which just yet.

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Trust me, he's not overselling the 'trapped in a box' thing. *shudder* You couldn't get me into that thing unless you sedated me first. I'm not a claustrophobe, but not being able to move would drive me nuts. There IS a reason that I built LARGE when I made my ship, and having space for all of my stuff was only part of it.

[Sirrocco]

Well, it's cerainly a logical extreme. I'm not quite sure why you'd have to be locked in position, though. Versions could be created specifically for characters without appreciable biological functions, but otherwise you'd need to devote at least a bit of mass to the canonical Very Space Efficient Life Support.
I'd think that there would be a small but appreciable number of relatively normal folks with the psychological wherewithal to go for a while in one of these things without going absolutely mad. Adding a touch of mass for an onboard Ai, so that you have someone to talk to, would help.
Just to be arbitrary, I'd say .4C for the totally stripped-down version (you'de better be a robot that masses like a human) and .3C to .35C for the deluxe model (life support, a space-efficient AI to interact with, and a few other small-but-handy add-ons to help keep you sane and functional during the trip.)

[CattyNebulart]

It has been mentioned by racers, and by the guy with the drones (can't pull up the specific reference right now) that beyond a certain minimum size speed just does not increase.
I'd give it a speed rating of .12 or so, making it a viable pure speed drive racer, but not going 4 times as fast as the fastest racers which are small.
Of course if I'm alone in my objetions feel free to ignore me.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Feinan]

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It has been mentioned by racers, and by the guy with the drones (can't pull up the specific reference right now) that beyond a certain minimum size speed just does not increase.

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Drone guy here. I did mention something like that, though I was being arbitrary when I did it. It could well be a factor of how I made those particular drones. I wasn't really trying to get fully space-drive capable, since they ARE remote-controlled vehicles and are for work within certain distances of my ship. I'm going to say I sacrificed overall speed for much tighter control/maneuvering when putting the Scout drones together. My littlest drones (which you'll see if I ever get the snippet of my Con arrival out of my head and into text) are even more limited, but that's because they barely have enough size for toy versions of grav-drives. Now, the racers might have more ideas on it, but that's my two cents worth from the drone perspective.

[CattyNebulart]

Well I hope hen that the various racers object. Beause I really don't like the speed at which things are moving, we estabileshed maximum numbers and almost everyone seems to by trying to push them (me to some extent too, but around 20% below the max for the catagory, as one of the fastest for it's size catagory (also being large in it's catagory)).
But if I am the only one that has a problem with it I'm clealry the one that needs to adapt.
Edit:Rereading that it seems hostile. not meant that way, it's just nearly midnight. and I am tired.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[robkelk]

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Rereading that it seems hostile. not meant that way, it's just nearly midnight. and I am tired.

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Not a problem - you sound fairly reasonable compared to some folks I've had to deal with lately.

Okay, looking through everyone's comments...
The listed "intended purpose" is a no-go; fair enough, especially since a replacement "intended purpose" has been provided. (Thanks!)
Real-world top speeds don't really apply to 'wavium, do they? We've already established that it can do a lot of things that hardtech can't. On the other hand, a top speed around 0.3c to 0.4c seems to me to be too fast for the setting... Would anyone object to a top speed of 0.25c for the stripped-down version, and 0.2c for the "fancy" version?
(And I know it isn't really necessary to use something this fast to get from Earth-Luna L5 to Phobos in a day, but it's (a) character development, and (b) the only ship available...)
Now for the important part - the ship's name. Anyone mind if I use Virgil Samms for the first ship of this class? (It is a speedster, after all. Subsequent speedsters would be named after later Lensmen; the 'Samms's first sister ship would be called the Roderick Kinnison under this naming convention. On the flip side, the "Doc" Smith Fen might get upset at the appropriation of the names...)

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Your ship, man. You get to name her whatever you want to.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Sirrocco]

Not an objection, so much, but would .2c and .18c work for what you need it to work for in story? That would let us set the flat canonical max for speed drives at .2, which somehow feels more right to me, given Catty's issue.
If that's carving it too close, though, then as I said, I have no real objection to .25/.2

[robkelk]

I can live with 0.2c, sure.
One last chance to comment before this goes into the Registry tomorrow:
Ship Name: SC Virgil Samms
Created by Rob Kelk
Registry Number: L5-A-901
Base Hull: Custom: Approximately one-fifth form-fitting spacesuit (with ship controls in the gauntlets and a HUD in the helmet), approximately four-fifths main drive, with small maneuvering drives all around and a thin layer of 'waved carbon-fibre sheet on the outside to keep everything together and provide a modicum of armour.
Drive Type: Speed (gravity drive) (max velocity 0.2c)
Owner of Record: Noah Scott
Flag of Record: Earth-Luna L5 Station Stellvia
Purpose: Special high-speed dispatch courier
Launched: 1 July 2011
Crew:
* one of S. Hasegawa, K. Li, or Y. Nikaido (Pilot)
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* Gotta get there now - One the ship's destination has been determined, it is extremely difficult to change the ship's course even if it would be a bad idea to continue on the shortest path between the launch and touchdown points.
Known Crew Quirks:
See the applicable writeup in the Characters Thread.
Faction: Non-Aligned
Home Port: Earth-Luna L5 Station Stellvia
Current Location: Earth-Luna L5 Station Stellvia
Status: ACTIVE
Trivia:
* The Virgil Samms is the first ship of its class. Ships in this class are traditionally named after Lensmen, from E.E. "Doc" Smith's Lensman series.
* The ship's design is heavily stripped-down, to the point where the only equipment onboard is a short-range radio so the pilot can contact traffic control; the pilot must carry dispatches or other cargo on his or her person. This makes the Virgil Samms class speedsters the fastest ships in Fenspace, but ships of this class are not for the claustrophobic (there is literally no room to move around inside one). This limits their use to autonomous AIs, biomodded humans who can comfortably remain still for hours on end and can live on very little oxygen, or very short trips.
* Some of the Virgil Samms' sister ships (such as the SC Roderick Kinnison, L5-A-902) have a top speed of 0.18c, but also have life support, a space-efficient AI to interact with, and a few other small-but-handy add-ons to help keep the pilot sane and functional during the trip.
* The ship's owner of record has never flown the ship.

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[KJ]

Well, speaking as one of the racer types, on first blush it is irritating to have things outstripping ye race bred highly strung unreliable stripped down etc things that some of the racers (by which I mean myself) are tinkering with.
But when I think about it, not really. Any successful racing relies on technical rules to prevent out and out silliness and establish at least rough parity between everything... in this case, that probably means minimum mass. So the most common race class is going to be for stuff that's approximately car-sized; IC explanations include stuff like a desire to not have people doing stupid things like skimping on life-support or structural integrity to shave mass even farther and whatnot.
So the racers have developed (through tinkering with speedrives past the point of reliability, and experimenting with reaction drives too) some of the fastest things in existence - in their weight class. This may be faster, but it's not legal to race.

[CattyNebulart]

I would put it another way, these things don't seem all that manuverable, and they probably don't accelerate as fast as a racer (or normal ship for that matter) since they sacrifice everything on top speed, and there is more to racing than that (well interesting racing at least).
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

[Sirrocco]

Both are true.
Actually, I seem to recall that racing was done by weight class from the beginning. I can't say for sure, but that's what vague memory tells me.
Also, you do *not* want to try to take a speedster into the asteroid-dodging portion of this exercise.

[robkelk]

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Also, you do *not* want to try to take a speedster into the asteroid-dodging portion of this exercise.

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Oh, dear Haruhi, definitely not. Especially with that Known Vehicle Quirk.
It's the equivalent of a rocket car, not a racer. Rocket cars can easily outpace racers on the straightaway, but if you can turn a rocket car, you're a better driver than I am...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012