OK - I'm posting this mostly in the hope that once it's out of my head, it will leave me alone. The idea got caught in my head from the TSAB gazeteer thread.
If I came up with the idea for this type of ship, I might toss the idea in Noah's direction. Rob, would Noah be interested in financing this type of construction, do you think? If so, the Jason would do the technomancy to see what might come of it. People, please kibitz. I'm interested in opinions.
Ship Name: Star Dreamer
Size - not sure of the exact dimensions. Enough for a couple of crew and some scientists/surveyors. Ideas?
Drive: Speed drive, Max 0.1c under normal operation.
Purpose: Exploration/Survey, Search-and-Rescue - depending on who you ask.
The rest of the specs can be fleshed out in a bit.
The idea behind the Star Dreamer was to try to put together a ship that embodied the history of space flight, to see what might happen. Theoretically, such a ship might be well-suited for exploration. If I pitched the idea to Noah, I'd probably include the idea of surveying star systems for substances that are rarer in our solar system, but that might be more abundant/lucrative to pursue elsewhere. Most of the ship would be new construction, but would incorporate as many bits and pieces of significant ships/locations/controls as possible. Bolts, screws, old shuttle tiles - whatever can be found. If Noah does buy out NASA, he might have quite a few things available. A painting in the main galley/crew section of the planets of the solar system, incorporating dust/items from those locations. Lunar rock from Tranquility Base. Iron ore smelted on Mars. Whatever can be found. Handwave the ship with a full pagan ritual, dedicating it to the spirits of the ones who died for the dream of spaceflight, as well as whatever gods seem appropriate. Hermes is almost a certainty. Then let the handwavium cure to a musical history of spaceflight - from Leslie Fish's Surprise! (Sputnik I), all the way up to the shuttles, and then songs set in the future.
Ok....now for the weirdness. You notice that I listed two purposes. Exploration is what it was built for, and it serves that admirably. However, the ship is convinced her primary function is search-and-rescue.
*siren* Hot Soup! Coming Through!: When a distress/Mayday signal is received that is within answerable range, the ship will automatically divert to anwer it. Speed boosts to 150-200% normal, up to 0.2c. Star Dreamer can ONLY hit this speed on a rescue run, and it does have consequences.
Exhausted...must rest. (ow....): After a rescue run is completed, up to and including evacuation of casualties to a place of treatment, engine performance immediately drops to 30% of normal speed, and continues to degrade over several days until the ship can barely limp along. After the first time a rescue run was performed, the engine was found to be coated with a grey-black dust - somehow, the handwavium actually burnt itself out to boost the speed that high. To fix it, the entire engine must be dismantled and cleaned of the dust, any worn/damaged parts must be replaced, and the engine reassembled and handwaved again. The longer the rescue run boost, the more work that will need to be done on the engine.
Ghost Riders in the Sky: Because of this quirk, the Jason has probably joked with Noah that they should've actually called the ship Space Ghost. The ship appears to have manifested a ghost crew for herself. Nobody has actually SEEN an actual ghost, but controls move by themselves - including the waldo gloves used to control several robotic arms/cranes that the ship has. 'Occupied' crew stations also run noticeable cooler than the regular air temperature of the ship, up to 5-10 degrees difference. Footsteps have been heard in compartments with nobody in them, as well as conversations between two or more apparent people. The conversations are never clear enough to make out more than a word or two, and are usually in English, though a few of the speakers are apparently Russian.
Carmen Miranda's Ghost...: Star Dreamer has a thing for rumba music, and sulks if she doesn't get to hear at least a little each day. Minor malfunctions will occur - nothing health-threatening, though an ice-cold shower rapidly gets the point across that somebody is not happy. Also - the recycler, an experiment in trying to recycle garbage/waste back into edible food products, can be found to contain an assortment of fresh fruit every couple of days. Nobody is complaining about this quirk, and quite frankly given the usual rations on a long survey, the rumba music is worth it. At least the fruit hasn't shown up in basket hats yet....
Ok - this is what's been going through my head up to this point. Ideas? Like it, love it, hate it? Let me know what you think. And Rob - if you want to pick this up, or if someone else would like to play with the ship, feel free. I donate the idea to the group.
If I came up with the idea for this type of ship, I might toss the idea in Noah's direction. Rob, would Noah be interested in financing this type of construction, do you think? If so, the Jason would do the technomancy to see what might come of it. People, please kibitz. I'm interested in opinions.
Ship Name: Star Dreamer
Size - not sure of the exact dimensions. Enough for a couple of crew and some scientists/surveyors. Ideas?
Drive: Speed drive, Max 0.1c under normal operation.
Purpose: Exploration/Survey, Search-and-Rescue - depending on who you ask.
The rest of the specs can be fleshed out in a bit.
The idea behind the Star Dreamer was to try to put together a ship that embodied the history of space flight, to see what might happen. Theoretically, such a ship might be well-suited for exploration. If I pitched the idea to Noah, I'd probably include the idea of surveying star systems for substances that are rarer in our solar system, but that might be more abundant/lucrative to pursue elsewhere. Most of the ship would be new construction, but would incorporate as many bits and pieces of significant ships/locations/controls as possible. Bolts, screws, old shuttle tiles - whatever can be found. If Noah does buy out NASA, he might have quite a few things available. A painting in the main galley/crew section of the planets of the solar system, incorporating dust/items from those locations. Lunar rock from Tranquility Base. Iron ore smelted on Mars. Whatever can be found. Handwave the ship with a full pagan ritual, dedicating it to the spirits of the ones who died for the dream of spaceflight, as well as whatever gods seem appropriate. Hermes is almost a certainty. Then let the handwavium cure to a musical history of spaceflight - from Leslie Fish's Surprise! (Sputnik I), all the way up to the shuttles, and then songs set in the future.
Ok....now for the weirdness. You notice that I listed two purposes. Exploration is what it was built for, and it serves that admirably. However, the ship is convinced her primary function is search-and-rescue.
*siren* Hot Soup! Coming Through!: When a distress/Mayday signal is received that is within answerable range, the ship will automatically divert to anwer it. Speed boosts to 150-200% normal, up to 0.2c. Star Dreamer can ONLY hit this speed on a rescue run, and it does have consequences.
Exhausted...must rest. (ow....): After a rescue run is completed, up to and including evacuation of casualties to a place of treatment, engine performance immediately drops to 30% of normal speed, and continues to degrade over several days until the ship can barely limp along. After the first time a rescue run was performed, the engine was found to be coated with a grey-black dust - somehow, the handwavium actually burnt itself out to boost the speed that high. To fix it, the entire engine must be dismantled and cleaned of the dust, any worn/damaged parts must be replaced, and the engine reassembled and handwaved again. The longer the rescue run boost, the more work that will need to be done on the engine.
Ghost Riders in the Sky: Because of this quirk, the Jason has probably joked with Noah that they should've actually called the ship Space Ghost. The ship appears to have manifested a ghost crew for herself. Nobody has actually SEEN an actual ghost, but controls move by themselves - including the waldo gloves used to control several robotic arms/cranes that the ship has. 'Occupied' crew stations also run noticeable cooler than the regular air temperature of the ship, up to 5-10 degrees difference. Footsteps have been heard in compartments with nobody in them, as well as conversations between two or more apparent people. The conversations are never clear enough to make out more than a word or two, and are usually in English, though a few of the speakers are apparently Russian.
Carmen Miranda's Ghost...: Star Dreamer has a thing for rumba music, and sulks if she doesn't get to hear at least a little each day. Minor malfunctions will occur - nothing health-threatening, though an ice-cold shower rapidly gets the point across that somebody is not happy. Also - the recycler, an experiment in trying to recycle garbage/waste back into edible food products, can be found to contain an assortment of fresh fruit every couple of days. Nobody is complaining about this quirk, and quite frankly given the usual rations on a long survey, the rumba music is worth it. At least the fruit hasn't shown up in basket hats yet....
Ok - this is what's been going through my head up to this point. Ideas? Like it, love it, hate it? Let me know what you think. And Rob - if you want to pick this up, or if someone else would like to play with the ship, feel free. I donate the idea to the group.