Starports

A thread of 3 messages, 20 October 1992 to 26 October 1992, in the order they were sent.

#4761 Starports

[unnamed sender] · 20 October 1992

Although Starports are extremely plentiful in the Traveller/MT universe, they
have at the same time received the least amount of attention.  I am thinking of
producing an amalgamation of guidelines from various sources to send to the
list.  I am interested in hearing of other's ideas about Starports, of most
any nature.  For example:

The Starport/Startown as adventure setting.  Specific examples from gaming
   sessions are perfectly acceptable.
The traffic in and out of Starports of various sizes.
The defenses of Starports.
The Starport as center of commerce.
etc.

I should have a bibliography of Starport references posted to the list in a
few weeks.  Meanwhile, let me here from you.

					Lewis Taylor Goss

#4768 Re: Starports

Richard Johnson · 22 October 1992 · reply to #4761

Lewis Taylor Goss aks for information on starports...

Well, I'll see if I can dig up the long, painfully obtuse, and strange
stuff I send to Bill Morrison and Dan Corrin about three years ago.  I
expounded at length about starrport mapping and construction, and how
starports affect commerce etc.  There *might* be something useful there.

Generally - are you looking at the starport, the star town, or or the
native city?  Do you want an adventure milieu or information on how
traffic will be sequenced, landed, and stored?

Later:
- --
Richard Johnson      [email removed]
"We've learned a great deal about how to keep the American people
pacified."   Ex-CIA director William Colby after the Church hearings

#4787 Starports

Marc Alexandrovich Volovic · 26 October 1992 · reply to #4768

>Submissions: [email removed] -or- [email removed]
>
>From: Rob Dean [email removed]
>On starports:  I like the idea of a detailed starport generator.  Any ideas
>as to what ought to go into it?  SHipyard size? Number of landing/docking
>bays? Number of retail stores on the concourse?
>
>Rob Dean

The first and major consideration is "wholeness" (for lack of better term).
Is the Starport located wholy on the plant's surface or does it have an
orbital component and, if so, of what size.

The orbital component will, of course, be the docking/unloading station for
planetoid and dispersed configuration ships, as well as for ships without
M-drives and very, very big ships (Atlantis class comes to mind).

The primary division of the land-side Starport shall be for ships landing on
gravitic M-drive versus ships on rocket M-drive (not many of those, true),
and shall possibly include a runway (for the streamlined ships) and a landing
field with blast resistant tarmac for the vertically landing rockets and
unstreamlined ships.

One of the important parameters to decide is the number of ship-berths and
their size --- one 40,000 ton berth probably takes the space which may be
used by 150 Far Traders. The Starport, it seems, is a fairly large place (A
LOT larger than anything imagined in one of White Dwarves dealing with the
matter).

The next thing to decide is the size of the repair/maintenance area, provision
for simultaneous repair of ships, refueling stations and vehicles, fuel,
spares and equipment storage and parking space for 'port vehicles. Not to
mention designing these vehicles (cranes, mobile work platforms, tugs, loading
vehicles --- Rob, this is going to fall in your lap, I am afraid).

Then come the customs houses and warehouses, incoming and outbound processing
areas for cargo and passengers, security vehicles and barracks, shops and
terminals and many other small fry.

Comments?

Marc A. Volovic