(Dear James; please post this! Thanks!)
Dear Scott (and other interested parties);
Your response to the Roughneck class suggests that it
would probably be wise for me to at least offer an
explanation/concept background to this design (yes, it was mine).
Hopefully, this will make the craft `fit' a little better into
the Traveller framework, as you see it.
Firstly, I agree wholeheartedly with your general assertion that
the Roughneck is (at best) ungainly and bizarre; at first it
might seem like the problem it is supposed to fix is smaller than
the problem it presents. However, I offer the following text as
a conceptual precursor:
(this was originally supposed to be included in the supplement
that eventually became A:V. It was not included, I have since learned.)
<<Laruusalii is a failing world that is trying to maintain an
industrial-level society. One of the major new industries in the
Laruusalii system involves harvesting complex hydrocarbons from
the system's largest gas giant. Huge wildcatter rigs gather vast
quantities of liquid propane and acetylene in the middle levels
of the planet's crushing atmosphere. This new resource has al-
lowed Laruusalii to continue manufacturing plastics and to export
these fluids to other worlds which have no access to petrochemi-
cals (for the similar purpose of producing plastics; my parenthetical
addition).>>
Note that the point is not petrochemicals as combustibles,
but as raw stock for creation of plastics. If combustibles were
all they wanted, they'd probably just grab the hydrogen and
leave. (Although the standing rules on tech level division suggest
that it is not possible to burn hydrogen productively [as energy
source other than CryoRkt] prior to TL 7-8.) However, I did some
research regarding the creation of plastics and my `Kentucky
windage' call was that without naturally available petrochemicals
in liquid form, plastics could not be made reliably and at a de-
pendable qc standard. (Oh, it would be possible to cobble up an
intricate system for this at TL 4, I estimate, but it would be
VERY expensive--and precision controls would always be prob-
lematical).
So the point is simply this; in staying with the rules of Travel-
ler (which is always a GOOD idea for freelancers to do; we have
less leeway than in-house folks), I decided to
create a craft which would :
1) provide a way to access these key compounds.
2) provide the setting for an unusual adventure.
3) --and-- display (by its very nature) the bizarre, marginal,
and even-ill advised rube goldbergesque solutions that desperate
people are likely to come up with.
^MMy reasoning regarding `desperate need' of plastic is essentially
as follows; low tech worlds with hostile environments are going
to be perpetually concerned with wear and tear on atmosphere
seals. Cast iron is well and good, but in the final analysis,
most structures have `holes' in them that permit controlled in-
terface with the environment. That means gaskets, seals, etc.
Most hostile worlds do not have rubber-tree hydroponics gardens
at the start of Hard Times, so that's no answer (and probably
wouldn't be, since rubber and many hostile atmospheres would not
get along very well--or for very long.).
This means that, at lower tech levels where advanced composite chemistry is not
do-able, some kind of plastic is probably the key.
Without it, seals will disintegrate, life support becoming more
costly and marginal. That steepens the community's angle of de-
scent into oblivion. In short, if you don't have acess to seals,
or a GREAT overpressure system (with energy to burn), you MUST have
the seals.
Therein is the logic for the need. The logic for the answer?
Well, a lot of it is in the following passages (once again; I have since learned
that this did not make it into A:V.)
<<The complex hydrocarbons that the wildcatters harvest are cre-
ated by the interaction of the atmospheric gases and radiation
from the system's primary. But in order to gather these
hydrocarbons, the rig must make passes deep inside the atmo-
sphere, down to levels where the external atmospheric pressure
approaches 10 bars (this would be the extreme case; usually
about 4-7). At this level, these complex hydrocarbons
begin to condense as vapor or rain. The rig harvests this high
octane rain with huge outboard scoops, storing the collected
fluids in a large central tank. This tank can also be used for
cargo storage, thanks to its fore-and-aft bay doors.>>
And, as a ready reference for our discussion, a partial listing
of the (questionable) components of the Roughneck, along with
all the notes
Laruusaliin Roughneck-class Frontier Fuel Harvester
POWER: 3/6, ImpIntCmbst=18MW, Duration=2/6
LOCO: 12/24, HiPerfRkt=1G/7020Tt, Duration=20min, Top=1000kph,
Cruise=750kph, NOE= n/a
OTHER: Cargo/Fuel Storage Tanks= 650Kl, Cargo=25.6 Kl,
CryoFuel=1404 Kl, HydrocarbFuel=36Kl, scoops,
^MNotes: The Roughneck is a low-tech spacecraft of unusual design.
Its purpose is to collect complex hydrocarbons from the atmo-
spheres of large gas giants.
The Roughneck looks like a squashed sphere. It customarily be-
gins its mission with an empty Fuel Storage cargo hold, thereby
reducing takeoff weight to 2835 tons. Therefore, lift-off ac-
celeration is approximately 1.5 gees, meaning that the ship can
lift off even from large worlds that do not allow it to use a
Lift-Assisted take-off (for instance, airless worlds).
Once in space, the Roughneck travels out to the desired gas
giant. Speed is of the essence, since the powerplant burns the
same precious hydrocarbons that the ship must gather for resale.
Arriving at the gas giant, the Roughneck will rendezvous with a
support craft (often a space station), where its cryogenic rocket
fuel is replenished and its lift envelope (also called the "air
bag") is connected. The lift envelope is a deflated dirigible of
immense size (over 4 million cubic meters of volume). As the
Roughneck approaches the gas giant's atmosphere, it begins to
collect hydrogen in its scoops and uses this to inflate the lift
envelope.
The lift envelope is useless at these higher altitudes, but be-
comes increasingly useful as the Roughneck descends into the gas
giant's cloud layer. There, atmospheric pressure begins to rise
dramatically and the composition of the atmosphere becomes more
dense. At full inflation, the lift envelope provides 3321 tons
of lift: more than enough to keep the Roughneck from sinking fur-
ther. At this point, the ship begins moving toward areas where
`propane rain' is anticipated. Runoff vents and folds in the top
of the lift envelope gather more of this `rain' than could be ac-
complished with the scoops alone, resulting in a rapid ability to
fill all 650 kiloliters of fuel storage space.
Tanks full, the Roughneck boosts back up to the higher reaches of
the atmosphere, where it pumps its collected fuel into three ex-
ternal drop tanks. Small tenders remove these drop tanks, pump
cryogenic fuel into the main rocket tanks, and emplace new drop
tanks. The tenders then take the full tanks back up to orbit.
The primary danger in a wildcatter's occupation is the need to
de-ice the ship, which can be a risky proposition. Another com-
mon source of danger are the titanic lightning storms that occur
in the atmospheres of large gas giants; a single bolt is com-
pletely capable of disabling the ship and igniting its fuel
stocks.
The Roughneck utilizes a TL 7 VTOL hull and TL 7 control com-
ponents. This makes the construction of each craft a painstaking
effort for TL 6 worlds, which have to fabricate special, purpose-
built architectures for each model.
The statistics for the lift envelope are: Inflated Displacement:
20000, Inlfated Volume: 4.05 million Kl, Net Lift: 3321 tons,
Wgt: 2025 tons, Deflated Volume: 26,730 Kl (fits in a 2000 ton
carrier), Price: 4.05 MCr.
The Roughneck incorporates elements of the Pre-Gravitic
Spacecraft design supplement (from HARD TIMES) and the Aircraft
Design supplement (presented in COACC).
Okay. It's bizarre. It's different. And to game designers
looking to sell something that stands out, that's often enough.
However, I have tried to make the operations of the RN class fea-
sible (if awkward). Unfortunately, there was not enough room
available to go into all the details. (Please remember that when
you write for publication, you always have an editor/developer
looking over your shoulder. If you make lengthy technical des-
criptions essential, they're likely to pass on your whole idea.)
So here is some additional background that never made the cut:
Firstly, the tenders mentioned in the Notes (re: servicing and
removing fuel payload from the RN) are not TL 15s (or at least,
they don't have to be; the presence of the TL 15 XT is not my
contribution). Any capable hull can do--including other
TL 6, cryorkt powered designs. This is in fact what I envi-
sioned; a commercial space infrastructure ala' the type proposed
by von Braun/Ley/Bonestell. Old tech CAN do the trick; it's just
not very flashy and it involves more time and planning.
That same old tech is what I envision supporting the transit op-
erations, as well as the on-site harvesting logistical tail. Ob-
viously, the short duration of the power plant necessitates short
missions and rare journeys away from the operational site. Most
of the time, the RN class would be moored at a larger space sta-
tion in orbit near the GG or at one of the Trojan points. It
would be powered down until used--this because it's too expensive
in terms of petrochem to operate and to save wear on the vehicle.
Note also that in this `dedicated support' version, the in-
flatable envelope would not have to last more than one mission
before being submitted for repair and refit (or removed from the
program for cannibalization). I also envisioned the envelope to
be comprised of many dozens of independent bladders, rather than
a single huge piece. But the design requirement was essentially
the same and required less room (and commentary) to do it this
way (with essentially the same results).
Lastly, some observations on the mission of the craft. Whatever
(highly flawed) knowledge I have of engineering largely arose
from an area that I DO have an appreciable amount of formal
training in; planetary science. Using Saturn as a model, let's
see if there isn't in fact an appropriate operating environment
for the RN.
(see continuation of message; next email)