Atmosphere (requires streamlining)

or

Space-only

Hull:

accommodations 20-25 yd3/person, 1 ton/unit
hull weighs 0.01 ton/yd3  costs L 70/yd3 ($2000/yd3 modern US)

Armor:

unarmored = defense factor (DF) 0
armor adds .2 tons/yd3 of mass and L 35/yd3 for defense factor 1
cost and mass double for DF 2, quadruple for DF 3, etc

Compartmentalization:

Heavy and total compartmentalization available at 50% and 100% additional
base hull cost and mass.

Standard walls DR 6, HT 20
Pressure walls DR 12, HT 40

Heavy compartmentalization walls DR 8 HT 30
Pressure walls in heavy compartmentalization DR 16 HT 50

Total compartmentalization walls (all) DR 16 HT 50

Stress rating:

Weight a hull can bear safely, = volume in yd3.
Increase stress rating by incrementing cost and mass by 1% for each
2% change in stress rating.

Streamlining:

Aerodynamic streamlining adds 50% to hull cost and 10% to mass.
Winged streamlining adds 100% to hull cost and 25% to mass.  (Possibly
only needed for landing craft/shuttle.)

Power measured in MW
Drives produce thrust; acceleration = thrust (tons)/mass (tons)

Allot crew quarters and life support; space and mass for each person.

Crew includes:
Command
Pilot
Medical Personnel
Engineers
Life Support Tech
Service Personnel
General Maintenance Tech
Gunner

Crew members require one pilot chair each
1/2 ton, 1 1/2 yd3 of space, cost L 35.

Passenger chairs are 1/4 ton, 1 yd3, L 17.5

Crew accommodations per person are 1 ton, 25 yd3 space, L 140.

Comprehensive life support
Base:  2 tons, 4 yd3, 1/2 MW of power, L 175
Per person additional:  1/2 ton, 2 yd3, L 17.5

Armament

Enumerate Sensory and Calculating Equipment

Airlocks, cargo bays, docking areas, auxiliary vessels


------
How To Build a Spaceship, Lunar Ellipse-Style 

1. Decide on the type of ship you want 

2. Choose a hull size, material, armor, compartmentalization, and
   stress rating

3. Install power plant and drives.  Don.t forget to allow for
   fuel/reaction mass.

4. Allot quarters for the team members and install life support systems
5. Add instrumentation and communications gear
6. Install accessories (airlocks, landing gear, etc)

7. Allocate space for cargo/supplies and auxiliary vehicles (if any)

8. Do the math.determine the final mass, cost, volume, and power usage
   of all components.  Make sure your power plant is powerful enough!

9. Determine the acceleration

(Note that 35 in 1899 = US$1000 in 2003.)

Step 1: Ship Type - Determine the type of ship (atmosphere-capable
vs. space-only; purpose).

N. B.: Streamlining is necessary only for ships that will enter an
atmosphere. Streamlining adds to the base cost of the hull and adds
mass.

Step 2: Hull - This is the basic framework of the ship.  It includes
decks, cables, the outer skin, stress bracing, and other similar
necessaries.  Size is expressed in yd3 (cubic yards).  The thing about
the hull is that it isn't what you do with it, it's the size that
counts.  A lifeboat or fighter craft might be anything from 5 to 200
cy, while some of the orbital stations top out at over 100,000 cy.
Standard accommodations are 20-25 cy per person, including corridors
and living space, and weigh in at 1 ton per unit.  Hulls weigh
approximately .01 ton/ yd3 and cost 70/ yd3.

Determine size (in yd3), material(s), armour, compartmentlisation
(non-compartmentalised sections of the ship may decompress if the hull
is punctured), and stress rating.

Size: A lifeboat may range in size from 5-200 yd3; a shuttle or scout
ship from 50-500 yd3; a freighter from 200-40,000 yd3; and an orbital
station would be 100,000 yd3 or more.

Material: The best available hull material masses .01 tons/ yd3 and
costs $2000 US/ yd3.

Armour: Armour reduces damage taken in combat. Unarmoured ships have a
Defense Factor (DF) of 0. Any vehicle may be armoured. Armour adds
mass, but not volume. Armour masses .2 tons/yd3, and costs $1000
US/yd3, for a Defense Factor of 1. Armour cost and mass double for DF
2, quadruple for DF 3, and so on.

Compartmentlisation: Interior walls to compartments are
pressure-tight, and there are more pressure doors on a
compartmentalised ship. Standard compartment walls are DR 6, HT
20. Pressure walls and doors are DR 12, HT 40. Heavy and total
compartmentalisation are available at 50% and 100% additional base
hull cost and mass.  Heavy compartmentalisation means that most doors
and walls are DR 8, HT30.  Pressure doors and walls are common, with
DR 16, HT 50.  Total compartmentalization means that every wall and
door is a pressure wall and door, DR 16, HT 50, unless explicitly
stated otherwise.

Stress Rating: The stress rating is the amount of weight (not mass)
that a hull can bear safely. At 1G, weight and mass are equivalent. A
hull that will never land can have a low stress rating. A standard
hull has a stress rating (in tons) equivalent to its volume in
yd3. Increasing (or decreasing) a stress rating is done by
incrementing the cost and mass by 1% for each 2% change in stress
rating. (doubling the stress rating adds 50% cost and mass, for
example.)

Streamlining

This is only necessary if the ship will enter an atmosphere.
Aerodynamic streamlining adds 50% to the hull cost and 10% to the
mass.  Winged streamlining (for maneuvering in well in atmospheres)
adds 100% to the hull cost and 25% to the mass.  (You may want to
consider this for a landing craft/shuttle only.)

Step 3: Power & Engines - Determine the power plant size and output,
maneuvering drive, main drive, and fuel type and capacity.

Power is measured in megawatts (MW). Power output takes into account
the power that keeps the power plant itself running and under
control. Redundant power systems and additional capacity are
recommended.

Drives produce thrust, measured in tons. The acceleration of a ship
(measured in Gs) is determined by the thrust. A 100-ton ship with a
thrust of 100 tons accelerates at 1G. A 1000-ton ship with a thrust of
100 tons accelerates at .1G. Maneuvering drives are used to make small
navigational corrections, for docking, and for maintaining orbit. Main
drives are more powerful than maneuvering drives and propel the ship
through space. Fuel type is dependent upon the type of drive, while
capacity is determined by the size of the ship and the amount of
storage space you are willing to commit to fuel storage.

Step 4: Quarters - Allot quarters for the crew and passengers, and
life support for same (air, water, food, waste disposal).

Space and mass must be allotted to each person aboard the ship. For
short flights, only seating space is required. Longer flights require
living accommodations. Crew requirements vary greatly, but the
following positions must be filled (positions may be filled by more
than one person):

Command: one person, plus one per five additional non-command
crew. Officers who supervise engineers are usually engineers
themselves, and an officer may double as a pilot or gunner.

Pilot: At least one, preferably three plus a navigational specialist
(who may double as a backup pilot in an emergency).

Medical Personnel: At least one full-time medical specialist (flight
surgeon) for up to 20 people, with one additional medic or assistant
for each additional 50 people.

Engineers: One full-time engineer for every 60 tons or fraction
thereof of the total mass of the drives and power plant. On small
ships, engineers may also be responsible for life support.

Life Support Technician: One full-time LST for ships carrying more
than 20 people, plus one additional LST for each additional full 100
people.

Service Personnel: Includes cooks, yeoman, and support positions. One
full-time service person for ships carrying more than 20 people, with
an additional person for every additional 50 people on board.

General Maintenance Technician: One GMT trained for Extra-Vehicular
Excursions (EVE) if there are more than 10 people aboard, plus one for
every 50 people OR 1,000 tons of ship, whichever is more.

Concierge Service: Only required on passenger vessels. One full-time
person for each 50 cargo or steerage class passengers, 20
second-class, 10 first-class passengers, or 2 luxury passengers.

Gunners: One per weapon system. Weapons may not be operated unless
there is a gunner manning the station.

Additional Crew: this may include redundant personnel for any
position, various technical specialists (communication, sensory
equipment, calculating equipment), scientists, cargo specialists,
various assistants, &c.

N.B.: Calculating equipment can mitigate the amount of work
required. The better the calculating equipment, the more work it can
do.

Remember to allot a certain amount of weight/mass per person for
equipment.  For short flights, only seating room is required.  Crew
members require pilot chairs (one per crew member), with a weight of


Type of Accommodation Weight (Tons) yd3 of Space Cost

Crew		        1		25	$4,000
Steerage		
Second Class		1		20	$3,000
First Class		2		40	$6,000
Luxury			3		100	$30,000

Life Support: This is available as limited (for shuttles, lifeboats,
etc.) and comprehensive.  Life support provides heat, light, and air.
Extra capacity is highly recommended.

Limited life support requires 1/10 ton, 1/10 yd3, and $500 per
person-day of support.  When the capacity is exhausted, that's it.  So
long as there is power, the life support system operates.

Comprehensive life support works indefinitely.  It requires 2 tons, 4
yd3 , 1/2 MW of power and and costs $5,000 for the base unit.  Additionally, 
it requires 1/2 ton, 2 yd3 , and $500 for each person supported.



Step 6: Sensory and Calculating Equipment - Enumerate all
calculating and sensory gear, an instrumentation. See "The Amazing
Mr. Edison" entry in the Lunar Ellipse Blog for details about
available equipment.

Step 7: Airlocks, &c. - Determine number, location, and size of
air-locks, cargo bays, docking areas, and auxiliary vessels (scouts,
shuttles, lifeboats). Air-locks may be used in the interior of the
ship as well as in exterior exits. Air-locks are available in Large,
Standard, and Single sizes.

Size Capacity	  Volume (yd3)	  Mass (Tons)	    Cost
Large		  12 adults	  24   2	    $20,000
Standard	  4 adults	  8    1	    $10,000
Single		  1 adult	  2    1/2	    $3,000

Other Accessories

Passage Tube: A flexible tube that connects two airlocks.  May be
pressurized, allowing people and objects to traverse it without vacuum
protection.  100 feet long, 8 feet in diameter.  Takes 1 hour for 1
person to rig in micro-gravity, or thirty minutes for two or more
people.  Requires mechanical competency.  PD 3, DR 12, $1000 Secondary
Bridge: Requires one backup calculator.  Allow 1 yd3 , 0.1 ton, and
$100 per bridge crew member (minimum 10 yd3 , 2 tons, $2,000).  All
ships must have a main bridge at least twice the size of the secondary
bridge.

Cargo Space: You can take it with you, provided you allow enough space
and mass.  When you do your calculations (Step 8, below) remember to
account for the volume and mass of all cargo, including rations,
water, etc.

Step 8: Calculations - Calculate the mass, volume, and power usage of
each component, and tot it up.

Step 9: Acceleration - Using the mass calculation from Step 8,
determine the ship's rate of acceleration/deceleration.

A Few Words about Escape Velocity

Let's face it, gravity sucks.  If you want to blast off into the wild
blue yonder, you.re going to have to accelerate to more than 1G.  In a
chemical-fuel rocket, 99% of the mass will be fuel, but that gets you
4 to 8 Gs of acceleration. (Ouch!)

Any ship with more than 1G of acceleration, however, can reach escape
velocity.  See the table below:

Gs Acceleration	   Time to Escape Earth's Gravity
1.01		   30 hours
1.1		   3 hours
1.2		   90 minutes
1.5		   35 minutes
2		   18 minutes
3		   9 minutes
4		   6 minutes
5		   3.5 minutes

The above information is based on the difference between the ship's
acceleration and 1G.  The trip duration halves every time the
difference between the acceleration and 1G doubles.  You can calculate
the escape velocity of any world (in miles per second) by multiplying
the Gs by R (which his the radius of the planet in Earth radii),
taking the square root, and multiplying by 6.9.  Time to reach escape
velocity is calculated (in seconds) by dividing escape velocity by
(ship's acceleration - G) and multiplying by 165.

By this time you.re probably thinking that there's got to be a better
way than sheer force.  There is.  Think about assisted takeoff and
winged takeoff.  I highly recommend checking out recent (1-2 years)
back issues of Scientific American and Discover magazine for ideas.