Assets





 Airlocks

 

 

Crew Chair

 Bridge Desk

 

 

Doors

(Side)

(Front)

 

 Enclosed Transformer

 Escape Pod Hatch

 

 Nuclear Thruster

(Exterior)
 

(Interior)
 

 (Bottom)

(with Landing Gear)

(with Arm)

 

 Server

 Stackable Kitchen Chair

 

Wardrobe

 
 
 Nuclear Reactor

Changes and Reasons

One of my initial concerns was how to provide the medical care safely and easily. Another was to provide the passengers aboard the ship a comfortable and not-too-unsettling journey. The obvious answer was gravity.
Unfortunately providing gravity in a space environment is usually expensive, in resources, space and energy. The most developed method is to use a torus structure spinning at high velocity, causing the contents to be forced against the outer surface. Providing one of these large enough without encumbering the ship or providing discomfort to the passengers moving in and around it would have been counter-productive.
Therefore I have removed the outer ring from my design, instead opting for a more radical approach. Extrapolating on current research (http://arxiv.org/ftp/gr-qc/papers/0203/0203033.pdf), I have chosen gravitoelectromagnetism through super-conductors as my source of the force. This is where I have chosen to take artistic liberties with the ship, but I will provide ample space for the housing for such technology and its source of power. I will also have to create a safe environment should the system lose power.

I have also reduced the amount of floor space needed for the rescue equipment, as continued work on plans has revealed I had overestimated the space required.

The large port and starboard engines have been removed, as I have increased the number of VTOL capable engines, which are integrated into the landing gear. This will allow the ship's weight to be more evenly spread and provide more responsive and agile flight, as well as increased stability should the front section need to be detached.

Initial Block Modelling

Detailed Floor Layout (Near Complete)

Much more detailed and readjusted layout, now including Exterior features. I am slightly behind on this, but the time I spend planning will help me with the modelling and prevent me straying into creating random attributes to fill space and forgetting more important features.

Draft Layout Designs

 

 This much smaller scaled version had similar features to the latest design, but lacked the organisation and safety considerations of the later layout. It also lacked a main engine and adequate space for rescue equipment and supplies as well as life support systems.

Key

Red - Bridge

Blue - Communications

Cyan - Navigation

Light Green - Systems

Green - Medical

Green Striped - Wards

Grey - Crew Quarters

Black - Evacuee Quarters

Purple - Engineering

Yellow - Landing Gear/Engine Control

 

This design was separated into decks and included all the needed features, but did little to account for the close proximity of the crew and passengers to the engines.

Key 

Red - Bridge

Blue - Communications

Cyan - Navigation

Light Green - Systems

Green - Medical

Green Dotted - Wards

Green Striped - E.R

Grey - Crew Quarters

Black - Evacuee Quarters

White - Water/Oxygen

Light Grey - Shuttle Bays

Orange - Rescue Equipment

Purple - Engineering

Interior Floor Layout

This is my final floor layout for the ship, with exterior features shown in red line. The scale of these may change slightly as the scale has not been finalised.
I have colour coded the rooms and I am now populating the ship with its equipment:
Red - Bridge
Cyan -  Navigation
Blue - Communications
Light Green - Systems
Green - Medical
Dark Grey - Crew Quarters
Grey - Passenger Quarters
White - Life Support (Air and Water)
Dark Orange - Kitchen and Living space
Orange - Equipment Storage
Purple - Engineering

Initial FMP Mind-Maps and Designs

 These are my (somewhat messy) initial designs and plans for the project.

This mind-map shows every area of the spacecraft I have considered, with the branches leading to possible features for each of the parts or rooms.

As you can see at the very bottom, it reads "[Thunderbirds]". As I was asking for advise for this mind-map, I was reminded of the awesome television show I watched so fondly as a child, and I felt such a fool for not remembering it, or mentioning it in my specification.

The shows visionary creator Gerry Anderson died on Boxing Day.

I always intended to name the ship in his honour from as soon as I was reminded, but with this news I felt compelled to dedicate this project to his memory. The ship's name will be Anderson IR (Interplanetary Rescue).

 

 Above is the initial layout of the ship's bridge. I have taken much inspiration from the bridges of the Star Trek franchise. I chose this layout as it would be both familiar to the audience and practical. The captain, slightly raised on a central platform, can receive information from as many directions as possible (the light arrows show roughly the flow of information).

As you can see, I have used a hexagonal shape to maximise efficiency and strength. The rest of the ship will be designed around this, creating a honeycomb of rooms (unless they become redundant, like perhaps in corridors).

 

This was my initial ship layout, based on the hexagonal design.

As you can see from my notes, I thought the essential systems (communications, navigation, life support and the evacuee quarters, along with the bridge) should be more central, or at least be more localised, so as to be further from engineering (and the ship's engines) so they would perhaps be able to detach if there was any problems with the engines, thus preserving life (as that is the ship's purpose).

 

At the very top of the basic initial layout I have noted "think in decks". Above is my first rough attempt to do so, but as you can see I was as yet unable to significantly separate the vital systems and the engines.

 

This was a quick sketch where I seemed to solve the problem of separating the aforementioned systems. I finally realised this is why Star Trek's Enterprise had been designed with its long 'neck', as it separated the main decks from the engineering decks, and furthermore the engines themselves.

You can also see the (unrealistically large) landing gear on each corner.

 

Here are my design sketches for the ship's landing gear. I started by designing the 'feet', making them as adjustable as possible, allowing the craft to land on varied and uneven terrain.

I added the treads (with their own adjustable suspension) so that two 'toes' would be able to lift slightly and automatically move each 'foot' should the landing surface become unstable. This would also allow the ship to crawl along, enabling it to approach rescue sites without taking off.

I added engines onto the legs so it would be VTOL capable, allowing for swifter approaches and departures in hot zones and negating the need for substantial wings.

 

Above was my first design for the ship's communications tower, with antenna on top for long-range radio transmissions and a large dish for satellite communications.

However, whilst conducting research into the area I found (as noted) that a hollow glass tube would do the job whilst staying radar invisible. This could be extended and retracted as needed to avoid damage.

 



 These are my designs for the spacecraft's defences. Mainly automated and designed to be non-lethal, the system would track incoming missiles and, depending on the range and speed of the incoming target, fire either a long range rocket or deploy flares.

Since these sketches I have added a railgun system for the rockets' initial propulsion and firing on closer targets.

 

 Above is a quick first design for the ATVs the crew could take closer to rescue sites. These would be extremely tough, so as to survive most anything nature might throw at it.

I think I may deviate from this 'all-in-one' design and go various vehicles capable of different tasks.