Specifications:
Official Name.....................................................USSC Discovery One
USSA "Registration Number"............................ XD-1 (X-Ray Delta One)
Overall Length...................................................140.1 m.
Overall Beam.....................................................16.7 m.
Overall Draft......................................................17 m.
Command Module Diameter..............................16.5 m.
Reactor Module Length....................................32.2 m.
Reactor Module Draft........................................8.8 m.
Mass at Earth Gravity.........................................5,440 tonnes
Life Support (two men, out of hibernation)........90 months*
Engine Type........................................................Cavradyne Plasma Propulsion System (Six Engines)- Liquid Ammonia Fuel- Thrust Deflector Plates- Maximum Thrust 280,000 Kg.
Computer.............................................................HAL 9000 Logic Memory System (Completed Jan. 12, 1992 at the HAL Plant in Urbana, ILL.)
Suspended Animation System..........................Meditech 712-R Hibernacula (3 Centrifuge, 5 Medical Level)
EVA Craft:..........................................................Douglas DC-3 EVA Spacecraft (3)
Pod Bay features: Three each Pod turntable Base, Extension motor, Extension Platform, Outer hull door, Space suit rack. Test bench with two LCD screens and HAL 9000 terminal. Two large emergency oxygen bottles. Nine small emergency oxygen bottles. Circuit Breaker Box. Manual control station with HAL 9000 terminal, Six LCD screens, and full control set.
Pod Bay Deck: Along with the Pod Bay, the Pod Bay Deck also features an emergency airlock, circuitry storage bay, two fresh water tanks, a maintenance equipment room, an emergency shelter and space suit rack, emergency batteries for the centrifuge and pod bay, and a zero-g toilet.
Living Module: Centrifuge, Magnetic-Drive type. 11.6 m. diameter. Rotation Rate 3 RPM.
Living Module Stations: 12-screen HAL 9000 interface/ communications module, Nuclear reactor monitoring station, Remote probe control, Radar mapping station, Climate Control, and Revival Monitoring Station.
Living Module Features: Sanitary module, (Shower, Sink, Waste water recycling Control) Three Meditech 712-R Hibernacula, Sun-ray tanning station, Water Closet (Head), Three Circuit breaker panels. One emergency space suit locker, Two spare part lockers, Three clothing lockers.
Cockpit: Two seats for Mission Commander and Deputy Commander. Full range of instruments and control panels. Two sets of four LCD screens.
Command Deck: The Command Deck includes the cockpit, zero-g astronomy lab, zero-g sciences lab, two fresh water tanks, six-spacesuit recharge unit, a pre-launch personnel clearance area, the circuit breaker room, and a zero-g toilet. The Command Deck also includes all HAL 9000 related systems (see below)
HAL 9000 systems: Logic memory center, auxiliary power unit, computer climate regulation system, autonomic systems control center, and reactor control system.
Thrusters: Eight Mk 114 on command module. 720 Kg thrust each. Two forward and two aft of reactor module. Nine Mk 29 vernier thrusters on engine module. 1,600 Kg thrust each. Four emergency escape rockets at Command Module rear.
Misc. Equipment: An emergency communications antenna, about half the size of the main antenna, is stored beneath the blow-away cover at the command module's top. Four probes (two atmospheric, two remote-controlled landers) and a telescope array are stored beneath the bottom blow-away cover.
Crew:
David Bowman (Mission Commander)
Frank Poole (Deputy Commander)
Victor Kaminsky (Jovian Survey Commander)
Jack Kimball (Geophysicist)
Charles Hunter (Astrophysicist)
* (Not known if crew members will survive said period of time before nervous breakdown)
Technical Notes: (Frederick Ordway and the British Interplanetary Association) Discovery: The vehicle selected for the Jovian mission is the impressive, 460-foot long spaceship Discovery. So-called "Cavradyne" gaseous core, nuclear reactor engines at the rear provide the craft's propulsion. 275 feet of tankage and structure separate the spherical part of the ship where the crew quarters, the computer, flight controls, small auxiliary craft, and instrumentation are located. In the centrifuge, the crew enjoy Moonlike gravity conditions created by spinning; it is there that they spend most of their time and where the hibernating astronauts sleep in their Hibernacula. Actual piloting, navigational checks, and the like take place in the zero-gravity environment command module. Other sections of the sphere include the pod bay, where three one-man repair and inspection craft are housed, and the HAL 9000 computer with its level-upon-level of memory storage and related elements. Cavradyne Engines: Propulsion controls, designed with the assistance of General Electric's Valley Forge Space Technology Center and the UK Atomic Energy Authority, are located in the command module. Honeywell's nuclear reactor control panel displays information on such parameters as turbine, compressor, heat exchanger, secondary circulatory, and radiator liquid helium storage, generator and recuperator performance, and pressures and temperatures at various stations. Precise present readings can be obtained instantaneously on the control screen, if desired, as well as past performance and predicted future performance.
The Cavradyne engines are based on the assumption of years of research and development, during the 1980's and 90's, of gaseous core nuclear reactors and high-temperature ionized gases. Theory is presumed to have showed that gaseous uranium 235 could be made critical in a cavity reactor only several feet in diameter if the uranium atomic density were kept high, and if temperatures were maintained at a minimum of 20,000 degrees F. At first, progress was slow because of such early unsolved problems as how to reduce vortex turbulence in order to achieve high Separation ratios, and how to achieve adequate wall cooling in the face of the thermal radiation from the high-temperature ionized plasma. In the Cavradyne system, the temperature of the reactor is not directly limited by the capabilities of solid materials, since the central cavity is surrounded by a thick graphite wall that moderates the neutrons, reflecting most of them back into the cavity. Wall cooling is ensured by circulating the hydrogen propellant prior to its being heated. Fissionable fuel energy is transferred to the propellant by radiation through a specially designed rigid -- and coolable -- container. Centrifuge: The centrifuge consists of rim-installed consoles, panels, screens, and devices. There is an automated kitchen developed with the assistance of RCA Whirlpool; a ship-to-Earth communications center; a complete medical section where the astronauts undergo regular automated checkups (results are displayed and recorded, diagnosis of deficiencies is given directly on a readout screen, and medicament or other treatment prescribed) an observatory, created with the help of astronomers at the Royal Greenwich Observatory; and a geophysical exploration module worked out with French engineers from the Paris-based Schlumberger firm. The latter permits a wide variety of surface and subsurface experimentation to take place on an alien body, such as an asteroid or a moon. Since subsurface structure could be extremely important in the spaceship's investigatory program in the Jovian system, a drill is incorporated into a remotely-controlled surface lander. Controls on the console include a depth selector, drilling rate selector, equipment calibration, recording and error analysis controls, and various screen and gage indications of subsurface characteristics. Communications: Despite its huge size, the Discovery can be handled by the two astronauts (Dave Bowman and Frank Poole) and HAL 9000. IBM predicted that computer development will have advanced to such an extent that the mission could be undertaken with all the astronauts placed in hibernation. It is desired, however, that regular communications be maintained throughout the voyage between the pilot and copilot and mission control back on Earth. During communication, account is taken of the elapsed time for electromagnetic waves crossing space between the spaceship and the Earth. Naturally, this time would depend on the relative positions of the bodies in the Solar System at any given moment.
(Has your head exploded yet, why not?)
This page is I plan on drawing up some deck plans. Not sure when I'll be finished.
I plan on drawing up some deck plans. Not sure when I'll be finished.