Eagle Transporter

[Terquem]

I was thinking, again, about the Eagle Transporter from the television show "Space:1999". It has probably been analyzed to bits and pieces by now, and even though it resembles (to me) a 50 dT modular cutter, I still wonder if it isn't better used as a 100 dT scout.

But today I was thinking specifically about the foot/landing pods.

What exactly is in those spaces, do you think? They are quite large.

 

[AnotherDilbert]

What exactly is in those spaces, do you think? They are quite large.

Suspension and shock absorbers, so that it can land on uneven ground?

 

[Spinward Scout]

This shows several things in those areas.

 

[Terquem]

I think each pod has complex hydraulics so the ship can "bounce" in an intimidating display

"the low ri der, drive a little slower..."

 

[aramis]

The pods with the legs probably also hold additional consumables.

 

[Terquem]

That sounds like a good idea, and maybe also gear that is intended to be accessed by crew who are routinely outside the ship. Things like portable water reclamation units, portable emergency shelters, portable data collecting equipment, portable remote communication boosters.

 

[BlackBat242]

Here's a drawing that shows what's inside, and tells what they are (pic is much too large to display in the thread): https://i.pinimg.com/originals/8f/44/e2/8f44e29f1a2bf5b4769482f3eecee3ed.jpg

 

[Condottiere]

Atmospheric reentry seems to be the weak point, though anti-gravity motors might make that less of an issue.

 

[robject]

Looks like RCS on each leg as well, so perhaps monopropellant?

 

[GypsyComet]

Atmospheric reentry seems to be the weak point, though anti-gravity motors might make that less of an issue.

They did it frequently in the show (and the licensed comic that followed), with the implication that the Eagle's engines are ridiculously powerful. The episodes where they resorted to the big backpack booster were few and far between.

I watched a good chunk of the first episode not long ago, but I don't recall any implication that the Eagles were doing the entire nuclear storage trip (Earth to Moon, stow, then return) themselves. That would take stupid amounts of power and endurance, but the Eagles were doing just that for much of the series.

EDIT: Never mind. TWO minutes in and we see an Eagle clearly in transit from Earth to the Moon and projecting a short time to arrival. The people onboard acting like it's a short commuter flight. They may be so over-engined that streamlining just isn't an issue.

 

[robject]

TWO minutes in and we see an Eagle clearly in transit from Earth to the Moon and projecting a short time to arrival. The people onboard acting like it's a short commuter flight. They may be so over-engined that streamlining just isn't an issue.

So they're using T4 then?

 

[GypsyComet]

Traveller ships and small craft in most editions have the endurance to do whatever they like, and the delta-V to do it at speed. Even the rather pokey Free Trader at 1G is capable of essentially straight line navigation in most situations and can put itself in any orbit it likes.

Evidence suggests the Eagle is in the same category.

 

[boomslang]

So they're using T4 then?

Or they are relatively high-G.

At 2Gs, the on-average ~380,000km trip Terra-to-Luna is around two and a half hours each way (including allowing for staying subsonic while in Terra's atmosphere). Barely enough time for an in-flight movie.

And at Cutter-default 4Gs, it's less than a two-hour flight.

Still a wee bit long for a daily commute, but equivalent to a modern-day routine midrange business or vacation trip.

 

[GypsyComet]

Still a wee bit long for a daily commute.

Oh, if only.

 

[aramis]

Or they are relatively high-G.

At 2Gs, the on-average ~380,000km trip Terra-to-Luna is around two and a half hours each way (including allowing for staying subsonic while in Terra's atmosphere). Barely enough time for an in-flight movie.

And at Cutter-default 4Gs, it's less than a two-hour flight.

Still a wee bit long for a daily commute, but equivalent to a modern-day routine midrange business or vacation trip.

There are no shortage of people in major cities making 2-hour commutes. I know a number of people who lived in Houston, Alaska, and worked in Anchorage, Alaska. One of them worked in South Anchorage - the school in question took me an hour to get two from down-town, and it took said coworker an hour and a half to get to northeast Anchorage... and another hour to make it through rush hour traffic to the school.

JBER traffic backs up up to 30 miles back from the gates on the Glenn Hwy SB. And that's with 2 gates taking people in with 2 lanes minimum each. There have been days where Dad's 20mi drive to his office on JBER took well over an hour. Half an hour often being 5 miles...

 

[Terquem]

My "job site" is 55 miles from where I live - lucky for me there is never any traffic, well, sometimes cows, or elk, but no traffic.

 

[willtron3030]

And at Cutter-default 4Gs, it's less than a two-hour flight.

Still a wee bit long for a daily commute, but equivalent to a modern-day routine midrange business or vacation trip.

I spent five years commuting weekdays from Tulsa to OK City and back. 110 miles from driveway to parking lot.

That was more audio books than I've listened to before or since, combined.