TL 8 Slow Shuttle?

[Sifu Blackirish]

I use TRAVELLER, specifically CT, for a lot of inspiration and to focus my writing.

In one of my stories I have a 'slow shuttle' transiting between Earth and Ganymede. I was thinking about what it would look like and I came up with this...

Using the standard shuttle template, keep the external tank. Small internal as Lhyd and large one with reaction mass. Add an ion engine pod that deploys from the cargo bay, and a cargo pod internal with more life support.

I was considering cheating and just using the standard maneuver drive chart with a 'fast ion' option at 1/10gee per number, but I want to try to get real stats.

Can anyone recommend any sources? My google-fu refuses to work well enough for me to get hard numbers.

Also, does anyone know where I can find a decent time/speed/distance calculator? Every time i try to do it by hand i blow major chunks...

 

[E.D.Quibell]

Well for Ion drives I always like looking at Deep Space One, I've no idea if it's of any use to you:

http://nmp.nasa.gov/ds1/

and from a gaming prospective there were designe rules for MT published in Challenge 45, "One Small Step" that were also published in Hard Times.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Ewan

 

[Hal]

This may be of value (or not) based on TRANSHUMAN SPACE and the fun stuff in there

http://www.transhuman.talktalk.net/ts/TSTravTime.htm

 

[Mithras]

Even better: http://nemtos.ouvaton.org/orbits/orbits.php

I've created a rules supplement for reaction drive craft for Mongoose Traveller, with all the main starships converted (to spin habitats etc). It is very slick, and uses Delta-V, ignoring G completeley, skipping to the important stuff!

I'm trying to tidy up the setting background, a Cold War solar system, with Earth and Luna the big players, circa 2160.

I wouldn't mind having someone look at it actually ...?

 

[Hal]

Even better: http://nemtos.ouvaton.org/orbits/orbits.php

I've created a rules supplement for reaction drive craft for Mongoose Traveller, with all the main starships converted (to spin habitats etc). It is very slick, and uses Delta-V, ignoring G completeley, skipping to the important stuff!

I'm trying to tidy up the setting background, a Cold War solar system, with Earth and Luna the big players, circa 2160.

I wouldn't mind having someone look at it actually ...?

Hi Paul,
Mind you, I'm not much of a Mongoose Traveller Fan - having purchased only the singular Traveller Book (used) and found myself unhappy with the direction it is going (small bay weapons for ships under 1,000 dtons makes me a tad unhappy for some odd reason <g>). None the less, much of what I use for sci-fi role playing tends to either be GURPS SPACE 3rd edition rules, TRANSHUMAN SPACE (powered by GURPS), or GURPS TRAVELLER, I'm probably not the guy who should be looking at your rules. I just didn't want you to think no one read your post and didn't even have the courtesy to comment upon it.

One of my regrets if you want to call it that, is that the game Attack Vector Tactical, didn't have a ship building system so as to permit people to design ships for battle. I hear that Squadron Strike by Ad Astra Games does permit one to design their own ships for use in the streamlined rules system, and someday, once I dig myself out of the hole that being unemployed places people in - I'll buy a copy of the game to see how well it works out.

Ever since I read the HERITAGE TRILOGY books by Ian Douglas, I've always wished I could set up a game using more or less reasonable ship building rules and combat rules and movement rules, that wasn't just "Ships at sea in a vacuum" type game. I digress however. Keep plugging away and keep bugging people here or there to try out your game ideas. Also, find a local college wargaming club or perhaps a local gaming store and see if you can find the Guinea pigs to test the game system upon

 

[Mithras]

Thanks for the reply Hal, I think were also cross-posting on the Type T thread over at SJG! Yes, I took THS and find it hard to go back to reactionless drives and mega-star empires now.

Yes, I bred my guinea pigs - my two sons! We dabbled in Classic Traveller last summer, and now I want to test my Solar System Traveller on them!

 

[bobblanchett]

Ever since I read the HERITAGE TRILOGY books by Ian Douglas, I've always wished I could set up a game using more or less reasonable ship building rules and combat rules and movement rules, that wasn't just "Ships at sea in a vacuum" type game. I digress however. Keep plugging away and keep bugging people here or there to try out your game ideas. Also, find a local college wargaming club or perhaps a local gaming store and see if you can find the Guinea pigs to test the game system upon

its not surprising a traveller guy iikes Ian Douglas.. aka William H Keith

 

[Hal]

I sure wish authors would use their REAL names (or rather the publishers would stop using fake names) when they write stories. I know it is generally an industry thing, but even so...

Ah well, one can always enjoy the books one stumbles upon rather than go hunt for more stories by the same author

 

[FreeTrav]

It's not always the publisher that decides to publish under a nom-de-plume. Usually, though, the reason is because the author is so well-known in one genre that it influences - often adversely - the impression that people will have if he publishes a book in another genre. This has been known to affect authors who are known for SF more than for any other genre, with fantasy being a near second.

There's also the "formulaic high-volume series" issue, things like Tom Swift, The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, etc., where the books can practically be written by a Mad Libs program, but are released under a single author's name even though there may be several authors producing the actual texts.