Bumblebee Class Ship
Homestead Transport (BumbleBee Class)
Dimensions (LxBxH): 140 x 80 x 80 feet
Tonnage: 1,000 tons.
Speed Class: 1 cruise/3 hard-burn
Crew: Pilot, co-pilot, mechanic.
Crew and Passenger Quarters: Four double cabins.
Fuel Capacity: 20 tons (1,200 hours).
Cargo Capacity: 400 tons of external modules and loose cargo.
Complexity: very low.
No maintenance costs.
Not all settlers of the frontier come via commercial transport. Historically, settlers and homesteaders came West in their own wagons. A classic example is the Conestoga wagon of the nineteenth century—the “prairie schooner” of the North American West on Earth-That-Was.
The wagon was used for a one-way trip, then served as the basis for the new homestead. This was the theory behind the Bumblebee Class homesteading ship from Munroe Heavy Industries. A minimalist vessel, a Bumblebee has a small pulse engine and weak reaction thrusters on a long spire, set at a right angle to the circular descent shield. The crew and passenger accommodations cluster behind the heat shield.
In traveling configuration, the top and bottom decks contain two double cabins each. The mid-deck includes the drives, common areas, and access through a long boom to the flight deck, which is located in front of the shield. “Cargo modules” are attached externally to the spire. These are not standardized; shipping crates, freight boxes, feed silos, water tanks, tractormules, and tools are held in place with straps and occasionally cable netting, making the whole overburdened and haphazard and the oversized heat shield a necessity. A unique feature of these ships is their ability to “circle the wagons” when traveling in groups of six or more. Fore and aft universal structural clamps allow them to dock together to form stable geodesic “balls” so as to allow free movement among them during the trip, providing a measure of security and redundancy. The clusters then split apart for landing. A Bumblebee is designed for one trip and one planet fall, using an ablative heat shield to unload most of her descent energy. She lands “head down” and then unfolds the basic homesteading structures and equipment from around her central access core.
The Bumblebee essentially cannibalizes herself to establish the homesteader’s farm. Structural panels and framework are also modular and designed to be disassembled into standardized components with hand tools and then reassembled as needed. (Serenity RPG)
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Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License.
- Crowd with Violin by alukahn from http://freesound.org +)
- space synth by dropthedyle from http://freesound.org +)
- Engine rumble by Gaius Ross +)
- Touching Down singing by https://soundcloud.com/kizzy-lotus +)
- Spaceship ambience by nathanshadow from http://freesound.org +)
- SpaceshipRumble by Robinhood76 from http://freesound.org +)
- Power Loom China by RTB45 from http://freesound.org +)
- Creaking Metal Soundscape by Speedenza from http://freesound.org +)
Image from: Universal Studios or something XD