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Construction Ship
By MikeDoscher
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Following the emergence of the Howarth Fusion Plant as a viable propulsion system in the early 22nd century, helium-3 mining on an industrial scale became economically viable. Vast mining complexes started dotting the Jovian skies, their collection heads extending miles down into the upper atmosphere. Extending up from this, vast cracking towers boiled and separated the constituent gases for reprocessing.
The construction of these mining complexes, when taken with shipyards of Mars and the terraforming of Europa constitutes the crowning wonders of the age. However, these wonders could never have been conceived of, let alone completed without a vast flotilla of vessels and equipment first constructed on the Moon, then Mars, then the freespace arcologies of the asteroid belt. For while humbler in scale, this ocean of anonymous vessels embodies the hidden wonders behind the greater wonder.
The Voland HVX-3001 is an good example of one of these 'lesser wonders'. It is a modular construction ship, consisting of a spun nanocarbon frame bearing drive, powerplant, and pressurized crew sections as well as fixtures which could accept a wide variety of equipment. The narrow width of the vessel is the result of dual requirements from both how they were stowed and for the occasional need to operate within the outer atmosphere of Jupiter itself. The construction manipulators fitted here are typical. The 3001 series contained a number of innovations, including one of the first modern antigravity suspensors as well as being one of the first civilian vessels to be designed from the bottom up with the Voynich-Harden Telepresence Rig in mind. While commonplace now these were once innovations that revolutionized not only microgravity construction, but the very nature of space travel itself.
The example seen here was built by Feng Long Heavy Industries in 2206 and served on the construction of the Acadian Queen complex, among others. She was retired after two decades of service when it was found that her nanocarbon frame had been significant weakened due to an infestation of self-replicating prions. She was subsequently sold for scrap and now serves as part of an orbital squatting community near Io.
The construction of these mining complexes, when taken with shipyards of Mars and the terraforming of Europa constitutes the crowning wonders of the age. However, these wonders could never have been conceived of, let alone completed without a vast flotilla of vessels and equipment first constructed on the Moon, then Mars, then the freespace arcologies of the asteroid belt. For while humbler in scale, this ocean of anonymous vessels embodies the hidden wonders behind the greater wonder.
The Voland HVX-3001 is an good example of one of these 'lesser wonders'. It is a modular construction ship, consisting of a spun nanocarbon frame bearing drive, powerplant, and pressurized crew sections as well as fixtures which could accept a wide variety of equipment. The narrow width of the vessel is the result of dual requirements from both how they were stowed and for the occasional need to operate within the outer atmosphere of Jupiter itself. The construction manipulators fitted here are typical. The 3001 series contained a number of innovations, including one of the first modern antigravity suspensors as well as being one of the first civilian vessels to be designed from the bottom up with the Voynich-Harden Telepresence Rig in mind. While commonplace now these were once innovations that revolutionized not only microgravity construction, but the very nature of space travel itself.
The example seen here was built by Feng Long Heavy Industries in 2206 and served on the construction of the Acadian Queen complex, among others. She was retired after two decades of service when it was found that her nanocarbon frame had been significant weakened due to an infestation of self-replicating prions. She was subsequently sold for scrap and now serves as part of an orbital squatting community near Io.
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© 2008 - 2021 MikeDoscher
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An inspired design, very functional,and very "blue collar space forklift" X) It not meant to be luxurious, just to be rugged and to get its task done. i imagine this is but one of many ships and tools needed to preform a successful construction job.
A couple of questions though; How many crew would it take to operate? Can it be piloted by one operator? And lastly, how large would you say those view windows are? I'm having a bit of trouble mentally scaling the size of this ship.
A couple of questions though; How many crew would it take to operate? Can it be piloted by one operator? And lastly, how large would you say those view windows are? I'm having a bit of trouble mentally scaling the size of this ship.

Thank you. l really should have included some sort of scale reference.
It's about the with of a bus. To give a more human sense of sizes, look at the two port panel must to the upper cab(the one with the window)- that's an access door that can accommodate a human standing upright. The angled windows in the bay are part of the control cab for the manipulator arms, roughly the size of the cabin of a construction crane.
One person could pilot it, but a crew of three is more typical. A pilot, a manipulator operator, and a flight operator/engineer/whatever would be a standard crew for many construction tasks. Of course, various roles can be filled via telepresence as well.
It's about the with of a bus. To give a more human sense of sizes, look at the two port panel must to the upper cab(the one with the window)- that's an access door that can accommodate a human standing upright. The angled windows in the bay are part of the control cab for the manipulator arms, roughly the size of the cabin of a construction crane.
One person could pilot it, but a crew of three is more typical. A pilot, a manipulator operator, and a flight operator/engineer/whatever would be a standard crew for many construction tasks. Of course, various roles can be filled via telepresence as well.

Nah. Bits and pieces of the TNG Warbird, Dune ships, Slave-1, and this Star Wars droid factory toy I had when I was ten. I hadn't seen that Eve design before, and to tell the truth the proportions kind of make me cringe. That gigantic nose and those tiny winglets make it look like a wrestler from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon.
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