Workshop Tour

It has been a while since my last post.  Space Agency and Centauri Spaceworks have taken a back seat to Hade's Star.  Since Centauri Spaceworks hasn't posted any new ships in a while, I thought I would give you a tour of the Centauri Spaceworks workshop.

First the main assembly area.  This is where ships get created.  There are pylons on either side of the area to keep the station builder tugs supplied with fuel and power.  Below the assembly area is storage for parts.  The assembly area is pretty messy right now; there is a half assembled station, along with the two LK Lander Cores that were going to be part of something.  There is also a transport of station modules that came from the renovation of Xerces Station.  That still needs to be properly parked in the spare parts section.  

To the right of the assembly area is the parking lot.  This is where ships are parked after they are assembled, or while not in use. You will probably recognize some of the ships from previous posts, like the poorly parked Dragonfly.  Others are parts of previous creations, and perhaps parts of future ships.

Dragonfly

The Dragonfly is named for its resemblance to the winged insect.  The Dragonfly is specialized for communications.  It has three antennas to receive transmissions and a dedicated control room to decode them.

1.7 Update Review

The 1.7 update of Space Agency adds two new parts.  A reusable first stage rocket, the LP1, and a large comms satellite.  It also adds two new missions which focus on the LP1.

While this update does add two new parts and a new game mechanic, there doesn't seem to be much opportunity to use them to expand on the existing game play.

LP1

The LP1 is a reusable rocket which you can land after stage separation.  A succesful launching allows you to launch it again at a reduced cost ($1,000,000 compared to the original $4,000,000).  This reduces your budget for subsequent launches of LP1 by $3,000,000.

LP1 about to land.

Unfortunately, the only time you can take advantage of the savings from the LP1 is in the  very last mission.  The LP1 doesn't provide any benefit in the sandbox mode (other than the fun of landing the rocket), since you have an unlimited budget in the sandbox.  I would have liked to be able to replay the previous missions, such as ADS Phase 2, using the LP1.  Perhaps adding a platinum status for those able to lower the mission cost even further using the LP1.  Allowing the LP1 to be used on previous missions would have increased the play-ability of this update.

Large Comms Satellite

Large Comms Satellite with 5 directions of thrust.

This is a new medium sized part.  It has non-retractable solar panels which generate 30 power.  The comms satellite consumes 6 power.   It doesn't have any cargo space.

Unlike the smaller comms satellite, it does have thrusters. However, the reverse thruster is missing.  It also has a docking port which allows it to be refueled and attached to other vehicles.

The large comms satellite has some interesting geometry with the docking port off center. and parallel to the large solar panels.  The large solar panel and the orbital laboratory both have the solar panels extend perpendicular to the docking axis.

I would have liked to see this have retractable solar panels, and a slot for a battery.  That would have been an interesting mechanic to allow for it to run on battery for deep space missions, but then also to deploy the solar panels to recharge when near the sun.

Rotator Hub

Alrick Fons, and his team of engineers at Centauri Spaceworks has designed a special hub.  Unlike normal hubs, it can rotate to change the angle between the two docking ports.  It has a full 180 degrees of rotation.   The two docking ports can form an angle as small as 90 degrees, or as large as 180.  Hopefully this part will be manufactured by Nooleus and added into the game.

Due to the rotation mechanism, this hub does not have any cargo storage.

The rotation is controlled on the power panel.  In addition to having an on and off switch, it has a left and a right button that will change the orientation of the docking ports by holding them down.

The hub with the smaller number of modules is the one that rotates. If there are two modules on one side, and four modules on the other side, the side with 3 modules is the one that rotates.  It needs at least one module attached to supply the power to rotate, since it doesn't have any internal storage space for a battery.  It can rotate a maximum of 6 modules before it becomes to heavy for the motor.

Changing the orientation takes power.  Normally the rotator hub uses 10 power.  However, when rotating the power consumption increases.  It uses 30 power if one docking port is open.  If both ports are docked, it uses an additional 50 power per module on the smaller side.  In the example with three modules on one side and four on another, it would use 200 power to rotate.  There are three modules on the smaller side, 3 × 50 = 150.  The module uses 30 power for itself so that brings the total to 30 + 150 = 180 power.  It maxes out at 330 power when the modules have too much mass for it to rotate without burning out the motor.

Dropship One

Centauri Spaceworks has recently begun to maintain two bases on different planets.  These bases remain very modest compared to the stations in orbit.  The limited size is due to the scourge of space gremlins that inhabit all planets with a solid surface.  These nefarious creatures cannot be seen.  The only evidence of their existence appears when trying to dock with a module while it is landed on the surface of a planet or when trying to land two modules that are docked together.  In either of these cases, the space gremlins immediately swarm the modules and cause them to explode on contact.

Until Nooleus exterminates the space gremlins, perhaps with some sort of bug spray, development of a self sustaining base is impossible.  In the mean time the outposts must be resupplied regularly from orbit.

Centauri Spaceworks uses a specially designed drop ship to deliver the cargo bays to the surface.  The drop ship has 3 engines: one for decelerating to below orbital speed, one for hovering above the surface while positioning the drop, and the third for returning to orbital speed once the cargo has been delivered.

PUR Base

Outpost on PUR with two lunar descent modules, a habitation module, and a cargo bay.

Using the knowledge gained from the outpost on BLU, Centauri Spaceworks has established its second planetary outpost.  

A big improvement is the use of lunar descent module to store O2 and CO2 scrubbers.  The base on BLU only had storage inside of modules with an atmosphere.  This caused the O2 and CO2 to degrade.  The lunar descent modules don't have an atmosphere and keep the O2 and CO2 tanks charged up.

The PUR base uses a habitation module for living space and a cargo bay for storage instead space station modules.  These modules are shorter than a standard station module and reduce the risk of collisions when landing or taking off from the base.

Palm Tree Hotel Upgrade

The Palm Tree Hotel was upgraded with an additional docking hub.  This made it possible to resupply the station with consumables even if both the guest and employee Orion modules are docked at the station.

The down side of the extra docking ports it that it partially blocks the view of the guests from the cupola.  Hotel management would like to minimize the amount of time a vehicle is docked at the new ports in order to avoid disruptions to the guest's view.

Update:  A new space pool has also been added.

Meteoroids

Recording from mission to rescue I.S.A.A.C. crew stranded near ADS after a meteoroid storm.  Commander Regina Simon and Pilot Sam Carvala on board an Orion III.  The launch delivered the Orion III and two explosive modules into orbit in the middle of a debris field.  Their mission was to clear the orbiting debris and then head to ADS to inspect the damage and rescue any survivors if possible.

BEGIN RECORDING T+32:09

"Damn", Sam exclaimed as a meteoroid flashed by outside the capsule window.  "That was close!"

"Let's get the explosives deployed and clear out that space debris from our orbit", replied Regina as she unbuckled from the couch and transferred over to orbital piloting station.   She began flipping switches.  Sam took a moment to pull out the photo of his wife and daughter from his suit pocket before taking his post next to Regina at the radar station.

It wasn't long before Regina and Sam heard a small pop and felt a slight push as the first explosive module detached for the Orion III.

"Explosive one free" reported Regina.

"Just in time.  There is one coming up fast behind us." Sam said.  "It should miss, but it will be close"

"Let's zap it before it has a chance to make close", replied Regina.  Outside the window small jets of gas began to emit from the explosive module as Regina nudge the joystick to push it into the path of the on coming debris.

"Two kilometers", Sam said as he began calling out the closing distance between the capsule and the chuck of asteroid.

A brief flash of light was visible outside the window.  "Got it", Sam remarked as the blip disappeared from the radar screen.  "But don't get too excited, there is another one coming up fast from the front".

Regina worked quickly to detach the second explosive module and activate it's remote control as  Sam began to call out the distance between the explosive module and the approaching meteoroid.  The work went smoothly and soon the explosive module was positioned in the orbit of the oncoming meteoroid.

At 500 meters, Regina pressed the button to undock the explosive module from the tug that it had been mounted on for launch.  The explosive module shot up to a slightly higher orbit.  The tug started to drift back toward the planet.   A second later before the tug could start to disintegrate in the atmosphere, the meteoroid slammed into it, destroying both.

Regina used the thrusters on the explosive module to push it to a higher orbit.  With Sam's help she aligned it with the last rouge meteoroid orbiting the planet.

"That is the last of them", Sam announced.  "Just the FLY station, FLY service module,  and the communications satellite left in orbit."

"I'd like it better if we had a clear orbit", replied Regina.  "But we need to get to ADS pronto.  That is our mission.  The next launch behind us is targeted for the FLY service module rescue."

"Alright, let's go" Sam replied as he moved back to his couch and started to buckle in to prepare for the ejection burn.

END RECORDING

CSgtarm

There are always parts that are tricky to re-arrange: Voyager-X antenna, MSS sensor module,  solar panels.  Basically, any part that only has a single docking port.  Previously, the only way to re-arrange these parts was to un-dock them and then chase them down before they flew off into deep space.  This consumed fuel and was difficult if the part had any rotation transferred to it from the un-docking procedure.  

The CSgtarm is robotic manipulator arm that makes it easier to move parts in space.  It is based on the famous Canadarm.   It allows the operator to move parts that don't have a free docking port to attach to.  

The CSgtarm has 4 sets of controls.  Three of these sets control the rotation of the arm and gripper tip sections.  The fourth controls if the gripper tip section is activated or not.

When the gripper tip is activated, it tries to attach to any module that it is touching.  Its combination of magnetic and suction grippers are able to firmly attach to any module.  Once the gripper is firmly attached, the arm can be used to move the module anywhere within reach.

Centauri Spaceworks is currently searching someone, perhaps Nooleus, to construct the CSgtarm from the blueprints above.  The CSgtarm is named after CSgt for his many contributions to the Space Agency wiki.

BLU Base

Centauri Spaceworks has re-established its base on BLU.

The BLU base was originally constructed as part of a trial to establish a multi module colony.  The original trial was a failure.  Despite building on what appeared to be two solid modules for a foundation the base was unsteady.  After several attempts to stop the base from sinking into the planetary surface, the project was abandoned.

New techniques discovered by the I.S.A.A.C. Organization helped bring new life the the abandon base.  The key discovery was the ability for astronauts to transfer supplies between modules that have been landed on the surface, but not docked together. This allows new supplies to be sent down in a cargo pod with LK Lander legs and transferred to the modules that are already on the surface.