USS KEPLER (PX-3801) Planetary Explorer, PX-3800 Class ========================================================== Commissioned: 4 September 2109 Transelenic Shipyards, Luna Spaceship Design: S. Larson Nominal Crew Complement: 8 Nominal Mission Duration: 6 years (between refits) THE CREW OF THE USS KEPLER ----------------------------------------------- (1) Captain Kathryn Brooks Commanding Officer (2) Dr. Jessica Ares Planetary Science Officer (3) Dr. Alistair Franken Space Science Officer (4) Allison Steele Mechanics and Engineering (5) Michael "TURBO" Parks Electronics and Systems (6) Dr. Bridger Harrison Navigation and Helm, Acting Medical Officer (7) Tatyana Zeldova Communications and Data (8) Asimov (Android, Lunadyne 750 series) Position normally held for dedicated Medical Officer (*) Antares Antares is Captain Brooks' cat, but has been adopted as an official member of the crew. OVERVIEW OF THE USS KEPLER ----------------------------------------------- The first ship of the Planetary Explorer Class, the USS KEPLER was designed to be a long duration deep space science vessel for exploring the myriad of planets, moons, and minor bodies in the solar system. Built in lunar orbit at the Transelenic Shipyards, the KEPLER was never meant to land on the distant worlds she visits. A true spaceship, KEPLER transports her scientific crew and a full suite of sensors, instrumentation and probes on a mission of scientific exploration. Outfitted with a standard docking collar, KEPLER carries with her a four person landing shuttle for short planetary excursions (at the Captain's discretion), called SOMNIUM. Two Explorer Bays on either side of the ship allow crew egress in space, as well as deployment of probes, satellites, dropsondes, and landers. The crown jewel of the young Deep Space Command, KEPLER is outfitted with the finest suite of scientific sensors and instruments, a sophisticated laboratory for biological, chemical and geological analysis, as well as two state of the art Supercluster Grid Computers (one dedicated to astrophysics and space science, the other to planetary science). Onboard hydroponics provide sustenance and a percentage of environmental recycling for the crew. While all things are cramped on spaceships, the KEPLER provides a gigantic leap in ergonomics over the vast majority of ships and capsules currently in use in the Earth-Luna sphere, and on the Earth-Mars run. The crew enjoys individual bunks (rather than hot-bunking in shifts, as is common on most larger ships), and a relatively luxurious common area. The Explorer Bays are also often the site of friendly low-g games. Powered by two highly efficient Cylindromak TFS-100 Fusion Engines (built by Tranquil Fusion Systems, Luna), the KEPLER spaceframe can sustain up to 3 g's of acceleration stress, and has acceleration lifetimes of up to 700 g-hours per engine (limited by fuel supply). OVERVIEW OF THE USS KEPLER MISSION ----------------------------------------------- The KEPLER is a dedicated ship for planetary exploration, from the innermost rocky worlds of the Solar System, to the cold far reaches of the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto. The KEPLER's current scientific itinerary is: * Main Asteroid Belt Survey * Venus Orbital Tomography * Mercury Mapping Mission * Jupiter Trojan Point Surveys * Saturn Ring Plane Census * Deep Uraniuan Atmosphere Sample * Plutonian Mapping Mission * Kuiper Belt Population Survey CURRENT EXTERNAL INSTRUMENTATION SUITE ----------------------------------------------- * Gemini Radio Telescope (GRT) -- can use individual dishes, or together as a radio interferometer * Optical Wavelength Telescope ("OWL" Telescope) * Solar Wind and Astroparticle Collector (SWAC) * Magnetometer Boom * Astrochemistry Palette (ACP) * Long Duration Exposure Palette (LDEP) * Radio Antenna Farm (RAF) * Solar Energy Array Palette (SEAP) * High Gain Antenna (HGA) * Calibration Targets (CT) * Scan Platform, with Stereo Color Imaging Camera (SCIC) * Maintenance Bots -- "Tom" (Orange, Instrumentation Bridge) "Bob" (Yellow, Bridge) "Pete" (Blue, Starboard Spaceframe) "Flo" (Green, Port Spaceframe) KEPLER TRAVEL TABLE ----------------------------------------------- A simple model of a journey aboard the KEPLER is assumed in order to generate the following table. Assume the ship burns with a constant acceleration "a" for a time "t1". After the burn, the ship coasts through the solar system at a constant speed for half its journey. The trip is symmetric about the halfway point: on the second half, KEPLER will coast at constant speed, and then burn at the same acceleration "a" for the same time "t1" to stop at the end of the journey. Accelerations are expressed in Earth standard gravity, 1 g. In this calculation all influences of gravity have been neglected. It has been assumed that the separations between the planets is equal to the differences in their orbital sizes. For specific journeys, the travel time may more accurately be predicted by obtaining the exact ephemerides of the solar system at the time of interest. In this table, it is assumed all journeys start at Earth: DESTINATION a t1 Travel Time =========== === ======== ================== Mercury 1 g 1 hr 29.5 days 1 g 3 hr 9.9 days 1 g 6 hr 5.2 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 14.7 days 2 g 3 hr 5.0 days 2 g 6 hr 2.7 days Venus 1 g 1 hr 14.7 days 1 g 3 hr 5.0 days 1 g 6 hr 2.7 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 7.4 days 2 g 3 hr 2.6 days 2 g 6 hr 1.5 days Mars 1 g 1 hr 24.6 days 1 g 3 hr 8.3 days 1 g 6 hr 4.3 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 12.3 days 2 g 3 hr 4.2 days 2 g 6 hr 2.3 days Jupiter 1 g 1 hr 206.0 days 1 g 3 hr 68.8 days 1 g 6 hr 34.6 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 103.0 days 2 g 3 hr 34.4 days 2 g 6 hr 17.4 days Saturn 1 g 1 hr 416.8 days 1 g 3 hr 139.0 days 1 g 6 hr 69.7 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 208.4 days 2 g 3 hr 69.6 days 2 g 6 hr 35.0 days Uranus 1 g 1 hr 892.3 days 1 g 3 hr 297.6 days 1 g 6 hr 149.0 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 446.2 days 2 g 3 hr 148.8 days 2 g 6 hr 74.6 days Neptune 1 g 1 hr 1426.7 days 1 g 3 hr 475.7 days 1 g 6 hr 238.0 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 713.4 days 2 g 3 hr 237.9 days 2 g 6 hr 119.1 days Pluto 1 g 1 hr 1882.7 days 1 g 3 hr 627.7 days 1 g 6 hr 314.0 days --------------------------- 2 g 1 hr 941.4 days 2 g 3 hr 313.9 days 2 g 6 hr 157.1 days ============================================================= Comments to: Shane L. Larson (gravitino@NOSPAM.earthlink.net)