Colonizer (Ship Classification)
| Item | Description |
|---|---|
| Type: | Military |
| Designation: | CNV |
| Builder: | BaeNorGrumLockMart |
| Decks: | Main Vessel: 2 decks plus engineering spaces
Drop Pods: 2 decks |
| Length Overall: | 42 meters / 14 standard frames |
| Height: | 17 meters |
| Beam: | 21 meters |
| Primary Mission: | Interstellar Colonization |
| Drive: | Main Vessel: Alcubierre Warp, Alcubierre Sub-Light
Drop Pods: Alcubierre Sub-Light only |
| Warp Capable: | Main Vessel: Yes, up to Warp 5
Drop Pods: No |
| Rotation Capable: | No |
| Atmosphere Capable: | Main Vessel: No
Drop Pods: To 200 KPa (approx. 30 PSIA, 2 atmospheres). Capable of landing on an Earthlike planet. |
| Armament: | Light, primarily defensive |
| Complement: | Main Vessel: Total 10: 10 Space Force crew, including alternate drop pod crew (see below).
Drop Pods: 2 Space Force crew (pilot and co-pilot, typically Warrant Officers) |
| Passenger Capacity: | Main Vessel: Technically no passengers, though the 20 drop pod crew can transfer into the main vessel for
rest and refreshment if needed. Also for potential replacement should a pod crewman become ill or otherwise incapacitated. Drop Pods: 500 passengers x 10 Drop Pods = 5000 total passenger capacity |
| Freight Tonnage: | TBD |
| Commanded By: | Main Vessel: SF Lieutenant or higher, mission dependent
Drop Pods: CW2 or higher, again, mission dependent |
Santa Maria-class Colonizer Vessels were designed and built in the early 21st Century -- very early on, in conjunction with Space Force's original Six Frigates -- for the express purpose of moving an exiled population of Islamic extremists, lock, stock and barrel, to the planet Sanddoom (later known as Al-Saḥra'). A CNV actually consists of two separate types of vessels:
- A main vessel or mothership (CNV)
- Ten drop pods which mate with the main vessel for warp transport to the destination (CNV-DP)
There is no pressurized connection between the main vessel and the drop pods. Indeed there is no passageway at all between them, for security purposes. The only way to get from the main vessel to the drop pods, or vice-versa, is to do so in a space suit, which are not provided in the passenger sections of the drop pods. For that matter, each drop pod has a pilot and co-pilot who are equipped with space suits and who can access the outer surfaces and engineering spaces of the drop pod, the latter being bulkheaded solidly, with no internal access panels in the passenger sections, to prevent passengers from breaking through into them.
The drop pods are described as having commercial aircraft-style interiors, all in materials that can be washed down with fire hoses if necessary. (For instance, there might be a rebellion among the passengers. Radical Islamic Fundamentalists, who can say what those crazy people will do.) There are 500 seats total on two decks (250 seats each). The drop pods do not have people-sized airlocks, only a large "tailgate" style ramp door that drops down for loading and unloading, which is closed in atmosphere at departure and not opened again until the drop pod lands on the destination planet. There is a small resupply airlock -- described as being about the size of a canned ham -- on each drop pod through which emergency supplies such as vaccines and other medicines can be provided to the passengers. Which is one reason the drop pods have space suits for their crew; even the emergency supply airlock is not directly connected to the crew sections of the drop pods.
The main vessel body looks at first glance like a big World War II or Cold War bomber, with a long cylindrical body (containing its crew spaces and engineering spaces) and "wings" that are actually cylindrical structures with hardpoints for attaching the drop pods it ferries from place to place. While the "wings" are hollow and are considered engineering spaces, they don't act as true wings since the main vessel is not atmosphere-capable. It is possible for drop pod crew to transfer from the pod to the main vessel via the "wings", although the "wings" aren't pressurized and require space suits to access. And there are relief crew aboard the main vessel in case a drop pod crew member becomes ill or incapacitated.
(incomplete, more coming)