Hi all, here is my entry for the LDD Contest:
Category: LDD only
H.M.S. Endeavour
After the failure of NASA Constellation program in the late 2000s, the shift towards private space transport providers for a majority of missions in the 2010s and President Biden's decision to stop funding all unilateral manned U.S. space missions in 2017, NASA and it's European, Russian, Japanese, Chinese and Canadian counterparts joined forces and following the successful example of the ISS, combined their manned deep space exploration programs. In 2019, the six states founded the International Space Exploration Consortium ISEC which was tasked with developing a re-usable space ship design for long-term manned deep space missions, using mostly proven technology. The goal of this project was to build ships capable of exploring Near-Earth objects and asteroids and gathering experience in flying missions to other planets.
The final design ISEC settled for was a space ship for a crew of three, built from four ISS-derived modules which could be assembled in space and easily fitted for different missions. As the ships were assembled in space and never needed to land on a planet or asteroid, they were re-usable and minimized launch costs as only fuel and non-recyclable supplies needed to be brought into space for a mission.
H.M.S. Endeavour was built as one of two identical manned deep space exploration ships (her sister ship being the Yuri Gargarin) between 2026 and 2029 while docked to space station ISS2. 33% of the funding came from ESA (which is therefore operating the ship). On July 1st 2029, she was commissioned and named "H.M.S. Endeavour" by British king William V (by symbolically breaking a bottle of champagne over a name-plate to be carried on the ship) in honour of James Cook's famous vessel. Her first two missions were trial missions in Earth-orbit and on a flight around the moon. Her third mission (and first research mission) led her to Asteroid 3753 Cruithne and she has since successfully completed four missions to moon and three long-term missions to the asteroids. Her current mission assignment will bring her to dwarf planet Ceres, the largest object in the Asteroid belt and is expected to mark both the furthest distance from Earth any human has every travelled and the fastest any human has ever travelled.
The ship's current crew is made up of Commander Johanna Wegener of Germany, Pilot Louis Brasfort of France and Scientist Alberto Unapiedra of Spain who are assisted by robot "Hally".
At the front of the ship, there is the EVAX module which contains an airlock and systems for vacuum and micro-gravity experiments (like the "front porch" which allows to expose experiments to space). Furthermore, a jet pack, a satellite and six navigation and assay probes for asteroid exploration can be launched from this module. The second module from the front contains the main computers, navigation and control systems, kitchen and some experiments, cooling and solar panels and short range radio equipment.
The third module is a storage module where supplies and experiments for the flight are stored and contains the docking port for docking at the space station or with the landing shuttle.
The fourth module is the habitation module where each astronaut has a small chamber with place for a sleeping bag, a folding seat, computer screen, reading light and space for personal effects. Each of those chambers is equipped with a small window. The habitation module also carries the long-range radio antenna for communicating with mission control on Earth.
Behind the habitation module lies the small service module which contains life support systems and secondary computers and is connected to the oxygen and fuel tanks.
At the very end is the engine module which is made up of the main ion engine which provides the main thrust for long flights in deep space and two strap-on orbital insertion boosters (OIBs) which help to bring the ship out of Earth's orbit and into it's mission orbit.
In order to allow astronauts to visit the surface of an asteroid, Endeavour also carries a small, fully autonomous shuttle (named "Galileo") which can land two astronauts on the surface of an asteroid. Due to the minimal (or non-existing) gravity on asteroids the shuttle could be derived from the three-person Orbital Manoeuvring and Rescue Shuttles (OMRS) developed for the ISS2 space station and shares the same outside characteristics. It was however equipped with different life-support systems and software to allow two astronauts to live in it for several days for asteroid landings. In case of an emergency during preparation or launch, the shuttle can still be used to bring the crew safely back to Earth, though.
About the model
Well, I really wanted to design a futuristic but still realistic Lego space ship for quite some time as most of the Lego space ships tend to be either super-sci-fi or not really spaceworthy (as in seaworthy...). The model is mostly snot (but then again, where is "top" in space? ;-) ), made up of 2290 parts (not counting minifigs, which are in a separate file), would weigh 1.7 kilos and be roughly 80 cm long (if I'm not wrong). The shuttle, rocket pack, satellites and the tank/engine section can be removed and the air lock and service module doors can be opened and closed. And without some printing, it's built using only bricks available in Design-by-me mode which means the model can actually be ordered (though it would set me back a whopping 350€).
I should also note that I used
G. Shaw's amazing rocket pack with only small alterations and was inspired by the
late, great nenn for the design of the ion engine.
Images (click for larger version without background) :
LDD files:
With printed tiles (Universe mode):
HERE
Without printed tiles (can be ordered):
HERE
The crew:
HERE
And finally: Good luck to everyone :)
Edited by Odyssey, 17 July 2010 - 10:33 PM.
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