On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 12:23 AM, Onno Meyer <[email protected]> wrote: > David replied to Clinton: >>> Any particular reason why this vehicle has such a small payload? Even >>> fairly small industrial water trucks today have a payload of about 3 >> times >>> this, and big ones almost 9 times this. > > Hello Clinton, > > this is the classic size for a Traveller ATV -- 7 dtons, 35 stons. > Countless spacecraft hangars are sized to hold it. >
Actual economics drives tankers to the maximum practical size. 15 tons might make sense for a flying tanker; it makes no sense for land. (if the terrain is so awful you can't drive bigger vehicles through, air traffic will take over.) >> Figure 100 litres a day per person. (not just for drinking, but for >> agriculture, industrial use, firefighting, etc.) That's 150 person >> days. Not a whole lot; even a small settlement would see one a >> week. Seems more likely you'd haul a couple month supply. Or build a >> pipeline. > > Hello David, > > the ATV combines a full life system and an air-breathing engine. > The reason is water recycling, not a tainted atmosphere. I assume > that settlements are similar, only less efficient than the > starship-grade recycler in the ATV. Call it 95% or 99% efficient > recycling, and the endurance looks much better. Ground based systems are unlikley to be less efficient than a vehicle system. Fewer restrictions on space, weight and power requirements. -- David Scheidt [email protected] _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
