Cargo Design

[cameron]

Have been reworking the cargo hold. Released a new model at http://precariat.us.to/cargohold (please donate!). This cargo hold is the smaller size that fits version 3 of the Precariat.

Have been trying to figure out how to dock with the cargo hold in 3D space (including yaw, pitch, and roll). Haven't been able to come up with anything hi-tech. I suppose a laser guided automatic docking system can take control of the ship and perfectly align it to the cargo hold in any position under any weather conditions. But someone else will have to design it : )

Trying to be practical, all I could come up with is using mooring lines and winches to "pull" the ship into place (the same as ocean ships). The Precariat would float close to the cargo hold, then drop lines to connect at various points.

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With the mooring lines connected, the cargo hold (or the ship) could winch itself into position. Once in position, the ship & cargo hold would "lock" together. The bottom of the ship contains a grid of I-beams that are integrated into the ship's structure.

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Need a structural engineer to do the math, but the largest I-Beam I could find was 24" that weighs ~120lbs per foot. I'm not sure how many beams you would need to lift 500 tons, but made a grid of beams totaling 1786 feet. Which added 107 tons of weight to the ship(!!!). I couldn't find any graphene I-beams. Can someone calculate how much a beam can "lift" per span (ten 95' spans shown) and how many are needed to lift a fully loaded cargo hold?

For the locking mechanism, all I could think was to grab onto the i-beams. Once winched into place, the cargo hold would literally "grab" the ship and hold on (watch yellow clamps at the top of the image).



Hopefully detaching the cargo will be much easier. Just disconnect and float away (after adjusting lift/ballast to compensate for losing the cargo weight).

Cameron

[Eduardo Blomar 1679]

Are we married to using maritime/land based containers? There seems to be a large assortment of Air Cargo containers that weigh considerably less:

https://tinyurl.com/y9c8s7pe

Also, how about a non-detachable area that the cargo loads into via a port (one container at a time) that, when empty, can be filled with gasbags for additional lift?

EB

[Eduardo Blomar 1679]

Here are some specifications from Granger Aerospace for you:

http://www.grangeraerospace.com/ld3.html

EB

[cameron]

The cargo hold could carry anything. I just used shipping containers to show scale (using something familiar). The entire cargo hold would be a sort of "pod" that you could fill with whatever you like. Different "pods" could be designed to carry anything. Just trying to come up with a docking system that would be universal to all "pods".

There's a freight elevator for other parts of the ship (non-cargo). Gasbags could be loaded that way if necessary. I was also wondering if you could flood the cargo hold with helium/hydrogen to displace any air in the cargo hold and provide extra lift. Though it would probably kill any live cargo in the cargo hold.

Which is another option... If your cargo needs life support, the cargo hold would have to be designed to provide it. The different designs of cargo holds are endless. I was just trying to figure out how they would all be lifted by the Precariat.

[cameron]

Came up with another style of "cargo" that uses the Precariat as an air launch system for satellites.

There are a total of 52 launch tubes to launch several types of payloads. The Precariat would lift to 100km, then each tube could launch it's own stage 2 rocket to take it's payload to it's final altitude & orbit.

There are 33 small (5' dia. / 72' long) launch tubes for rockets with smaller cube-sat style payloads like Vector-R/H & Falcon 1.
16 medium (17' dia. / 72' long) launch tubes for Falcon 9 style payloads. And 3 large (26' dia. / 448' long) launch tubes for something much larger.

Rockets would be launched from the "cargo hold" with cold-gas thrusters, then ignite their main thrusters once clear of the ship.

The Precariat replaces the conventional stage 1 of a rocket launch system. The rockets that launch from the ship only need enough power to achieve orbital velocity and lift the payload to it's final altitude.

Was going to make an animation to show the process, but it will take forever (please donate!).

Cameron

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[cameron]

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[cameron]

Uploaded both cargo designs to Sketchfab so you can view, rotate, zoom & explore the model in your browser.

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