Ships

Spaceships are humanity's way of navigating the galaxy in the 42nd century. Ships come in a huge variety of roles, responsibilities and sizes.

Economy
Ships are mass manufactured by corporations and their blueprints are protected by heavy encryption and copyright, meaning only the corporations that designed them are allowed to make them. When a ship design has become outdated and another has surpassed it's usefulness, the copyright expires and the blueprints are used by smaller shipyards and corporations to mass produce inferior versions of those ships under new names.

Reverse engineering ships from other corporations is often considered an act of industrial war.

The Independents purchase ships from the corporations, while the corporations themselves will use them for their own gain. Some corporations will buy ships from others but will often manufacture their own ships, such as with the mining businesses, fleets of ships will be specifically constructed for their needs.

Interstellar
Only large capital class ships are capable of Interstellar travel, with crews in the 1000s. These ships make use of the Hypershock Drive, a powerful device capable of focusing gravitational energy on a single point in space to open dimensional tears to travel to and from Hyperspace, requiring immense power provided by anti-matter reactors.

Hyperspace travel requires a dedicated Navigator to direct ships through and around storms and radiation pockets.

Interplanetary
Medium sized ships are capable of interplanetary travel limited within the system, usually with crews of 10 to 50. These types of ships are not capable of interstellar travel as the size and mass required to house and power a Hypershock Drive surpass the capabilities of these ships.

Intercontinental
Smaller ships are capable of traveling to and from low orbits. These shuttles often transport passengers and goods to and from stations or between structures on the surface.

Travel time
Travel times for ships vary as engine efficiency and distances are the biggest contributing factors. Journeys between planets within a system can take 3 to 5 days, whilst intergalactic travel takes several weeks to months to cross Hyperspace.

Life onboard ships
Crew and passengers must be kept safe and secure onboard ships. They've been dubbed as "steel coffins" by many crew as they're cramped, utilitarian environments similar to that of submarines. Most ships are fit for human occupation, containing adequate housing for the crew in a dormitory which includes bedding and small recreational areas, depending on the purpose of the ship. Deep space vessels require to be equipped with facilitates to allow the crew to survive long term trips.

Oxygen
Oxygen is provided by electrolysis of water, this produces pure oxygen which makes up the atmosphere of the habitable areas of the ship and hydrogen which is used as fuel for fusion reactors when converted to Deuterium. Other areas such as maintenance areas, bulkheads and non-organic holds are a vacuum and require pressurized suits.

With every crew member, carbon dioxide builds up in the environment as oxygen is inhaled and carbon dioxide is exhaled, this means that it needs to be vented constantly to avoid asphyxiation. Suffering panic attacks in space is dangerous especially in space suits where supply will be depleted rapidly and the speed in which a suit can replenish the oxygen and vent carbon dioxide varies from the manufacturer, making rapid consumption of oxygen highly dangerous for crew.

Since oxygen is a highly valuable resource it is also expensive. On corporate owned ships, the upkeep for supplying oxygen is often deducted from the pay packets of individual crew members and thus they'll have to work extra shifts to afford other amenities such as food and water since most are paid by commission depending on the company.

During combat, the ship's air is vented back into the tanks, this is done for several reasons.


 * 1) To prevent explosive decompression should the hull become breached.
 * 2) To prevent valuable oxygen from being vented should the hull become breached.
 * 3) To prevent unintentional thrust generated by the escaping air should the hull become breached.
 * 4) To reduce the mass off the ship by moving the atmosphere to the center, increasing the rate in which a ship can turn in an emergency.

During this crew are required to wear full pressurized suits as ambient heat is also lost which would freeze exposed flesh.

Gravity
There is no such thing as artificial gravity and thus all crew and passengers are free floating. Inside most ships, corridors and rooms are oriented perpendicularly to the direction of thrust. Linear acceleration creates gravity via constantly pushing on people and objects. During zero gravity spaceflight, handles and rails may be used to pull and push crew through the ship but they must be wearing magnetic boots at all times, which allow them to walk on ferromagnetic surfaces such as floors, ceilings, walls and the exterior hull.

When a ship accelerates, any crew members that aren't secured will be forced back against walls and other objects so for a majority of spaceflight the ship will not accelerate to avoid damage to crew or other loose objects. During intense spaceflight and advanced maneuvers, crew members must be strapped into flight seats to avoid being injured or killed by the ship's movement.

High G maneuvers can cause lots of damage to the human body. Black-outs, red-outs and even strokes caused by blood being forced away or to the head.

Lack of gravity can cause crew and passengers to lose muscle and bone mass which can be fatal. Large ships whose journeys last several weeks have large spinning cylinders within the crew quarters called Centrifuges which provide artificial gravity of approximately 0.3G to allow crew to exercise and maintain a safe amount of muscle mass.

Food and Nourishment
Humans naturally require regular meals and water to stay strong, healthy and most importantly alive. Eating and drinking inside zero-gravity environments was an issue that many scientists thought was impossible however mankind's first steps into the unknown soon proved that wasn't the case and we could live perfectly.

Drinks are consumed via transparent packets with straws to avoid the contents from entering the cabin as liquids in a zero gravity environment will be in constant free float and pose risks to equipment.

Solid foods are consumed often in a form of paste or nutrient bar that minimize the amount of crumbs or debris as possible.

Sleep
Sleep is a natural part of the human cycle, a chance to shutdown for a few hours to recuperate, build muscle and recharge energy reserves. Lack of sleep can cause critical human errors and thus can cause valuable work to become compromised as a result. In space there is no natural day and night cycle however all clocks onboard ships are synchronized to Coordinated Universal Time, which the crew and passengers use to make sleep schedules usually in shifts.

Crew sleep inside Hibernation Cryo-Chambers for extended journeys where their bodies are suspended in cellular stasis and do not age. Sometimes crew will sleep in simple beds for shorter journeys or naps.