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Description

The Atmospheric Exploration Vehicle (AEV), the Embassy and ROV.

At 104 meters (341 feet) across, the airship is capable of supporting the weight of itself and up to 15 extra tonnes in the 15.2 bar atmosphere, which comes in handy when climbing to high altitudes. Due to the high gravity, the planet's atmosphere is pulled tightly to the surface which means that in order to escape the high winds and prevalent storms near the surface the AEV must ascend to the upper stratosphere and be buoyant there as well as below. A thicker atmosphere creates a high lift capacity at lower altitudes but at over 10 000 m the atmosphere is not quite double ours, making a large gas bladder necessary. At this high altitude, the temperature drops to -80 Celsius--below the freezing point of carbon dioxide--and doubles as a sterilizer for the envelope as well as an aid in cooling all vital systems and the nuclear reactors.

The lifting gas is hydrogen, generated by hydrolysis of water taken from the atmosphere by an onboard condenser. The planet's atmosphere is low in oxygen, making the risk of a a fiery explosion much less likely.

The envelope is largely reflective to stave off the relentless 45 to 60 degrees Celsius surface temperatures though an array of solar panels covers most of the surface to supplement the two onboard nuclear reactors for electric power generation for the habitat and the two cyclorotor engines.

The ROV is 14 meters across and capable of supporting a human at lower altitudes though EVAs are strictly last resort emergency due to the much higher risk of forward or back contamination.

Description

The Atmospheric Exploration Vehicle (AEV), the Embassy and ROV.

At 104 meters (341 feet) across, the airship is capable of supporting the weight of itself and up to 15 extra tonnes in the 15.2 bar atmosphere, which comes in handy when climbing to high altitudes. Due to the high gravity, the planet's atmosphere is pulled tightly to the surface which means that in order to escape the high winds and prevalent storms near the surface the AEV must ascend to the upper stratosphere and be buoyant there as well as below. A thicker atmosphere creates a high lift capacity at lower altitudes but at over 10 000 m the atmosphere is not quite double ours, making a large gas bladder necessary. At this high altitude, the temperature drops to -80 Celsius--below the freezing point of carbon dioxide--and doubles as a sterilizer for the envelope as well as an aid in cooling all vital systems and the nuclear reactors.

The lifting gas is hydrogen, generated by hydrolysis of water taken from the atmosphere by an onboard condenser. The planet's atmosphere is low in oxygen, making the risk of a a fiery explosion much less likely.

The envelope is largely reflective to stave off the relentless 45 to 60 degrees Celsius surface temperatures though an array of solar panels covers most of the surface to supplement the two onboard nuclear reactors for electric power generation for the habitat and the two cyclorotor engines.

The ROV is 14 meters across and capable of supporting a human at lower altitudes though EVAs are strictly last resort emergency due to the much higher risk of forward or back contamination.