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There are quite a few insanely talented artist out there who are creating images of spacecraft designed with some scientific accuracy. This section is a showcase of their work. Click on the images for a larger version.
stunning images can be found on SciFi Meshes, where he goes by the name "Klavs81". He has studied this website while designing his ship.
The Cerberus Class Frigate was designed as an Air Force operated, armed multi- purpose deep space vehicle. Ships operate as part of the Deep Space Command network and carry out scientific, military, law-enforcement, transport and errand-of-mercy missions throughout the solar system.
The ship consists of a forward sensor module, crew module, a variable number of fuel modules and a reactor and propulsion module.
The name "Cerberus" denotes both the multi-mission capability of the spacecraft, as well as the physical resemblance of the mythical three headed dog formed by the forward radome, railgun and forward operations module protruding forward from the crew section.
The forward sensor module consists of a suite of extremely powerful digitally scanned array radar apertures housed in a ballistic-protective aeroshell, as well as housing various multi-spectrum optical trackers. While radar capabilities and ranges remain classified, it is widely accepted that the radar arrays can isolate millimeter sized objects at several tens of kilometers away. Forward radar capabilities are augmented by secondary arrays that project aft and perpendicular.
The crew section consists of one half of a pair of tetrahedral "blades" mounted to the central axis of the ship. The ship's CIC, Crew Hab, Airlock, Operations Deck and Gravity Module are mounted between 0 and 45 meters from the ship's central axis between a sandwich of kinetic and radiation shielding. When the ship is spun on it's axis, 1g can be maintained in the extreme interior surface of the upper gravity module at only 6 rpm, more than adequate for a military trained crew.
The opposite blade houses a magazine of kinetic projectiles and missiles that can be launched from a pair of forward/aft facing railguns. Interception ranges vary with target capabilities and maneuverability, but the guns have enough power to provide hyperbolic orbits given the right launch circumstances. The autoloader, magazine and guns comprise the bulk of the "Tactical Blade". Projectiles range from unguided tungsten rounds to multi stage guided-chemical rockets. Nuclear weapons are only carried with the direct authorization of the President of the United States as a political consideration, but are generally unnecessary given the destructive capabilities of the kinetic and energy weapons mounted aboard the ship.
Blade modules also house water and oxygen tanks, with loads pumped between blades to maintain center of gravity as crew move between upper (zero g) and lower (gravity) modules during spin. Each Cerberus "head" is assembled on Luna and launched into low lunar orbit via industrial magrail.
The fuel modules actually consist of four tanks centered around a multi-line structural spine housed within a hexagonal ballistic shell. External hard points on the fuel modules frequently house radiator modules or Autonomous Kill or Re-entry Vehicles too large to fit inside the missile magazine. Modules can be jettisoned and re-docked utilizing either the ship's RCS thrusters or robotic arm. Six or more modules provide enough propellant to reach Mars in an average of just under two months (during windows of close approach), the average local Jupiter mission will mount eight or more for added security.
The spine formed by the fuel modules also houses a track for the Remote Manipulator Arm, providing manipulator access to 100% of the exterior surface of the ship.
The nuclear propulsion and thrust module houses a 4 Triton-Class Oxygen Afterburning Nuclear Propulsion Units and two Hermes Liquid Oxygen/Hydrogen Chemical rockets for high-response tactical maneuvering. A single Hermes unit is also mounted on the tactical blade for emergency maneuvering. 4 large folding, gimbaled radiators can be deployed perpendicular to the ship's axis for additional heat dissipation. An RCS and gyro array provide rapid maneuvering capability.
In addition to the ship's offensive armament, Cerberus Class Frigates also mount an array of laser turrets for meteor and KEW point defense. Coupled with the ship's radar and battle management computers, Cerberus Frigates can be flown by just one crew member, though normal crew compliment can range between 6 and 14. The first ship was launched in 2123, and are projected upgrades and life extension programs will allow the crew modules to remain in the inventory until at least 2250.
Ships are named for various USAF, USN and USCG Rescue and Pararescue Members, emphasizing their space-rescue capabilities. On December 18, 2130, the USS Rowland Rainey suffered a direct collision when a glitch in the ship's battle management array failed to detect and allowed a 4m ferrous-iron asteroid fired from an unregulated Chinese space mining operation to collide with the ship. The ship suffered little damage and no casualties, a testament to the Frigates' survivability.
Daniel McIlvaney's impressive artwork can be found on SciFi Meshes, where he goes by the handle "TheUnlogicalOne". The first set of images are of a patrol ship, and second is of a destroyer. Mr. McIlvaney hastens to add that these are all works-in-progress, not finished works.
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 Astrodome with protective shield |
 Tetrahedral drone robot |
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 Transhab-style inflatable crew module |
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 Missile belt |
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 Laser turret |
 Missiles |
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 Transhab-style inflatable crew module |
Tero Niemi is a freelance Graphic Designer, 3D-Technician, Artist, Writer, Computer Programmer, Zero-G Pilot (Licensed), and Webmaster from Finland.
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This is an early version of artist Tero Niemi's interplanetary battleship. 1) Most of the ships mass is centered on the reactor/fuel section. This section is jointed (gimballed?), so the ship can control it's attitude very quickly without any thrusters. 2) Radiators fold in when the ship gets "scared". (Impact eminent.) During this period the heat control can be done by venting some of the coolant directly into vacuum. (Vented gas could be used as IR decoy?) 3) The camouflage shield is a bit controversial. I imagined it to be made from a very thin and reflective substance that can be cooled to a very low temperature. The idea was that ship could be near "invisible" into one direction. That is enough because of the limited speed of light. No point to hide, except for near targets that can hurt. No idea about weapons. This is probably a missile platform. Pellet cannon perhaps, or even a laser. A bag of (preheated?) nails to throw at incoming rockets? |
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A more detailed version, with a missile rack. |
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1) The reaction control system (thrusters) are poorly positioned (or angled) if the bomb part weights nearly as much as the engine part. There are basically two ways to fix this. First would be to use Apollo style thrusters on sides. Those things point forward/aft and they work fine near center of the mass, no problem. Second way would be moving the whole thruster section to the nose of the ship. Sideways pointing thrusters work there fine and I think that would be more efficient. I modelled the missile this way because I wanted to keep the shape clean. Nozzle bell -- lot of junk -- and a bomb. Poor excuse, I know :) but it is low poly model so I think it is Ok to cheat a bit for clarity... 2) Sensors are quite limited. The poor thing is practically blind! Angle of view should probably be something like 340 degrees instead of current 120. That would mean installing some sort of larger sensor pack in the front, but again, clean shape -- and I'm going to render these from rear angle, so any sensor details are actually wasted. |
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Unicornis family of spacecraft, all packed together. |
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The Unicornis unpacked into its component spacecraft. |
Number 6's awesome artwork can be found on SciFi Meshes, where he goes by the handle, well, "Number 6". The first set of images are of a Short Ranged Ship Concept, inspired by Werner von Braun's Moonship. The second is a recreation of the Discovery II.
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Charles Oines is an emergency stunt artist who has been producing game-related digital artwork since 1990 for a variety of high-profile game companies. Do go check out his portfolio. The artwork displayed below was created for the game Attack Vector: Tactical.
The spherical mesh is a species of fusion drive, the spikes are propulsion system heat radiators. The rectangular vanes are the power reactor and weapon system heat radiators. The forward part of the propulsion system is a lead and concrete radiation shadow shield.
