Christopher Columbus-class exploration ship

* Coalition Atomics
* Griffon Space Dynamics
* Nielsen Cybernetics
* Talbot Aerospace

## Usage

### Operators

Coalition Office of Astronomy and Exploration* Coalition Astrocartography Office

### Role(s)

Long-distance interstellar exploration ship, scientific research vessel

## Specifications

### Power

3✕ Coalition Atomics R-109b helium3-deuterium nuclear fusion reactors (E-167b connection; for engines)
1✕ Nostromo nf8 antimatter reactor (for other ship systems and warp drive)

### Propulsion

3✕ Coalition Atomics E-167b magnetic nozzle afterburner fusion engines (R-109b connection)

**Warp:** 1× Talbot-Nielsen HED-23 high endurance barodrive

### Operational range

1,300 light years before warp drive recharge

### Endurance

Indefinite (hypothetical)
2 years until critical logistics replenishment

### Crew

**Synthetic**: 1× Nielsen Cybernetics "NAVO" ship administration and navigation superturing artificial intelligence100× Type 77 Sōhei security droids

**Organic**: 4,000 human crew

### Sensors and processing systems

4✕ Nielsen Cybernetics SSR/ACQ-109 3D space radar

### Life support systems

Griffon Space Dynamics ULSSM10 self-sufficient life support recycle system

### Other systems

10✕ limpet drone control systems (10 drones each)

### Shields

Griffon Space Dynamics DV-19 deflector shields

### Spacecraft

2✕ Juan Ponce de Leon-class exploration shuttles4✕ Magellan-class landers

The ***Christopher Columbus*-class** is a class of exploration ships designed by the Coalition-contracted design company Nostromo Vessel Design, based on Cherub, to supersede the centuries-old *Davy Crockett*-class exploration ship. Nostromo was commissioned by the Coalition Office of Astronomy and Exploration in 2645 for preparation for the large-scale exploration effort known as the Venture Star program; with the design blueprint completed in 2654 in cooperation with subcontracted corporations such as Coalition Atomics, Talbot Aerospace, Nielsen Cybernetics, and Griffon Space Dynamics, the manufacturing contract was awarded to Chen Wu Heavy Industries of the Chen Wu Corporation. Production cycles began later that year, mainly within Chen Wu shipyards in the orbit of Hyperion in the Hathor star system.

The *Christopher Columbus-*class measures 1.8 kilometers in length and has a dry weight of ~900,000 tons, constructed for a crew of 4,000 humans, 100 security droids, and 1 superturing AI. It is tooled for an operational range of approximately 1,300 light years from its maximum barospace warp distance utilizing its Talbot-Nielsen HED-23 high endurance barodrive. The endurance of the ship itself is technically indefinite as a result of a fully self-sufficient water and oxygen recycling system in addition to fuel scoops for continued supply of its fusion reactors; however, field testing has confirmed that, in the event that the equipment needed to repair these systems are lost or destroyed, the ship can continue for another 2 years in limited operations.

Almost all ships under the *Christopher Columbus*-class have been assembled in the orbit of Hyperion, within the Chen Wu Hyperian Shipyards. Around 150 ships have been completed, with 15 on order and 35 in construction. Due to its massive cost for both designing and manufacturing, the Coalition of Congressional Republics has provided the bulk of the funding to the project, with banks such as Pearl Thule Capital providing additional funds on "exploration loans".

## Characteristics

### Artificial intelligence

Every *Christopher Columbus*-class comes equipped with a superturing artificial intelligence mainframe created by Nielsen Cybernetics. Named "NAVO", these AI come pre-programmed with all faculties necessary to facilitate interstellar exploration, ranging from automatically performing calculations for warps to detecting various celestial bodies upon entry into a star system and managing all essential systems onboard the starship.

NAVO has been also programmed to maximize human survivability on missions; as such, it will not commit to risky maneuvers or objectives unless overrode by the commander of the vessel. It also helps to facilitate scientific research by hosting an on-board library of scientific information in a massive database, in addition to integrating assistance in scientific research protocols.

### Scientific and repair facilities

Due to its nature as an exploration and scientific research vessel, the *Christopher Columbus*-class bristles with various scientific modules and equipment, in addition to repair locales...

### Complement

Each ship comes with two Juan Ponce de Leon-class exploration shuttles and four Magellan-class landers. The *Juan Ponce de Leon* shuttles are meant to provide further deep space exploration possibilities, while the *Magellan* landers provide an ability for survey teams to land on planetary bodies.

### Engines

For conventional propulsion, the *Christopher Columbus*-class uses three Coalition Atomics E-167b magnetic nozzle afterburner fusion engines. Creating the normal plasma used for thrust, in a primary chamber, the plasma is then shunted to a second chamber filled with cold hydrogen, thereby increasing propellant mass flow out of the engine and increasing thrust. These three engines have direct connections to the Coalition Atomics R-109b helium-3 and deuterium nuclear fusion reactors, where the spent fusion products originate for use in the engines.

In addition to the three E-167b engines, the craft is also host to dozens of thruster nozzles to assist in travel corrections and maneuvering of the craft.

### Reactor and barodrive systems

The ships are host to three Coalition Atomics R-108b helium-3 and deuterium nuclear fusion reactors located to the rear, which connect to the E-167b engines in addition to providing some power for the entirety of the vessel. However, the bulk of the ship's non-engine systems - including the barodrive itself - are powered by a large Nostromo nf8 antimatter reactor located in the center of the craft.

The barodrive, used to exploit the nature of barospace and confer faster-than-light travel, is a Talbot-Nielsen HED-23 high endurance model. This specific model can calibrate power usage in efficient correlation to warp range, allowing the main antimatter reactor the ability to charge onboard warp batteries while simultaneously committing to smaller warps.

### Heat management

Due to the presence of three nuclear reactors, an antimatter main reactor, a barodrive, and three high-power nuclear fusion engines, heat management was critical to the design of the vessel.

Four heat sinks exist within the craft, located near to their respective reactors. These heat sinks can then contain heat for a time, with the bulk of heat dissipation coming from four massive extendable radiators spaced evenly from each other along the ship's hull. These radiators can be deployed in most sublight conditions, but must be contracted during micrometeorite storms or in preparation of a warp.

An emergency heat system was designed by Nostromo for the craft, which involves a piping system of liquid metal that can carry the heat out from the heat sinks when radiators are not deployed, firing off this superheated ejecta into space.

### Life support and food systems

The *Christopher Columbus*-class uses the ULSSM10 life support system created by Griffon Space Dynamics. This system utilizes several air and water recycler modules through both artificial and natural filtration systems.

For water, ULSSM10 uses water collectors to recycle a portion of the moisture present in the ship's interior atmosphere. Meanwhile, water is drained from the crew's waste in a high-efficiency process. In order to generate new portions of water when the ship's reservoir runs low, it can be collected from celestial bodies through limpet drones or generated from combining hydrogen with the oxygen products of carbon dioxide cleavage through a special water generator.

For oxygen, it is mainly recycled from the atmosphere of the ship by the way of a high efficiency carbon dioxide ionizer, which splits the molecule into two oxygen atoms (often in their O2 form) and one carbon atom. Other methods of oxygen recycling include an onboard isolated biosphere module, which uses plants to assist in air recycling, and a means to collect oxygen gas from water via an electrolyzer.

For comfortable heat propagation, the ship recycles a slim portion of the heat generated by the nuclear fusion reactors and main antimatter reactor to keep onboard temperatures at around 21°C (70°F).

For food, it is advised that the crew consume the replenishing foodstocks before accessing emergency dried food items. The replenishing foodstocks come from a non-isolated biosphere module used for both oxygen generation and food; using technology licensed from Dominion Agriculture, a significant amount of food can be automatically planted, nurtured, and reaped without human interference.

### Onboard security

Mostly meant as a way to keep the crew on line during long voyages - but also serving as an emergency fallback in the event of some sort of xenological crisis - each *Christopher Columbus*-class ship comes with one hundred Kanetomi Type 77 Sōhei security droids manufactured by the synthetic production division of Kanetomi Private Security Enterprises. The Sōhei cannot be directly controlled by NAVO due to a deliberate cognitive block, and instead are given protocols only by designated human officers. They are armed with shock nightsticks and integrated Type 401 9mm coil submachineguns, and serve various security purposes on the ship. These include guarding restricted areas, guarding all entrances to the ship, providing security for human officers, and administrating the "brig".

The Sōhei also serve as manual labor when needed, and accompany surveyors during survey expeditions on planets. The bulk of the Type 77 droids are not active at all times; instead, up to ten can be online in normal situations, with the rest recharging, in hibernation, offline, or being repaired.

## Decks and modules

Gravity for the ship is provided by its thrust; as such, the habitable portion of the ship is constructed in a "skyscraper" format. It is organized into ten **decks** and several different sublocations. These sublocations are often referred to as **modules** or **rooms** depending on their size and function.

Access between decks is only provided only by egresses or lifts. Deck 1 is the highest of the ten decks, located close to the forward shield access port; Deck 10 is the lowest of the ten decks, located next to the aft reactor and engine access port.

### Deck 1: Forward equipment operations

* 1A: Forward Shield Access Port Airlock
* 1B: Meteor Shield Control Center
* 1C: Forward Sensor Control and Management Center
* 1D: Gun Plotting Center

### Deck 2: Command and Control

* 2A: Central Command Center
* 2B: Central AI Mainframe Room
* 2C: Central Databank Server Room
* 2D: Captain's Quarters
* 2E: XO's Quarters
* 2F: Officer Quarters
* 2G: Senior Enlisted Quarters 1
* 2H: Senior Enlisted Quarters 2
* 2I: Security Annex
* 2J: Information Analysis Center
* 2K: Officer's Lounge
* 2L: Combat Information Center
* 2M: Meeting Room
* 2N: Officer's Mess

### Deck 3: Crew Quarters

* 3A: Crew Quarters 1
* 3B: Crew Quarters 2
* 3C: Crew Quarters 3
* 3D: Crew Quarters 4
* 3E: Crew Quarters 5
* 3F: Crew Quarters 6
* 3G: Crew Quarters 7
* 3H: Canteen
* 3I: Transport Lift Hub

### Deck 4: Crew Support and Recreation

* 3A: Triage
* 3B: Medical Bay
* 3C: Medical Supply Storage
* 3D: General Lounge
* 3E: Multimedia Center
* 3F: Gymnasium
* 3G: Spiritual Center
* 3H: Auditorium
* 3I: General Store

### Deck 5: Central Reactor and Drive Support

* 5A: Barodrive Management Room
* 5B: Barodrive Power Control Room
* 5C: Primary Heat Management Room
* 5D: Primary Reactor Control Room
* 5E: Security Annex

### Deck 6: Research and Hydroponics

* 6A: Special Storage Locker
* 6B: Astronomy and Physics Research Center
* 6C: Telescope Control Center
* 6D: Biology Research Center
* 6E: Chemical Research Center
* 6F: Auxiliary Laboratories
* 6G: Lecture Hall
* 6H: Water Management Room
* 6I: Oxygen Management Room
* 6J: Oxygen Plant Generation Room (generally inaccessible)
* 6K: Hydroponics
* 6L: Secondary Database Access

### Deck 7: Mission Readiness and Engineering

* 7A: Briefing Room
* 7B: Subcraft Fuel Storage
* 7C: Vehicular Repair Locker
* 7D: Engineering Control
* 7E: Robotics and Programming Center
* 7F: Limpet Drone Control
* 7G: Survey Mission Control

### Deck 8: Hangars and Subcraft Support

* 8A: Shuttle Hangar 1
* 8B: Shuttle Hangar 2
* 8C: Lander Hangar 1
* 8D: Lander Hangar 2
* 8E: Lander Hangar 3
* 8F: Lander Hangar 4
* 8G: Shuttle Control
* 8H: Security Annex

### Deck 9: Bulk Storage

* 9A: Main Cargo Bay
* 9B: Cargo Control Center

### Deck 10: Rear Reactor and Engine Support

* 10A: Reactor and Engine Access Port Airlock
* 10B: Secondary Reactor Control Room
* 10C: Engine Control Room