Regula One Questions

[Publius]

I have a question about the Regula One station, does anyone know what the globes near the top of the station are supposed to be?

For reference check the following Diagram If you look at the top view it is in the top fifth or so of the station, a series of globes at irregular intervals along the top of the "mushroom" section of the station. On the top down picture, they appear as simple circles.

Also, if some of you out there have the Regula One plans from FASA, is there any other information that you might have as to station compliment etc. I don't know if I'll use it (I heard that the plans for the Regula station were not vbery well done) but it would be nice to have if someone is willing to share the information.

Without any other directions or comments, I'll use them for Escape Pods because there are no other apparent escape pod hatches seen from the exterior.

[Ineti]

My guess is that they're either escape pods of some sort, or a sensor pod or sensor suite or somesuch (since it's a science station).

Go with what you want. Escape pods work for me.

[Lancer]

Having all the escape pods on the very end of the structure somehow doesn't seem right to me. Getting to the pods could take a long time for some of the crew, especially in an emergency when power to the lifts may be out.
Why not put the escape pods in the "paddles"? They have a lot of hatchs on the outer rim and I don't think these can all be shuttlebays. More escape pods could be located in the "furrow" running the circumference of the upper section.

If you go with that the spheres on top could be used for any number of things, but some sort of supply containers (water, food, etc.) seems logical to me. The Regula is a 23rd century design, i.e. replicators are unavailable, so regular resupply is a must. Just docking some sort of standard cargo container to the outside of the station would make that task a lot easier.

My 0.02€ anyway.

[RaconteurX]

Were they regularly spaced around the perimeter, I could accept the pods being sensor suites or shield generators. They could be materials reservoirs, as Lancer suggests, although we see Kirk, McCoy, and Saavik walking through materials storage units in Wrath of Khan.

How about auxilliary power and/or life support units for the station, with the closely-set pairs situated over the primary crew sections?

[Evan van Eyk]

In the ICON player's guide, there is a description of a similiar base. There it is said to be cargo holds. That would make sense, since they are near to the Docking pads. There are probably also some industrial replicators and the like.

[Publius]

Thanks all, I appreciate the suggestions.

The station is "Regula One sized" rather than "Starbase 375" (or whatever it is) sized. The difference? About two kilometers. Regula One is supposed to be about 240m, give or take, which makes those globes approximately 10m or so in diameter.

If you take a look at the bottom view on that diagram you can see some circles on the bottom of the mushroom 9 on one quadrant, 9 in another (the square thingees I'm used for reactors). These are not "globes" (because there is nothing hanging down), but they are actual apertures in the friggin' thing so I'm using them. I want to designate these for escape pods but they will only hold about 7 people (give or take 2 maybe) each. This amounts to escape-pod space for (18*7) 126. The preliminary plans I have for the station would allow for approximately 256 berths, some of which are designated as "Married" with king-sized beds so that more than one can occupy the room (providing for personnel in the early to mid 300s).

The more I think about this, the more I think I might go ahead and use the larger "shuttle-type" escape pods from the Saratoga (like this as shown at Ex Astris Scientia, thanks again to Bernd Schneider). They hold more people and would make more sense. They take up lots o' space, but have a better passenger/size ratio than the pods.

Then back to the globes themselves... At 10m, they hardly have enough space for viable cargo (but I did not mention the overall size I was using in my initial post, mea culpa). Shield Generators are something I was thinking about at one time, but why cluster all of them at the top like that? I think DS9 does do something similar however.... More to think about. If there are any suggestions, keep them rolling!

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Publius
Then back to the globes themselves... At 10m, they hardly have enough space for viable cargo (but I did not mention the overall size I was using in my initial post, mea culpa).

At 10m diameter that's 523.6m^3. With 9 globes that works out at a little over 4700m^3. Maybe the form is a bit impractical for some cargoes (best suited for liquids I guess), but I wouldn't say the size is too small for cargo.

But that's just me...

[RaconteurX]

Liquids storage seems the most likely, as Lancer suggests. Doing the math based on his figures above, the pods alone would equal (4700/25=) 188 cargo units. These could be life support gases, conveniently kept in liquid form by the low external temperature...

[Cmdr. Maddox]

At this high square size, could it be that some sort of communication???

[Publius]

Liquid/gas materials storage is a definite possibility, and Lancer you're probably right about the space thing. I'm just used to seeing major amounts of Cargo Space on ship's like the Galaxy-Class so I guess I'm jaded. Maybe I will make it part of the Station's primary life support system, given more than adequate backup in shielded internal systems.

For the escape pods, I have decided to go with a mix of the "Escape Vehicle" and "pod" style.

So nobody out there with the FASA version of the plans?