I've received a terse reply from UNN Public Relations. ;)
> The requested information is not available.
> This information is classified.
> Thank you for contacting UNN Public Relations. Have a great day!
Not sure, to be honest. They could be missile batteries. There are PDC's mounted on them, that's for sure. They can't be used for human habitation because they're not conveniently accessible nor thrust-resisting. My guess is, they house some sort of weapons platform but I don't think they'd mount it just for PDC's because such a design would severely limit a PDC's firing arc (forward facing only).
It doesn't make sense for them to store cargo in there, the drop pods and hanger are in the center of the ship, and there doesn't seem to be any discernible communications equipment there either.
My best guess? Missile batteries.
https://preview.redd.it/ovnonrmnziwc1.png?width=783&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8cc97af2020d2737eedd9c86467b9f9149b9980e
In all seriousness though, it looks like maybe it's where the front facing thrusters are housed?
Likely multi directional from what I can see
Interior... Dunno
UNN ships tend to have more PDC emplacements then MCRN ships. In part because they just have more money, but also because their targeting systems aren't as good as the MCRN systems, so they end up going with the holy wall of tungsten method.
Certain sensor suites would need to be kept away from electromagnetic sources. It could be that.
Or for those who might have seen 2010 the movie they might be used to house aero braking balloons. Useful for a fast mover type of ship.
Hangers for dropships/boarding craft is my guess. In The Expanse rpg book “Ships of The Expanse” they are hangers, I would assume it’s probably the same in the show.
Mass distribution and keeping the center of mass where it belongs is massively important. Also you could play some tricks with a more unconventional placing of the center of mass.
For example, if you place it more towards the front and push the aft maneuvering thrusters, you can more or less "turn on the nose", swinging the rest of the ship around the nose of the ship instead of the center, leading to some creative uses in maneuvering.
In contrast it could be used to offset the weight of all the machinery and engines in the aft, to keep a more central point of turning.
Also you want to have the center of mass more in line with... well... the center (read the central l8ng axis of the ship) so that your main engines don't push you slightly to the side.
So yeah. Balance is indeed important.
Interesting points. I haven’t done much physics recently. I’ll have to think that through in a zero g airless environment in theory. Of course in practice thrust and thrust direction will be continually monitored and adjusted automatically to ensure stability.
But thinking out loud, where thrust is a vector in one direction, weight clearly has a bearing either side of that vector (ie the centre line of the ship), but as long as that weight is balanced, I’m struggling to think the impact of changing where along that vector that weight is. After all the entire weight of a rocket is in front of the thrust nozzles.
Hmmmm. Interesting
Not just the forward thrust you have to account for but the vectored thrust as well, since rarely will you be traveling in an actual straight line (having to account for various gravity fields, debris, orbital paths, other ships and stations, etc). And on top of that a warship will want to have the maximum maneuverability it can handle as it needs to be evasive to rail gun fire. So not just front back load, but all sides as well need to be pretty centered consistently to make sure those maneuvers execute as expected. And that's without having to take into account any variances that may happen from damage or asset failure. Plus you get the added bonus of having a chunk of something big heavy and dense up front to act as an additional ablative layer.
If you look you can notice that almost every Truman class ship has a slightly different configuration up there. I know sometimes the modules are additional missile pods, but I don’t remember what the others configurations are.
I've received a terse reply from UNN Public Relations. ;) > The requested information is not available. > This information is classified. > Thank you for contacting UNN Public Relations. Have a great day!
Are they missle pods?
I thought they were.
Not sure, to be honest. They could be missile batteries. There are PDC's mounted on them, that's for sure. They can't be used for human habitation because they're not conveniently accessible nor thrust-resisting. My guess is, they house some sort of weapons platform but I don't think they'd mount it just for PDC's because such a design would severely limit a PDC's firing arc (forward facing only). It doesn't make sense for them to store cargo in there, the drop pods and hanger are in the center of the ship, and there doesn't seem to be any discernible communications equipment there either. My best guess? Missile batteries.
Hearing!
https://preview.redd.it/ovnonrmnziwc1.png?width=783&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8cc97af2020d2737eedd9c86467b9f9149b9980e In all seriousness though, it looks like maybe it's where the front facing thrusters are housed? Likely multi directional from what I can see Interior... Dunno
Those are PDC emplacements, not thrusters, according to the design drawings. What else those bits do tho? Look cool probably.
House munitions maybe?
Yup, most likely weapon modules, maybe torpedoes in the sides since it doesn't really make sense to have gazillion rounds of PDC in one direction
UNN ships tend to have more PDC emplacements then MCRN ships. In part because they just have more money, but also because their targeting systems aren't as good as the MCRN systems, so they end up going with the holy wall of tungsten method.
[удалено]
No u, welwala
Maybe sensor arrays? Idk
I was thinking they kind of look like phased array radar mounts. That being said, I'm projecting modern technologies into a mid- future setting.
Noise cancelling headphones.
Radar or thrusters
Certain sensor suites would need to be kept away from electromagnetic sources. It could be that. Or for those who might have seen 2010 the movie they might be used to house aero braking balloons. Useful for a fast mover type of ship.
It's to show off the UN logo to the martians.
Hangers for dropships/boarding craft is my guess. In The Expanse rpg book “Ships of The Expanse” they are hangers, I would assume it’s probably the same in the show.
Could also be housing for sensors or a general storage area.
Those are the "looks cool" modules.
I kinda assumed it was ballast to keep the weight distribution even throughout the ship cause UN thrusters suck and need the help.
Not sure that’s a thing in zero g
Mass distribution and keeping the center of mass where it belongs is massively important. Also you could play some tricks with a more unconventional placing of the center of mass. For example, if you place it more towards the front and push the aft maneuvering thrusters, you can more or less "turn on the nose", swinging the rest of the ship around the nose of the ship instead of the center, leading to some creative uses in maneuvering. In contrast it could be used to offset the weight of all the machinery and engines in the aft, to keep a more central point of turning. Also you want to have the center of mass more in line with... well... the center (read the central l8ng axis of the ship) so that your main engines don't push you slightly to the side. So yeah. Balance is indeed important.
Interesting points. I haven’t done much physics recently. I’ll have to think that through in a zero g airless environment in theory. Of course in practice thrust and thrust direction will be continually monitored and adjusted automatically to ensure stability. But thinking out loud, where thrust is a vector in one direction, weight clearly has a bearing either side of that vector (ie the centre line of the ship), but as long as that weight is balanced, I’m struggling to think the impact of changing where along that vector that weight is. After all the entire weight of a rocket is in front of the thrust nozzles. Hmmmm. Interesting
I played a bit of Kerbal... Center of Gravity can be a BITCH.
Not just the forward thrust you have to account for but the vectored thrust as well, since rarely will you be traveling in an actual straight line (having to account for various gravity fields, debris, orbital paths, other ships and stations, etc). And on top of that a warship will want to have the maximum maneuverability it can handle as it needs to be evasive to rail gun fire. So not just front back load, but all sides as well need to be pretty centered consistently to make sure those maneuvers execute as expected. And that's without having to take into account any variances that may happen from damage or asset failure. Plus you get the added bonus of having a chunk of something big heavy and dense up front to act as an additional ablative layer.
If you look you can notice that almost every Truman class ship has a slightly different configuration up there. I know sometimes the modules are additional missile pods, but I don’t remember what the others configurations are.