11:38: Twenty Two Minutes to Midnight®

A Piece of the Sky Is Missing

2011-01-27T19:18:00.034-05:00

Feast your eyes on the NAS Sagan. the largest interplanetary vessel ever created by humanity. The NAS indentifier stands for "North American Ship" similar to how USS is used today. The pride of the NASA (now standing for North American Space Agency, and almost exclusively pronounced as an abbreviation rather than an acronym), the Sagan not only symbolizes the advancements the NASA has made in interstellar construction, but also the might that the North American military can project into the solar system. Striking fear into the hearts of pirates and rogue corporates alike, the Sagan has a combat role somewhere between what a battleship and a missle cruiser would had in the United States Navy. The turrets on the top are actually electromagnetic catapults similar to the Arcus Coilgun described in a previous post. These are used to launch probes, unmanned transport shuttles and in a combat situation, missles or even "dumb ordinance" consisiting of large metal slugs.

The Sagan is powered by 3 immense Helium3 fusion reactors, capable of generating as much electricity as New York City uses today. Though in the time of Oort Cloud much of the developed world uses more advanced Hydrogen-Boron fusion reactors, it was believed that since the home dock of the Sagan would be the Moon's Arcadium station, Helium3, which is the Moon's primary export, would be a more convienient fuel.

Though the Sagan is theoretically capable of being away from dock for more than a year without needing to refuel, the longest it has been away from dock is the 2 month round trip dropping off employees of military contractor Kurts and Wotsky to Mars' Cydonia colony.

The Sagan is the first ship to use the new alternative to rotational gravity, Variable Magnetic Synthetic Gravity, a system outfitted on the Sagan by Europe's Applied Erudition Inc. VMSG (Usually reffered to as "Vis-Mag") works by applying a small magnetically responsive sticker to any object you would like to be kept in place. Tables, desks, shelves, and counters have a small generator in them that attracts objects with these stickers keeping them in place. An object has about the resistance to being picked up as something velcro'd into place.

Footwear has a similar, but more sophisticated system. The normal problem with using magnets to keep your feet in place in a zero g environment is that walking is awkward, you need to apply more force to basically tear your feet off the ground, step high to keep them from becomming reattached to the floor. the Vis-Mag system has a small computer that detects the muscle clature in your foot, and has the magnetic force react accordingly, creating a more ergonomic, natural feeling step. This system comes in a variety of configurations, including wrist "grippers" for maintaince workers working in the bowels of the ship, and with a few modifications it can be used to walk on walls and ceilings.

The captain of the Sagan, Admiral Pulaski convinced Applied Erudition to make a custom system for his cat, Horatio, involving magnetic stickers for his paws controlled by a small computer in his collar. It took Horatio some time to learn that if he missed jumping onto a counter he would be stuck floating weightlessly in the air until someone found him and let him down.

Vis-Mag doesn't replace gravity, the crew and passengers aboard the Sagan still need to take the Apollox medication invented decades previous to fight off space adaptation syndrome, and many normal parts of life such as bathrooms and sleeping quarters use further modified systems to work normally in microgravity.

Peace Through Superior Firepower pt 2

2009-08-29T17:15:00.004-04:00

Continuing my series of posts featuring weapons from the world of Oort Cloud, I present you with the Arcus Multistage coilgun. Originally designed by Phobosian Arms, a Cydonian research firm working on behalf of the Colonial Defense Force. The weapon was designed to fill the need for a single, versitile rifle that could function on both the surface of Mars and in the vacuum of space.

Though coilguns have been around since the 21st century, the Arcus was

the first to be adopted as the official standard issue weapon of a military or

police force. The Arcus proved its

worth very quickly, and demand grew for the weapon on

Earth and the Moon. By the 2160s, the weapon had become standard issue for the North

American Colonial Marines

Central to the design of the Arcus is an linear electric motor, which relies

on alternating current to create linear force. This design has several practical advantages over conventional firearms. Chemical explosive weapons have a maximum muzzle velocity much lower than what is possible with electrically fired weaponry.

Also, since chemical propellant doesn't need to be attached to each round, the ordinance can be caseless, making the ammunition lighter and more compact. The Arcus fires 1.8 x 82,55 mm fléchettes, and each clip holds 64 shots, giving a weapon a total capacity of 128. This is especially important on the surface of Mars where metallic dust and bulky environment suits make reloading difficult.

The dual clip design features a switch that turns each of the clips away from each other at a 45 degree angle. This allows the weapon to have an impromptu bipod for use in cover situations, without increasing the size or bulk of the weapon. Much of the Arcus' stock is made out of high impact plastics, and comes in a variety of colors. Some of the versions of the weapon feature full tube reflex sights, such as the one with the green trim featured above, while other versions have a powerful digital camera near the rifle barrel, which transmits optical information to the operator via a side mounted viewing screen, like the red rifle above.

Peace Through Superior Firepower pt 1

2009-08-24T02:46:00.010-04:00

I figured the next few models I'd make would introduce you to some of the weapons the North American Colonial Marines put to use against the enemies of freedom on the Moon and the Near Earth Sphere.

The first weapon on display is the Fafnir Personal Microwave Cannon,

designed in 2129 by Spellheim Technologies, a European subsidiary of American firm General Fusion International. First adopted for use in combat by North American Strategic Command, and by the time the North American Colonial Marines was formed as the branch of the North American military in charge of combat in space, the Fafnir was already in place as one of their signature weapons.

Similar in function to Active Denial Systems used by the US military in the early 21st century, the Fafnir works by directing electromagnetic radiation towards a target. However,

unlike the ADS system of the past, the Fafnir allows its operator to alter aspects of its waves (frequency, amplitude) between activiations. This has the advantage of making the Fafnir a much more versatile weapon, filling such roles as electronics disablement,crowd control, lethal take down, or even long range detection. However the disadvantage of this feature is that the weapon has an extensive learning curve, forcing operators to have a working knowledge of wave science to effectively take advantage of the system's full flexibility. This has made it it, (along with the Odessa Canister

Rifle) the most training intensive squad weapon used by the NACM.

The current version of the Fafnir, the Mk VII is capable of disabling a squad of troops at a range of several kilometers. Even the most advanced bio-suits are vulnerable to the payload of electromagnetic radiation the Fafnir is capable of delivering. Exposure can cause involuntary movements, disabled optics, or even primary system failures. If the biomechanical functions of the suit are damaged, the effects could easily be fatal. A well place first strike from a

Fafnir can end a fight before it begins, the subsequent engagement of a disabled opponent is little more than coup de grace. The weapon is considered to be less effective at close range, though skilled operators are able to weild it like a shotgun, with wide basts of lethal microwave radiation causing intense burns and extreme soft tissue damage even through thick armor.

Before firing, the Fafnir Mk VII requires the operator to toggle the underslung priming lever, this activates the weapon. This feature

was included for safety purposes, as the early models were involved in several tragic negligent discharge incidents. After the lever is flipped, the operator has has 30 seconds to fire the weapon, or the system deactivates. This lever must be used between each shot fired. This is considered by veterans to be an unnessicary feature, and in heavy combat situations, many operators will modify the weapon to fire without the lever needing to be activated, though this is firmly against North American military policy.

Ars Arcanum

2009-08-17T17:12:00.007-04:00

Hey folks. It is I, The Meg, artist and designer extraordinaire here to bestow character art upon you. Someone needs to live in those crazy buildings Matt designs. So without further ado, meet some of the cast.
I'll try to keep this from being too image-heavy, but no promises.

To your left is Rauna Gautum, and to the right is Snowden Campbell. If you click on either picture, it will take you to the Flickr page where you can see a larger version and read the character bios, as written by Sir Matticus (Click on the magnifying glass up top that says "all sizes"). I also put together a few examples of the character design process for Rauna and Snowden.

What's that you say? You demand more delicious art? Fine. Have some more concepts of Snowden's head.
I also created this for Matt:

And two prototypes of the OoCl logo.

That's all for now. I've been keen on the job hunt lately, so I've been a little busy, but I hope to have more concept stuff for you soon. I feel a little guilty for not having a pearl of wisdom for you, but that's Matt's job anyway :D

Sincerely, The Meg

One Voice In The Cosmic Fugue

2009-08-13T01:35:00.007-04:00

I have decided to temporarily move away from large complex structures and try my hand at something a lot more mundane: A maintenance shed. One of these small, cheap structures is featured in Act 3 of the script for the first Oort Cloud, and I figured now was as good a time as any to try to design it.

I met with an old artist friend of mine for the first time in months, and he mentioned being interested in working with me to develop the second story for Oort Cloud which takes place on Earth's Moon. (henceforth referred to as the Moon). In the middle of the 21st century, the United Nations agreed that the Moon would be divided up in a way similar to Antarctica, 47 countries signed the treaty, and the moon was divided up in a series of meetings taking place over several years.

It was decided that territorial boundaries on the Moon should mirror those on Earth, so that nations would have the same neighbors on both celestial bodies. "Oceans" have also been established as unowned territories on the Moon, to separate nations that don't border on Earth. Since the most realistic way of locomotion on the Moon is ground based vehicles, (unlike Mars on which zeppelins and awkward airplanes are at least feasible) these Lunar seas would also serve as a neutral route through which nations could trade.

Due to the vacuum, and stillness of the Moon, bright colors can be seen from a significant distance. I have designed all of these maintenance sheds with radically different color signatures that can be readily identified. Through this method, structures owned by different nations and corporations can be easily ascertained. Countries would obviously use their own national colors and designs, and I have decided to use some unusual designs that might be used by corporations.

A far cry from the elegant society of Cydonia, the Moon is little more than the mirror of the Earth. Due to drastically decreased costs of transporting goods between the Earth and the Moon, facilities are relatively inexpensive to construct, and Lunar tourism has become a popular luxury. Non spacefaring nations are free to lease their territory out to other nations or corporations. These corp-held territories are mostly lawless, and what few international treaties limit armed conflict on the Moon are largely unenforced. Military squabbles on the Earth tend to overflow to the Lunar colonies and life in these frontier regions is difficult at best.

Careers in Science

2009-08-01T14:09:00.007-04:00

I just moved into my apartment in providence, RI. The east side of the city is fantastic, and I recommend it to anyone that wants to live some place that is a good balance of cheap and pretty. The apartment has a lot of little perks that I really appreciate including a garden in the back overrun with edible plants including a pear tree, fresh mint, and a giant crop of fresh garlic.

We don't have a table yet, which explains why I haven't updated recently, since I need a lot of mouse space to do any delicate sketchup work, but I figured I'd take a few pictures of a model I did before I moved.

The structure in question is unlike most of the ones I have done previously. I figured it would be something like a tech center, a hub of the communications system and computer network of Cydonia. It features 360 windows on every floor, and an enough solar panels on the roof to keep the network on line even if all other power production facilities on the colony were to fail. In the world of Oort Cloud, high yield solar panels are a major export of Earth's Moon. The natural vacuum makes production of these panels much less expensive, and has allowed research into super advanced solar technology to flourish. It is likely that the Lunar corporation holding these patents would license them for production on Mars' moons, rather than ship them across the vast distance between the worlds.
This is a good month for science fiction, a Sony's Sundance offering simply titled Moon appears to be a Twilight Zone-esque piece featuring a lone astronaut who has been working on an isolated mining colony for 3 years, only to stumble upon a corpse weeks before he is scheduled to return home. A corpse that looks identical to himself. What appears to follow can only be described as an isolated descent into madness.

Also debuting this month is District 9. Produced by Neill Blomkamp and directed by none other than Peter Jackson, this film appears to be a piece of social commentary featuring a refugee colony of aliens living in South Africa. Though it does looks good, I was surprised to read reviews comparing to science fiction classics like Aliens, and The Thing.

If this movie lives up to half the hype, it will represent the third film genre Peter Jackson has pulled himself into and excelled. If he keeps this up, he could go down as the Steven Spielberg of the new millennium

Biospace Omega

2009-07-26T17:42:00.009-04:00

This is the last of the Bio-vironment buildings for now. After this, I'm going to start designing other types of structures. However, this one has a lot more detail than any previous attempts, including elevators, ground floor entrances for vehicles, well defined growing spaces, and even a dining area with chair/table sets I uploaded from Sketchup.

I think I've realized why I like Sketchup so much. I have always considered myself an artistic person, I'm creative, and I can picture very pretty things in my head. Alas, putting them down on paper has always been all but impossible for me. Therefore, sketchup offers me a unique opporunity to take something I envision in my mind and bring it to life. I don't need to struggle with a ruler and pencil to draw a 13 foot horizontal line for a building, I can just bust out the line tool, make it turn red and then type 13' and I will have the line I need.
This has allowed me to take on some of the artistic portions of this project, if everything goes well, I can produce models for all the architecture in Oort Cloud, and take that burden off of Meaghan. I also want to start trying to storyboard, but I think I will stick with Sketchup until I can produce wonderful, wonderful things.

I start back at school in just a few weeks, and I've begun to think a lot about my future. I think when people start to take a tally of their lives so far, one of the best things they can do is quantify what they've done well in their life, They can then use that information to sculpt out where they are, and where they think they can go. At the forefront are my skills as a writer, I have always had it in my capacity to craft a clever and unique story, and I've always had a talent for creating a wider world to set that story into.

Just after this however, in my list of things I have done successfully, has been my success in building a network of talented peers. I am fascinated by the talent of my generation. I don't think I have lost track of a single adept person I met during my years in school. I feel like the 18-25 year olds of today are destined to leave their on mark on the world, and I have always felt that I owe it to my peers to leave an impact as well.

2009-07-22T23:02:00.010-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned that Oort Cloud is a piece of 'hard'(ish) science fiction. I have decided to answer a few questions that should clarify what I'm talking about when I use that term, and while I do, I can show you some more screens from models I have made while trying to develop a architectual flavor for bioshelters on Cydonia.

Q: What is 'soft' science fiction?
A: Well mysterious stranger, there are poles of science fiction, 'soft' and 'hard'. Soft science fiction shares a lot of characteristics with fantasy, most of the technology isn't explained, or violates the known laws of physics. Super advanced technology may just serve as a plot device to facilitate good immersive story telling. There is nothing wrong with soft science fiction, much of it is extremely enjoyable, Star Wars and Firefly are examples of soft science fiction.

Q: Then what is 'hard' science fiction?
A: Listen, I was getting to that, Christ. Anyway, firm science fiction is more meticulously planned, the technology involved is researched to ensure that it is viable. The story revolves around the science, and not the other way around. The Foundation series by Asimov, and Fountains of Paradise by Arthur C Clarke fall into this category.

Q: That sounds boring.
A: That's not even a question! Granted, since science fiction is well.. fiction, it would follow that the science should facilitate the story, and not vice versa. Then why write "hard" (or atleast "firm") science fiction? Simple, by writing a story that leaves the reader believing it could actually occur, it will inspire a sense of wonder towards science and the natural world. Carl Sagan wrote extensively about his desire to increase the public's interest in science. His legacy is continued by the likes of Michio Kaku, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. These people are called "science popularizers" I hope some day to be called the same.

Blues for a Red Planet

2009-07-19T23:22:00.008-04:00

I decided to start this blog to put up 3D modeling pictures I have been working on for a project with graphic artist extaordinaire Meaghan Glynn a. The project is titled Oort Cloud, and is a hard(ish) science fiction drama that follows the structure of a three act play, and is set on a colony in the Cydonia region of Mars.

I promise (myself, mostly) to update this blog twice a week, if I don't have any new pictures to share, I will simply post a political rant about whatever happens to be making me mad.

These pictures are of a one of the small biological environmental (biovironmental?) facilities that will be scattered across Cydonia. Normally the dome is considered to be the best shape for this sort of enclosure, but I decided to try out pyramids for aesthetic reasons, in an attempt to give Cydonia its own architectural flavor. Enclosing each pyramid is an advanced glass like material I would love to call Duraglass, except that is apparently the registered trademark of no less than 4 companies worldwide (oh well). So I'll probably call it Obdurate.

Inside of each pyramid a different biomass is produced. Due to the low gravity, most earth plants would have difficulties growing on Mars, but this could readily be overcome by using custom growing facilities, and genetically modifying plants to adapt to the changes. With careful genetic alterations, many varieties of plants could very well flourish on the red sands of Mars.

In the world of Oort Cloud, Obdurate was the first great scientific breakthrough discovered on Mars. It can be readily fabricated by materials common in Martian soil, and is actually much less expensive to produce in low gravity. It filters out the dangerous parts of the light spectrum, and is more than strong enough to stand the wind and seismic forces of Mars. It quickly became not only an architectural staple of the colonies, but also a financial boon, as corporations scrambled for licensing rights to produce it on Earth. Obdurate requires no steel reinforcement, and pyramid shaped structures are easy to fabricate and construct, even if Martian sand is quite often caught in the sharp angles.