Thu, Mar 11, 2021 at 8:35 AM
David,
Those thrusters are 'quick acting' in terms of the rotation and swiveling. Reacting instantaneously to the internal gyros and nav gear, they can accommodate and compensate for most any amount of off-center mass within reason. Too, the individual thrusters (top and bottom of each pod) can be triggered individually. Lots of fine-grained control possible.
Yeah, a couple of these drones would cost a bit, not to mention their missile load. I suppose it is cheap insurance relative to some of the huge cargo's being ferried through space.
I've included another render. This one is showing drones lined up along the ventral portion of the cargo hauler.
No way do I mean to imply that the cargo hauler is suddenly becoming a semi-military vessel. They are only there to show the spacing of drones when being carried below for charging. A spaced line of charging socket rings would be there (not done yet). Given that many of the other drones (sensor, radio, charpac) would have a slightly smaller thruster arm radius, I'm seeing space for easily as many as eighteen charge/carrier sockets on the cargo hauler... with enough space between the parked drones for a suited tech to move between them for any service or inspection.
Until later,
- Ignatz