Mon, Mar 8, 2021 at 12:09 PM
David,
As usual your observations are pretty much on the money.
I'm thinking that a minimum of three identification lights are required (akin to the lights for small craft on water).
The obvious problem in outer space is that there is no up or down. Two ships on the same exact course could have different orientations. In the quick render above we see those two ships headed in the same direction, only one has its bridge up while the other has it down. Adding more colored lights to indicate bottom and top would make the orientation more instantly readable from a distance although I'm not exactly certain what advantage that knowledge would provide in a space-going situation.
Anyway, I'm thinking of the standard red light for port, green light for starboard. I believe that on water the white light is located behind. I've put the white light at the nose. Does this make sense on a space ship? With the white light at the rear would one get confused by the glow from the engines? In any case, those navigation lights would have to be pretty bright.
When hooked up to a cargo container, then the local port/starboard navigation lights would have to be extinguished. Instead, the cargo container (or group of containers) would have to be displaying navigation lighting. The cargo train would also have to be showing lighting ( plus a few flashing beacons?) all along the lines of its outer volume to avoid potential unpleasant collisions. Yeah, probably rare in outer space, but you never know.
Included is a new render with white lighting along the fuel tanks instead of red.
Cheerio,
-Ignatz