LEONOV: Boost Tank Separation by TomPeters
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Description
When Rob Caswell and I first started thinking about visually designing the Leonov from Arthur C. Clarke's 2010: Odyssey Two, the first thing both of us did was to scour the novel for any descriptive passages of the vessel. From that reading, two things were immediately obvious-1. Leonov had no centrifuge at all; it was a pure zero g design and 2. It was a speedboat, compared to 2001's Discovery, which was much more an ocean-liner of space. The good ship Leonov was built to get to Jupiter FAST, and therefore every once of weight had to be justified. Then, after she had been designed and largely built, 3 more crew members, with all their consumable supplies, were added. Clearly, to us, something had to go, and given the fact Leonov was all ready a pretty lean ship, it was probably going to be something important.
We decided, based on careful reading, that the only thing we could think of, was unmanned probes designed for Jupiter's various moons, and Jupiter himself. The rings of metal skeleton around the habitat module were the anchors for the probe attachments, and are now all that remains of those structures.
After continuos thrust from the Sacharov drive since departing orbit around the Earth, the 4 huge Liquid Hydrogen Tanks around Leonov's midsection are empty after boosting the ship to its cruise velocity. As they are no longer needed, and every once of nonfunctional weight will be a burden when the ship must skim Jupiter's atmosphere to slow down, the tanks are cut-loose, and the trim motors are fired, to spectacular effect, to distance Leonov from its tanks. They will eventually meet Jupiter's atmosphere, too, days after Leonov's arrival.
Modeled and rendered in Lightwave 8.5, with postwork in Photoshop. Thanks for having a look!
-Tom
Comments (13)
arcas
So I'd been meaning ask: why are the tanks inner surfaces mirrored? It's a cool effect, as it reveals the shape of the ship in the reflections, but what's the rationale? Is it some manner of thermal coating? Vety cool perspective on the craft, Tom. It's almost an abstract.
TomPeters
Yeah, you're right, arcas, the side of the tanks closest to Leonov are silver reflective to reject thermal energy from the rest of Leonov. Its the cheapest way to insulate all that Liquid Hydrogen. The rest of the tankage has to be covered with micrometeoroid shielding, and the silver thermal insulation is under that, but the surface protected by the bulk of the rest of the craft doesn't.
flashone
I had the same thought as Arcas referring to the mirrored hydrogen tanks. This is a truly awesome POV. Thanks for sharing this image and the back story that goes with it!
pwilkin
Very cool scene!
geirla
Nicely done! Good thing I didn't get a chance to look at it until after my question was asked and answered. Great logic on the mass savings, and it's great to see how nice the model looks close up.
SIGMAWORLD
EXCELLENT!
TOPCAT
Stunning!!!
JOELGLAINE
Truly inspiring image! I like the thoughtfulness of the mirror finish. It's revealing and pretty accurate,too. Well done! I'm waiting for the aero-braking. Good luck with it. You set the bar really high for yourself. ^__^V,,
psyoshida
Excellent. Wonderful job.
CATMANDO
Great POV.
dbrv6
Excellent thought process and like the conclusion to results.
duo
Unusual design great prespective!
zhaanman
Wicked point of view and design love it!!