Lunar Freight Terminal An Orion’s Arm future history image. This is the fifth installment in a short series of posts on freight and passenger transport during the era of the Sinclair migration to the moon, around the + 255 year mark on my Orion’s Arm future history timeline. See the Future History Timeline Context Link and Related Image Links below. Visible in the foreground (left of center) a Nuclear OTV System Passenger Transport/Command Module descends on an elevator platform into the underground facility – here passengers and crew may disembark and the vehicle can be serviced in a shirt-sleeves environment. Heavy Payload Landers remain on the surface (a future post may detail the mobile servicing bay crawler employed to service these vehicles). Modular Payload Carrier Frame’s are lowered by the elevator system into the facility below where the individual containers may be broken out and freight transferred to dedicated transport for dispatch to respective destinations. Immediately to the left of center in the image a Heavy Payload Lander sits loaded on the pad. In the middle distance a second Heavy Payload Lander can be seen in process of unloading. To right of center a J-11 interplanetary transport can be seen in process of freight loading. Note: this is the landing stage only, its Orion interplanetary nuclear stage remains in orbit. The J-11 (See Reference Link Below) carries freight in two positions: in an enclosed upper bay (above the level of its drum-centrifuge habitat) and, additionally, the vehicle may carry a Modular Payload Carrier Frame loaded to ride between the landing stage and the Orion impulse stack. The pad structure for the J-11 is composed, appropriately, of an elevator tower and extensible cargo ramp; the pad structure is elevated to accommodate a Modular Payload Carrier Frame loaded in this intermediate module position. A note on vehicle scale: The Nuclear OTV Passenger Transport/Command Module stands 69 feet high, 60 feet in diameter. The Modular Cargo Carrier Frame stands 71 feet high, 80 feet in diameter. The Cargo Lander stands 99 feet high, 98 feet at the widest landing gear-extension. The J-11 Interplanetary Vehicle Landing Stage stands 132 feet high with a main hull diameter of 186 feet. Note the Nuclear OTV Passenger Transport/Command Module is just slightly shorter than the out-board engine pods of the J-11 Transport. Future History Timeline Context Link: Orion’s Arm Future History Timeline. Related Image Links: Ascent On-Station Point of Divergence Nuclear OTV at Lunar Orbit J-11 Interplanetary Transport Diagram Composition Notes: Lunar terrains are Tectonic Bryce objects. Background image of the Earth is a custom edit of AS11-44-6553HR courtesy of NASA/JPL. This is from the somewhat famous “Earthrise” sequence: AS11-44-6547HR, AS11-44-6549HR, AS11-44-6551HR, and AS11-44-6553HR. All models are my own Bryce creations, constructed in Bryce 6.3 and rendered in Bryce 7 Pro. As always thank you for your interest, thoughtful comments, and encouragement.