Thor Heyerdahl
| Thor Heyerdahl | |
| Spacecraft Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Base Hull | Prototype of ESA Interplanetary Space Vehicles |
| Length | 25 meters |
| Width | 8 meters (16 with radiators extended) |
| Height | 8 meters (16 with radiators extended) |
| Mass | 300 metric tons |
| Drive Type | 7 ESA improved ion drives (hardtech) |
| Drive Rating | 1g acceleration on full burn, 0.1 g in economy mode |
| Primary Manufacturer | European Space Agency |
| Owner | European Space Agency |
| Registry Number | ESA-ISV-001 |
| Launched | March 23th, 2015 |
| Purpose | Exploration, transportation |
| Operational Status | Active |
| “ | The Thor Heyerdahl has left Earth orbit a few hours ago with its crew of seven astronauts and is on its way to Mars. It will dock with Starbase 1 within the next seven days. | ” |
| —ESA press conference on March 23th, 2015 | ||
History
The Thor Heyerdahl is a joined ESA/JAXA development, built in the orbital shipyards of ESA on Rockhounds asteroid SR-06 in 2014. On March 23th, 2015 the Thor Heyerdahl started its maiden flight to Starbase 1 on Mars, which was reached 6 days later. The flight of the Thor Heyerdahl sent some shockwaves through both Earth and Fenspace, because noone had expected the first hardtech expedition to Mars reaching its target within less than a week. Most reactions from Fenspace were positive or even enthusiastic, the reactions back on Earth by other states were mixed.
After returning to its home base roughly one month later, ESA began to check the Thor Heyerdahl for any kind of damage or problems. When nothing serious was found the ship was prepared for its next mission.
Technical Specifications
The Thor Heyerdahl is a pure hardtech spacecraft, built around the new ESA ion drive and a JAXA built Helium-3 fusion reactor.
Its a cylinder of eight meters diameter and 25 meters length, with an extensible system of heat radiators to cool the fusion reactor. The total mass of the Thor Heyerdahl is 300 tons, it is carrying up to 120 tons of reaction mass and 80 tons of payload (crew and equipment).
The seven ion drives of the ship allow it to continuously accelerate for more than a month, until reaction mass finally runs out. This allows the Thor Heyerdahl to do a trip to Jupiter and back within 36 days. With refueling of reaction mass, the ship can reach any planet in the solar system within a few months.
Trivia
- The first flight of the Thor Heyerdahl to Mars was extended from three to four weeks to allow the crew to attend several invitations of mayor Fen factions on Mars
- The TSAB tried to prevent the building of more ISVs with the argument that the system was a disguised ion cannon. ESA and JAXA have been ignoring this.
- With a full thrust of 1g the reaction mass of the ship will run out within a few days
- Helium-3 for the reactor was acquired by some Fen contractors on Saturn.
- The ion drive of the ISVs is based on the “Ultra-low reaction mass thrusters” of the Whole_Fenspace_Catalog.
- ESA announced that they would start building at least three other ISVs in the next years.
Stories
The Thor Heyerdahl is featured in the following stories:
