Estimating ship sizes

[munch]

Yeah you guys really dint read the question but thanks for making the effort I understand that the amount of room things like engines and such take up is about tech level but things like bedrooms and showers and kitchens take up pretty much the same room everywhere I am saying leeavining out the tec stuff how much room would you need just for the living space for a crew then I am going to decide that for every x amount of living space you need x amount of non living space


Tho you guys have made me think a few things like how much cargo would be needed my thinking is in this world trips of a year are about the longest with out being resupplied

[rdanhenry]

That varies culturally and also technologically. People will adapt to very cramped spaces by most of our standards if they have to. OTOH, if your tech supports the equivalent of a nice hotel suite per person instead of submarine quarters, you'll likely do that. Do you have a kitchen and dining space, or can a 'replicator' the size of a microwave oven provide food on demand in most rooms? Theoretically, if the tech is advanced enough and psychological effects aren't a problem, you could keep a man in a 3' x 3' x 7' space quite easily. For long voyages, passengers in suspended animation (including most crew, since their jobs would be intermittent at best during most of the trip as the ship holds course under steady acceleration) might well have such a space (plus probably a bit more for sustaining machinery, of course). At the far end from that, you have the TARDIS, with a potentially infinite interior. In other words, there is no fixed answer.

[Scot Harvest]

I agree whole heartedly.

If you have a concept in mind i.e. Submarine quarters, find some sub reference on line.

Otherwise you might have to just "make something up" from your imagination.

Also, what is the consequences of making an error in this endeavor. It might be something done simply for aesthetic value rather than a usable craft.

Make it FUN not real.... or not

That varies culturally and also technologically. People will adapt to very cramped spaces by most of our standards if they have to. OTOH, if your tech supports the equivalent of a nice hotel suite per person instead of submarine quarters, you'll likely do that. Do you have a kitchen and dining space, or can a 'replicator' the size of a microwave oven provide food on demand in most rooms? Theoretically, if the tech is advanced enough and psychological effects aren't a problem, you could keep a man in a 3' x 3' x 7' space quite easily. For long voyages, passengers in suspended animation (including most crew, since their jobs would be intermittent at best during most of the trip as the ship holds course under steady acceleration) might well have such a space (plus probably a bit more for sustaining machinery, of course). At the far end from that, you have the TARDIS, with a potentially infinite interior. In other words, there is no fixed answer.

[s0meguy]

Yeah having now considered this question even more I think its more complex this for a space oprah thank you for that chart jaxlon right now I only have drawings of the style of each ship and the relative sizes of each ships and rough estimates of crew sizes im thinking the engines and like do not take up a huge part of the ship as you know it’s the future and all so I’m more inclined compare it to a Morden air craft carrier then anything else

Sorry I just had to comment on this, I love how you write space opera as space oprah from the talk show host.

Anyway, this can be pretty flexible. I'd imagine military ships to focus purely on functionality and the crew wouldn't have much space. But on private ships a lot more space would probably be dedicated to leisure. If it is a ship where most of its inhabitants are in cryogenic stasis or whatever, then you can probably go with only 2 to 3 cubic meter per person. It depends highly on the priorities of the person building the ship.

[Erik Tiber]

For 'Space Opera' universes with 'magic' drives (like Traveller, Star Wars and Star Trek), the answer is 'whatever the plot requires'.

However, for answers dealing with hard science, this is the single best source of data that I know of:
Atomic Rockets

[The problem with 'realistic', is that 'realistic' ships are slow (months to the next planet and hundreds of years to the next star) and 90% reaction mass ... that's a lot of 'nothing' for a deck plan of a ship.]

No, not really. The trip would be reduced to mere days with the use of a nuclear fusion space drive, also known as a fusion torch.

For most missions you'd just have one half to two thirds of the ship's mass be reaction mass, nowhere near 90%. You'll only see something like that for long-range missions to the outer solar system or something. Since this setting has FTL, you'll likely just have the reaction mass for normal interplanetary missions.

Yeah you guys really dint read the question but thanks for making the effort I understand that the amount of room things like engines and such take up is about tech level but things like bedrooms and showers and kitchens take up pretty much the same room everywhere I am saying leeavining out the tec stuff how much room would you need just for the living space for a crew then I am going to decide that for every x amount of living space you need x amount of non living space

That ratio will vary wildly depending upon the role of the ship as well as the delta v (change in velocity, because there is no friction in space so speed remains constant) it will need to reach its destination.

The last one will depend on how much maneuvering the ship will do in combat and how often it will use a slower-than-light drive.

As for the size of the crew, that can be anything, really. Computers should be able to do almost all of the work on the ship, so you could have a Nimitz-sized space ship with a crew of, say, ten, and it would be realistic.

This is space opera so obviously you would have a larger number of people than would be realistic, so it can be anything you want. I would just advise that you make the size of the crew less than half that of a real world naval ship of the same size, in order to avoid straining suspension of disbelief too much.

Look at submarines if you want to see a naval equivalent of a space ship. Submarines go without resupply for longer, the crew is isolated in cramped conditions for long periods of time, and any holes in the ship will be extremely problematic.

Tho you guys have made me think a few things like how much cargo would be needed my thinking is in this world trips of a year are about the longest with out being resupplied

If a ship is going a year without resupply, it would need its own manufacturing capacity, it would need hydroponics to make food, and it would need a large number of things in order to be self-sufficient. In real life, naval warships are resupplied far more regularly. Because, in space, you will want to minimize mass as much as possible, you will not want to take anything with you if it is not necessary to the mission.