I had a few questions about the vanilla drop modules outlined on pages 25-26 of Siren’s Call.
1) With regard to choosing a landing site, does the module have a dedicated flight computer complimented by a sensor suite including radar and maybe ladar? Or perhaps remote landings depend on sensor feed and telemetry from the colony ship? If the latter, does each module maintain a remote connection to the colony ship’s mainframe?
2) How does such a massive object slow descent and safely land in such high gravity? It seems impossible to accomplish with parachutes and drag chutes alone, so the modules must have descent thrusters, right? What sort of fuel do they burn?
3) Each module has “independent life support” (26) and “battery power capable of operating for a year” (26). The Starting Values sidebar on page 48 suggests each module possesses enough power for half a year (based on the Energy value for of 5, for a starting colony of 10 drop ships). That said, the players’ six drop modules upon landing are noted to have “only a day or so until the air supply runs out” (149) and merely “several days of battery life left” (149). Even if the preceding is owing to uniformly catastrophic damage to all six drop modules, how long should battery power last, all things being equal?
Thanks,
David