Food in Space

From: Ted7@qrc.com (Mitchell K Schwartz)
Subject: Food in Space
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 1994 16:32:22 -0400 (EDT)

Question about food aboard starships:

How much space aboard a vessel do rations take up?

Please correct me if I am wrong, but rations are part of the consumables
that folks aboard ship use up (and that cost 1 KCr per crew or passenger per
jump).

Now, its perfectly reasonable to me that some of the volume rations take up
are part of the space used by the life support system. But how much is
that? 1 jump (7 days per person) of rations? 10? 100? 1000?

Assume there is a standard meal pack that takes up one liter volume and
weighs .5 kg. 3 per day means 21 per jump; for a crew of 9, that's 100 Kg
and .2 cubic meters per jump. At 10 jumps (10 weeks; you could stay
somewhere for two weeks after 4 weeks travel), that's 1 ton and 2 cubic
meters.  And 4 jumps is not a long trip.

When you run to say 6 months, or start talking about vessels carrying more
people, you really start running into a lot of space taken up by rations. A
vessel carrying 20 people with rations for 25 weeks uses 10 cubic meters
and weighs over 5 tons. And those are all the equivalent of freeze dried
rations.

So, how much of my vessel is given over to rations that I don't get to
control? Frankly, much more than 1-2 cubic meters "by magic" is
unreasonable.  It should be accounted for in the vessel design. Or
accounted for in the vessel's cargo hold.

Ration size, BTW, doesn't matter. If a ration pack is only .5 liter, then
you are still faced with a limit; the limit is just twice as large.

Since there is no differentiation by volume or price for ration quality,
does  that mean that there is only one choice on the quality of food served
aboard any starship, be it military troop transport, first rate liner, or
royal  personal yacht?

One fellow player suggested that this isn't an issue, because the life
support  system features full recycling, from toilet to table and back
again. So what are you being charged 1 KCr per jump for if it's a closed
system? What are you replenishing? What are you adding? How much space does
it take up? How much can you carry? What Tech Level produces it? (Important
if you are out exploring or zooming about the Wilds)

I have a number of problems with that type of system anyway. While I can
easily enough buy that you can process out poisons from bodily wastes and
be left with a fair amount of neutral bulk, where do you get the additional
nutrition?

I'm curious what other folks have done. Or whether it has occurred to any
of you at all.

Note: this is granted a humano-centric view of food storage and
preparation. I won't tackle the Aslan requirement for live food or the
K'kree preference for fresh plants till later.

Suggestions:

I'd suggest that a vessel can stock up to a month's meager rations or two
weeks large or special rations out of life support. Carrying more rations
requires additional storage.  Meager rations require no special storage
facilities (freeze-dried etc.). Large or special rations require
refrigerated or freezing containers.

Meager: Prepackaged, prepared, ration packs, 1 l  .5 kg apiece. Various
    types: some require just heating; some require mixing with water; some
    are ready to eat (cold, hard, and crunchy; think MRE). Prepared in
    minimal galley. It is not always clear what the component items are;
    the meal is almost always a single item (one bar, one dish or bowl).
    Quality varies from just acceptable to nearly inedible. For example:
    the IN/IM SISR (Std Imperial Survival Ration, called SISO by the rank
    and file for Same in Same Out). Costs 3-10 Cr /meal.

Large: Standard grocery mix of food prepared from raw materials for long
    term storage, but not cooked. Generally about 2 l .75 kg per meal.
    Canned or frozen vegetables, frozen meat, grain products. Requires
    cooking in some form of galley (see below) to prepare. While not the
    highest quality, meals look like meals made of separate courses, and
    you can usually tell what the components are - provided they are
    prepared by a competent chef. Costs 12-20 Cr/ meal.

Special: Gourmet meals made of high quality, fresher versions of the
    above. 2.5 l, .85 kg. This requires a full galley and a fine cook
    (Steward-4+ or Cook-3+); otherwise this tastes simply like a better
    version of the above). Costs 25-50 Cr/meal.

Minimal Galley: Basically just a small Microwave or similar heating
    facility, a hot plate, some open counter space, and a sink. at the edge
    of the crew lounge. This is part of the budget for life support.

Half Galley: 4 cubic meters dedicated to food preparation, cooking, and
    utensil storage. Oven is large enough to cook meals for 6-10 in one
    sitting. Suitable for preparing either meager or large rations. Usually
    opens onto one side of crew lounge; sometimes partitioned off.
    Mass: 1.2 t.        Vol 4 cu. m.    Cost .12 MCr    Power .1 MW

    (Alternative: large ships may require several: .2 cu m./crew &
     passenger; minimum of 4 cu.m. 1 dedicated cook (or steward) for every
     full 8 cu.m. of Half Galley)
     Mass: .3 t. per cu. m.    Cost .1 MCr/ton          Power .025 MW / cu.m.

Full Galley: 12 cubic meters dedicated to food preparation, cooking, and
    utensil storage. Includes variable configuration ovens, toasters,
    stoves, etc; more cooking tools than Julia Child can shake a spoon at.
    Completely separate room. Generally manned by a dedicated cook, who can
    create some truly spectacular meals.
    Mass: 3.6 tons      Vol 12 cu.m.    Cost .6 MCr     Power .4 MW

    (Alternative: large ships may require several: .3 cu m./fed person;
     minimum or 12 cu.m. Note: Not everyone aboard may be served by the
     Full Galley; for example, a liner's Full Galley may only serve the
     1st class customers; a rich noble may have his yacht's full galley
     only serve his immediate party and have an additional half galley for
     the crew.)
     Mass: .3 t. per cu. m.    Cost .1 MCr/ton          Power .025 MW / cu.m.

Additional Storage:
    Meager rations can be stored in any container with no special
    requirements. To preserve more than the minimal amount of Large or
    Special rations, additional preservative storage space is required. (I
    say preservative because newer technology may come up with something
    beyond refrigeration).

TL      Container       Mass    Storage   Power   Cost
6         1 m3          100 kg    .8 m3  .02 MW   .0005 MCr
6         2 m3          180 kg   1.7 m3  .035 MW  .0012 MCr


Container: Volume of container
Mass: Weight of empty container (decreases with tech)
Storage: Storage volume (increases with tech)
Power: Power used by preservation technology (decreases with tech)
Cost: Cost per unit (increases with tech)


                        1 m3 storage            2 m3 storage
Per TL Increase:
   Decrease Mass:       10 kg                   20 kg
   Increase Storage:    .01 m3                  .02 m3
   Decrease Power:      .001 MW                 .002 MW
   Increase Cost:       .0001 MCr               .0002 MCr

For example, at TL11, a 2 m3 food storage unit is:
    Mass: 80 kg     Storage: 1.8 m3        Power: .025 MW   Cost:.0022 MCr

Ted7