The Pumpkin-Suit's Manual: Easy Rules for Hard Science Fiction

How does a Command Module execute an orbital rendezvous? What does it take to accomplish a space walk?  If there is a fire in free-fall, can you even see it?  For those of us gamers who really want to embrace the Hard SF experience, these are important questions.  The Pumpkin Suit's Manual: Easy Rules for Hard Science Fiction is an attempt to answer them.

      This 41-page PDF includes the following:

1. Introduction

   1. Hard Science Fiction

   2. About the Format

2. Training

   1. Astronaut Specialities

      1. COMM/AST

      2. Engineering

      3. Life-Support

      4. Payload

3. Launch

   1. Chemical Rockets

   2. Catapult

   3. Laser Propulsion

   4. SSTO

4. Orbital Maneuvers

   1. Finite Burn Trajectories

   2. Impulsive Maneuvers

   3. Non-impulsive Maneuvers

5. Rendezvous and Docking

   1. Step-by-Step

   2. Approach Methods

      1. H-Bar

      2. R-Bar

      3. V-Bar

      4. Z-Bar

      5. “Fu-Bar”

6. EVAs

   1. Spacewalks

      1. Tethered

      2. Untethered

   2. Body-walks

      1. In atmosphere

      2. In Vacuum

   3. Special Activities

      1. Combat

      2. Construction

      3. Rescue

      4. Survival

7. Damage Control

   1. Hazards

      1. Consumables Loss

      2. Decompression

      3. Electrical Failure

      4. Fire

      5. Navigational Failure

      6. Power Failure

8. Recovery

   1. Powered

      1. De-orbit

      2. Atmospheric Flight

      3. Landing

   2. Unpowered

      1. Aero-braking

      2. Ionization Blackout

      3. Water landing

      4. Ground Landing

9. Appendix I: Character Templates

   1. Basic Astronaut

   2. By Speciality

10. Appendix II: Supplemental Rules and Stats