Tuesday, March 6, 2012

OTHER SUNS SF JOURNAL11




The man responsible for realising the visions of visionary filmmakers George Lucas and his galaxy far, far away as well as Steven Spielberg - the designer, concept artist and illustrator Ralph McQuarrie has passed away at age 82.
Lucas released the following statement:
"I am deeply saddened by the passing of such a visionary artist and such a humble man. Ralph McQuarrie was the first person I hired to help me envision Star Wars. His genial contribution, in the form of unequaled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy. When words could not convey my ideas, I could always point to one of Ralph's fabulous illustrations and say, 'Do it like this.'
"Beyond the movies, his artwork has inspired at least two generations of younger artists—all of whom learned through Ralph that movies are designed. Like me, they were thrilled by his keen eye and creative imagination, which always brought concepts to their most ideal plateau. In many ways, he was a generous father to a conceptual art revolution that was born of his artwork, and which seized the imaginations of thousands and propelled them into the film industry. In that way, we will all be benefiting from his oeuvre for generations to come. Beyond that, I will always remember him as a kind and patient, and wonderfully talented, friend and collaborator."
McQuarrie completed work on all three original films, before wisely declining to work on the series' prequels; instead preferring to pass on the torch to younger generations. Wise move, Ralph.
He also worked alongside Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and ET, Raiders Of The Lost Ark and won an Academy Award for his work on Cocoon before working as the concept artist on films including Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Batteries Not Included and Jurassic Park.
He is survived by his wife, Joan, and an entire freaking parallel universe with legions of followers obsessed with the worlds he helped envisage. Check out some of McQuarrie's iconic pop culture images from his career forging films below:
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GENESIS 14

Mountains_spitzer_f800

ZAANUSSII

18

SOL PRIMUS

The Sun Gif

RIGELAN DEFENCE FORCE


BARUUL MERC

THE TWINS

http://a52.g.akamaitech.net/f/52/827/1d/www.space.com/images/h_et_planets_02.jpg

AZRIL

MATRIX 33

KELEV

STEINMAN CLASS B HEAVY HAULER

Steinman Class B Heavy Hauler

While it will never get the glory of a Crossbow, or even the quiet respect of a Starmaster, the Steinman is, arguably, the most important starship in human space. The vessel, over 70 years old, is quite simply the lynchpin in all interstellar human commerce, without which there could be no Protectorate.

Little more than a command module, a pair of engines and a cargo hold, the Steinman is a simple, but effective design that has kept colonies, core worlds, and the military supplied through peace, war, and across a hundred varying climates.

Not at all fast, and usually completely unarmed, the ship’s only defense is a powerful passive sensor system, and a negative mass drive with the shortest warm-up time of any non-military human ship in operation. Often traveling in convoys with a few escort vessels, a pack of Steinman under attack will quickly go to FTL using preset coordinates, so that there is a much shorter navigational computation time. An average ship takes 1D4 minutes to perform a jump, but a Steinman can usually do it in half that (most military ships have the same jump time).

With a crew of six, a modular cargo hold that can haul up to 500 tons, and a very reasonable price tag, it is the ship of choice for most large corporations, and is the transport of choice for the military as well. But even the military versions rarely have armaments. To keep space consumption to a minimum, the Steinman has a very small power plant. At most, it might be able to be fitted with a turret, but not a very powerful one. A much more reasonable option for arming the Steinman is to put missiles on it, which need no large power source.

Steinman haulers are most often encountered hauling food, raw materials, dry goods, water, large groups of people and military supplies. Pirates tend to avoid them because highly valuable cargo is much more likely to be on a smaller, better armed, light or medium transport. Some budget colony operations also use them to transport colonization supplies and colonists. By dividing the massive cargo bay into two decks filled with bunk beds, the Steinman can carry up to 600 passengers.

Model: C-98 Class B Heavy Hauler

Class: Freighter

Crew: 6, capable of carrying up to 600 passengers

M.D.C. by location

Sensor array – 150

Engine pods (2) – 400 each

*Main body – 2,000

Command module – 800

*Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body would disable the vessel, causing the command module to detach as a life pod. Steinmans rarely explode; usually only when they are carrying highly flammable or volatile cargo.

Speed

Maximum Sublight Speed: .2 C, or 20% of the speed of light

Maximum Acceleration/Deceleration Rate: 4 Gs per melee round

Maximum FTL: 365 x C, or one light year per day, half that speed for civilian models.

Top Atmospheric Manuevering Speed: Mach 1.5, but can attain escape velocity on a full engine burn (cannot maneuver)

Statistical Data

Height: 44 ft

Length: 210 ft

Width: 115 ft

Cargo: 500 tons

Power Plant: Fusion Reactor

FTL Drive: NMD-365 (military) or NMD-183 (Civilian)

Range: varies with supplies carried. Estimated it could travel 400 light years, but none has ever tried.

Market Cost: 2 million credits new, 1 million credits used.

Weapon Systems: None

Sensors: The Steinman has a powerful early-warning system that gives it mass and electromagnetic field sensors with a range of 1 million miles, and powerful short-range sensors with a 300,000-mile range.

Followers