Hatches on the Aurora.

I also imagined more bulkheads and knife edges myself. One difference is that volume is more a friend in space in event of a small leak. Maybe thinking of Aurora more like a cruise ship with the fire doors mostly hidden but there is more practical.

I guess so Gary, there is a big difference between keeping the air in or keeping the high pressure water out. Oddly enough one of the other things we saw at the Science Center was a mock up of an ISS module. Now there wasn't a hatch but as I recall from a trip to Cape Kennedy about a decade and a half ago the hatches on that mock up were quite large in comparison to the Sub hatches and a lot nicer looking too. 🙂

I pictured them as varying in style and levels of functionality. For example, a section of the ship (known as a compartment) would have automated pressure doors that would close quickly in event of sudden decompression. Some of them (such as on main traffic corridors) would be rather large and normally would always be open. Rooms within a compartment might actually have normally functioning doors. (Hinges and door knob.) However, in the event of sudden decompression, they too could become sealed shut.

Doorways that require the ability to roll things through would have recessed pressure door slots, while ones that don't might have raised door jambs that require stepping over. Some compartments might require that hatches are only opened (manually) for ingress/egress and remain closed all other times.

The one thing I never liked about shows like Star Trek was the over abundance of space within the ships. All the corridors were massive and rarely varied in size. On the Aurora, they have four basic sizes varying from wide enough for two way vehicular traffic down to your average household hallway. (Two people have to turn sideways to pass each other by.)

Ryk describes is very similarly to modern day ships with automatic sealing doors and hallways of various width used for a specific purpose. Hallways to cargo areas are wide open, while personell hallways are narrow to save space and weight.

Ok, so what Ryk is saying is that I'm being too narrow minded. Just kidding. I get what he is saying about form following function. I guess I've been thinking about this from a maintenance point of view where one size fits all kind of an approach. If one is damaged you just take another one out of the box marked 'Hatches' and slap it into place. I also think about the hatch thing in more detail when the Captain tells someone to 'close the hatch'. If you have ever been in the situation where the boss calls you into the office and tells you to 'Close the door.' on your way in, you know what I'm talking about. Where the door seems to get heavier the closer it gets to latching and how loud the click is when it does finally latch because everything about 'closing the door' happens in slow motion. Even the texture of the door seems amplified.

Not to defend Star Trek but I would guess the amount of space inside the ships were probably do in part to the economics of producing the shows. At least from TNG on up. Where they were given so much sound stage space and in an effort not to lose it next season they had to use it. Much like politicians and our tax money.

This gives me flashbacks to my Navy days. Different hatches and fittings having a designated condition to them.

http://navyadvancement.tpub.com/12045/css/12045_124.htm

@BOrg: All doorways are called hatches, except for hangar doors on carrier ships and ships that carry helicopters.

(But not 100% sure since I am not in the navy)

@Gary: Wow. I only looked at 2 pages of that link but Wow. That was just general how to tell if this door should be closed and when and who's allowed to open it?

@zach: My original question was how do other people visualize the doors/hatches on the Aurora. If Ryk wants to call them Human Accessible Compartment Interfaces that's fine by me. 😉

@Ryk: Thanks for sharing your insight on the topic. After all Nathan Scott might be Aurora Actual but it's still your ship. 😉

BOrg, I visualize it like the hatches on that submarine you mentioned in your first post, and the books describe it similarly in book 1.

I have always pictured them like the hatches on battle star galactica. You know with the big locking wheel and latch. Or that of the US navy design.

reply to the hatches being so small on a wwII era ship is also genetics.

if you ever go to tour the life size uss constitution you see anyone over 5 ft tall has an issue using the hatches for entry and exit

same with the wwII era for those over 5'8 or so have trouble

now the hatch size on modern ships handles our ever evolving human form

200 plus years ago the avg man was around 5 feet tall since then the avg has increased with medicine and health improvements.

the scale pinta nina and santa maria that I saw in Miami I couldn't fathom going below decks, as at 6'3 the top of the hatch was mid chest as avg height in the 14-1500s was 4'8 or so

Ryk describes is very similarly to modern day ships with automatic sealing doors and hallways of various width used for a specific purpose. Hallways to cargo areas are wide open, while personell hallways are narrow to save space and weight.

I am not aware of any self sealing doors in the modern Navy. It is simply too dangerous. It takes a lot to compromise hull integrity. Something that manages to compromise the hull might also damage any automatic mechanism to seal the door. When a ship goes to battle stations, the doors are shut manually. This helps prevent damage and fire from spreading.