Generation ships are interstellar ark starship that travel at sub-light speed created before the development FTL engines or cryogenic sleep technology. The low speed of generation ships means it takes centuries to reach even nearby star systems; and the inability to put settlers in stasis meant that original settlers would grow old and die, leaving their descendants to continue traveling.
Ship Requirements
Generation ships posed interesting challenges for their designers, as the centuries of isolation in deep space meant that no one would be available in the event of an emergengy. This required extraordinarily reliable systems that could be maintained by the ship's inhabitants over centuries, using only onboard materials.
Life Support System
Generation ships needed to be entirely self-sufficient, providing life support for a fluctuating number of passengers. Air, water, and food are provided by ancient machinery, with increasing dependence on meticulously maintained orchards and hydroponics systems to supplement. Analog systems (more easily replaceable) monitor internal temperatures, acceptable air pressure, and deal with the body's waste products.
Propulsion
Solar sails are the most common form of propulsion found on generation ships, ustilizing radiation pressure from sunlight caught on large thin mirrors to move forward. These mirrors can reach sizes up to miles wide, but have few moving parts and required no propellant. In situations where more control was desired, high-energy laser beams are used to deccelarete the ship when approaching a planet, or aim the ship using smaller sails.
Shielding
Within the Sol system, the sun produces a constant flow of energy called solar wind. As this wind travels through the system it creates a protective bubble around the planets called the heliosphere, protecting the planets from interstellar radiation. One of the struggles of early interstellar space travel was learning how to prevent this radiation from destroying important on board electronics and killing the passengers. The most common solution on generation ships was surrounding important sections of the ship with a thick layer of maintained ice. In addition to providing radition shielding the ice mantle also prevented micrometeors from damaging the ship during its interstellar journey.
Passengers
Most generation ships started with a passanger list of 10,000, with room to grow up to 50,000 before straining the life support systems. This number was deemed sufficient to maintian genetic diversity while allowing for a catastrophe killing off portions of the population every 150 years. Settlers were seperated into seperate pods, areas set apart to prevent overcrowding and illness. Central hubs were placed to allow for social engagement and artistic expression.
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