Classic Space ERV (Exobiology Research Vessel)

This is the ERV (Exobiology Research Vessel), a ship tasked with discovering and cataloguing new plant and animal life on distant worlds.

There are three sections that make up the larger ship.

The Command Ship seats the Mission Commander (Yellow) and the Flight Commander (Red). The Flight Commander pilots the ship in its fully assembled form unless there is a reason they can't. The ERV may also be piloted from the second seat in the Command Ship or from the Wing Lab (mid section) in an emergency.

The command ship is armed with four mass-puncher cannons so asteroids are never a problem. Also known as the GMB (Gravity Manipulation Cannon), they may be set to plus or minus. The plus setting projects extreme reverse gravity onto a target causing it to fly apart. The minus setting produces an extreme increase of gravity at the target causing it to implode.

The Wing Lab is the mid section of this ship and it's where all the study happens. There is a pilot seat for when this section is operating independently or, if the Flight Commander is incapacitated, to fly the whole ship.

This section also includes a bed/suit repair station and is the 'green house' of the ship. Experiments are conducted and observations made on new and alien plant and animal life. At the moment they're studying some fast growing alien ferns that have the potential to revolutionize oxygen generation science. The standard crew is one pilot (Red) and the Head Scientist (Blue)

The Scout is a small one person craft designed as an escort to the bigger ships. It nestles snugly between the eight thrusters of the Wing Lab and can be deployed to help defend the other ships if they encounter hostile alien life or just really need to blow something up. Space exploration is dangerous and sometimes an explosion/implosion is just what you need. Crew: one pilot (Red).

Fast and maneuverable, The Scout is a perfect escort for a small science operation.

When the ERV arrives at a planet, with long range scans indicating life, it separates into its three sections and gets to work. The Wing Lab often lands and acts as a base of operations. The Scout does short range recon and the Command Ship does long range recon. The Command Ship can circumnavigate an Earth sized planet in about forty minutes.

They make extensive logs of the planets biosphere, noting areas of particular interest for further research.

Then it's back to Earth for a break.

Each ship is capable of achieving orbit on it's own but the most efficient way is all together.

And it so happens that in this future age of deep space exploration and wonder, "the most efficient way is all together" is the official moto of Humanity.