Mackerel

Mackerel is the smallest ship class currently available for salvage.

Background
The Mackerel is a small orbital transport most commonly used for shuttling personal and cargo from stations in orbit between Earth and Luna.

Due to their lack of suitability for Rail Gate travel, the entire Mackerel line has been retired. As such, they are a common sight in LYNX salvage yards.

Models and variants
As of Update 0.4.0, there are four variants of the Mackerel design: Light Cargo, Station Hopper, Heavy Cargo, and Exolab. Mackerels are Class 3 and smaller.

Each ship is randomly generated so appearance may vary along with salvage.

Light Cargo
Prior to their decommissioning, these Mackerel-class ships transported small to medium-sized cargo between Earth and its moon, most of which was non-volatile, although the ships also carried the occasional fuel or coolant tank. Soft and hard crates are the most common sight on these ships, but computers, forklifts, storage tanks can be found onboard these ships as well.

Station Hopper
The Station Hopper configuration removes the cargo area of the ship and instead mounts passenger chairs along the inner walls. This model has a solid, non-airtight bulkhead separating the passenger compartment from the engineering room.

These models sometimes mount light crate cargo on the ceiling. The only other internal peculiarities regarding this model are trash - bottles and food packs - left behind by passengers.

Heavy Cargo
The Heavy Cargo configuration dispenses with the inner hull of the entire ship with the exception of the cockpit. This creates a wide-open area for storing bulk cargo. Cargo shipments can be mounted to the central walkway as well as in the voids of the outer hull.

Heavy Cargo variants are larger and beefier than their light counterparts, with four nacelles and often an external cage.

Exolab
The Exolab variant is full of computer terminals and as such presents many shock hazards. It may have a Utility Arm mounted on the outside and always features Solar Sails (Hazard level 4 and up, otherwise solar batteries.) and (instead of Nacelles), which must be freed from the ship's compartment spaces.

Configuration
Mackerels are small multi-mission transports. The physical configuration consists of a cockpit, a central section, and a tail section.

Both the cockpit and tail section connect to the central section via four small cut points at the corners of the primary internal frame.

Cockpit
The cockpit interior is a narrow chamber with a pressure door at the rear which connects back to the central section. There are access switches on both the inside and outside of the cockpit. The chamber has a dedicated Atmosphere Regulator. At the front of the cockpit are two seats with multiple computer terminals.

The secondary equipment in the cockpit varies between models, but frequently includes a Power Junction Box and corner-mounted Storage Bins.

There are crawlspace segments on either side of the cockpit. These are typically accessed from aft, but it is also possible to cut through the aluminum paneling to access it directly, though this is not recommended. At Hazard Level 6 and above, cockpits may have one or two coolant tanks mounted to the inner hull within the crawlspace.

Central Section
The central section is a three to four-segment body sitting between the cockpit and tail section. The physical configuration of the section is a long, rectangular frame with exterior panels mounted to it.

The section consists of a central hall and maintenance crawlspaces to port and starboard. The first two or three segments comprise the mission bay, while the last segment is the engineering bay that holds the Class I Reactor. These two bays are usually separated by an aluminum frame.

The crawlspaces can be accessed by airtight doors in the engineering section. Some ships of this variant may lack one or both doors, necessitating cutting through the aluminum paneling to access the crawlspace or else removing the nose or tail segments to access it from either end.

Tail Section
The tail section sits behind the engineering bay. It flares at the front to cover the aft portions of the port and starboard crawlspaces. Internally, the section contains the main thruster. There is an X-shaped bulkhead at the fore end which has an Engineering Console to free the thruster from its housing.

Cockpit
the cockpit is almolst always presserized at hazard level 5 aand above.

Central Section
there are lots of chairs, depending on the level of hazard, electrical devices and even more chairs

Central Section
On the Heavy Cargo model, there are no panels on the internal frame, allowing physical access to the crawlspaces which also serve as additional cargo space. There are also fuel pipes running the full length of the ship at the top.

Central Section
there is a lot of electrical equipment in the centreal section, and usualy features an airlock, but examples featuring the airlock in the back section is found as well.

Depressurizing
As of Update 0.4.0, pressurized ships are not introduced until Hazard Level 5. The player can enter through airlocks on either the left or right of the ship. Inside the main ship area, there is an Atmosphere Regulator directly above the entrance that will drain the atmosphere of the main compartment if activated. However, the higher the Hazard Level of a ship, the higher the chance that the Regulator is non-functioning.

If the entire ship is pressurized upon entry and there are doors present between the main compartment and cockpit or crawlspaces, these doors will close upon activating the Regulator in the main compartment. The player may then safely depressurize other areas of the ship by activating the Door Console, which will cause a non-violent decompression of the respective area.

All Variants
These items are common to all variants of Mackerels.

Nanocarbon
Nanocarbon panels make up roughly half of the value of a mackerel, except for the Exolab due to its high amount of salvageable items inside. These are the exterior hull panels that are resistant to the SplitSaw and Stinger.

Class I Reactor
The Class I Reactor is easily the most valuable single object on the ship, being worth $375,000.00 credits if successfully salvaged. It can be located in one of several locations on the ship. In the engineering section at the back of the ship near the thruster, in one of the crawlspaces on either side of the ship, or in the one of the crawlspaces on either side of the cockpit. Once removed from its protective casing, it will enter a meltdown state with five durability points, (timing test later).

Thruster Class I
The Thruster Class I is another highly valuable single object, with a value of $135,000.00 credits when salvaged. It will always be located at the very back of the ship in the engineering section. It can be released by using the thruster release switch also found in the engineering section.

Airlock Console
A small but surprisingly valuable item is the airlock console, of which there will always be three on a mackerel; one on the outside of the ship, one inside of the airlock, and one on the inside of the ship. Each one is worth $45,000.00 credits, and with three present in the ship, a total of $135,000.00 credits can be gained by salvaging all three consoles, as much value as would be gained from salvaging the thruster. Airlock consoles should not be confused with door consoles, the consoles that spawn on the non-airlock doors. Door consoles are only worth $24,000.00 credits each, and are not guaranteed to spawn on a mackerel.

Power Cell
Power cells, which can be found in the engineering section and the crawlspaces on either side of the ship, are worth $99,000.00 credits each. Only one is guaranteed to spawn, and it will always be in one of the crawlspaces, however there is a chance for more to spawn in the engineering section. On the Exolab variant, more power cells can spawn in the crawlspaces besides the first guaranteed spawn.

Airlock
The airlock itself is worth $75,000.00 credits, which while being less than the consoles associated with it, is still fairly valuable. It is secured to one of the exterior nanocarbon panels through two cut points, and connects the exterior nanocarbon to the interior aluminum with four cut points.

Atmosphere Regulator
Atmosphere regulators are worth $48,000.00 credits each, and two are guaranteed to spawn on each ship for a total of $96,000.00 credits if both are salvaged. The first will spawn directly above the interior airlock door, while the second will spawn somewhere on the walls of the cockpit.

Power Junction Box
The power junction box is an electrical item worth $34,500.00 credits each. Two are guaranteed to spawn for a total worth of $69,000.00 credits, one next to the interior airlock door and one on the cockpit walls. However, there is a possibility for more to spawn in the engineering section.