Attempting to Fulfill the Plan: GDI Edition

SCEDQuest Q1 2061 Results

Hover Rover Workshop (Phase 1)
A new building has been completed at the SCED Headquarters near Harper Spaceport to house the Hover Rover Workshop. Inside most of the assembly tools to manufacture the chassis have been installed but the more specialized tools to create, install and calibrate the hover plates have not yet been installed.
105/100

Reorganize Development Teams
The reorganization was shockingly swift. It took only a few weeks from the initial proposal to its conclusion, as many informal cross-team sharing of specialists and resources were simply formalized into dedicated support teams. The rest of the quarter saw successful efforts in expanding contacts with other departments and universities to share ideas and reports on ongoing research.
164/50 +10 to Dev Dice -1 Dev Die

Large Scale Assembly Plant 0/200
The construction of the large scale assembly plant has been completed. It will be dedicated to the production of large scale parts designed optimally fit into a Leopard's cargo hold for delivery to the moon.
203/200 25% fewer Parts needed for Lunar Construction

Enterprise Orbital Assembler (Phase 1 of 4)
With work on the Enterprise expected to reach the final phase at the end of the year, more workshops are being made available to Space Command. Of these workshops there is one that stands out: The large zero-g area where the main mirror modules for the Craterscope will be manufactured. This workshop builds segments the size of the Pathfinder's cargo bay instead of the leopard shuttle-sized segments made Earthside.
(100/100 IP) +30 IP per turn

Craterscope Foundations (Phase 2)
Work on the foundations of the Craterscope has begun. While only preparatory their precise completion is nevertheless of massive importance. The foundations will house the temperature-control- and power-systems, as well as maintenance tunnels, data connections and living space for the on-site staff. Even small imperfections in the main foundations or the shock absorbers could damage the carefully planned piece of telescope technology that will be built on top.
90/300

Aquaponics Test Facility (Phase 3)
The Aquaponics Test Facility has gotten the equipment needed to start growing plants and fish on the Moon. The initial test went well with all plants and fish surviving the first month, but the true test is how the lower gravity of the moon will impact future generations of Moon-born fish, and whether they can reproduce at all.
(20/20 IP)(-1 Astrotech)

Lunar Imaging Seismic Array(Phase 1)
The first deployment of the array probes has failed to find any major caverns in the first sector designated for scanning. Subsequent deep layer analysis revealed signs of resource deposits that might prove worth being exploited. Further exploration will be needed by the team planning the lunar mines.
As this sector does not contain the large caves we are looking for, the search will move on to the next sector with known deposits of ice.
(10/10 Sensor Pods)

Mars Gate Station
The Gate Station will make operations on Mars a lot easier, as neither Pathfinder nor the landing modules carried inside her bay will need to land and take off personally to deliver supplies. Instead the supplies, parts and fuel will be transferred to the station, which will then take care to deliver them to the Martian surface either via one way parachute pods or a pair of shuttles designed for operating on Mars. The Gate Station also provides a captivating viewpoint for orbital photography and a useful post for weather monitoring, though these are mostly secondary roles for the Astrotechs that will maintain it.
(-2 Astrotech teams)

Improved Probes
It is now known that the probes were lost to the Scrin near Europa. As a silver lining, the new replacements have been made using a much improved design, primarily in the form of isolinear computing cores. It should be noted that the majority of the manufacturing budget was taken up by said cores, as currently, the experimental printers can only produce a working isolinear chip once per forty tries.
40IP -1 day needed for orbital scans

Pathfinder Geology Suite
The SCED's prospecting departments are looking forward to what the Pathfinder will be able to find now it can deploy the geology suite. The tools include a mining rig for taking core samples, a set of ground penetrating radars designed to combine their output and a ground sorting plant that separates rocks by weight and size. This is combined with a lab to study the results so the research targets can be adjusted as the studies are ongoing.
20IP

G-Drive Improvement Program
Work on the G-Drive Improvement Program has started with collecting all previous research into the Scrin's gravity manipulation technologies. The largest group outside the SCED was the team that developed the hover system, but this team no longer exists; its members have moved on to other projects, as the construction of Suzuka Prototype Hover Chassis Factory still has not moved beyond the planning stage.
Another issue is that the Bogatyr Research Project employs some of the experts the SCED wanted to hire. An annoying problem, but the list of candidates with degrees in spatial mathematics and field effect physics is short enough as is.
46/400

Micrometeorite Shimmer Optimization
Our science department has finished optimizing the Shimmer shield to protect against Micrometeorites. The biggest hindrance is the wide range of different micrometeorite sizes, ranging from small specks of dust to pebbles to golf ball sized objects. The solution was a triple layer shield, each tuned to stop a specific range of projectile sizes.
(207/200, 50 less progress needed for research bases)

Leopard Mk II Civilian Transport Development
The prototype of the new civilian transport shuttle has entered service with the SCED today. The shuttle's increased travel comfort compared to the very bare bones original Leopard's transport section allows those that lack 0G training, or have minor health issues, to travel to the Moon if they have skills that no one else has.
As this craft is based on the Leopard II that is not yet placed into general production by the treasury, large scale deployment awaits the completion of the new factory. Once it enters general service travel to the stations will become easier.
157/100 +1 astrotech team

Union Fabricator Craft Development
The Union fabricator craft is intended as a construction vehicle for both the Moon and the wider solar system, where it will move between construction sites and a main base or station for resupply. Built on the base of the existing Union shuttle vehicle, much of its internal cargo space will be replaced with basic assembly and manufacturing devices that can greatly assist in on-site construction.
79/225 2 dice

Craterscope Mirror System Development
The design for the mirrors for the Craterscope has been completed. Thousands of individual segments controlled by advanced positional systems will focus the light of over a dozen square kilometers into a sensor not much larger than a postage stamp. To this end each of the mirrors has to be aligned within microdegree range and manufactured to an almost impossible to achieve precision, having necessitated the development of a completely new manufacturing process for its silicon crystal mirrors.
417/400

Craterscope Imaging Sensor Development
With the mirror's design finalized, design teams have been given the green light to prototype the imaging system's components.
277/500

Mission: Surface Exploration (Mercury)
Mercury will be an interesting place to visit for our geologists as the planet has a mass that is equal to that of Mars while being a lot smaller. The main theory is that a lot of the surface was lost in a major collision during the early days of the solar system and the resulting crust has a very different composition than that of the other rocky planets. The main difficulty of exploring the surface will be avoiding the extreme temperature changes, from -173 degrees celcius at night to 427 degrees during the day. Careful timing will be critical for a successful mission.
116/100

Voyager Visitation
The planning of the Voyager visitation is in an advanced stage. The probes have been located and the optimal route has been calculated for the Pathfinder. All that remains to be done is deciding what to do when we get to the probes. Some advocate taking sensor reading and photos and leaving afterwards while others suggest a protective shell to surround the probe. The suggestion to collect the probe in the cargo bay and return it to Earth for display in a museum has been rejected by nearly everyone.
102/150

Surface Scan - Charon
Upon closer inspection of Pathfinder's orbital track, Charon showed a small, but barely perceptible anomaly in its gravitational field, which shifted the orbit in an unanticipated manner. Further analysis and scans by LIDAR and ground penetrating radar suggest the presence of a large off center quantity of heavy metals somewhere below the surface. This is only noticeable insofar that astrogeologists wonder what could have caused the irregular mass distribution. New measurements of Charon's volume and mass allow calculation of its density, 1.702 g/cm3, from which it can be determined that Charon is slightly less dense than Pluto and likely has a composition of 55% rock to 45% ice, compared to Pluto which is about 70% rock. The difference is considerably lower than that of most suspected collisional satellites. Before the Pathfinder's scans, there were two conflicting theories about Charon's internal structure: Some scientists thought Charon to be a differentiated body like Pluto, with a rocky core and an icy mantle, whereas others thought it would be uniform throughout. Evidence in support of the former position has now been found in the form of patches of ammonia hydrates and water crystals on the surface of Charon suggesting the presence of active cryovolcanos. The fact that the ice was still in crystalline form suggested it had been deposited recently, because solar radiation would have degraded it to an amorphous state after roughly thirty thousand years.

Halley's comet
Halley's Comet or Comet Halley, officially designated 1P/Halley, is a short-period comet visible from Earth every 75–79 years. Halley is the only known short-period comet that is regularly visible to the naked eye from Earth, and thus the only naked-eye comet that can appear twice in a human lifetime. Its past close-approaches have been the cause of significant popular attention, and there has been a noticeable uptick in public attention centered around this mission.
Pathfinder arrived at Halley's comet three days before its closest approach to the Sun. At this time it undergoes the greatest changes of its orbit as the Sun heats up the comet and the released gasses push it around.
Observations made and samples taken over the following days have provided additional data about why and how comets change orbits and will make predicting their paths in the future easier.



SCEDQuest Q2 2061

This Side Quest was allowed by Ithillid and is supposed to be fun. Things happening in SCEDQuest will be affected by the main one, but unless Ithillid says otherwise it is only semi-canon.

Budget: 125 Capital + 286 Capital Reserve
Industrial Capacity: 200 IP
Pathfinder Time: 90 Days
Astronaut Teams: 3 (+5 per Plan)
Astrotech Teams: 4 (+1 per turn, +5 per year)

Earth-Luna:

Earthside Facilities (Unlimited Dice)
[]Isolinear Computing Center
Now that we can print Isolinear chips, we can build dedicated computers for the development department who are eager to get the increased calculation power.
(Phase 1)(25 Capital per Die 0/200)
(Phase 2)(0/100 IP)(+5 to development dice)

[]Hover Rover Workshop
The construction of a workshop for the creation of hover vehicles will be a great boon for our operations. Production will be limited to a handful of vehicles each year till the Suzuka Prototype Hover Chassis Factory is ready to supply the needed parts to expand production.
(Phase 2)(20 IP, reduces lunar projects costs)


Earth-Orbit Facilities:
[]Gagarin Station (Stage 4)
(1/10 Gagarin Station Parts; 5C and 10 IP per Part)(-1 Pathfinder maintenance time, +2 Mission planning die, +1 Research Die)(-3 Astrotech Teams)(For one station part per turn, the IP cost is waived)

[]Enterprise Orbital Assembler (Phase 2 of 4)
With the industrial space and resources available on Enterprise station steadily growing has come the possibility of other GDI departments besides the Treasury to get a piece of the orbital manufacturing station's capacity. Luckily Developmentalist, Starbound and even a few Militarist politicians continue to look out for the SCED and have reserved some of the station space for the small organization.
(0/100 IP)(+30 IP)

Lunar Facilities (3 Dice available):
[]Craterscope Foundations (Phase 2)
The crater chosen to house the Craterscope will require some preparations and cleanup before any kind of large scale facility can be built there.
(Phase 2)(90/300)

[-]Craterscope Structure (Phase 1)(Requires Foundations to be completed first)
The construction of the main building will be a major effort that can be begun as soon as the foundations have been completed.
(Phase 1)(0/30 Structure Parts, 4C and 4IP per Part)
(Phase 2)(0/400)

[]Ore Electrolysis Test Facility Foundations (Phase 1)
With Luna not really offering potential for a chemical industry, ore will need to be refined with other methods. Electrolysis is not a new process to GDI, but trying it on Luna is no doubt going to result in new issues that need solving. The SCED can try to work out some of these kinks before work begins in earnest. Step 1 is a building to house the test facility.
(Phase 1)(0/3 Foundation Parts, 4C and 4IP per Part))
(Phase 2)(0/85)

[]Lunar Imaging Seismic Array (Phase 2)
LISA can be deployed from orbit, the pods landing and burying their sensors by themselves. The SCED will expand the array region by region, scanning each for available volcanic caves.
(0/10 Sensor Pods; 4C, 4 IP per Sensor Pod)

Martian Facilities (13 Pathfinder days):
[]Initial Martian SCED Research Base (Northern polar region)
The initial base will follow a similar pattern to the lunar one. A number of prefabricated habitat units, connected to life support and power. However, the different environmental needs require custom-built facilities to deal with the slight atmosphere, windblown dust, and more normalized day-night cycle.
(0/8 Facilities; 7C, 5 IP per Facility)(-1 Astronaut Team)

Venus Facilities (12 Pathfinder days):

[]Venus Research Station
A station in orbit of Venus has been requested to safely study tiberium samples collected there as they can easily be returned to the surface if needed. The station will float in the upper atmosphere with oxygen-nitrogen as a lifting gas. A second goal of the station would be a study of Venus's unique weather phenomena
(0/20 Station Parts; 5C and 10 IP per Part)(Astrotech Teams -2)(For one station part per turn, the IP cost is waived)

Assembly

[]Craterscope Mirror tools
The mirror of the Craterscope is planned to be constructed at the Enterprise station but this process requires dedicated tools to produce a mirror of the required size.
0/30 IP

Development (6 Dice) +30

[]Curiosity Shuttle Prototype 0/200 (25C/Die +20IP)
With work on new variations of the Leopard underway the research department has asked permission to build one to test new technology. The plan is to start with one of the new VIP Leopards and refit it with a hover landing system and artificial gravity. Other planned additions include large sensor arrays, an isolinear EVA, and extensive monitoring systems to study the craft while it is flying.

[]G-Drive Improvement Program 46/400 (15C/Die +10IP)(max 1 die per turn)
Now that our understanding of the science behind gravity manipulation, STU's and superconductors has increased we can try to improve the G-Drive. Due to the high volatility and danger of improperly aligned G-Drives and the limited number of scientists yet qualified to study them, SCED cannot rush this research.

[]He-3 Experimental Reactor 0/200(20C/Die +10IP)
To prepare for the next wave of construction on the Moon the construction of a HE3 reactor is planned. It will power SCED operations for years to come with power to spare for the Treasury's mining operations. The reactor will be designed to experiment with He-3 based fusion processes. While this means the reactor is unlikely to be an optimal design for power production, it allows for a greater range of operating options, and room for extensive sensor networks to study its function. The already extant mines on the Moon are not designed to capture and store He-3 locked in mined materials, but the small quantity that can be recovered will easily provide for the operating of a single reactor.

[]Europa Deep Ocean Sample Extraction Drone 0/200 (4C/Die+4IP/Die)
It has long been theorized that Europa contains oceans of liquid water under its icy surface, heated by geothermal forces. If this should prove to be the case, there may be life in some form huddled around the energy providing deep sea volcanoes on Europa. A specialized, disinfected robot would have to be designed to take samples without contaminating any potential ecosystem already in place.

[]Ore Electrolysis Smelter Development 0/200 (2C/Die+4IP/DIe)
Electrolysis can be used to extract metal from oxidized ore. With Luna lacking the prerequisites for a chemical industry, electro-chemistry will be needed for all on-site refinement. While Enterprise has seen and solved many of the issues involved already, it does so through sheer brute force. SCED is looking to refine the ores without needing to dedicate as much space, power and other resources for the production of raw material in a lunar environment.

[]Atmospheric Containment Shimmer Optimization 0/400 (1C/Die)
Hypothetically, a shimmer shield could be used to keep oxygen atoms from being sucked out into vacuum, however doing so will require a lot of tweaking of shield parameters.

[]Gravity Particle Sample Collection Machine 0/100 (10C/Die+20IP/Die) (New)
Now that the geology suite of the pathfinder has been completed a machine has been proposed to try and filter out the gravity affecting particles from martial soil. This initial device is designed to be small enough to be moved by the pathfinder as the first goal of the research project is to find a good place to set up a research base.

[]Union Fabricator Craft Development 79/225 (6C/Die+6IP/Die)
Another idea is more or less sticking a machine shop on a Union fusion craft, which would allow for advanced fabrication on site. Probably not quite to the point where putting together a station out of bar stock is possible, but significantly more than any current systems available.

[]Tick Tank Dig Experiments 0/150 (3C/Die+4IP/Die)
The Tick Tank has a unique digging system that may be useful in extraterrestrial construction, but first a few groundside experiments will need to be performed.

Craterscope Projects (Warning: Some of these will have quality rolls; Quality can be improved)(Access to up to 5 Outside Dev Dice, each costs an extra 10C/Die)

[]Craterscope Imaging Sensor Development 277/500 (8C/Die+1IP/Die)(Required)
The craterscope imaging sensor will be one of the most advanced pieces of technology GDI currently is capable of producing. It will need to be capable of detecting single photons in a wide frequency range and allow the SCED to extract useful data from the minimal data collected.

[]Craterscope Atmospheric Analyzer Development 0/200 (10C/Die+1IP/Die)(Optional)
Using spectroscopy on the light given off by a planet's atmosphere, the makeup of that atmosphere can be extrapolated. Given the distances and projected minimum data required the Analyzer will need to be able to extract even more information out of an even smaller area of the sky.

[]Craterscope Asteroid Belt Detector 0/200 (10C/Die+1IP/Die)(Optional)
Detection of an Asteroid belt will be an even greater challenge since they are barely hotter than the cosmic background in most cases. However, using anomalies in photon gravitic phase shift should allow for at least confirming the position of asteroid belts in a solar system as long as they are not too far away from their center star.

[]Craterscope Tiberium Detector 0/125 (10C/Die+1IP/Die)(Optional)
Tiberium gives off very particular frequencies of light and radiation patterns. By adding a sensor module tweaked for these frequencies and particles, we could detect Tiberium on planets in other solar systems.

[]Craterscope Moon Detector 0/125 (10C/Die+1IP/Die)(Optional)
Moons are in a similar spot as Asteroid belts, but require a less specialized sensor module to detect the subtle shifts in orbital movement and gravitic redshift caused by orbiting moons.


Space Command Mission Planning (4 Dice) +5
[]Mission: Orbital Scan (Write-in) (for example: Luna, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter) (Requires one Die)(Gas Giants have the main planet, each major moon, and rings+minor moons as locations)

[]Mission: Surface Exploration (Write-in) 0/100
-Charon 0/100
-Pluto 0/100

[]Mission: Manned Landing (Write-in) 0/100
- Charon 0/100

[]Mission: Research Base (Write-in) 0/150
-Ceres 0/150
-Europa 0/150
-Mercury 0/150

[]Voyager Visitation 102/150
The Voyager probes were the first and only of Mankind's creations that reached the Interstellar void between the stars. Their position has long been lost, but it could be extrapolated and, using Pathfinder, the SCED could catch up to their theoretical position to place a higher power beacon next to them and the probes inside a protective, armored shell if found.



Missions
Total Pathfinder Time: 90 days
Current Maintenance time: 3 days


Mercury (12 Pathfinder days)
[]Manned Mercury Landing
(Required for activation: 30IP, 15 Capital, 1 Astronaut Team, 14 Pathfinder days)

Venus (12 Pathfinder days)
---

Mars (13 Pathfinder days)
[]Rover Delivery-Mars
(Required for activation: 4IP per Location, 2 Capital per Location)(22/50 locations surveyed)

[]Mars Pathfinder Survey
Send the pathfinder to Mars to stay there for 20 days so the geology team can live inside while investigating the area. The Pathfinder can carry enough supplies to do two surveys before needing to return to the Moon for resupply.
(Required for activation: 20 Pathfinder days)(shares sites with Rover Delivery)

Asteroid Belt (16 Pathfinder days)
[]Ceres Rover Delivery
(Required for activation: 4IP per Location, 2 Capital per Location)(0/15 Locations surveyed)

[]Manned Ceres Landing
(Required for activation: 30IP, 15 Capital, 1 Astronaut Team, 14 Pathfinder days)(Cannot do Rover deliveries at the same time as Manned Landing)

[]Ceres Pathfinder Survey
Send the pathfinder to Ceres to stay there for 20 days so the geology team can live inside while investigating the area. The Pathfinder can carry enough supplies to do two surveys before needing to return to the Moon for resupply.
(Required for activation: 20 pathfinder days)(shares sites with Rover Delivery)

Jupiter (23 Pathfinder days) Banned due the Scrin presence
[]Observation Array - Jupiter
(0/10 Observation Satellites 6IP+3 Capital per Satellite)

[]Callisto Rover Delivery
(Required for activation: 4IP per Location, 2 Capital per Location)(0/15 Locations surveyed)

[]Surface Scan - Ganymede
(Required for activation: 6IP+ 3 Capital or 4 Pathfinder days)

[]Surface Scan - Io
(Required for activation: 6IP+ 3 Capital or 4 Pathfinder days)

[]Manned Landing Europa
(Required for activation: 30IP, 15 Capital, 1 Astronaut Team, 23 Pathfinder days)(Cannot do Rover deliveries at the same time as Manned Landing)

[]Observation Probes - Minor Moons + Rings
(Required for activation: 6IP+ 3 Capital or 4 Pathfinder days)

Saturn (29 Pathfinder days)
[]Observation Array - Saturn
(0/10 Observation Satellites 6IP+3 Capital per Satellite)

[]Observation Probes - Minor Moons + Rings
(Required for activation: 6IP+ 3 Capital or 4 Pathfinder days)

Pluto (51 Pathfinder days)
---

Other
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Earthside Facilities (Unlimited Dice)

-[] Isolinear Computing Center (Phase 2) 0/200 3 dice 18%, 4 dice 52%, 5 dice 79%, 6 dice 93%

Lunar Facilities (3 Dice)

-[] Craterscope Foundations (Phase 2) 90/300 3 dice 13%, 4 dice 45%, 5 dice 74%, 6 dice 90%
-[-] Craterscope Structure (Phase 2) 0/400 6 dice 9%, 7 dice 28%, 8 dice 52%, 9 dice 73%, 10 dice 87%, 11 dice 95%
-[-] Ore Electrolysis Test Facility Foundations (Phase 2) 0/85 1 die 16%, 2 dice 65%, 3 dice 90%

Development (6 Dice) +30

-[] Curiosity Shuttle Prototype 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] G-Drive Improvement Program 46/400 3 dice 1%, 4 dice 30%, 5 dice 77%, 6 dice 97%
-–Note: Only 1 die per turn.
-[] He-3 Experimental Reactor 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] Europa Deep Ocean Sample Extraction Drone 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] Ore Electrolysis Smelter Development 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] Atmospheric Containment Shimmer Optimization 0/400 4 dice 9%, 5 dice 52%, 6 dice 88%, 7 dice 98%
-[] Gravity Particle Sample Collection Machine (New) 0/100 1 die 31%, 2 dice 93%
-[] Union Fabricator Craft Development 79/225 2 dice 64%, 3 dice 97%
-[] Tick Tank Dig Experiments 0/150 2 dice 61%, 3 dice 97%
[slide=Craterscope (Up to +5 extra Dice) +20]-[] Craterscope Imaging Sensor Development 277/500 2 dice 7%, 3 dice 64%, 4 dice 96%
-[] Craterscope Atmospheric Analyzer Development 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] Craterscope Asteroid Belt Detector 0/200 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 79%, 4 dice 98%
-[] Craterscope Tiberium Detector 0/125 1 die 6%, 2 dice 80%, 3 dice 99%
-[] Craterscope Moon Detector 0/125 1 die 6%, 2 dice 80%, 3 dice 99%

Space Command Mission Planning (4 Dice) +5

-[] Mission: Orbital Scan (Write-in) 0/100 1 die 6%, 2 dice 61%, 3 dice 90%
-[] Mission: Surface Exploration (Write-in) 0/100 1 die 6%, 2 dice 61%, 3 dice 90%
-[] Mission: Manned Landing (Write-in) 0/100 1 die 6%, 2 dice 61%, 3 dice 90%
-[] Mission: Research Base (Write-in) 0/150 2 dice 19%, 3 dice 63%, 4 dice 89%, 5 dice 97%
-[] Voyager Visitation 102/150 1 die 58%, 2 dice 93%

Vote by Plan. Comments and critiques are welcome.