Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

INDIANAPOLIS, NORTH AMERICA - The armies of the free peoples of the world have gathered again outside of the once-large, now-cratered city of Indianapolis in preparation for a major offensive into FAS-held territory. Sources behind enemy lines tell us…

MOGADISHU - The IEC is rumored to be in the process of developing the world's first rocket capable of reaching orbit around the Earth. An orbit, for those unaware, is essentially a condition where an object is falling sideways fast enough to never hit the ground…

… sources inside the IEC say their immediate goal is to provide 'satellites' which can monitor and report on weather conditions around the world, making for greatly improved forecasts…

Nature, LONDON - Dr. Rosalind Franklin, a research scientist at the College of London, has published a paper describing the structure of human DNA for the first time, along with photographic proofs captured using equipment at the College. This advancement is expected to lead to great discoveries in the fields of medicine and biology…

EASTERN EUROPE - A magnitude 7.5 earthquake has struck the Anatolian peninsula; tens of thousands injured, thousands feared dead, immense damage to structures in the area, and emergency responders are flooding in from across the region…

Resources:
310 (+220R/turn)
70 Political Support

1 R-2 Gale



Scientific Advances
Improved Instrumentation (Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.)
Regenerative Cooling (Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines)
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Sounding Rockets
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +6
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +10
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +8
PHYS - +3
PROP - +7

Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]

Sergei Korolev - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.]

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Conduct 2 Recon Rocket launches in North America
Conduct 2 Recon Rocket launches (anywhere)
Build a scientific facility in Eastern Europe by Q4 1954
Employ 10 dice worth of Facilities and Operations personnel by 1954Q1
Conduct Materials Research (Phase 3)
Complete Rocket Reels
Only produce military items in colonized nations
Do not pursue Spaceplane research

Operations (3 dice, +3 bonus)
[] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (10R per dice, 0/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)
-[] And do a recon launch in the North American conflict (gains launch experience)

[] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for a year, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (15R per dice, 13/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. You don't have anywhere to launch it from yet, but hopefully by the time the rocket is finished you will… (20R per dice, 0/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you) (Unlocks Weather Observation Campaigns)

[] Construct an R-4 Dawn

Facilities (5 dice, +5 bonus)
(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Construct a Hangar Complex and Runway - A group of pilots and engineers approached you with the idea of constructing a spaceplane. Such an endeavour would surely benefit the construction of normal aircraft as well, making it a potentially easy sell to the People's Forum. First, though, the IEC would need a place to actually, well, build them and fly them. This included a series of production hangars and a 6 kilometer Runway, as well as control towers and radars. (20R per die, 0/250, +2 Operations dice, allows constructing spaceplane prototypes, launching and landing air and spacecraft)

[ ] Construct a Wind Tunnel - In order to do advanced studies on the shape of air and spacecraft at various speeds, you'll need a safe space that you can push a lot of air into, quickly. You've been assured by literally everyone involved that this will be useful. Personally, you're half-convinced it's just the air/spaceplane research crowd looking for every possible excuse to acquire jet engines and jet engine parts. But… (10R per die, 37/80, +3 to projects labeled AERO)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 0/350, changes 2 Operations dice to 1 Program Slot, +4 to Operations and Programs, +1 Build Capacity)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, 169/450, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (MATSCI) [Korolev]
-[] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO)
-[] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP)
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS)
-[] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS)

[ ] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) - The first stage of Tracking Stations rolls out the facilities along the equator as best as possible where land exists, and deals with constructing the first of the fleet of tracking vessels the IEC will need to cover all those thousands of square kilometers where there is no land to be had. Thanks to the decision to use converted warships for the base of the tracking vessels, the process will be somewhat quicker, though also more expensive. (30R per die, 0/350, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

Engineering (3 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Spaceplane Development) [AERO] - If you're going to be building spaceplanes, it would be a good idea to develop a working design to build in that hangar the spaceplane gang had wanted. Your engineers were talking about things like payload fraction and use cases and aerodynamic loading - all of which went more or less over your head but it certainly seemed they knew what they were about. (5R per die, 0/100, unlocks Prototype Spaceplane)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 0/300, ???)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (R-4 Dawn) (Phase II) [AERO, PHYS, FUEL] - The initial design and engineering challenges have been tackled, an engine has been made that meets requirements, and now it's time to begin testing the tankage that will serve as the main structure and fuel supply for the IEC's orbital rocket pathfinder. (15R per dice) (Phase II) (113/300)
(Phase III) (0/300) (Unlocks Early Orbital Rocket) (2.4m diameter, 2 Payload, 35 RpD)

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 0/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

Science (3 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 2) [MATSCI] - Better alloys would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. Some preliminary research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 146/200, provides access to aluminum structures)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] - While the IEC's remit wasn't extended to the design and testing of new jet aircraft, there was an argument to be made that studying what shapes worked under what conditions at high speed and why very much was something you had good cause to be interested in. You had a couple of buildings full of engineers; some of them would certainly be interested. (15R per die, requires a completed Runway to finish, can be started without, 0/240)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] - With the weather observation program started, keeping it going is now almost a given. The returns have been very valuable for the meteorological community at large, and the PAO has received numerous calls from various localities across the globe asking for the IEC to put up instruments where they are, each hoping to reap the rewards of more accurate weather prediction. (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 14/240) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Nuclear Power Studies [PHYS] - You now had a rather absurd amount of nuclear infrastructure making its way to Mogadishu. This included a number of nuclear physicists, some of whom had very big names, coming to join the IEC. While the world was still scarred by the horror of the atom's splitting, it was possible to use the technology for peaceful purposes - the IEC just had to show them. (15R per die, 0/400) (-15PS on completion, +4 to PHYS) (Opens further nuclear research)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) - The first phase of Rocket Box deployment has been a rousing success, and your Public Affairs Office wants to keep up the momentum by shifting their focus to Asia and Oceania. The rocket motors will likely still be made near Mogadishu, but they plan to contact workshops across those two regions to supply everything else. (5R per die, 338/350. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Australia and New Zealand. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Rocket Reels - The test footage the IEC produces for scientific value can be easily copied and turned into high-octane spectacle for the purposes of swaying the public's opinion and imagination. The best part is, the more rocket launches you do, the better your reels get. (5R per die, 0/120, gain a coinflip for 1 additional Political Support per quarter; successful rocket launches give you an additional coin flip for each launch.)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/200, 10R per dice, -10 per turn and -10 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)