Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

The excitement over finishing the first Dawn had faded somewhat after the decision had been made not to launch it this quarter, instead opting to wait while a surplus of Dawns was built up. The world seemed to be quieting down in general, which suited you just fine. It let you focus on the two tiny terrors whose presence you were still adjusting to, while still being able to adequately discharge your duties as Director.

After the Great Vodka Incident of April '54, there hadn't been any particularly wild partying, though you'd been honestly surprised at just how crazy some of these staid scientists and engineers could get. It had been, in hindsight, somewhat disconcerting, but… oh well. Everyone deserved to celebrate great accomplishments, even if you might personally have wished they'd show a little more restraint.


EAST ASIA - The Councils of East Asia have given a press release stating that the Coastal Spine Railway is nearing the quarter completion mark, with limited service connected between stops that would eventually be linked into the greater network. This new railway is expected to enable greater ease of movement and greater feats of industry in the region as travel times and costs are dropped greatly.

MOMBASA - The IEC is nearing completion on a sprawling computing science complex in Mombasa, where teams of scientists lead by Dr. Alan Turing will advance humanity's knowledge of how to better make and use these thinking machines…

SAO PAOLO - The Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre is all but complete, local officials and IEC spokespeople report. The project to build out the centre expanded even out to the local utilities, and the city of Sao Paolo now boasts the most advanced water and power infrastructure in the South American continent…

Resources:
0R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
59 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
3 R-4 Dawn



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)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
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 Ukraine within 10 years.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research


Construct an R-4 Dawn (69/120) (2 rockets built)

Now that you had a design locked down and a prototype built, your Assembly team tore into the task of making more Dawns with the fervor of religious converts. Despite being nearly twice the size of even the Snow, they were not much more difficult to actually build, and the exact same skillset needed to produce those quickly applied. As such, when you gave them the authorization to build the Dawns, expecting roughly two rockets, you were pleasantly and thoroughly shocked when they reported that they were nearly done with a third by the end of the quarter.

At this point, you were tempted to just schedule a week off for the Assembly team at the beginning of every quarter. After that, you needed to find other rewards.

Rocket Launches (2 successes)
-[X] Launch 1 R-2 for weather studies, 1 R-3 sounding rocket

The Launch teams found themselves slightly busier this month, launching a second R-3 into space, carrying a mousetronaut much as the first one had. This time, the little creature was placed in an improved launch cushion, its eyes covered with a piece of cloth to keep it calm while its midsection was secured to the cushion with an elastic band. It was hoped that this would keep the mouse from receiving the same injuries its predecessor was still recovering from at the time.

The launch went just as smoothly as the first, lofting the hefty sounding rocket out over the Indian Ocean a short ways, spending most of its delta-V going upwards, reaching a maximum altitude of five hundred kilometers. The nosecone came back to earth several minutes after liftoff, splashing down in the ocean two miles offshore from Mogadishu while a small flotilla of IEC motorboats kept the landing area clear of traffic. Once again, the mousetronaut inside survived, and this one was in far better shape than the first. It had been suspected that on reaching apogee, a moment of weightlessness had caused the first to tumble before the return of gravity smacked it into the less-padded roof of the sphere it rode in. This one had no broken bones and no concussion - merely a bit scared and confused.

The Gale launch scheduled for this quarter saw a Launch team once again shipping itself across the world, this time to Southeast Asia, where with the assistance of their Stormchaser truck they launched a weather studies payload into an out-of-season tropical cyclone. The launch was a success, and the results were of interest to the scientists working on the project. (Continued in Weather Studies Phase 4)

Build a Scientific Complex:
- Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (425/450)

The Sao Paolo facility continued its frenetic construction pace in the second quarter, with the walls going up and the computers it would use installed and tested. A wind tunnel was rapidly constructed on the concrete pad prepared for it last quarter, and deliveries of prototyping equipment were shipped in from factory partners across the planet. By the end of June, the entire complex had been all but completed, with essentially only office furniture and supplies as well as hand tools being needed to call the entire project complete, along with finishing the upgrade to the local power grid required to handle all that high powered gear.

- Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (293/450)

Progress at Long Beach slowed considerably but did not stop, with most of the Facilities department's attention being focused on Sao Paolo's rapid construction. The testing cells were nearing completion, fully enclosed with their control wiring and propellant storage largely routed and finished. The next order of business would be to install Long Beach's Turing computer, and then to add in the fabrication workshop that would allow the scientists and engineers working there to come up with both simple and full models of engines they wanted to test. This, along with the computational resources, would greatly enhance their capabilities in the field of propulsion development.

- Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (273/450)

Mombasa's Computer Science Institute saw its construction pace increase substantially as soon as the preliminary work upgrading the local power and water supplies was complete. The local council and citizens were all very happy about that particular state of affairs, as the IEC had uprated both to about triple their previous capacity, giving the growing city substantial buffers on which to draw, even when the facility was fully complete and drawing its full complement of both. There would need to be a substantial force of engineers and workers to operate the water and the power, but that was very likely to be a problem that would solve itself, and in the meantime the Facilities department was able to handle it along with a detachment from the Reconstruction Ministry.

Turing himself had all but moved to Mombasa already to supervise and advise on the building's construction, though you half suspected he spent most of his time simply enjoying a vacation that you yourself needed to take before much longer.

Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (177/300)

The scientists you put on the Alternative Launch Systems project, you discovered, were very avid readers of science fiction. The first proposal they came to you with was very obviously inspired by the writings of Jules Verne: a giant gun, capable of launching a payload all the way into orbit (with a little help from a rocket motor aboard it to circularize the orbit at the end). It seemed to you to be the height of wackiness to try and build a gun even the Holy Roman Empress, damn her soul, would have blinked twice at. But, they assured you, if the concept worked it would let you put things into space for far, far less money than any rocket you'd ever build.

The next two things they came up with were closely enough related you suspected they were thought of over the same cups of coffee: air and balloon launch. As the names suggested, these were ideas for launching rockets from aircraft and from high altitude balloons, respectively. The thought was that, by getting the rocket above the majority of the atmosphere, they could loft the same payload with a smaller rocket or launch more payload on the same rocket. The exact starting point was the only real difference between the two, save the fact that air launched rockets would be going faster at release.

Next was the thought of the mass driver, which seemed to be the space gun taken to its logical conclusion. By means of electromagnetic propulsion a payload would be accelerated down a multi-kilometer air-evacuated barrel only to exit at incredible speeds high above the thickest part of the atmosphere. It was suggested that one of these could be built up the side of a mountain to save on structural support costs.

Another was a concept lifted directly from the Father of Rocketry himself, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: the space tower, and the closely related concept of the space elevator. One envisioned a tower, built upward to the heavens like the mythical tower of Babylon; the other envisioned something akin to an elevator in a skyscraper, hung down from the heavens above; a cable upon which a car would ride, taking people and material up for only the price of electricity to run the car, no fuel required.

There were more, so many more, being worked on. They all sounded like fantasy to you, but then you supposed spaceflight itself sounded like fantasy to many. You'd exercise some patience and keep an open mind.

Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] (152/150)

The first phase of the satellite design program was complete, narrowing the possibilities before you down to three: minimalist, enhanced, maximalist. Each had their own perks and drawbacks; primarily time, cost and mission scope. You had six months to build and fly whatever you chose, and you knew it was very possible to get any of the three built… as long as you were willing to throw enough effort at it.

[ ] Minimalist (lowers progress requirement for Phase 2 to 100, Resource cost to 10R/die, minimal utility (basically just Sputnik))

[ ] Enhanced (retains Phase 2 progress requirement at 200, Resource cost at 15R/die, gain +1 to PHYS, discover Van Allen belts (Explorer I))

[ ] Maximalist (increases Phase 2 progress requirement to 300, Resource cost at 20R/die, gain +1 to PHYS, discover Van Allen belts, use broadcast television technology to gain a live (low resolution) view of Earth for 1 quarter (+PS))

Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (100/200)

The balloon tank research had been off to a promising start, with the Assembly teams sparing a couple of machinists from the Dawn builds to help make test articles. Two test tanks were made; the first was deemed too thick and heavy, though the ballooning process itself was determined to have worked, so a second attempt was made, trying to make the thinnest tank wall possible while preserving structural strength. This actually did turn out right, but when the team went to pressurize it further, the tank inexplicably crumpled inward.

They were quite perplexed for several weeks until it was discovered that the high pressure pump feeding that particular testing cell had been installed backward - so when the team had gone to pressurize it, they had inadvertently sucked all of the pressurant out. As failures went, it wasn't awful, but the test cell's high pressure pump would need to be reconfigured to the correct configuration, which would set the research effort back some time. (Progress reduced to 100/200)

Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase I) [AERO] (407/240), (Phase II) (167/320)

The first jet research program conducted by the IEC largely involved the wind tunnel. Several military jets had been requested and delivered to the program's warehouse, and the first thing that was done to them was clipping their wings. Building new engines and testing them took a while; building a new wing with new geometry took a week or two, installing another week or two, and testing about the same. So, the team decided to test a variety of wing sweeps, looking for the most efficient sweep angles at low and high speed, and then built wings for the test aircraft for flight testing. They acquired the services of experienced pilots willing to do test pilot work, and you heard the first jets rumbling off the flight complex's runway by the end of June.

While some of the team investigating supersonic flight were dealing with wings, others were at the drawing board, putting together designs for higher-speed, higher-thrust jet engines to be tested next, and beginning to prototype and test them. These would need additional work, but the hope was that they would be able to begin doing aircraft-mounted engine testing soon.

Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (118/240)

The weather studies program was revived this quarter after reports of a building storm in Southeast Asia sparked the curiosity of your scientists, and by the time the call came in from local universities in the area requesting a Gale launch, you were able to tell them that your Stormchaser was already in the area and setting up for a shot.

After the launch, a team took a small ship out to the landing zone of the rocket's detached payload. They found the bobbing nosecone by following the trail of dye a canister in the nosecone was dripping into the ocean and recovered it. Their data told them interesting things about the temperature and pressure gradients the rocket had experienced as it flew, but they couldn't help but wish there was a better way to get these measurements.

Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) (462/450)

The Rocket Box program drew to a temporary close as the South American distribution effort kicked into full swing. With that done, all a school had to do was request a Box and it would be delivered within a week or two, regardless of where on the continent the school was. At this point, it was possible to leave managing the program on the continent to the Outreach department to do while IEC attention was diverted elsewhere.

While North America and Europe hadn't yet been added to the program, you judged that as one was home to an active warzone and the other had the material capability to acquire its own material, they could wait for the time being. They would be added, in time, but now was not the right time.

Creative Sponsorships (10R per die, 141/400)

The Outreach department started off their new initiative by putting it out in papers the world over that the IEC was looking for writers, filmmakers and musicians to partner with in creating 'inspiring, exciting and or educational books, movies and music intended to drive a passion for science and exploration in the coming generations.'

Naturally, they did receive just about as many applications for the program as physically possible. Sorting through the mail to find the first, best applicants to go forward with would take some time, but already some were standouts, such as one Isaac Asimov. He had written several short stories already, and had even published novels; among the people working for you already, he was quite popular. You weren't entirely sure what it was the Outreach department's people would arrange with him, but you assumed it would be another book.

Advanced Concepts Office

"Currently working on Alternative Launch Systems ideas; nothing new yet. The espresso machine has been greatly appreciated. Must forbid Mr. Parsons from drinking more than two per day. Still rebuilding engine testing cell from the last time."