Is Brazil part of our coalition? Because if so then open-pit mining in the amazon rainforest is a path to easy and quick (if extremely destructive) mineral wealth.
Strip mining via explosives in the Himalayas is also supposed to be very efficient.
Losening EPA and similar organizations regulation on oil, gas and nuclear energy (emissions trading and such).
(Its really heart-breaking to google 'most efficient form of mining without a concern for the environment'.)
The long-term costs and things needed to terraform Mars
How to make light and efficient hydroponics farms.
How to fully modularize space bases.
Finding the best places to hide databases full of all (or as much as possible) of mankind culture, history and scientific developments.
How to make such databases extremely sturdy and self sufficient.
Research into making drones with dexterous appendages.
Making heavy industry equipment work with a higher or lower gravity.
Making fusion more viable.
Making better more efficient batteries.
Looking into using CRISPR to make humans more able to live on other planets.
Also maybe spend a bit of money every turn to formulate a plan on how to break the news to the public.
And a bit of money on beefing up our internal security so this shit doesnt get leaked 25 years too early, THAT would be a huge hurdle which can be entirely avoided, unlike the rogue planet heading towards Earth.
I would cut out the steel river station; it's expensive as hell and Dapper already said the material it can harvest from debris is negligible. If we spend 30 billion on the Sea Dragon however we get 15 550 ton launches; plenty of time to do a test run, get the dockyard done, and then do some heavy duty Lunar expeditions utilizing Athena blueprints do we can get firsthand experience with Lunar industry and mining.
EDIT: I am small peanut brain and didn't notice the Sea Dragon was in your plan
To put it this way, a Steel River station can, using some simplified versions of mechanics you'll be more heavily engaging with later, process about one hundred tonnes of material every year, for 500 tonnes in total. This material is primarily steel and aged, hopefully still usable rare earth materials.
For the cost of constructing this and using it the following turns, you could launch many more craft and generally prepare better. A good idea may be to "Store" a Steel River somewhere relatively safe for later, more desperate usage. A supply cache of sorts.
A 550 ton launch is about sixty million dollars from Earth. I don't want to spend this much this early on something that won't be useful until after Ewrths destruction when we can use that money to set up Lunar industry that could make the station for us later.
Okay, I wasn't aware that the Steel River was that... minimally useful right now. That said, grabbing a reusable Sea Dragon is absolutely something we should be doing in order to launch the Prometheus into orbit. Just means we can divert the Steel River's funding towards building a prototype Lunar Lander then using said lander to set up the initial stages of a lunar colony. Well, not really a colony. More something able to sustain a tiny population and possibly refuel one rocket a year or something.
Yeah, I wanted to do a few test flights with the Sea Dragon then spend a year launching the dockyard into orbit (if it doesn't explode on us, that is). While that's going on we'll drop 60~ billion on modifying Project Athena designs and plans to our needs and designing some sort of bulk Lunar lander; if that's done, we'll spend the rest of the Sea Dragon launches and whatever money is left out of their budget to rapidly set up prospecting colonies in Shackleton and collect data/experimentation for our industry and food research team.
We can use the Energia for resupplying the colonies and grab one of the SSTO's and give them a budget to handle any LEO maintenance. The other 100 or so billion will go towards NTR's and hauler designs, various technological improvements for next gen lifters (aerospikes, alloys, etc.), and more refurb research. I want Lunar haulers and basic industry set up by the end of next turn at the least. Once we have Lunar mining its just a matter of pumping manpower and industrial equipment into the crater so it can start exponentially expanding and digging out bunkers. If the landers are good enough we could even start moving material into Lunar orbit for construction. Might even be able to mine REE if we find deposits of it for export to Earth as a more direct form of income than the government drip feeding us the returns from the ocean project.
EDIT: I just realized we could cheaply sidestep environmental concerns/advocacy by just having the Chinese do all the shit like strip mining mountains; everyone knows eco-activists suddenly lose the ability to speak when the subject of Chinese environmental policy is brought up
The apocalypse looms, currently so far away. Space booms into the public eye again as suddenly a new race sparks, pushing the boundaries ever further in an unknowing attempt to save humanity. Pressure does not rebate in the ensuing carnage of an ecological disaster in the ocean as fishermen report a low intake of foodstuffs from the sea.
Hopefully, the line continues to be ridden and society stays stable, else everyone is doomed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
United States of America
Another flicker of a screen presents the woman. Now with a new symbol on her chest as she climbs the ranks. "Good morning! Been a minute since we talked, lovely conversational partner as always." A voice expressing exasperation at your continuing silence, but it doesn't particularly matter.
"So, we've got the station up in the sky, but we ain't selling shit. That's a step one thing, but beyond that." She takes a drink, age clearly showing as the years catch up slowly. "But there are more important matters to handle. Lunar colonisation in a fortified position is a must, as such, I've come up with a plan of action."
A diagram of a complex series of landing procedures shows, "So this is the current plan. A whole complicated lander system with a half dozen failure points that's gonna go wrong at some point." The diagram shifts, displaying what you recognize to be the bastard child of a trebuchet and a railway.
"This is a, basically, a giant aircraft carrier plane catcher." The diagram shifts, showing what looks like a space shuttle being caught by a wire and slowing from orbital speed to a stop over the course of a few kilometres of "runway". "This seems a lot easier than trynna land a piece of metal on rocket power and math. Instead, just gotta hook it on there."
The design seems workable, you'll admit. And likely easier than a normal lander system. "'Course, you still need a launch system. If you wanna inflate costs and mission parameters, you could attach a couple hundred electric motors to it and fling ships right back into space, saving on Delta-V for launch." She waves a hand, "I've got a few more ideas, but this is gonna be a heavy bitch, so let's focus on it first, yeah?"
After she does not speak for a few seconds, you hang up, beginning to peruse the ideas therein. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Russian Federation
Romanov sparks up the connection, breathing out as it comes alive and beginning to speak immediately. "Good evening, let us move to business quickly." He brings out more display documents and an impressively covered in marker whiteboard behind him. "Luna is our goal for now, and whilst Mars would be preferable, I regard that as a faraway dream, perhaps not even achievable by current means."
He gestures to the board, where several machines are showcased, and a variety of chemical formulae are displayed. "The lunar regolith is important to our efforts, but any methods of processing are few and far away." His accented voice is carefully pronounced, "Except, of course, serum albumin."
"Serum albumin is present in the blood of, to my knowledge, most mammals, including humans. This renders it an easily accessible material which, when mixed with lunar regolith, can create a lunacrete approximately as durable as some hardened variants of concrete from Earth." Taking a drink of water, he continues. "And by adding urea, it can become upwards of twice as durable from testing."
Sitting back down after displaying the information, he continues, "We know for a fact it is possible, however, the greater issue is that current means of extraction from humans are inefficient. A team of six astronauts could only safely produce six hundred kilogram of the material in the span of two years."
"As such, the realms of biotechnology must be plumbed. We must discover how to produce this, and in doing so perhaps learn how to produce base protein as well from scientific means. If doable, it would cheapen the usage of construction material significantly, allowing us to stretch materials and house far more astronauts in the same amount of shipped tonnage." He sips his drink again before facing the camera.
Snipping off the connection, you take note of the suggestion and move on. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The People's Republic of China
"Good evening." Mister Zheng greets you as soon as his connection links, "I hope the years have treated you well. I have prepared a dossier on the future developments we are theorizing upon." The display shifts, and a presentation on a CRISPR treatment.
"The presented issues of transporting and upkeeping individuals in a harsh environment are very real, and with presented harsh failures in the areas of cryogenic storage, there is another path forward in terms of minimizing and controlling the risks of large populations." A fairly engaging animation of the process of CRISPR replacing genetic code with modified code.
"We intend to modify colonists to be able to be put into a torpor-like state, triggered by a four-day-long fast, that is not eating for an extended period of time. This will render them asleep, unmoving and energy efficient, requiring less than four-hundred calories a day on average and a fourth the water." The logic is sound, and examples of such a trait are present in other creatures in nature.
"An investment of perhaps ten or so billion would likely suit the basic needs for this project, more to be safe." No reason to distrust their estimates has been yet given, just a need to measure the worth of the effort's effectiveness.
Snipping off the connection, you prepare the notes on this debate, continuing to the next call. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
European Union
Misses Spörl is once again your point of contact, "Hello and good afternoon. I'll cut straight to the heart of the matter." The screen ignites into design documents showcasing the designs, "A more efficient form of propulsion is a must, but we must also contend with the costs and advanced, fragile nature of nuclear propulsion, borne of highly complex electronics and fissile materials."
The diagram shifts to something with a marked origin from France. "A team of researchers have, using synthetic diamonds and an ultra-high pressure process, synthesized a minute amount of metallic hydrogen." Listening closely now, you examine the documentation, finding it sound enough.
"Whilst a momentous find, the process of producing it is difficult, requires high-grade laboratory equipment and is wholly unsuited for industrial production. But the possibility of this fuel is an exceptionally tempting prospect." The display shifts again, now displaying numbers of efficiency, thrust and density far in excess of base chemical fuels.
"We must refine the process, excel at its production and hopefully, render it doable in the vacuum of space safely." This is a fairly obvious statement, but one that likely needs to be said to show its value. "This could be revolutionary, and the mathematics of lifting change immensely if it proves to be usable."
After waiting a short while, you cut the connection after fully receiving the data. Something to consider and think about. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nation of Japan
A design flickers on screen before the voice of Mister Juzaburo overlays it. "With the success of our Cloud Cutter and its usefulness in resupply missions proven somewhat, we are looking into similar designs, but of a much larger scale."
"Based on the designs of approximately a decade ago sourced from Sierra Space. The Dream Chaser chassis serves a similar role to our current Cloud Cutter. But unlike it, the design can easily be increased in raw size, serving a much more important role as a large scale movement of mass." The design blasts out into a much larger size, with a cargo capacity of, reportedly, fifty tonnes.
"Keeping in mind the lessons learned in developing to this point, we can still likely make this vehicle make it to orbit in one single stage, perhaps even an integrated one with luck. And, if perhaps a refuelling system could be concocted in orbit, the idea of a station for this purpose is not an ill-thought." A rendition of advantages, ones that are logical and considerable.
"That is, however, all we have for major projects. More minor ones include perhaps increasing our expertise with beamed power. The ease of manoeuvre a network of such things could give us would be considerable if we can leverage it with some form of propulsion technology." A secondary suggestion, but one to keep in mind. Some forms of thermal propulsion could benefit from current power projection technology.
"With that, all I have to say is said." He declares the completion of the conversation, and you oblige him by cutting the connection, looking over the plans sent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Republic of India
The connection binds, and once again you are greeted by Simron Bhate and his team, this time with a new and improved presentation. "Ah, good evening." Quickly after the greeting, the page on the presentation shifts. "Your time is valuable so I will not waste it, let us move quickly."
The screen displays a design for nuclear thermal propulsion, immediately you can tell their plan involves a liquid core of radioactive material and the heat transmission medium of tungsten. "This should be the most efficient option for a nuclear thermal option, giving us an exhaust velocity of fifteen kilometres per second." The design features a rotating interior engine, sticking the molten material to the sidings of a cavity and then shunting the hydrogen through said cavity and out of the engine bell.
"It will be fuel efficient, with a rather incredible specific impulse by our standards and in general, allow us to more effectively utilize hydrogen fuel and manoeuvre in a vacuum especially well when the vehicle weight is more than traditional VASIMR thrusters can easily accelerate." The displays of thrust-to-weight and similar variables are more impressive than VASIMR options, but the radioactive material as well as the high heat of its operation renders a need for both radiators and, in the event of an engine failure, any sort of in-flight repair would be a terrifying ordeal with the level of radiation present.
"With the need for motion in space and ever larger constructions, this could aid in moving a human population further away from the planet, hopefully assuring their safety in a greater, more certain sense." He finishes off, confident in the argument, likely prepared well in advance of this meeting.
After silence abounds for a few moments, you disable the connection, compile your notes and begin planning. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Funding for Turn 2
230,000,000,000 USD
Current Design Options
Lifters
Designs that can lift something from the surface of the Earth, or other bodies. Carrying capacity varies.
Sea Dragon
A venerable design, coming in at a colossal one hundred and fifty metres tall, it can lift five hundred and fifty tonnes into low earth orbit in a single launch before coming back down to earth and splashing into the ocean. It is the largest lifter ever conceived. Construction Cost: 22,000,000,000 USD
Fuel Cost (RP-1/LOX and Liquid Hydrogen/LOX): 55,000,000 USD
Earth Launch
LEO Launch Capacity: 550 Tonnes
GSO Launch Capacity: 100 Tonnes
TLI Launch Capacity: 185 Tonnes
Energia Super Heavy Lifter
The crown jewel of the Soviet Union, a super heavy lifter that can raise up to 100 tonnes of cargo into a low earth orbit, with various other lift capacities depending on distance travelled. Construction Cost: 10,000,000,000 USD
Fuel Cost (Kerosene/LOX and Liquid Hydrogen/LOX): 15,000,000 USD
Earth Launch LEO Launch Capacity: 100 Tonnes
GSO Launch Capacity: 20 Tonnes
TLI Launch Capacity: 32 Tonnes
H-IIA Light Lifter
A light launch vehicle, developed by Mitsubishi. It can launch a payload of 15 tonnes into low earth orbit fairly easily and then burn up, or slam into the ground at high speed. Construction Cost: 100,000,000 USD
Fuel Cost (Liquid Hydrogen/LOX): 2,000,000
Earth Launch
LEO Launch Capacity: 10 Tonnes
GSO Launch Capacity: 4 Tonnes
H-IIB Medium Lifter
Developed off the H-IIA chassis, it is a heavier vehicle, capable of getting a somewhat larger amount of weight into orbit. Construction Cost: 250,000,000 USD
Fuel Cost (Liquid Hydrogen/LOX): 7,000,000
Earth Launch
LEO Launch Capacity: 20 Tonnes
GSO Launch Capacity: 8 Tonnes
Cloud Cutter II SSTO Space Plane
A winged space plane that can, due to a clever mixture of wing area, fuel capacity and engine power, make it to low orbit and disgorge up to five tonnes of weight into Earths orbit before returning on a shallow re-entry course, landing and being ready for reuse in just over a week of repair work. Construction Cost: 250,000,000, USD
Fuel Cost (Liquid Hydrogen/LOX): 2,750,000
Earth Launch
LEO Launch Capacity: 5 Tonnes
GSO Launch Capacity: 2 Tonnes
Total Usage: Up to 200 launches before total replacement is required.
Light Space Infrastructure
Typically unmanned, but sometimes manned by small crews, these crafts are light, specialized and not terribly large.
Sentinel 1
A satellite with a c-band synthetic-aperture radar capable of forming 3-d images with a resolution down to 5 metres and with a swath of 400 kilometres, is best to be used for weather and topographical maps. Construction Cost: 200,000,000 USD
Weight: 2.3 Tonnes Lifespan-10 Years
Sentinel 2
An optical imaging satellite with high spatial resolution, ranging from 10 to 60 meters, it can create optical maps of topography for use. Construction Cost: 200,000,000 USD
Weight: 1 Ton Lifespan-10 Years
Sentinel 4
A gas monitoring satellite, it is equipped with the needed sensor arrays to note very small concentrations of gas in an atmosphere as well as measure changes in them. Construction Cost: 200,000,000 USD
Weight: 3.6 Tonnes Lifespan-10 Years
XMM-Newton
A high-power X-ray and optical satellite that was made to search for interstellar X-ray sources, perform broad and narrow range spectroscopy and simultaneous imaging of objects in X-ray and optical wavelengths. Construction Cost: 2,000,000,000 USD
Weight: 4 Tonnes.
Lifespan-10 Years
Medium Space Infrastructure
This category includes larger-scale constructions such as space stations or power arrays that can be put into the orbit of bodies. These vessels also require maintenance instead of just becoming unusable after a period of time.
Heavenly Star Solar Array
A theoretical design of the Chinese Space Program. It is a two-hundred-tonne station, with just over a square kilometre of solar panels mounted to it. It will need to be launched in portions and assembled in space unless some tremendous lifter design is concocted. Construction Cost: 20,000,000,000 USD
Maintenance Cost: 230,000,000 USD/Turn
Weight: 200 Tonnes
Power Production-80 Megawatts in LEO
"Steel River" Orbital Reclamation Station
A thousand-tonne station that houses an expert team of ten, it has the cutting limbs and processing equipment to package and prepare tonnes of metal that are fed to it. It has a large solar power array, but uses the vast majority of its power to keep its systems running and with thirty megawatts of power spare for drone operations.
Construction Cost: 55,000,000,000 USD
Maintenance Cost: 1,500,000,000 USD
Weight: 1000 Tonnes
Power Output: 30MW
"Hephaestus" Orbital Construction Yard
By the standards of its time, this station is massive with an even larger exterior scaffolding that serves the purpose of holding its in-construction vessel steady whilst it is being made, or a damaged vessel steady whilst it is being repaired. It can host vehicles up to one thousand tonnes in said yard
Construction Cost: 55,000,000,000 USD
Maintenance Cost: 1,500,000,000 USD
Weight: 1600 Tonnes
Dock Capacity: 1000 Tonnes/Year (5000 at current Turn Length)
Small Space Vehicles
Vehicles with their own internal thrust capacity in a vacuum. Typically unable to exit a meaningful atmosphere and/or gravity well under its own power.
"River Trout" Reclamation Drone
A twenty-tonne remote-operated vehicle that features a heavy receiver for microwave power that its launch station or, in emergencies, any other station fitted with a transmission rig could power it. Its ponderomotive VASIMR when powered with xenon gas, is relatively cheap by comparison to heavy rocket fuel. With a thrust that is variable depending on the power input. With a large, extendable clawed gripping arm on the front, it can acquire salvage to drag back to the station or decay its orbit for removal. Construction Cost: 10,000,000,000 USD
Operation Cost: 200,000,000 USD
Thrust-37.5N/MW
Total Onboard Specific Impulse-1600 seconds
Technologies beyond "normal" that is important enough to be marked down.
Microwave Power Transmission
The ability to wirelessly transmit power at a significant loss through an atmosphere, or exceptionally efficiently in a vacuum, is exceptionally useful in avoiding having to have an onboard generation of power.
Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR)
Using electricity to superheat gasses, this engine can with sufficient electrical supply, generate significant thrust, enough to move spacecraft of reasonable size at high speeds, given days or weeks to accelerate whilst only requiring electricity and gasses such as argon or xenon which it superheats and pushes out to provide thrust.
The gasses most commonly used are Argon or Xenon, but any neutral gas is usable.
Theoretical Designs
These are the concepts, designs and things which have been invented, but never put to use in a non-laboratory setting. Typically cutting-edge engines, fuels, hulls and other such things.
Hall Effect Thruster
Using electric fields to accelerate one of two choice gasses at a reasonable pace. This engine has an amazing Delta-V, but its thrust-to-weight ratio is poor enough to make it infeasible for heavier vehicles.
The specific gases are Xenon or Krypton. Xenon is significantly more expensive but provides better results, whilst Krypton is cheaper but less efficient.
Lifter Design Modifications
Reusable Rocketry
A series of modifications, design changes and computer programmes that, when combined with an already existing lifter design allows much of the lifter to return to Earth and be reused, cutting costs down to minor repairs and refuelling per use. It does make the rocket even more expensive for initial construction, however.
Cost Increase: 1.5X Lifter cost.
Recovers Lifter, can be reused up to fifteen times a turn safely. Does not recover fuel.
EDIT:
Honestly a hard pick between metallic hydrogen rockets and thermal rockets. Metallic hydrogen is pretty far in terms of science/speculative territory but it can be used more safely in atmosphere and in more conventional rocket layouts, while nuclear thermal rockets are more closely possible but have the heat and radiation issues
Think it would be possible to modify the cloudcutter to remove any atmospheric fuel requirements at all with a transceiver and instead only require it to have the chemical engine and some atmospheric plasma thrusters that work without the use of fuel, only electricity? That would probably cut down on some weight...
Also, we should probably come up with a hub design for our transceivers, to make an orbital/deep space power network more feasible. Launch a few on a transfer to Martian orbit and set up a basic set of 3-5 in an orbit around the sun, for future missions in the solar system so we don't have to send power generation on future missions.
Also, we should probably work to crunch the numbers on where, exactly, the Moon's going to be flung when the Earth gets got. Probably would be a lot cheaper and easier when it gets closer to crunch time, but there won't be a lot of time to react, if it turns out the Moon's going to get flung into the Sun, or out of the solar system entirely.
I like the idea of the bio research, but the crisp one is a bit of a hook, the earlier we do it, the more people we can chose from to be colonists...
At least, the two together could lead to syergies, like collecting any waste and some blood in-transit to have a starter/extra resources for moon concrete.
I'm just wondering why and how the Russians figured out that mixing moon dust with blood and piss makes concrete.
Also, my headcanon for last turn's nuclear rocket research is that we accidentally sent the money to the Indians, who decided to buy the research from the French and then present the project again.
[X] Plan: The Dragon takes flight
-[X] 2 billion: Assemble a team of trusted scientists to more closely analyze Apotheosis's path using the Newton in orbit and advanced modelling software; ideally, we want a simulation of the Solar System as it would look (position in their orbit, etc.) when Apotheosis enters the outer system. This will be used to model potential impacts and calculate the shrapnel produced for consideration in our plans. Consideration should also be given to the belt of radiation being dragged in by the impactor and the potential lethality of it. As a small side note, someone run the numbers on how the hell a planet gets naturally accelerated to half the speed of light without being ripped apart/vaporized by the force that did it; something isn't right here.
-[X] 36 billion: Construct a Sea Dragon-RE and spend a year doing test flights and structural inspection to make sure its safe for extended use. Make a big show of the first launch (after its been thoroughly inspected of course) to drive up public consciousness about space and hopefully inspire more private investment.
-[X] 55 billion 165 million: Use three flights of the Sea Dragon to assemble an Hephaestus dockyard in Earth orbit
-[X] 55 billion: Pull out the designs and plans for Project Athena and adopt them for use with the Sea Dragon to create a new program to rapidly place astronauts on the moon in order to do prospecting and test out equipment.
The primary goals of this part of the design process is creating the live-in landers and coming up with long term food storage solutions to reduce the time in-between supply runs; they will also be dropped in with basic prospecting/mining equipment and smaller versions of the water production equipment (I envision maybe one or two settlements on the most promising spots of a dozen or so people each, so we won't need the large scale extractors).
The astronauts will be trained to collect ore/gas samples to identify deposits, test out industrial equipment we ship to them, and fiddle around with whatever other experiments we task them with. Their health will also be monitored to examine the long term effects of habitation in the Lunar environment.
Once the Sea-Dragon is rated for launch and the mission is ready to commence, we'll task it fully to moving material and astronauts to the Moon.
Spare money and research hours will be spent on better Lunar lander designs, focusing on bulk cargo capacity and reusability
--[X] 1 billion: Give the Energia team a budget to resupply the Lunar colony with perishables or sudden prototype transport requests
-[X] 18 billion: Have a team start working on designing proper Lunar industrial equipment, with a focus on mining, mineral processing, basic manufacturing, and the ability to manufacture the previous three using in-situ resources. Once the ground bases are established, the design teams are to work with the astronauts in testing equipment and performing experiments on Lunar conditions to better determine how to create an industrial base. The primary goal of this project is to design the equipment necessary to create exponential industrial growth and infrastructure construction on the Moon.
-[X] 22 billion, 835 million: Approve the NTP research; once the concept is proven and we have enough info, use the remaining budget to design some sort of orbitally assembled Earth-Luna tug
-[X] 10 billion: Have a team perform research into sustainable Lunar agriculture with the assistance of the ground teams; important aspects include protein and the other needs of a balanced diet
-[X] 3 billion: Have the US division look into the Lunar runway design, it could come in handy
-[X] 2 billion: Buy a Cloud Cutter and give it a budget to perform resupply/repair missions in LEO as needed
-[X] 3 billion: Give the European team a small budget to prove the metastability of their metallic hydrogen and come up with preliminary plans/designs for ways of producing it that isn't ruinously expensive
-[X] 15 billion: Approve preliminary human CRISPR hibernation trials (God forgive us). The research should be useful for future projects as well, though hopefully any changes can be reversed.
-[X] 5 billion: Fund the Serum albumin production project; hopefully, the results can be used to discover how to make other proteins like the representative mentioned
-[X] 2 billion: Draft plans and designs for an standardized cargo transport system that can be applied to lifters, tugs, and ground usage; containers that can be pressurized or unpressurized, cargo handling equipment, etc.
Should we throw some money on material science research in general?
Also, with earth going every which way, we probably should do some tests for shielding outside earth's magnetic sphere, probably.... With any luck, we get superheroes
Iirc there is such a phenomenon as gravity waves, no idea if we could make anything usable researching them, or if they would even be usable... If we have spare money though, worth a try.
We should invest in bio research in general. Maybe try experimenting with Terraforming too?
Yes stronger shielding for Moon bases and lighter materials for rockets is always good, and who knows? Maybe with extreme funding and great pressure we might get a major breakthrough.
I think it would be a good idea to invest at least some funds into internal security as not to have the impending Destruction of The World As We Know It be leaked accidentally.
So, i just came across this, but would this be possible/reasonable to make? Space gun - Wikipedia
Basically, just shooting stuff into orbit, it just has only one problem...
Space Gun said:
The large g-force likely to be experienced by a ballistic projectile launched in this manner would mean that a space gun would be incapable of safely launching humans or delicate instruments, rather being restricted to freight, fuel or ruggedized satellites.
Should definitely start researching fusion propulsion. Working, energy positive, self sustaining thermonuclear fusion reactors are not required for fusion propulsion: the main benefit in use of the fusion reaction would be to get extremely high exhaust velocity and decent enough thrust without using much onboard electric power.
Personally I think something like the 3He-D Mirror Cell fusion rocket with a magnetic nozzle (Engine List 3 - Atomic Rockets and ctrl-f "3He-D Mirror Cell") is a good starter option. Mirrored magnetic confinement fusion has been done for quite a few decades, but Q > 1 is hard due to plasma instability - good thing that isn't required (though it helps) for a fusion rocket. We should be able to get enough He3 from the Lunar regolith, and later from ram scooping the upper atmospheres of the gas giants using fuel-positive scoop craft if we need a lot more (Low Earth Orbit Atmospheric Scoops). 3He-D is a great early fuel option before proton-boron fusion (much harder because higher temperature and pressures are required to get good fusion output, which increases plasma instability drastically) because 80% of the fusion products are charged particles that can be redirected and used as thrust by magnetic nozzles, and the rest are fast neutrons that can be easily shielded by about 2m of radiation shielding (which on crewed ships would probably just be the water storage). We already have working D-T mirror cell fusion systems, and 3He-D fusion has been done with other systems, so making a rocket engine is much more of an engineering challenge than a physics one, which is why I think we'd make progress pretty quick with enough resources.
I think this way we could get a super efficient Earth-Luna crew transport system going, (I think directed energy systems and mass drivers are better for non-delicate equipment) with launch vehicles lifting people into orbit, then several big tugs using these engines to spiral out to Luna using low thrust trajectories to get them to orbital infrastructure in Lunar orbit. These tugs could easily be used for interplanetary transport as well. 300km/s exhaust velocity is getting to the regime where torch transfers start to become possible, if with long cruising periods.
Also, we should do a study on the effects of the impactor on Lunar infrastructure.
For more assured survival in space, I think we should also look into molecular manufacturing technology. (Nanofactory Collaboration). Even if we don't get into the exponential manufacturing stages (ie turning raw material into macroscopic, atomically precise end products) for a long while, the ability to programmatically manufacture atomically precise small scale structures could be a huge deal for future research, and will probably lead to a lot of medical uses starting to become possible for space survival.
