Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)
- Thread starter Shadows
- Start date
- Original
We will build RORSAT and peek in everyone's backyard.
Half-joking aside, there's two reasons I personally keep putting it in:
- It costs PS, not resources, and that means I don't have to add it to the total resource cost when making the plan, trivially reducing the amount of effort.
- Nuclear power is really, really energy-dense. Idk if this quest will ever get to the point where we're building significant habitation in orbit or on other bodies, but a reactor is relatively unique in how it easily gives you more power without interruption than you know what to do with. In a hoped-for future where we're doing things like establishing a permanent presence on the moon or mega-ISS, a nuclear reactor makes things so much easier. Same goes, for a lesser extent, with radioisotope thermoelectric generators, which require breeder reactors. I don't want people freaking out when they hear "IEC launches rocket carrying plutonium, the same stuff inside nuclear bombs!!!"
I understand that, but I really think we should alternate our propaganda instead of having a hard-on for something we may not need for a few years, so we have support to *build* a mega-ISS or moon-base.
That's going to cost real money and we don't have a good reason to at the moment.
Gonna guess the engineers working on this got distracted.
Well, you see the problem with nuclear power is that all the nuclear power users in the world used the wrong design, and if they had only used molten-salt core reactors and standardized all reactors globally onto one standard, then we could turn off all the coal plants and instantly solve global warming, as well as de-carboninzing steel and cement production using the superior heat of molten cores to replace all industrial processes that use coke or gas.
As for next turn, we had some bad rolls but 3 dice still have a 63% chance of finishing singapore, and if we flip the numbers on Sydney and tracking stations, we might just squeak all three over the line.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Well, you see the problem with nuclear power is that all the nuclear power users in the world used the wrong design, and if they had only used molten-salt core reactors and standardized all reactors globally onto one standard, then we could turn off all the coal plants and instantly solve global warming, as well as de-carboninzing steel and cement production using the superior heat of molten cores to replace all industrial processes that use coke or gas.
This I exactly and objectively correct and I will 🗞️ you for that emoji.
ftfy. (fuck, beaten by Cyber, who is objectively wrong)
Yeah, sure, you're probably right, but see bullet point #1. I am a huge fan of practically pointless laziness.
Edit: tbh at this point I'd want to continue a mix of nuclear and space propaganda until we hit 1000, because that's a nice, round number, and then probably leave it there.
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Well, you see the problem with nuclear power is that all the nuclear power users in the world used the wrong design, and if they had only used molten-salt core reactors and standardized all reactors globally onto one standard, then we could turn off all the coal plants and instantly solve global warming, as well as de-carboninzing steel and cement production using the superior heat of molten cores to replace all industrial processes that use coke or gas.
As for next turn, we had some bad rolls but 3 dice still have a 63% chance of finishing singapore, and if we flip the numbers on Sydney and tracking stations, we might just squeak all three over the line.
This I exactly and objectively correct and I will 🗞️ you for that emoji.
Awesome. This sounds great. Except.. we're about launching stuff into space, not solving all of the world's problems. And, again, it's a distraction from other work we could be doing in direct line of stuff we need, such as propagandizing for more support for our primary mission instead of *burning some* for something we'll need, sure, but is less important than primary mission.
.. I don't see how it's THAT much more work to remember to alternate to something useful.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Mostly because nobody else was gonna step up to rehabilitate nuclear, and myself and enough of the thread agreed that it was worth doing even tho it was outside our primary remit, because it has the potential to massively improve quality of life across the world.
We'll probably spin it off once we hit a mature design and enough acceptance.
- Location
- Outside the Box
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Spaceship Earth needs energy generators that don't clog up the life support systems, and nuclear reactors are a good option.
My few cents, for what they're worth:
1) Nuclear needs serious effort to rehabilitate, given TTL's world revolution was kicked off by a war that ended in a limited nuclear exchange - which means the earlier we start, the better.
2) Nuclear thermal rockets and space-based nuclear power generation are incredibly useful for lowering the cost of long-distance missions beyond LEO, or long-duration Earth orbit and beyond missions.
3) Even without nuclear reactors in orbit, reactors on Earth can produce stuff like Plutonium, useful for RTGs for long-duration missions to the Moon, or to Mars and beyond.
4) Nuclear power becoming practical reduces the overall cost of electrical power generation, facilitating greater development and industrialization of all regions thus equipped, which in turn means that our chunk of the global budget gets bigger because the global budget as a whole can expand as more resources become available.
- Location
- Middle Europe
Imo, the nuclear power makes way too much sense for space exploration to ever not use it. So the nuclear barrier had to be crossed regardless.
And if we manage to present revolutionary technology which potentially solves all energy issues + is ideological win for the new global regime, the agency will gain massive justification for its existence.
Our whole take was that by studying the cosmos, we will improve lives of people on earth. Agency giving the humanity that gift would be seen as first big contribution. We already provided with meteorological satelites, but nuclear is much bigger.
So even if we don't get all the PS back when it hits the market so to speak, it will be much harder for politicians to lower our budget when we delivered thing that fuels x millions of homes with electricity. Much less shut us down.
And possible massive buildup of nuclear plants, related industries and nuclear pchysics departmens on universities, will provide the Agency with more reach globally.
Plus, making the Agency and its First Director being forever listed as creators and proponents of nuclear tech on Wikipedia equivalent in this timeline sounds good to me.
And if we manage to present revolutionary technology which potentially solves all energy issues + is ideological win for the new global regime, the agency will gain massive justification for its existence.
Our whole take was that by studying the cosmos, we will improve lives of people on earth. Agency giving the humanity that gift would be seen as first big contribution. We already provided with meteorological satelites, but nuclear is much bigger.
So even if we don't get all the PS back when it hits the market so to speak, it will be much harder for politicians to lower our budget when we delivered thing that fuels x millions of homes with electricity. Much less shut us down.
And possible massive buildup of nuclear plants, related industries and nuclear pchysics departmens on universities, will provide the Agency with more reach globally.
Plus, making the Agency and its First Director being forever listed as creators and proponents of nuclear tech on Wikipedia equivalent in this timeline sounds good to me.
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We're running low on things to promise, though, so it might be wise to keep it at 8 and spend money on other things?
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
as much as i am a fan of a hopefully well run world wide nuke power program. we are a space program lets promote that over anything else?
still we are doing really nice science things is some fields way before OTL so thats nice.
still we are doing really nice science things is some fields way before OTL so thats nice.
September 30th, 1956//Q3 1956 Results
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan: Looking to the Future
-[X] [1 die] Construct an R-1 Beden (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] And give it to the visitor's centre
-[X] [5 dice] Construct an R-4a Dawn (30R per dice, 0/100, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] And place it in stockpile
-[X] Construct a Payload
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (20R)
---[X] And give it to the visior's centre
--[X] Curiosity-B-class Satellite (25R)
-[X] [3 dice] Build a new Space Center (Singapore) (Phase 2) (35R per dice, 302/600)
-[X] [2 dice] Build a Scientific Complex (25R per dice)
--[X] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (235/450)
-[X] [3 dice] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) (30R per dice, 288/550) (3 dice, -90R)
-[X] [1 die] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket (15R, 2 turns, 1 die locked)
--[X] Redesign (R-3)
-[X] [1 die] Lander Design Studies (15R, 4 turns, 1 die locked)
-[X] [1 die] Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] (15R per dice, 0/450)
-[X] [2 dice] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) [CHEM] (15R per dice, 167/250)
-[X] [1 die] Synthetic Aperture Radar (20R, 0/4 turns, 1 locked)
-[X] [4 dice] Propagandize for Nuclear Power (-2PS per die) (485/???)
-[X] [1 die] Visitor Complex (10R per dice, 257/300)
-[X] [1 die] Construct an R-1 Beden (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] And give it to the visitor's centre
-[X] [5 dice] Construct an R-4a Dawn (30R per dice, 0/100, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] And place it in stockpile
-[X] Construct a Payload
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (20R)
---[X] And give it to the visior's centre
--[X] Curiosity-B-class Satellite (25R)
-[X] [3 dice] Build a new Space Center (Singapore) (Phase 2) (35R per dice, 302/600)
-[X] [2 dice] Build a Scientific Complex (25R per dice)
--[X] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (235/450)
-[X] [3 dice] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) (30R per dice, 288/550) (3 dice, -90R)
-[X] [1 die] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket (15R, 2 turns, 1 die locked)
--[X] Redesign (R-3)
-[X] [1 die] Lander Design Studies (15R, 4 turns, 1 die locked)
-[X] [1 die] Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] (15R per dice, 0/450)
-[X] [2 dice] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) [CHEM] (15R per dice, 167/250)
-[X] [1 die] Synthetic Aperture Radar (20R, 0/4 turns, 1 locked)
-[X] [4 dice] Propagandize for Nuclear Power (-2PS per die) (485/???)
-[X] [1 die] Visitor Complex (10R per dice, 257/300)
You could feel excitement in the air again as the Visitor Complex opened and the first R-4as rolled out of the Assembly Complex and into the storage hangar. That was what you liked most about your job - the way everyone at the IEC would get a childlike sort of excitement when big things were afoot, and the atmosphere it created was infectious. Granted, at this time there weren't solid plans for things like, well, putting a person into space, but it was one of those 'generally understood to be imminent' type of things that could maintain a constant background hum of anticipation for a while.
That and, well, the Q4 vacation season was approaching with a quickness. That probably also had something to do with it. You were certainly excited for your first anniversary, and there was a cabin in Vermont with your name on it, after all.
On one afternoon near the end of the quarter, you returned to find a letter on your desk from the head of the AEC, inquiring about potential collaborations…
HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
SYDNEY - An abnormally powerful typhoon caused the sinking of several cargo ships in the Indian ocean, with only one crew being recovered by search and rescue organizations as of this writing. Thanks to forewarning provided by IEC satellites, communities in the path of the typhoon were able to largely avoid casualties…
NEW ORLEANS - Hurricane Flossy left behind a track of heavy rain and wreckage along its path from the Yucatan up to the North American Gulf Coast, but remarkably few deaths have been attributed to the storm. The IEC's weather satellite constellation provided…
MOGADISHU - The IEC has opened a Visitor Complex at its Mogadishu launch site, detailing the history of rocketry so far, the current inventory of the IEC, and some speculative exhibits showing off what the future might look like…
HONOLULU - The World Council has passed a resolution condemning the continued discrimination against the Roma and has drafted and passed a series of broad anti-discrimination laws that have been sent to councils around the world for ratification.
Resources:
850R (+730R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 50R/turn from payroll/dice purchases - 40 from active Programs = +645/turn net)
88 Political Support
2 R-4a
1 Curiosity-B
Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (57000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
State of the World
(Updated at the end of every Quarter)
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 2 (-)
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8 (+)
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 1 (--)
Europe
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3
North America
Education: 10
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 10 (+2 in Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3
South America
Education: 9
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (+)
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 1 (-)
Pacific Islands
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+)
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
InInfrastructure: 8 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (57000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9.2%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (26.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (25.5%)
Department of Education (18.2%)
Discretionary Funding (2.4%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)
Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9.2%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (26.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (25.5%)
Department of Education (18.2%)
Discretionary Funding (2.4%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)
Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)
State of the World
(Updated at the end of every Quarter)
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 2 (-)
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8 (+)
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 1 (--)
Europe
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3
North America
Education: 10
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 10 (+2 in Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3
South America
Education: 9
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (+)
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 1 (-)
Pacific Islands
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+)
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
InInfrastructure: 8 (LIMIT REACHED)
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1
1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Expanded Assembly Complex (+2 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1; currently +5)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Expanded Assembly Complex (+2 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1; currently +5)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)
Space Centers
Mogadishu (1 2-ton pad, 1 30-ton pad)
Singapore (4 500t pads (planned))
Active Space Assets
3 Curiosity-C Weather Satellites
Scientific Advances
Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage 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.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.
Vacuum Nozzles - Enables the use of vacuum-optimized engines.
Primitive Photovoltaics - Basic, expensive and inefficient solar cells enable you to greatly extend the on-orbit lifetime of your satellites and probes.
Lifting Body - A method by which the body of a spacecraft could be used to generate lift and thus alter its trajectory in atmosphere, potentially reducing the amount of heat shielding required for it to safely return.
Multi-Stage Designs - Enables large rockets to be made with three or more stages.
Closed-Input Life Support Systems - Enables basic non-regenerative life support for early space vehicles.
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage 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.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.
Vacuum Nozzles - Enables the use of vacuum-optimized engines.
Primitive Photovoltaics - Basic, expensive and inefficient solar cells enable you to greatly extend the on-orbit lifetime of your satellites and probes.
Lifting Body - A method by which the body of a spacecraft could be used to generate lift and thus alter its trajectory in atmosphere, potentially reducing the amount of heat shielding required for it to safely return.
Multi-Stage Designs - Enables large rockets to be made with three or more stages.
Closed-Input Life Support Systems - Enables basic non-regenerative life support for early space vehicles.
Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +23
AVIONICS - +14
CHEM - +22
CREW - +7
COMP - +17
MATSCI - +21
PHYS - +22
PROP - +18
IEC Leadership:
Director of the IEC:
Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]
Assistant Director of the IEC:
Sergei Korolev [The Engineer] - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build and launch a 2nd Generation Orbital Rocket within 5 years. Demonstrate crewed orbital spaceflight within 5 years.]
Chief Scientist of the IEC:
Assistant Director of the Cosmonaut Assembly:
Cosmonauts: 7
Passive Effects
Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 2 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful orbital rocket launch. [UPGRADED]
Nuclear Power Authorization - The World Council has been successfully convinced to support the IEC conducting peaceful, power-generating nuclear experiments. (Current WC approval status: Given, Apprehensive; Current public approval status: Apprehensive)
Demil Locker Access - Access granted to the world's stockpiles of military equipment in the process of being decommed. (Lower progress requirements for spaceplanes, space-gun experiments, etc.)
Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (+3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1957Q1)
Promises Made (Expires Q1 1957 unless otherwise stated):
Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus on completion) (Int(M-L)
Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1 (+2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus on completion) (Int(D)))
Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (FWW) (Does not expire as long as the dice is locked)
Asia (Int(M-L),Int(C))Europe. (Int(M-L)North America (Int(D))South America (Int(C))
Build a Launch Facility in Eastern Asia before 1957Q1 (Int(M-L))
Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (CPAL)
Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1957Q1. (SDL)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (Int(M-L), Int(D))
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (SDL)
Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1957Q3. (+2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)
Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1958Q1. (CPAL)
Rocket & Payload Construction
1 R-1 - To Visitor Complex
2 R-4a - To stockpile
1 Curiosity - To Visitor Complex
1 Curiosity-B - To stockpile
2 R-4 - Programs
2 Curiosity-C - Programs
There weren't any major hiccups in the Assembly complex this quarter, with steady and efficient progress made on all fronts.
Rocket Launches and Programs
There were no non-program launches this quarter.
There were, however, 2 launches dedicated to the Weather Satellite program, bringing your total number of active, on-orbit satellites to 3. These two satellites' orbits were phased in such a way as to cut the latency on satellite passes down to a third of what it was with the single satellite, bringing the daily overflights of any given spot to roughly three times per day.
Build a new Space Center (Singapore) (Phase 2) (436/600)
The arrival of monsoon season in Singapore did much to slow down the pace of construction of the launch complex there, requiring the covering of several worksites to prevent the curing concrete from being ruined by the excess water. The first pad itself, having been started earlier in the year, had no need for covering, but the newly-erected launch umbilical tower had plastic tarping hastily draped over it to protect the bare metal until things were dry enough to apply the corrosion-resistant paint to the beams. The other three pads' sites simply dealt with it; there was no reason to attempt to cover the mounds of bare earth that were being used to compact the layers below them into something firm enough to begin building on.
The complex's launch bunker did, thankfully, get finished and began to get furnished with the various bits of equipment needed to monitor and launch a rocket, and there were grumblings about beginning to work on a local assembly hall, though these were not acted on as yet.
Build a Scientific Complex
- Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (290/450)
The microelectronics centre construction slowed to a crawl this quarter as a particularly violent typhoon managed to overturn and sink one of the ships carrying vital manufacturing equipment to Australia. Thus, your people there were largely stuck twiddling their thumbs while waiting for replacements to be sourced and sent, only beginning to resume work near the end of the quarter. This chain of events put your ability to meet your promise to the SDL in jeopardy, but there wasn't much to be done about it.
Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) (30R per dice, 474/550)
The final touches began to be put on the tracking stations encircling the Earth, along with their landline connections back to Mogadishu. This was, you were told, the boring part - all the structures built and mostly staffed, simply waiting on the final communications linkages that would let them talk to the Space Center. It would be fascinating if, one day soon, the communication could be handled by satellites in orbit, stripping out this entire need for landlines. If nothing else, it might be faster…
Human-rated Rocketry (8/8 turns, complete)
After two long years of design and prototyping work, both the first R-4as and the first Mark 1 capsule were complete. The capsule was a bit cramped for your personal taste, but you wouldn't be flying one approximately ever. It was refurbishable, technically, although the first several would likely be single use; you didn't see much point to reusing the tiny vehicle, but you supposed your engineers and scientists might. There were murmurs of doing more animal testing with the first capsule or two before sending up a human in one, but it looked distinctly like there would be a person in space before the end of the next year.
(+1 Mark 1 single-crew capsule)
Option Preview:
[ ] Mark 1 Single Crew Capsule (45R, 1 turn)
Crew: 1
Maximum altitude: Low Earth Orbit
Maximum mission duration: 24-48 hours
Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket (15R, 2 turns, 1 die locked)
- Redesign (R-3)
The Rocketry Committee (as you'd taken to thinking of them as) decided they wanted to redesign the R-3 this quarter. Their goal, you were given to understand, was to study recovering and reusing large rockets with it. This was something that had been thought of with the R-1 and the R-2; their simple pressure fed engines made that a relatively simple proposition. But the complex, turbopump-driven engine that the heavy sounding rocket was built with was an entirely different beast, and recovery and reuse of the rocket would require some additional study of both its capability to be recovered and structural reinforcements that would make it possible to do so several times for investigation of the stresses imparted on the airframe.
Impactor Designs (3/3 turns, complete)
The basic impactor design was finalized as the Lodestone-class probe, a standard chassis capable of holding a small number of different instruments depending on the mission it would be sent on, theoretically making it useful for Mars and Venus impactors as well. It was relatively lightweight, and optionally equipped with either batteries or solar panels depending on the intended length of its voyage. On descent, it would fire its payload section forward with a small solid rocket motor, while the communications bus hung back a few kilometers, connected by a spool of wire, giving it time to get all the information sent up the wire sent off to Earth before it, too, impacted mere seconds after the instrument section.
(+1 Lodestone-class impactor)
[ ] Lodestone-class impactor (40R, 1 turn)
Mass: 2-4 depending on configuration
Maximum antenna transmit/receive distance: Lunar
Lander Design Studies (15R, 1/4 turns, 1 die locked)
The lander design authorization was greeted with considerable excitement and much enthusiastic, somewhat frantic proposing of ideas for how to get the job done. The first stemmed directly from the impactor design team: simply build an impactor so sturdy that it could slam into the Moon from transfer velocity and survive. It was pointed out, rather swiftly, that that methodology, even if it worked, would not be safe for potential crew uses, nor for any delicate scientific equipment. There was some utility for dumb, sturdy payloads, perhaps, but even then it would be better to work towards something a bit… gentler.
So, naturally, the second thing was powered descent. While places like Venus and Mars were known to have atmospheres and thus you could potentially utilize wings and/or parachutes to slow down from transfer velocity, the Moon, along with Mercury and the gas giants' plethora of moons, did not, with a single notable exception. A reduced size version of the standard orbital engine, optimized for vacuum already, could work, though long loiter periods seemed to necessitate the use of nastier storable propellants such as hydrazine. While the propulsion system was being debated, there was also the question of guidance.
Nobody quite knew what the Moon or any other body looked like up close, and it was unlikely that the IEC would be close enough to hand to manually guide a lander down initially. So, in order to guide the lander down safely, the teams turned to radar to detect obstacles and give the range to the surface to the flight computer, hopefully enabling soft, precise landings.
Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (7/8 turns)
The finalization of the 'production' Universal Standard Fission Plant-200 design proceeded apace, detailing in minute detail how to construct a refined and uprated version of the research reactor in New Delhi. The USFP-200 was, as the name somewhat alluded to, a 200 megawatt light water reactor with considerations made for clustering with other reactors in a plant configuration, with calculations, designs and notes made for expanding a facility up to 2 gigawatts in total output, which were provided in the appendices of the construction documents. Work on the molten-salt reactor prototype continued, of course, though there were issues with corrosion that needed to be addressed before the Standard Molten Fission Plant design could go through the same finalization process as the solid had.
As a corollary, it would be necessary for the World Council to locate and provision a waste handling site until such a time as it was no longer radioactive, or a method of using it for useful ends could be found. But that wasn't something the IEC had to deal with, and you were perfectly content with that.
Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] (15R per dice, 100/450)
Solar Thermal engine research started with math. A lot of math. Calculating the power delivered by sunlight at the Earth's distance from the sun, followed by calculating the surface area of mirror needed to reflect enough of that power into a single, relatively small point to provide useful levels of heat for propulsion. Thankfully, the math wasn't hard, just time consuming, and there was work from the late 1800s to build on for beginning to construct a prototype - as solar thermal steam engines had been considered in those days for providing power to cities and industry. Most of the trick here, it would seem, would be making thin enough, light enough mirror material to allow for it to be sent into space, while still being strong enough to not tear or crack or break on deployment.
Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) [CHEM] (15R per dice, 381/250)
The investigation into improved electrolysis techniques began producing some promising results, but nothing looked close enough to hand to give an immediate benefit to the IEC, though the results were of course released, and someone else might have other uses for the data. The results were, in the end, quite boring.
A side-effect of having bored people of like temperament to Jack Parsons about, is that when they are bored, they experiment. Sometimes those experiments are highly dangerous, ill-advised, and generally insane.
Such as the one that ended with a paper called 'Uses of Pentaborane as Rocket Fuel' landing on your desk. You were, at this point, just scientifically literate enough with regards to chemistry that within ten minutes of reading the paper you were just about ready to tear Parsons' head off for investigating the incredibly toxic fuel, and only upon reaching the end where the team involved gave an energetic recommendation that further investigation not be pursued after a near-miss with explosive residue left behind after a test firing nearly killing Parsons did you relent and approve the recommendation.
That man has nearly zero consideration for his own safety.
Very Long Range Communications (2/3 turns)
Work continued on the very long range communications project, emphasizing the maximization of efficiency in the transmitter systems destined for use on spacecraft. For the foreseeable future, they would have a very limited power budget, and even in a time in which they were far less restricted, it would be beneficial to know what the lowest-power option that would work to the required level of performance would be, as that would free up that larger power budget to handle things like scientific equipment or other high-energy systems, like life support.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (20R, 1/4 turns, 1 locked)
Synthetic Aperture Radar was as much a discrete piece of technology as a technique. As such, it was possible to begin testing the basic premise behind it virtually immediately, using a radar mounted to the underside of one of the IEC's jets. Over the course of several weeks, the team refined the 'how' of the technique, as the 'why' was demonstrated by the theory side of things before the project ever started. Concurrently, a team of engineers used the data the scientists generated to inform the design of a purpose-built radar system to make use of it. It was, as with anything involving radar, largely about timing.
Transistor Computing Investigations (3/6 turns)
Materials testing continued, as you suspected it would for the remainder of this particular program and well beyond. The interesting side of the goings-on in Mombasa was the side-by-side comparison testing they were doing of various hand-assembled computers using transistor components, testing what they called 'architectures'. Once again, nothing particularly made much sense to you, but 'faster' and 'more energy efficient' were things you could understand, and you trusted that Turing and his people would deliver something that was both of those things, as well as, preferably, 'inexpensive to produce en masse'.
Propagandize for Nuclear Power (-2PS per die) (788/1000)
The Outreach department had, it seemed, done wonders in getting the word about the usefulness and relative safety of nuclear power out to the world. One of their strongest arguments was the lack of pollution; the only thing a nuclear plant emitted into the atmosphere was steam. For those living in the smog-choked streets of cities powered by coal and oil, the idea of having cleaner air was an intoxicating one. There were concerns about waste, and about the potential for someone to sneak more nuclear weapons into existence somehow using the facilities needed for processing the plants' fuel, and those were well founded; the Outreach department countered them with pointing out the fact that those facilities would be heavily monitored and protected, and efforts would be made by the Energy department to find permanent disposal methods for the waste. (This led to one suggestion of loading up a rocket with waste and firing it into the Sun, which had some merit, but had to be shot down over concerns of launch failures spreading radioactive material over wide swathes of the Earth.)
Visitor Complex (10R per dice, 340/300)
The Visitor Complex opened with a small amount of fanfare near the end of the quarter, now nearly fully stocked with the IEC's rockets and reproduction versions of rockets that had come before (to exclude the weapons of the Third Great War, as it was considered potentially upsetting to visitors to see the rockets which had killed many thousands of people across the world; there was space for them on the grounds, but it seemed prudent to wait for more time to pass). On opening day, you helped give a tour to a group of schoolkids from Cairo, mostly there to chaperone; they knew some English, but you knew no Arabic, and your words had to be filtered through an interpreter every time you wanted to say something; it was easier to just let the scientist who had volunteered to be a tour guide, who did speak the language, take the lead.
The whole affair did give you an excellent excuse to show your daughters around the visitor complex, though; their delight in wandering about the place and learning new things about the work done here was a joy to see, and at this point you were accustomed enough to the heat that you considered it relatively pleasant, walking hand in hand with Ruby whenever you weren't explaining something to your kids or to the rest. I do wish I had a camera with me, this would be wonderful for pictures…
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chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
we should look into the recycling of nuclear waste, it is possible to do IRL but was mostly forgotten about.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Just build fast breeder reactors, smh.
Seems our work is cut out for us - satellite-based LORAN and emergency satellite phones can help rescuers coordinate more rapid responses to remote emergencies. The AEC'll probably appreciate it too. Probably a good thing to put in the next long-term plan after we finish those interplanetary probes and the crewed spaceflight (damn Korolev for the crewed distraction
)AIRBAGS! AIRBAGS! AIRBAGS!
Reject precision guidance, embrace a radio altimeter, a solid retrorocket, and then some nice poofy airbags.
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
uhm.. need more scientist i say. i think we got plenty of ppl too build things i think we need too expand out r&d.
having said that not sure where our priority should be there.
wonder what that request in from the ppl on the south pole. i am very interested.
having said that not sure where our priority should be there.
wonder what that request in from the ppl on the south pole. i am very interested.