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Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

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HBInquirer said:
"Impact dice is a location" followed by two different dice sounds to me like they are Lunar coordinates, so maybe we hit either near dead center or close to one of the borders of the near face, depending on how the scale works
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I've got a table of locations and outcomes. If they were coordinates it would be 2d180.
 
trooperist said:
R-4a Dawn 52+11+6 = 69/100
Singapore -543+82+97+20 = 600/600 142/600
Launch Complex 76+10 = 86/350
Mission Control Center 133+98+94+20 = 345/250
Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Upgrade 1/2 turns
Arcjet Wind Tunnel 1/2 turns
Lander Design Studies 3/4 turns
Solar Thermal Rocketry 300+40+42+70+27+66 = 545/450
Staged Combustion Engines 1/4 turns
Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators 1/2 turns
Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) 147+98+34+99+18+69 = 465/640
All-Sky Survey (Phase 2) 53+79+6+22 = 160/600
Synthetic Aperture Radar 3/4 turns
Transistor Computing Investigations 5/6 turns
Propagandize for Nuclear Power 895+25+11 = 931
Propagandize for Space 138+30+11 = 179
Engineering Job Fair 33+86+51+22 = 192/150) (2 dice, 10R)

+Impactor Launched
+Animals in space
+1 Impactor
+1 Crew Capsule
+1 500T Launch Pad
+3 to Operations
+1 Program Slot
+Chief Scientist
+1 Engineering Dice

Looks like I was worried about Singapore for nothing.
Also the bonus for politics should be +11.
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Well, looks like next turn we will literally see a rush of actions being completed, like damm basically all our tech will be completed and if we get luck the Supersonic Jet get to phase 3 in the next turn too.
 
Gotta say, that Animal cosmonaut roll makes me nervous. I recall it being a "success followed by an optics" set of rolls.

73 followed by a 16. Yay
 
pbluekan said:
Gotta say, that Animal cosmonaut roll makes me nervous. I recall it being a "success followed by an optics" set of rolls.

73 followed by a 16. Yay
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Already clarified in the rollpost - internet hiccup in which I thought I hadn't hit the button and ended up hitting it twice.
 
blankmask said:
We hit the moon. We got data on things like gravity, density, atmosphere and composition. These are all invaluable.

Hitting someplace interesting can come later. Right now it's enough to just hit it.
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True and we proved that we can hit the broad side of the moon, it would have just been embarrassing if we missed.
 
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Now that we actually have a big enough launch pad, should we start work on designing the R5 rocket?

Also I really think we should finally start spaceplane construction after we finish with our supersonic jet research next turn.
 
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March 31st, 1957//Q1 1957 Results
  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Plan: Research Sabbatical
    -[X] Operations (5/6, 145R)
    --[X] Construct an R-4a Dawn - (0/100) (2 dice, 60R)
    ---[X] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
    ----[X] Lodestone-class impactor
    --[X] Construct a Payload
    ---[X] Mark 1 Single Crew Capsule (45R, 1 turn)
    ---[X] Lodestone-class impactor (40R, 1 turn)
    -[X] Facilities (8/8 dice, 195R)
    --[X] Build a new Space Center (Singapore) - (543/600) (2 dice, 70R)
    --[X] Expand the Launch Complex - (0/350) (1 die, 30R)
    --[X] Build a Mission Control Center - (133/250) (2 dice, 50R)
    --[X] Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Upgrade - (0/2 turns) (1 die, 20R)
    --[X] Arcjet Wind Tunnel - (0/2 turns) (1 die, 25R)
    -[X] Engineering (6/6, 105R)
    --[X] Lander Design Studies - (2/4 turns) (1 die, 15R)
    --[X] Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] - (300/450) (3 dice, 45R)
    --[X] Staged Combustion Engines (PROP) (Fuel/Oxidizer Rich) - (0/4 turns) (1 die, 20R)
    --[X] Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators - (0/2 turns) (1 die, 25R)
    -[X] Science (7/7 dice, 170R)
    --[X] Animal Cosmonauts - (1 die, 75R)
    --[X] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) [AERO] - (147/640) (3 dice, 45R)
    --[X] All-Sky Survey (Phase 2) [PHYS] - (53/600) (1 die, 10R)
    --[X] Synthetic Aperture Radar - (2/4 turns) (1 die, 20R)
    --[X] Transistor Computing Investigations - (4/6 turns) (1 die, 20R)
    -[X] Politics & Bureaucracy (5/5, 15R)
    --[X] Propagandize for Nuclear Power - (895/???) (1 die, -1PS)
    --[X] Propagandize for Space - (138/???) (1 die, 5R)
    --[X] Select a Chief Scientist of the IEC - (1 die, 0R)
    --[X] Engineering Job Fair - (33/150) (2 dice, 10R)

    The first quarter of 1957 was certainly eventful; the capsule launch went off without a hitch, and the Lodestone impactor was equally successful. You were starting to get somewhat suspicious about the string of successes - particularly given the prevalence of failures earlier in the IEC's history - but you weren't exactly about to complain. Aloud. Where someone - or Someone - might hear you. It was somewhat bittersweet, on a personal level, as your girls would be going to school starting in the fall; it would be much harder to share the exciting parts of your job with them going forward. But you still had another five or so months before that happened, so there was no point in kicking up a fuss just yet.

    Your new Chief Scientist was settling in across the hall from you and Korolev; he had been chosen by the scientific community in the IEC by vote, and, whatever you may personally have thought of him, you had been the one to put all of them forward as the running candidates; you just wish you'd had more options to give everyone…

    Resources:
    650R (+644R/turn + 6R/turn from Connections - 50R/turn from payroll/dice purchases - 40 from active Programs - 5 from AEC Coordination = +555/turn net)
    92 Political Support
    2 R-4a
    1 Curiosity-B

    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)

    State of the World
    (Updated at the end of every Quarter)

    Nuclear Energy: Active, Buildout phase
    Tech Level: Standardized boiling water reactor

    Renewable Energy: Semi-active, nascent
    Tech Level: Primitive photovoltaics, primitive wind turbines

    Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
    Education: 9
    Electrification: 8
    Industry: 8 (+)
    Infrastructure: 10
    Security: 2
    Partisan Activity: 2

    Sub-Saharan Africa
    Education: 8
    Electrification: 9 (+)
    Industry: 8
    Infrastructure: 10
    Security: 4
    Partisan Activity: 3

    Eastern Asia
    Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Electrification: 10
    Industry: 11 (+)
    Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Security: 5
    Partisan Activity: 4

    Western Asia
    Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Electrification: 11
    Industry: 12 (+) (LIMIT REACHED)
    Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Security: 5
    Partisan Activity: 3

    Australia and New Zealand
    Education: 9
    Electrification: 9
    Industry: 8
    Infrastructure: 10 (+) (LIMIT REACHED)
    Security: 4
    Social Unrest: 3

    Europe
    Education: 11
    Electrification: 11
    Industry: 10
    Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Security: 4 (-)
    Partisan Activity: 2 (-)

    North America
    Education: 10
    Electrification: 10 (+)
    Industry: 10 (+)
    Infrastructure: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Security: 5
    Partisan Activity: 3

    South America
    Education: 10 (+)
    Electrification: 10 (+)
    Industry: 9
    Infrastructure: 10
    Security: 4
    Social Unrest: 3

    Pacific Islands
    Education: 7
    Electrification: 8 (+) (LIMIT REACHED)
    Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
    Infrastructure: 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 (+11 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
    Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
    Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (+8 AVIONICS, +1 to Education in Australia and New Zealand)
    Near-Full-Latitude Tracking and Transmission (Provides communications and guidance across the majority of the Earth) (updated)
    Big Ear Radio Telescope (+2 PHYS)
    Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)

    Space Centers
    Mogadishu (1 2-ton pad, 1 30-ton pad, 2 500t pads (under construction))
    Singapore (1 500t pad (active), 3 500t pads (planned/under construction))

    Active Space Assets
    8 Curiosity-C Weather Satellites (EOL: 1 1960Q2, 2 1960Q3, 2 1960Q4, 3 1961Q1)

    Scientific Advances
    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.)

    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.

    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.

    Primitive Photovoltaics - Basic, expensive and inefficient solar cells enable you to greatly extend the on-orbit lifetime of your satellites and probes.
    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.

    Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.

    Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.

    Vacuum Nozzles - Enables the use of vacuum-optimized engines.

    Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
    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.

    Terrestrial Nuclear Power Plants (Early) - Enables early boiling-water nuclear reactors of standardized design.[
    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.

    Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.

    Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.

    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.
    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.) (Made obsolete by activated Satellite Program)

    First Lunar Impactor - With the launch and successful impact of Lodestone I, the IEC has now, for the first time, put a human-made object on the surface of another world. (Q1 1957) (+10PS)

    Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
    AERO - +23
    AVIONICS - +22
    CHEM - +22
    CREW - +7
    COMP - +17
    MATSCI - +21
    PHYS - +24 (+2)
    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, Reassured; Current public approval status: Uncertain)

    Nuclear Propulsion Authorization - The World Council has decided to allow the IEC to experiment with spaceborne nuclear propulsion.

    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)))
    Build a Launch Facility in Asia by 1957Q1. (Int(C))
    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

    Rockets:
    Construct an R-4a Dawn - (98/100) -> (100/100)+(67/100)
    +1 R-4a

    Payloads:
    +1 Mark 1 Single Crew Capsule (45R, 1 turn)
    +1 Lodestone-class impactor

    Rocket Launches

    ---[X] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
    ----[X] Lodestone-class impactor
    (Pass) (16,6 impact roll)

    There was beginning to be something routine about these launches. Sure, there were, perhaps, four to five in any given quarter, but that still meant close to twenty a year, and fairly few of them failed. But, even with that growing sense of… not quite complacence, but familiarity (which you dearly hoped your engineers and launch operators were avoiding) there was something special when the launches were, genuinely, new. The animal test launch of the crewed capsule was one such; this impactor was another. The Lodestone, an octagon of kapton and foamed aluminum of some 200 kilograms in mass, was riding atop the still near-brand-new R-4a, as that mighty machine thundered into the sky, straining the limits of its capabilities without additional liquid boosters added on. It gradually dwindled into a pinpoint at the end of the plume of water vapor it generated, and then disappeared entirely.

    The next day wasn't quite nerve-wracking, but neither was it restful; there wasn't much to see in the mission control center, but you couldn't bring yourself to simply go away and come back when everything was over. So you listened to the murmur of the controllers as they monitored the little robot, the signal it transmitted gradually growing weaker as it sped away. Shortly before it was scheduled to impact, they tried to send it a command to alter its course to land a bit closer to the daytime side, where the telescopes would have the best view. You couldn't quite tell if it made any difference, though. About two hours after that, they got confirmation from one of the telescopes trained on the moon that a plume of debris had been spotted near the limb of the Moon, close to where the sun would stop reaching and the world would be cast in shadow.

    The spectra taken of that plume showed it to be entirely ordinary material - mostly iron, oxygen, aluminum, silica - much like the makeup of Earth's own crust. Which was, in its own way, very interesting to you and your planetary scientists: why was it that the Moon was so, so similar?

    But there was no trace of water or, really, of very many volatiles at all, which confirmed the moon as a barren place, which was in some ways disappointing, and in others expected. All in all, it definitely warranted further investigation - and your scientists sure wanted to take another look.



    Programs:
    Weather Satellite Program (+3 Curiosity-C)

    Build a new Space Center (Singapore) - (600/600) -> Phase 3 (142/600)

    As predicted, the moment the monsoon season let up, the construction of the Singapore launch site progressed at a rapid pace, finishing the umbilical tower on the first 500 tonne pad and undertaking a variety of system tests related to the fueling and water deluge systems while work progressed to the other three planned pads. With the supply chain and workforce now familiarized with the work they had to do to complete the project, the three remaining launch pads were able to be worked simultaneously- thanks to the fact that heavy loads of rock had been compressing the ground on which they would sit, while the first pad was being finalized, thus removing that waiting period. At the current rate, it was expected that the three remaining pads would complete in approximately October, though that was by no means a guarantee.

    Expand the Launch Complex - (86/350)

    With the Singapore space center making rapid progress, you authorized the further build-out of launch pads in the Mogadishu space center. Two new 500-tonne pads were begun, though progress was slower than expected thanks to needing to ship some of the specialists back and forth between the two active sites, separated by thousands of kilometers of ocean as they were. Despite that, however, it was fully expected that the pads in Mogadishu would complete no later than the end of the year, which would enable a somewhat faster flight rate from the site - and, crucially, allow for much larger rockets to be flown, as the bare R-4A weighed in at just shy of the old pad's 30 tonne limit. A fully configured, 6-booster R-4A6 weighed in at nearly 60 tonnes and could put fully double the payload into orbit, which would be handy for extending the R-4A's useful lifetime.

    Build a Mission Control Center - (345/250)

    The new Mission Control Center was completed this quarter, fitting it with a full array of communications and tracking equipment. Indeed, much of the existing tracking gear was moved from their locations nearer the launch pads and moved atop the MCC instead, save for a couple of visual and radar tracking devices intended to ensure a continuous track on the rocket from launch to exiting Mogadishu's line of sight. Four great control rooms were fitted, and several relatively smaller offices were added to allow for long-term missions to be tracked and controlled without taking up the primary control rooms. With the new, state-of-the art equipment provided, the IEC's launch and mission operations took a serious step forward into the future.

    (+3 to Operations, +1 Program slot)

    Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Upgrade - (1/2 turns) (1 die, 20R)
    Arcjet Wind Tunnel - (1/2 turns) (1 die, 25R)

    The Wind Tunnel complex was a hive of activity this quarter, as you greenlit both of the expansion projects requested by the aeronautics staff. The Hypersonic tunnel was largely the same as the current tunnel, simply more powerful; better turbines pulled greater volumes of air much faster, so the blistering force of hypersonic flight might be had on the ground where a great multitude of monitoring equipment could be pointed at the tested object, rather than simply what could be fit inside the tested device on a rocket flight or perhaps in a chase aircraft.

    The arcjet tunnel was actually something of a different beast - ionized air was pulled through what was, in essence, a large copper-coil rocket engine, heated into a plasma, and expelled into a chamber at re-entry velocity. It required special pumps and cooling to operate both the jet itself and evacuate the chamber it was firing into, but the expense would be worth it when the materials science teams could test the heat tolerances of new shielding materials without needing to take up a whole rocket launch to do it.

    Lander Design Studies - (3/4 turns) (1 die, 15R)

    Lander engine design was all the rage this quarter - given the light masses of the proposed Pathfinder lander designs, they didn't need to be all that powerful. What they did need to be, was reliable, able to be lit after weeks or months in transit to another celestial body and activate at the predetermined time. As such, a lot of them were pressure-fed affairs, taking significant design suggestion from the R-1 and R-2, but also from the reaction control thrusters that allowed the IEC's growing fleet of satellites to do stationkeeping on orbit.

    Besides that were the equally lightweight landing legs to be fitted to the designs, as the foamed metal that the IEC had recently released into the world found itself in the position of being useful for forming crush-core type suspension for the legs - if an impact was too great for the legs' structures to handle, the legs would crush back against the foamed metal, crumpling it and absorbing the excess force without impairing the ability of the legs to keep the spacecraft upright.

    There was also, of course, the need for avionics capable of receiving and translating information from a radar altimeter aboard the spacecraft, so that it would be able to fire the aforementioned thrusters at the right time so that, if nothing else, those crush cores would be enough to keep the mission going, rather than turning a Pathfinder into an impromptu Lodestar by accident.

    (Estimated Pathfinder stats: 35R, 4-6 BEO lift capacity required; a bare R-4A lifts 2 to Lunar trajectories)

    Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] - (545/450) (3 dice, 45R)

    The Solar Thermal Rocketry team spent essentially all of the quarter working on a functional prototype, a satellite they called the Solar Moth. It was a standard Curiosity bus, mated to a tank of hydrogen and fitted with two expandable solar reflectors that would swing out on deployable arms and track the sun in order to keep the most power possible pointed at the heating chamber. Thanks to sharing much of its structure with existing hardware, they were able to finish the prototype with time to spare, letting them run plentiful practical testing on the ground and verify the entire system functioned adequately. Their proposed use of the prototype was putting it in orbit on an R-4a launch and testing its ability to ferry a Curiosity to Geostationary orbit.

    (+1 Curiosity-SM spacecraft prototype)

    Staged Combustion Engines (PROP) (Fuel/Oxidizer Rich) - (1/4 turns) (1 die, 20R)

    One of the proposed power cycles that had been rejected earlier in the IEC's engine development had been that of staged combustion, due to complexity and cost concerns. Now that the cooperative was far more mature (and far better funded), you authorized the propulsion teams to investigate the concept further. The largest difference between current engines and the proposed RX-57 engine (named so because it was a Rocket, Experimental, Model 1957) was the addition of the pre-burner through which the fuel would flow prior to being injected into the primary combustion chamber. A small amount of oxygen would be piped off to combust with the propane in the chamber, and the fuel rich exhaust would then be used to power the turbopump assemblage that powered the entire process before being injected into the primary chamber to be combusted more thoroughly and be used to propel ther ocket.

    Just starting one of these engines was a minor engineering miracle, and you had to take it on faith that it was even possible, as it seemed to be a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario to you - to run the turbine you had to get the fuel to the preburner - but to get the fuel to the preburner, you had to get the turbine moving…

    Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators - (1/2 turns) (1 die, 25R)

    The nuclear physics teams had probably thought they were going to be put to the side after the power plant project was over - but several of your spacecraft design team heads had bothered you about the proposed thermoisotope electric generator concept such that you had felt compelled to disabuse the physicists of any such notion.

    On its face, the RTG was a simple machine - a lump of uranium or plutonium (plutonium was preferred due to power density) encased in a thick casing, studded with radiative fins, using a device known as a thermocouple to generate a small amount of electricity from the decay heat of the radioactive material. It wasn't a high power device, by any means - though some of said physicists had ideas that could definitely up the power budget - but it was intended to be very long-lasting, being able to power something at full capacity for a bit over a decade and progressively less over time. And, best of all, it was fairly cheap - it was, after all, a mostly inert, dumb lump of radioactives and metallic shielding with some concessions made for turning the heat into power.

    Animal Cosmonauts - (1 die, 75R)

    The morning of March 2nd was, so far, the most exciting day of the year, in your opinion. It was cool (for Mogadishu), with not a cloud in the sky and just enough of a breeze to keep the air from being still and stale. The R-4a sat a couple of kilometers from you, barely visible at the distance from the new mission control building but there nonetheless, topped by a Mark 1 capsule containing the IEC's first 'dogmonaut', a young and rambunctious corgi by the name of Cookie who had been strapped into the compartment in the best orientation to withstand the g-forces of launch.

    At 9:02am, you saw the brief flash of light from the horizon as the rocket ignited, burning towards the heavens on a smooth pillar of smoke and flame. Cookie had been sedated before the hatch had been closed - not enough to knock her out, but hopefully enough to keep her from being too afraid during the worst of the launch. The capsule was heavy enough to tamp down on the acceleration, such that the rocket would probably never pass 4Gs, but still - that type of acceleration was the province of trained pilots and cosmonauts to endure, and the dog was neither of those. You hoped it went well - both on a personal level and for the sake of your daughters, who were very excited and wanted to adopt the dog after it was all over, which was something you had to think about still - and, by all indications, it was doing just that.

    Several minutes later, the flight director called out a successful orbital insertion, while the capsule communicator relayed the dog's status - still breathing more-or-less normally, elevated heart rate, things of that nature. Things would continue that way for roughly six hours, before a command sent from the ground triggered the thrusters on the pod, causing it to flip pointing retrograde and fire the solid rocket motors that would bring it back down into the atmosphere. Roughly fifteen minutes later, you heard the callout of 'parachute spotted' from the recovery ship floating in the area, and roughly half an hour after that you heard that they had successfully recovered the capsule and opened the hatch to find a healthy - if somewhat frightened - Cookie inside.

    Now I have to see how Ruby feels about dogs…

    Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) [AERO] - (465/640) (3 dice, 45R)

    After many moons of dormancy, a sudden surge of funding was allotted to the supersonic flight teams, enabling them to resume work on high-speed designs and prototyping for some of the most extreme jet engines they had yet developed. With the help of the active section of the wind tunnel conplex, they were able to refine their work significantly beyond what had last been possible, finding better optimized geometric for wings and control surfaces, as well as taking the time to investigate odder configurations, such as the closed 'box-wing' design. In theory, all of this work was useful progress towards such science fiction ideas as the spaceplane - but, primarily, just served to improve the aircraft that were already in use.

    All-Sky Survey (Phase 2) [PHYS] - (160/600) (1 die, 10R)

    The second phase of the all-sky survey trundled forward as the smaller, less ambitious new observatories finished construction and entered the pool of available equipment. Every observatory had phone line connection to every other; when the weather was bad in one place, they could call around and see who could image the observing target that was currently obscured. In this manner, the Astronomy building in Mogadishu started filling up with photographic plates and film, waiting to be processed; from there it was distributed to the universities that had the trained workforce able to sift through and catalog all those billions of stars and other objects. Eventually, the results would be gathered again in Mogadishu, and from there a new map of the whole night sky would be built.

    Synthetic Aperture Radar - (3/4 turns) (1 die, 20R)

    The synthetic aperture radar experiments continued apace, and the first system prototypes were being made for an eventual flight aboard a satellite, though the power and cooling requirements for the system meant it wasn't going to be a Curiosity - they were simply too small. It would take something flying on a highly-uprated R-4a, such as the six solid motor variant, or a future vehicle. That aside, things were hopeful for the project, and the program was on track for finishing the prototype radar by the end of the next quarter and testing it using an IEC plane while waiting for the appropriate satellite bus to become available.

    Transistor Computing Investigations - (5/6 turns) (1 die, 20R)

    The experiments continued, this time focused on trying to make the smallest switches possible. One of the good things about transistors was just how much the operative elements could (theoretically) be scaled down, reducing both power and size requirements. As such, it was high on the list of Turing's investigative priorities, and it directly dovetailed with the manufacturing research, as machines capable of making those extra tiny transistor components simply didn't yet exist. The first generation of transistor chips was still starting to take shape, of course - never let perfect get in the way of good enough, and all - and would likely be available starting in the third quarter, in quantities large enough to expend on IEC projects. After that, it would be up to the public at large to find uses for them, which would determine their total availability going forward.

    Propagandize for Nuclear Power - (995/1000) (1 die, -1PS) - Autocomplete

    Your Outreach department was pleased to report that nuclear power was polling well, thanks to extensive educational campaigns and assistance from the various parties in the Council. You now, personally, felt comfortable handing the program off to the Department of Energy, along with the standardized reactor designs. Nuclear explosives were, of course, heavily negatively viewed, and nuclear propulsion was only just eke-ing its way over the 50% favorable mark. Still, the objective had only been to rehabilitate the first of those, with the second never even considered and the last viewed as a happy bonus. It had taken several years of work, but it was, in fact, done.

    Propagandize for Space - (179/???) (1 die, 5R)

    You had split the Outreach department's focus between nuclear and space, and it didn't seem that the effort was made worse for it. With the addition of new imagery from space, the small informational booklets the department liked to distribute were increasingly popular among the many peoples of the world, in particular the children. Sometimes the science could seem dull to those not working in it, but an image of one's home taken from the heavens was always a crowd-pleaser. In the booklets there were detailed but not technical descriptions of the many wonders of space and the things the IEC's research was already doing to make their lives better.

    Select a Chief Scientist of the IEC - (1 die, 0R)

    You had compiled a list of potential candidates for Chief Scientist over the last year or so, but now it was finally the time to put them to a vote amongst the IEC, now that all of your scientific centers were complete.

    [ ] Valentin Glushko - Something of a direct rival to Korolev, Glushko was your resident expert on all things liquid-fuelled, and would likely be the Chief of choice for the less radically inclined. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to PROP, +10 to [HGOL]-tagged projects and Staged Combustion projects, -5 to [NUC]-tagged projects, will butt heads with Korolev on the subject of hypergolics and hydrogen.)

    [ ] Jack Parsons - The resident madman was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a strong favorite of the more radically inclined engineers and scientists, who was happy to entertain wilder ideas than the more staid Glushko. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to PROP, must take an option that might be considered 'outlandish' at least once per year or he'll quit; when taking those options (i.e., nuclear propulsion, alternative launch systems), he will add a bonus between +5 and +25 to it, decided by dice roll.)

    [ ] Alan Turing - The father of modern computing was also a contender for Chief Scientist, striking a more middle-ground position than Parsons or Glushko. He was somewhat… socially inept, and prone to focusing on his own projects, but when he could be pulled away from them he tended to listen and weigh the pros and cons of any given proposal quite fairly. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to COMP, -5 to CHEM, will roll a dice every turn to see if he focuses in on a single project; if he does, add +20 to that project. This project will always be a computer project if there is one available.)

    Engineering Job Fair - (192/150) (2 dice, 10R)

    Another quarter, another successful job fair. Another class of engineers is successfully onboarded into the IEC, and they will soon be able to make their contributions felt.

    (+1 Engineering dice)

    (VOTING IS OPEN)
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • [X] Alan Turing - The father of modern computing was also a contender for Chief Scientist, striking a more middle-ground position than Parsons or Glushko. He was somewhat… socially inept, and prone to focusing on his own projects, but when he could be pulled away from them he tended to listen and weigh the pros and cons of any given proposal quite fairly. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to COMP, -5 to CHEM, will roll a dice every turn to see if he focuses in on a single project; if he does, add +20 to that project. This project will always be a computer project if there is one available.)
     
    [X] Alan Turing - The father of modern computing was also a contender for Chief Scientist, striking a more middle-ground position than Parsons or Glushko. He was somewhat… socially inept, and prone to focusing on his own projects, but when he could be pulled away from them he tended to listen and weigh the pros and cons of any given proposal quite fairly. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to COMP, -5 to CHEM, will roll a dice every turn to see if he focuses in on a single project; if he does, add +20 to that project. This project will always be a computer project if there is one available.)
     
    [X] Alan Turing - The father of modern computing was also a contender for Chief Scientist, striking a more middle-ground position than Parsons or Glushko. He was somewhat… socially inept, and prone to focusing on his own projects, but when he could be pulled away from them he tended to listen and weigh the pros and cons of any given proposal quite fairly. (+3 to Science rolls, +5 to COMP, -5 to CHEM, will roll a dice every turn to see if he focuses in on a single project; if he does, add +20 to that project. This project will always be a computer project if there is one available.)

    Least interpersonal friction and constraints on our choices.
     
    [X] Alan Turing

    I am tentatively leaning this way because I am a coward.
     
    [X] Valentin Glushko
    1; to be a troll
    2; think of the SCIENCE the 2 could do

    also very cute that space dog will have a home
     
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    Shadows said:
    Solar Thermal Rocketry [PHYS] - (545/450) (3 dice, 45R)

    The Solar Thermal Rocketry team spent essentially all of the quarter working on a functional prototype, a satellite they called the Solar Moth. It was a standard Curiosity bus, mated to a tank of hydrogen and fitted with two expandable solar reflectors that would swing out on deployable arms and track the sun in order to keep the most power possible pointed at the heating chamber. Thanks to sharing much of its structure with existing hardware, they were able to finish the prototype with time to spare, letting them run plentiful practical testing on the ground and verify the entire system functioned adequately. Their proposed use of the prototype was putting it in orbit on an R-4a launch and testing its ability to ferry a Curiosity to Geostationary orbit.

    (+1 Curiosity-SM spacecraft prototype)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    There's a lot of fun stuff this update, but this my favorite. A completely alternate propulsion system that's deceptively simple, yet AFAIK hasn't been tried IRL. I really hope it works well!

    [X] Jack Parsons

    I want space planes! (And other mad science!)
     
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