neutronium95
Mad Rocketeer
- Location
- The launch pad
Give me FOOF or give me death!!!
Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)
- Thread starter Shadows
- Start date
- Original
Didn't the Germans muck around with ClF3 as a flamethrower fuel?
Edit: they did. I'm now regretting we didn't go with Imperial victory just for the hilarity of a rocket program run by people who can't decide if they want to leave because of the government repression, or because of the spooky oxidizers.
Edit: they did. I'm now regretting we didn't go with Imperial victory just for the hilarity of a rocket program run by people who can't decide if they want to leave because of the government repression, or because of the spooky oxidizers.
Last edited:
Why is it even called an oxidizer if it fluorinates instead?
neutronium95
Mad Rocketeer
- Location
- The launch pad
Disclaimer: I haven't studied chemistry in years, this is all half remembered stuff.
An oxidation reaction is one where one atom steals an electron from another to bind them together. Oxygen is known for being very good at this, but Fluorine is the one atom that grabs onto electrons even harder, so you can technically oxidize Oxygen with Fluorine.
Wikipedia article
As a more general answer, because oxygen is super reactive and relatively abundant so a lot of chemistry - especially early chemistry - revolved around reacting things with oxygen (or, for the less technically inclined, "lighting things on fire"). The name then stuck.
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September 31st, 1952//Q3 1952 Results
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You sighed, sat back and rubbed your sore, tired eyes and temples the moment you finished the last bit of paperwork you needed to deal with before you could go on vacation. This past quarter had been quite the rollercoaster ride of emotions - some good, some shockingly bad. The business with the engine workshop had had you up with nightmares more than once over the last couple of months. The news coming out of North America wasn't helping - particularly because most of the people you'd ever known were still there, dealing with violent reactionaries.
But, you acknowledged there wasn't anything you could do about that particular situation, and you still looked forward to letting Sergei take the lead for a little while, while you found yourself somewhere with an actual temperature variance.
Say, Iceland.
Resources:
130 (+160R/turn)
40 Political Support
Council Liaison Reports:
Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (7500/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
State of the World
Fighting has cooled in Europe and in South America, though it has only escalated in North America. Rebuilding efforts continue at a nominal pace, on track to be complete at some time in the next few decades. The Council is rumbling about diverting more funds to industrialization schemes; defending the IEC's current allotment may be more difficult at the next Council budget meeting.
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 3 (+)
Industry: 2 (+)
Infrastructure: 2
Security: 2 (+)
Partisan Activity: 4
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 4
Electrification: 3 (+)
Industry: 3 (+)
Infrastructure: 3 (+)
Security: 4 (+)
Partisan Activity: 9 (-)
Eastern Asia
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 5
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 10 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 11 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 4
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 6
Europe
Education: 8
Electrification: 10
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6 (+)
Partisan Activity: 7 (--)
North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (-)
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 11 (+++)
Partisan Activity: 17 (++)
South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 3
Infrastructure: 3
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Pacific Islands
Education: 3 (+)
Electrification: 2
Industry: 2
Infrastructure: 3 (+)
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 4
Facilities:
1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations die)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
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)
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 fields)
Scientific Advances (name TBD)
Improved Instrumentation (Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.)
Regenerative Cooling (Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines)
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Sounding Rockets
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +6
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +10
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +8
PHYS - +3
PROP - +7
Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]
Sergei Korolev - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.]
Promises Made (Expires Q1 1953):
Complete Weather Studies (Phase 3) (+5 PS)
Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS)
Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3)
Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice
Do not pursue Spaceplane research
-[X] Construct a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket - (15R per dice, 13/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] Launch one 2-Stage Sounding Rocket (49>40)
Naturally, as soon as your rocket teams started to pick up steam, there was something there to put the brakes right back on. One afternoon, while tooling the nozzle for the next Sounding Rocket, the spinning drill bit spontaneously disintegrated. The operator escaped with only minor cuts thanks to a layer of plexiglas shielding on the side that faced him, but a technician working on the rocket's body proper some thirty feet away nearly bled out after a piece of flying metal sliced his femoral artery open. He was barely saved by the quick actions of one of the engineers on the floor, who had been a nurse during the 3rd Great War. She was able to stabilize him enough to get him to the infirmary, and from there to the hospital.
All of this necessitated a safety stand-down to review the incident and come up with checks and precautions that could hopefully avert further injury in the future. The plexiglas shield had saved the operator; perhaps it would be best to locate the engine shop in its own enclosure. These and other problems and solutions were bandied about as the build team rallied around their wounded friend.
"We should give her a medal," you mused to Korolev. "I don't exactly know how to reward someone for that kind of heroics in the way she deserves. In another time I would have given her a promotion or a raise or a bonus, but that's not really how it works any more."
The Ukrainian shrugged. "I think medal will do. She saved the life of a someone she works with, and that is very brave and heroic, but I do not think anything further is needed."
"Hmm." You hummed noncommittally. You'd have to think about it.
Meanwhile, the operations team fared considerably better, sending off the rocket the IEC had placed in storage at the end of the last quarter. The rocket shot off into the night sky, carrying a payload for a university affiliated with the IEC. A tiny, electrically-powered saw was to cut through an equally small piece of structural steel at the top of the rocket's arc, when the effective gravity it felt was the lowest. When the capsule was recovered, they found that the tool worked the same way in low gravity as it did in full gravity, though the shavings were everywhere…
-[X] (2 Dice) Construct a Computational Research Facility (20R per die, 300/180, +3 to all projects) (High Priority)
The CRF stood finished now, as the hottest months of the year arrived. Inside, you found it blessedly cool, as massive air conditioning units ran, refrigerating vast amounts of air and piping it in. It wasn't there for you, of course; it was there to cool the enormous mainframe computer. When Dr. Turing lead you into the control room proper, you could still feel the heat the enormous machine put out.
"This is the most advanced piece of computing technology in the entire world, Director." Turing told you, looking both relaxed and excited - he had been given essentially free rein to pursue his life's work, free of wartime secrecy needs and not shackled by a government that hated him for his sexual orientation. "We are going to do wonderful things here."
"I certainly hope so!" you replied chipperly. "We've got a lot of work that can definitely use a robust computing assistance. Sergei's rocket design teams will most definitely be able to make use of any help your machines can give them."
"And we shall!"
(+3 to all fields)
-[X] (2 Dice) Conduct Design Studies (Early Orbital Rocket) (Phase I) [AERO, PHYS] - (15R per dice, 233/300)
After the excitement of the last quarter's development of the orbital rocket, the relatively quiet and routine nature of this quarter's efforts were a welcome respite. Several more engine units were tested to destruction in a controlled fashion, the designs were largely finalized, and the first tooling for the tankage needed to fuel it was being manufactured. Soon, the IEC would be able to move onto the next step - constructing test tanks and pressurizing them with liquid nitrogen, to test their ability to hold pressure. All that was left, really, was finalizing the rocket's actual size…
[ ] [ORBIT] 1.8m Diameter - Provides 1 Payload per rocket, Costs 25R
[ ] [ORBIT] 2.4m Diameter - Provides 2 Payload per rocket, Costs 35R
[ ] [ORBIT] 3.05m Diameter - Provides 4 Payload per rocket, Costs 50R
NOTE: 1 Payload = 1 Sputnik or 100kg, whichever is more relevant.
Bigger sized rockets have more room for improvement with later revisions but smaller ones are cheaper and faster to build.
-[X] Mobile Launch Operations (20R, 90/50, gain Launch Trucks for Sounding Rockets. Unlocks a Name vote for the system, as well as the sounding rockets.)
Some unholy union of the IEC's 'rocket nerds' and 'car nerds' had occurred, you just knew it. Jack Parsons was, after all, involved.
The truck had a long bed, to which was attached a hydraulically operated launch tower that jutted out over the cab despite the aforementioned length. Two large drums sat behind the cab, one connected to a cooling unit, intended to carry the alcohol and liquid oxygen, respectively. The rocket itself - and the truck was stout enough to bear even the 15 tonne weight of the concepted Heavy Sounding Rocket - could either ride the launch rail, appropriately tied down, or be carried on a transporter, which was very simply the launch truck with no fuel tanks or launch rail.
A few representatives from the United Workers' Front happened to chance by the garage in which the truck and transporter were being built. They seemed very intrigued…
(+1 Operations dice)
(+1 To-Be-Named truck/transporter combo)
(???)
Name the Truck!
-[] [TRUCK] Write-in
Name the Sounding Rocket!
-[] [SR] Write-in
Name the Two-Stage Sounding Rocket!
-[] [2SSR] Write-in
-[X] Tracking Station Surveys (5R per dice, 66/150, unlocks Tracking Station Construction project for Facilities)
The work on negotiating with the communities and localities the initial surveys had pinpointed as being ideal for building tracking stations at began slowly. There were a variety of concerns to be addressed - power usage, land usage, occasional historical or religious importance - that took up the majority of the time and resources allocated to the project this quarter. The rest of the allocated funding was directed to procuring the equipment needed to actually operate the stations - RADAR sets and computers, and skilled operators besides.
In addition, there was the business of locating a suitable ship (or, rather, ships) for the IEC's waterborne tracking operations. There were plenty of ships available - you just had to choose which ones the IEC would pursue…
[ ] [SHIP] Converted freighters. The world was awash in surplus Liberty ships and others of their like, as well as more-sedately-built-but-better-quality-controlled craft churned out by the hundreds and thousands. Getting ahold of one would be cheap, but the modifications to make it accept a top-heavy load would be time consuming. (+10R to Tracking Stations build project cost per die, +4 quarters to rollout)
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. Though many warships had been sent to the breakers by the demil commissions, there were still quite a few in existence, and many of the newest ones had already been built with radar in mind. Getting ahold of them would be expensive, but would require less modification to make work. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost per die, +2 quarters to rollout)
-[X] (2 Dice)Conduct Materials Research (Phase 1) (15R per die, 74/150, provides access to aluminum structures)
"Weight is the enemy of rocketry. The more of it you have, the more fuel you need to push it - and the more fuel you have to push, the more it weighs - you can see where this is going." you said, and the kids - well, students - from the new university in Mogadishu nodded along. "So our first priority is to take away as much weight as we can from the structure of the rocket so that we can use that weight for more payload - the cargo or instruments the rocket carries - or using less fuel…"
And weight, being the enemy of rocketry, was the enemy of your materials scientists. They were very busily cracking away at finding an aluminum alloy that would serve the IEC's rockets by being stronger than steel and lighter than it too, so that it could be used for the rockets' tanks and bodies. Work progressed smoothly, with numerous tests done using hydraulic presses, super-cold chambers and ovens alike, cataloging the properties of dozens of formulations of aluminum sheeting. You weren't quite sure when they would find the answer they were looking for, but you were entirely convinced they would, in fact, do so.
-[X] (3 Dice) Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (5R per die, 75/350. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)
The Rocket Box initiative hit a major snag this quarter, as the IEC attempted to roll out the boxes across the Pacific. Namely, the Mogadishu workshops just could not keep up with the sheer volume of demand across three continents and numerous smaller islands, in terms of motor production. What had been intended as a method of providing good, skilled industry to the area which the IEC called home, was now becoming something of a problem to actually fulfilling the promise made to the World Council. There were, at least, a few options that could be taken for a path forward…
Pick two:
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Australia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from the SDL, +1 Industry in Australia, +25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in North America (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(D), +1 Industry in North America,+25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
But, you acknowledged there wasn't anything you could do about that particular situation, and you still looked forward to letting Sergei take the lead for a little while, while you found yourself somewhere with an actual temperature variance.
Say, Iceland.
Resources:
130 (+160R/turn)
40 Political Support
Council Liaison Reports:
Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (7500/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
State of the World
Fighting has cooled in Europe and in South America, though it has only escalated in North America. Rebuilding efforts continue at a nominal pace, on track to be complete at some time in the next few decades. The Council is rumbling about diverting more funds to industrialization schemes; defending the IEC's current allotment may be more difficult at the next Council budget meeting.
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 3 (+)
Industry: 2 (+)
Infrastructure: 2
Security: 2 (+)
Partisan Activity: 4
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 4
Electrification: 3 (+)
Industry: 3 (+)
Infrastructure: 3 (+)
Security: 4 (+)
Partisan Activity: 9 (-)
Eastern Asia
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 5
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 10 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 11 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 4
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 6
Europe
Education: 8
Electrification: 10
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6 (+)
Partisan Activity: 7 (--)
North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (-)
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 11 (+++)
Partisan Activity: 17 (++)
South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 3
Infrastructure: 3
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
Pacific Islands
Education: 3 (+)
Electrification: 2
Industry: 2
Infrastructure: 3 (+)
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 4
Facilities:
1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations die)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
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)
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 fields)
Scientific Advances (name TBD)
Improved Instrumentation (Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.)
Regenerative Cooling (Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines)
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Sounding Rockets
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +6
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +10
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +8
PHYS - +3
PROP - +7
Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]
Sergei Korolev - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build an Orbital Rocket within 5 years; build a Scientific Complex in former Ukraine within 10 years.]
Promises Made (Expires Q1 1953):
Build Computational Research Facility (+5 PS)
Complete Rocket Boxes (Phase 3)
Do not expand to more than 2 Facilities Dice
Do not pursue Spaceplane research
-[X] Construct a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket - (15R per dice, 13/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
--[X] Launch one 2-Stage Sounding Rocket (49>40)
Naturally, as soon as your rocket teams started to pick up steam, there was something there to put the brakes right back on. One afternoon, while tooling the nozzle for the next Sounding Rocket, the spinning drill bit spontaneously disintegrated. The operator escaped with only minor cuts thanks to a layer of plexiglas shielding on the side that faced him, but a technician working on the rocket's body proper some thirty feet away nearly bled out after a piece of flying metal sliced his femoral artery open. He was barely saved by the quick actions of one of the engineers on the floor, who had been a nurse during the 3rd Great War. She was able to stabilize him enough to get him to the infirmary, and from there to the hospital.
All of this necessitated a safety stand-down to review the incident and come up with checks and precautions that could hopefully avert further injury in the future. The plexiglas shield had saved the operator; perhaps it would be best to locate the engine shop in its own enclosure. These and other problems and solutions were bandied about as the build team rallied around their wounded friend.
"We should give her a medal," you mused to Korolev. "I don't exactly know how to reward someone for that kind of heroics in the way she deserves. In another time I would have given her a promotion or a raise or a bonus, but that's not really how it works any more."
The Ukrainian shrugged. "I think medal will do. She saved the life of a someone she works with, and that is very brave and heroic, but I do not think anything further is needed."
"Hmm." You hummed noncommittally. You'd have to think about it.
Meanwhile, the operations team fared considerably better, sending off the rocket the IEC had placed in storage at the end of the last quarter. The rocket shot off into the night sky, carrying a payload for a university affiliated with the IEC. A tiny, electrically-powered saw was to cut through an equally small piece of structural steel at the top of the rocket's arc, when the effective gravity it felt was the lowest. When the capsule was recovered, they found that the tool worked the same way in low gravity as it did in full gravity, though the shavings were everywhere…
-[X] (2 Dice) Construct a Computational Research Facility (20R per die, 300/180, +3 to all projects) (High Priority)
The CRF stood finished now, as the hottest months of the year arrived. Inside, you found it blessedly cool, as massive air conditioning units ran, refrigerating vast amounts of air and piping it in. It wasn't there for you, of course; it was there to cool the enormous mainframe computer. When Dr. Turing lead you into the control room proper, you could still feel the heat the enormous machine put out.
"This is the most advanced piece of computing technology in the entire world, Director." Turing told you, looking both relaxed and excited - he had been given essentially free rein to pursue his life's work, free of wartime secrecy needs and not shackled by a government that hated him for his sexual orientation. "We are going to do wonderful things here."
"I certainly hope so!" you replied chipperly. "We've got a lot of work that can definitely use a robust computing assistance. Sergei's rocket design teams will most definitely be able to make use of any help your machines can give them."
"And we shall!"
(+3 to all fields)
-[X] (2 Dice) Conduct Design Studies (Early Orbital Rocket) (Phase I) [AERO, PHYS] - (15R per dice, 233/300)
After the excitement of the last quarter's development of the orbital rocket, the relatively quiet and routine nature of this quarter's efforts were a welcome respite. Several more engine units were tested to destruction in a controlled fashion, the designs were largely finalized, and the first tooling for the tankage needed to fuel it was being manufactured. Soon, the IEC would be able to move onto the next step - constructing test tanks and pressurizing them with liquid nitrogen, to test their ability to hold pressure. All that was left, really, was finalizing the rocket's actual size…
[ ] [ORBIT] 1.8m Diameter - Provides 1 Payload per rocket, Costs 25R
[ ] [ORBIT] 2.4m Diameter - Provides 2 Payload per rocket, Costs 35R
[ ] [ORBIT] 3.05m Diameter - Provides 4 Payload per rocket, Costs 50R
NOTE: 1 Payload = 1 Sputnik or 100kg, whichever is more relevant.
Bigger sized rockets have more room for improvement with later revisions but smaller ones are cheaper and faster to build.
-[X] Mobile Launch Operations (20R, 90/50, gain Launch Trucks for Sounding Rockets. Unlocks a Name vote for the system, as well as the sounding rockets.)
Some unholy union of the IEC's 'rocket nerds' and 'car nerds' had occurred, you just knew it. Jack Parsons was, after all, involved.
The truck had a long bed, to which was attached a hydraulically operated launch tower that jutted out over the cab despite the aforementioned length. Two large drums sat behind the cab, one connected to a cooling unit, intended to carry the alcohol and liquid oxygen, respectively. The rocket itself - and the truck was stout enough to bear even the 15 tonne weight of the concepted Heavy Sounding Rocket - could either ride the launch rail, appropriately tied down, or be carried on a transporter, which was very simply the launch truck with no fuel tanks or launch rail.
A few representatives from the United Workers' Front happened to chance by the garage in which the truck and transporter were being built. They seemed very intrigued…
(+1 Operations dice)
(+1 To-Be-Named truck/transporter combo)
(???)
Name the Truck!
-[] [TRUCK] Write-in
Name the Sounding Rocket!
-[] [SR] Write-in
Name the Two-Stage Sounding Rocket!
-[] [2SSR] Write-in
-[X] Tracking Station Surveys (5R per dice, 66/150, unlocks Tracking Station Construction project for Facilities)
The work on negotiating with the communities and localities the initial surveys had pinpointed as being ideal for building tracking stations at began slowly. There were a variety of concerns to be addressed - power usage, land usage, occasional historical or religious importance - that took up the majority of the time and resources allocated to the project this quarter. The rest of the allocated funding was directed to procuring the equipment needed to actually operate the stations - RADAR sets and computers, and skilled operators besides.
In addition, there was the business of locating a suitable ship (or, rather, ships) for the IEC's waterborne tracking operations. There were plenty of ships available - you just had to choose which ones the IEC would pursue…
[ ] [SHIP] Converted freighters. The world was awash in surplus Liberty ships and others of their like, as well as more-sedately-built-but-better-quality-controlled craft churned out by the hundreds and thousands. Getting ahold of one would be cheap, but the modifications to make it accept a top-heavy load would be time consuming. (+10R to Tracking Stations build project cost per die, +4 quarters to rollout)
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. Though many warships had been sent to the breakers by the demil commissions, there were still quite a few in existence, and many of the newest ones had already been built with radar in mind. Getting ahold of them would be expensive, but would require less modification to make work. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost per die, +2 quarters to rollout)
-[X] (2 Dice)Conduct Materials Research (Phase 1) (15R per die, 74/150, provides access to aluminum structures)
"Weight is the enemy of rocketry. The more of it you have, the more fuel you need to push it - and the more fuel you have to push, the more it weighs - you can see where this is going." you said, and the kids - well, students - from the new university in Mogadishu nodded along. "So our first priority is to take away as much weight as we can from the structure of the rocket so that we can use that weight for more payload - the cargo or instruments the rocket carries - or using less fuel…"
And weight, being the enemy of rocketry, was the enemy of your materials scientists. They were very busily cracking away at finding an aluminum alloy that would serve the IEC's rockets by being stronger than steel and lighter than it too, so that it could be used for the rockets' tanks and bodies. Work progressed smoothly, with numerous tests done using hydraulic presses, super-cold chambers and ovens alike, cataloging the properties of dozens of formulations of aluminum sheeting. You weren't quite sure when they would find the answer they were looking for, but you were entirely convinced they would, in fact, do so.
-[X] (3 Dice) Rocket Boxes (Phase 3) (5R per die, 75/350. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)
The Rocket Box initiative hit a major snag this quarter, as the IEC attempted to roll out the boxes across the Pacific. Namely, the Mogadishu workshops just could not keep up with the sheer volume of demand across three continents and numerous smaller islands, in terms of motor production. What had been intended as a method of providing good, skilled industry to the area which the IEC called home, was now becoming something of a problem to actually fulfilling the promise made to the World Council. There were, at least, a few options that could be taken for a path forward…
Pick two:
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Australia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from the SDL, +1 Industry in Australia, +25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in North America (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(D), +1 Industry in North America,+25 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
Last edited:
can we do all of them?
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I assume not, since it says "Pick one:" right above.
- Location
- The great frozen north
-[] [TRUCK] Mobile Launch Rocket System
I like the idea of taking acronyms used OTL for weapons of war and applying them to more scientific ventures. What fun!
I like the idea of taking acronyms used OTL for weapons of war and applying them to more scientific ventures. What fun!
oops missed that though if it said pick one it now says pick 2
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You can pick two. Changed my mind a bit on basis of your resource situation.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
[_] [ORBIT] 2.4m Diameter - Provides 2 Payload per rocket, Costs 35R
[_] [SHIP] Converted warships. Though many warships had been sent to the breakers by the demil commissions, there were still quite a few in existence, and many of the newest ones had already been built with radar in mind. Getting ahold of them would be expensive, but would require less modification to make work. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
[_] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Australia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from the SDL, +1 Industry in Australia, +25 progress)
[_] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
I'll leave the truck votes to others, except for noting that it seems like we're going to (re?)introduce the concept of the Katyusha to this world. As for these votes...
2 Payload rocket is so it's not quite 'break the bank' yet it does have room for improvement and allows us to launch something a bit more complex than Sputnik into orbit. Warships is because I feel like the +10R cost increase is worth reducing roll-out by half. I also like the narrative we develop where we take the weapons created for war and find non-combat uses for them.
As for building the motor workshops in Australia? I like the idea of putting them in Saharan Africa/the Mediterranean but not the cost. Especially as it's not giving +50 Progress as if we'd picked the other two options. There's also the fact that of the three cheaper options, Australia has the lowest Industry score and Partisan Activity score. So by building them in Australia, we give the greatest comparative Industry boost whilst also having the least risk of it being crippled by Partisan Activity.
Edit: Okay, so our Resources are better than I had thought and Shadows has changed it to 'Pick 2'. So I'm adding Mediterranean/Saharan Africa on as a Workshop option because it gives the best improvement to Industry and also Infrastructure whilst having a very low Partisan Activity Score. We also have the stored Resources to eat it this turn.
[_] [SHIP] Converted warships. Though many warships had been sent to the breakers by the demil commissions, there were still quite a few in existence, and many of the newest ones had already been built with radar in mind. Getting ahold of them would be expensive, but would require less modification to make work. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
[_] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Australia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from the SDL, +1 Industry in Australia, +25 progress)
[_] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
I'll leave the truck votes to others, except for noting that it seems like we're going to (re?)introduce the concept of the Katyusha to this world. As for these votes...
2 Payload rocket is so it's not quite 'break the bank' yet it does have room for improvement and allows us to launch something a bit more complex than Sputnik into orbit. Warships is because I feel like the +10R cost increase is worth reducing roll-out by half. I also like the narrative we develop where we take the weapons created for war and find non-combat uses for them.
As for building the motor workshops in Australia? I like the idea of putting them in Saharan Africa/the Mediterranean but not the cost. Especially as it's not giving +50 Progress as if we'd picked the other two options. There's also the fact that of the three cheaper options, Australia has the lowest Industry score and Partisan Activity score. So by building them in Australia, we give the greatest comparative Industry boost whilst also having the least risk of it being crippled by Partisan Activity.
Edit: Okay, so our Resources are better than I had thought and Shadows has changed it to 'Pick 2'. So I'm adding Mediterranean/Saharan Africa on as a Workshop option because it gives the best improvement to Industry and also Infrastructure whilst having a very low Partisan Activity Score. We also have the stored Resources to eat it this turn.
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
[ ] [ORBIT] 3.05m Diameter - Provides 4 Payload per rocket, Costs 50R
Sputnik is 83 kg, a CORONA satellite is 780 kg. We need to start building bigger and bigger rockets if the Council wants those weather satellites. Rockets have an ideal fineness ratio of about 7-8, and I want to get into SM-65 Atlas territory.
-[] [TRUCK] Mobile Launch Rocket System (MLRS)
-[] [SR] Sekhmet Alpha
-[] [2SSR] Sekhmet Beta
Went with Alpha and Beta because my understanding is that the two stage is basically just two single stages stacked on top of each other.
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
We're not very pressed for time, but I just really love the idea of turning swords into plowshares this way.
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
I'm leaning towards this. The political favour isn't really necessary since the CPAL already loves us, but this option offers us the biggest boost.
Asia on the other hand is an area we don't have much support in, so shoring that up before the council session is a good idea. Plus the M-Ls only like us a bit, so this will help.
Sputnik is 83 kg, a CORONA satellite is 780 kg. We need to start building bigger and bigger rockets if the Council wants those weather satellites. Rockets have an ideal fineness ratio of about 7-8, and I want to get into SM-65 Atlas territory.
-[] [TRUCK] Mobile Launch Rocket System (MLRS)
-[] [SR] Sekhmet Alpha
-[] [2SSR] Sekhmet Beta
Went with Alpha and Beta because my understanding is that the two stage is basically just two single stages stacked on top of each other.
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
We're not very pressed for time, but I just really love the idea of turning swords into plowshares this way.
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
I'm leaning towards this. The political favour isn't really necessary since the CPAL already loves us, but this option offers us the biggest boost.
Asia on the other hand is an area we don't have much support in, so shoring that up before the council session is a good idea. Plus the M-Ls only like us a bit, so this will help.
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- Pronouns
- He/She/They
[ ] [ORBIT] 3.05m Diameter - Provides 4 Payload per rocket, Costs 50R
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
Agreed on Asia over Australia or America as we need Favor from the Int(ML) more than we do from the SDL or Int(D) according to the results of the last World Council session.
[ ] [SHIP] Converted warships. (+20R to Tracking Stations build project cost, +2 quarters to rollout)
[ ] [WORK] Establish more motor workshops in Africa (-50R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from CPAL, +1 Industry + Infrastructure in Mediterranean/Saharan Africa,+40 progress)
[ ] [WORK] Establish motor workshops in Asia (-25R, +1d20 steps toward Favor from Int(ML), +1 Industry in East Asia,+25 progress)
Agreed on Asia over Australia or America as we need Favor from the Int(ML) more than we do from the SDL or Int(D) according to the results of the last World Council session.
Voting's not open yet.
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- Location
- Somewhere in the area
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
I definitely support building the motor workshops in Africa and Australia, as the other two options already have 9 industry in their regions.
grimely
Twink Death Sufferer
Yeah, I very much agree with this logic for the motor workshops. I feel like we should make decisions like this based off of how much it helps the global community as a whole, and they're absolutely the ones who need the most investment.
- Location
- the Republic
- Pronouns
- He/They
I agree that Australia would be a better second site for the motor factories, but otherwise I think CyberEnby's plan is ideal.
- Location
- an unseen void
- Pronouns
- Any
Agree on the appeal of using warships as a swords to ploughshares thing and targeting the workshops for local industrial benefit in Africa/Australia. I don't think I have a strong opinion on payload size yet.
Some name ideas.
-[] [TRUCK] Stormchaser
Directly drawing from their origin story.
-[] [SR] Beden
The Beden is a kind of boat with a long history in our headquarters region and also a small vessel of exploration. I was looking for ways to honor Mogadishu in our picks and I like this one.
Some name ideas.
-[] [TRUCK] Stormchaser
Directly drawing from their origin story.
-[] [SR] Beden
The Beden is a kind of boat with a long history in our headquarters region and also a small vessel of exploration. I was looking for ways to honor Mogadishu in our picks and I like this one.
Oh boy, lots of votes and lots of points to give my opinion on.
First of all, the diameter. I'm going to disagree with @CyberEnby on this because I want a rocket that can fit on our current 30 ton pad (if we don't need to build a new pad, we can use those facilities dice and resources for other things and get launching sooner!), and I think that scaling up to that wide is going to result in a very stubby rocket if we try and keep the weight down elsewhere. Also, the target shouldn't be a KH-1 (that can be left to our second orbital rocket, especially given how close the mass is to a Mercury capsule), but instead the most promising early deliverables - ~150 kg weather, navigation, and communications satellites. 2 payload is sufficient for that.
For the truck, I'm in favour of some hilariously long technobabble for the offical name (probably with "Mobile Launch Rocket System" in there somewhere - and I thought I was being subtle enough by swapping the letters around
), but everyone calls it "rocket truck" to steal Dessard's idea.
Now, as for the rocket names, I'm going to propose what's a very boring suggestion on the surface:
We call our rockets R-1 and R-2, with successive designs being R-n.
This is unoriginal as crap, but that's by design. We're not the American or Soviet space program, we're the global space program, and the name should reflect that. In the majority of languages I checked on google translate, the word for rocket starts with an R, and as far as I know rhotic consonants are widespread enough that everyone will be able to say it. Every culture barring some very remote tribes has a counting system. Sure, it's a bland designation, but it's something that everyone on the planet can recognize when they read it in the newspaper or hear about it on the radio, and I think having a name that can be talked about by every child on the planet without having to deal with pronunciation issues is very valuable. Using R-n also frees us from having representation for only one culture since we're not picking something from a specifc mythology or region's history.
If not that, then I think we should try for a name that is as simple as possible. We want something that someone who speaks English, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Swahili, whatever can learn to pronounce and write very easily.
As an aside, @ shadows, can we work on developing a solid first stage for the sounding rockets to make them a bit easier to handle?
I like the warship idea. Swords into ploughshares, as already mentioned.
As for the factories, I think Asia and Africa? Africa's the most important since it gives us the most progress. Second choices are largely governed by how we feel about the relevant regions and political blocs, and the SDL is a bunch of dicks...
Edit: our launch truck probably looks something like this, then:
First of all, the diameter. I'm going to disagree with @CyberEnby on this because I want a rocket that can fit on our current 30 ton pad (if we don't need to build a new pad, we can use those facilities dice and resources for other things and get launching sooner!), and I think that scaling up to that wide is going to result in a very stubby rocket if we try and keep the weight down elsewhere. Also, the target shouldn't be a KH-1 (that can be left to our second orbital rocket, especially given how close the mass is to a Mercury capsule), but instead the most promising early deliverables - ~150 kg weather, navigation, and communications satellites. 2 payload is sufficient for that.
For the truck, I'm in favour of some hilariously long technobabble for the offical name (probably with "Mobile Launch Rocket System" in there somewhere - and I thought I was being subtle enough by swapping the letters around
), but everyone calls it "rocket truck" to steal Dessard's idea.Now, as for the rocket names, I'm going to propose what's a very boring suggestion on the surface:
We call our rockets R-1 and R-2, with successive designs being R-n.
This is unoriginal as crap, but that's by design. We're not the American or Soviet space program, we're the global space program, and the name should reflect that. In the majority of languages I checked on google translate, the word for rocket starts with an R, and as far as I know rhotic consonants are widespread enough that everyone will be able to say it. Every culture barring some very remote tribes has a counting system. Sure, it's a bland designation, but it's something that everyone on the planet can recognize when they read it in the newspaper or hear about it on the radio, and I think having a name that can be talked about by every child on the planet without having to deal with pronunciation issues is very valuable. Using R-n also frees us from having representation for only one culture since we're not picking something from a specifc mythology or region's history.
If not that, then I think we should try for a name that is as simple as possible. We want something that someone who speaks English, Mandarin, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Swahili, whatever can learn to pronounce and write very easily.
As an aside, @ shadows, can we work on developing a solid first stage for the sounding rockets to make them a bit easier to handle?
I like the warship idea. Swords into ploughshares, as already mentioned.
As for the factories, I think Asia and Africa? Africa's the most important since it gives us the most progress. Second choices are largely governed by how we feel about the relevant regions and political blocs, and the SDL is a bunch of dicks...
Edit: our launch truck probably looks something like this, then:
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Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Edit: our launch truck probably looks something like this, then:
Basically exactly what I had in mind.
It is also fast, for absolutely zero good reason, because Jack Parsons was involved.
You can develop solid motors, yes.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Fun fact, by picking these two, we estabilish that more than a quarter of the world's industrial reconstruction of the past year is based around the construction of toy rockets.
Heck, I think on the next funding council we might be able to argue that we are an effective reconstruction agency, though making that arguments risks distracting us from space exploration.
- Pronouns
- He/They
[] [ORBIT] 2.4m Diameter - Provides 2 Payload per rocket, Costs 35R
On the rocket size issue, I think we should consider this rocket as basically an engineering model. It's the early 1950s and our first orbital rocket so I suspect its future capacity will be limited anyway - and if it is viable to keep upgrading for a long time, we do need a small rocket for smaller payloads. So a smaller option seems best.
2.4 meters is probably the way to go - with good upper stages and more experience a rocket that size could definitely lift a ton or two, plenty for sophisticated low orbit satellites, and if we want to cluster it or add solid boosters we could get even more. My concern is that by being larger and too heavy for our current launch infrastructure, it could be an unhappy medium which is neither very useful or very cheap, but we do need to show off concrete results in the short term (not just scientific/engineering progress which 1.8m would be adequate for) so going smaller might get in the way.
For example - these specific names sound maybe a little militaristic but they get the point across - we could call the 1- and 2-stage sounding rockets the R-1 'Lightning' and R-2 'Thunder' (due to their being closely related and used for weather science) and start a convention of translating the nickname into whatever language it's being discussed in.
On the rocket size issue, I think we should consider this rocket as basically an engineering model. It's the early 1950s and our first orbital rocket so I suspect its future capacity will be limited anyway - and if it is viable to keep upgrading for a long time, we do need a small rocket for smaller payloads. So a smaller option seems best.
2.4 meters is probably the way to go - with good upper stages and more experience a rocket that size could definitely lift a ton or two, plenty for sophisticated low orbit satellites, and if we want to cluster it or add solid boosters we could get even more. My concern is that by being larger and too heavy for our current launch infrastructure, it could be an unhappy medium which is neither very useful or very cheap, but we do need to show off concrete results in the short term (not just scientific/engineering progress which 1.8m would be adequate for) so going smaller might get in the way.
That's a good point. One alternative might be to give the rockets a definitive number plus a generic/natural name which everybody has a word for, and could be translated freely without breaking the numbering scheme.
For example - these specific names sound maybe a little militaristic but they get the point across - we could call the 1- and 2-stage sounding rockets the R-1 'Lightning' and R-2 'Thunder' (due to their being closely related and used for weather science) and start a convention of translating the nickname into whatever language it's being discussed in.
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- Pronouns
- She/Her
Right, there is no way that we can launch an orbital rocket off our 30 tonne pad. The R-7 used to launch Sputnik was 267 tonnes, and the pad construction itself has to be different because the thrust of an orbital rocket will be great enough to crater our existing pad. We're not getting around building a new pad for this.
Now, we actually want a stubby rocket. Unlike missiles, rockets spend very little of their time in the atmosphere, so their optimal fineness ratio is around 7-8. This gives enough aerodynamics to minimize drag losses while maximizing the volume/surface area of the tanks, which in turns lets us build proportionally lighter tanks. Building a wider rocket is also good for balloon tanks because it means the tank can be a little thicker relatively to a long skinny rocket, which makes QC a lot easier.
All of these points are perfectly demonstrated by the Atlas rocket, which to this day I think either holds the record for best mass fraction or is among the top three or five - partly because of its balloon tanks, partially because of it's optimal L/D ratio.
The Atlas has been continuously improved and stretched over time and continues to fly to this day in it's Atlas V form which can put 4.7-8.9 tonnes into orbit. So this is a rocket size that can easily serve us all the way through manned flights.
Going with a 3 meter rocket off the bat also means that all our infrastructure will already be set up for building and handling this size of rocket, which saves us resources and time later. It also makes handling it a lot easier than a tall and skinny one.
Furthermore, unlike OTL we're going to beeline re-use as fast as possible, which means SMART style engine pod recovery. If we consult the modern Atlas V's cost breakdown we see that engines and avionics are by far the largest cost drivers of the first stage:
So I expect that 50 R cost per launch to drop back to something like 25 R or lower once we implement SMART.
We also need to consider the trade-off between making a big rocket and making a small satellite.
At this point in the timeline, our computers and miniaturization are shit. A small rocket offloads the complexity to the payload team, who has to struggle to shave as much mass as possible, and with science payloads that translates to a lot of work because every payload is custom. Whereas the rocket can be mass produced once built. So by going with a bigger rocket, we can loft more complex experiments faster and cheaper, and demonstrate our usefulness earlier. We spend more resources on the rocket, but we recoup it by having to spend less on designing the payloads.
Even from a pure game mechanics standpoint, the largest rocket gives us the cheapest R/payload cost: the 1.8m rocket is 25R/payload, the 2.4m is 17.5 R/payload, and the 3.05m is 12.5 R/payload.
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