Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yes.
I liked it as well, and enjoy the fact that you're taking the time to flesh out this universe too.
Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)
- Thread starter Shadows
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
Are there private corporations or have they been converted to cooperatives?
It's a bunch of communists, anarchists, and councilists. They're not going to have corporations.
Well. The SDL might tolerate it but they shot their shot with the attempted revolt.
- Location
- The great frozen north
I am curious what the status of 'minor' countries in the world is, such as the European neutrals or smaller South American nations. OTL they either did not participate, or participated to a limited extent It's hard to see e.g. chile over-stressing itself committing to the Allied cause enough for it to collapse to revolution, and besides that a true "global revolution" that overthrows every single government in the world over half a decade is incredible. Did the new post-revolution regimes just demand they submit to occupation, with them deciding a doomed last stand wasn't worth it?
Probably something like that, and then having general agitators who think that joining the new world government is actually a really good idea.
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
A mix of that-
This
and 'the new World Government is promising substantial aid in building up everyone.'
Aircraft Manufacturers of the Last Great War, Part 3 - Ash19256
A shorter omake than the last one - mostly because this part of the Aircraft Manufacturers of the Last Great War series is focused on the USSR, and they went ham on mass production of established types and had a limited number of design bureaus to begin with. That said, there's still some potential for interest in what's left of their manufacturers/design bureaus.
As with the last one, feedback appreciated.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The USSR was one of the only nations prior to the Revolution to have had a socialist government - regardless of what many think of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine that the USSR followed. While limited by the circumstances of the November and October Revolutions, as well as the later actions of the Lenin and Stalin governments, the USSR still possessed substantial research and development organizations at the start of the Last Great War - several of which proved capable of producing genuinely excellent aircraft when given the chance.
While hampered by the resource pressures of the time, as well as technological limitations, the Soviet Union was nonetheless one of the few powers to share a land border with the HRE at the start of the Last Great War in the late 1930s and not be forced to capitulate by the Imperial advance. And while much is said about the work of the common Soviet soldier or tanker, much credit is owed to the brave pilots of the VVS, and the aircraft they flew.
Mikoyan-Gurevich
Assembled in the late 1930s and lead by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau was responsible for a sizable majority of the Soviet Union's high-altitude interceptor aircraft - a category which proved vital later in the war, as the HRE began to utilize their Grosse Bombers in attempts to disrupt or destroy Soviet industry which had been relocated past the Ural mountains.
Towards the end of the war, in addition to the MiG-13 combined power motorjet fighter, the MiG bureau also produced the MiG-9 jet fighter, and was rapidly developing what would become the MiG-15 - one of the most advanced jet fighters to be developed prior to the Revolution.
Yakolev
One of the other design bureaus producing high performance fighter aircraft, the Yakolev bureau is most well known for their Yak-1 and Yak-3 fighters, their Yak-7 and Yak-9 fighter/bombers, and the Yak-15 jet fighter - the first fully jet-powered fighter to enter service with the VVS. Beyond this, Yakolev was known for their medium sized transport and utility aircraft, which proved quite useful for the paratrooper forces of the USSR during the war.
Lavochkin
Originally a component of the team behind the LaGG-3 fighter, the Lavochkin bureau became well known for their high performance radial engine fighters - which, while nominally intended for air superiority work, were increasingly pressed into the interceptor role as the Last Great War entered its nuclear phase, working to stem the tides of Imperial bombers trying to ensure that even if the HRE fell, so too would the Soviet Union.
Aside from their work on the La-5, La-7, La-9, and La-11, the Lavochkin bureau also collaborated with Mikoyan-Gurevich on swept wing research, which later went on to enable the MiG-15 prototype's tremendous performance (alongside the acquisition of British jet engine technology).
Ilyushin
Established in the early 1930s, Ilyushin would end up being most well known for their Il-2 and Il-10 "Sturmovik" aircraft - dedicated single engine attack bombers used for close air support to devastating effect on the Eastern Front. In addition to this, they also produced the DB-3 and Il-4 tactical bombers - although these aircraft exited service before the end of the Last Great War.
Tupolev/Petlyakov
The major producers of multi-engine bombers in the Soviet Union, these design bureaus were most known for their work on the PT-8 four engine strategic bomber - eventually selected as the carrier aircraft of choice for the Soviet Union's first operational nuclear weapons, although never used in the nuclear attack role prior to the end of the Last Great War.
Also a project of note is the Tupolev Tu-4 - ultimately canceled before entering full production following the end of the Last Great War, this aircraft was a near perfect duplicate of the American B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber, after an American bomber was so badly damaged during a raid against the Empire of Japan it was forced to land in the Soviet Union. While the American aircraft was eventually returned, Tupolev's engineers were able to gather substantial information about the aircraft during its time in the USSR.
One of the Tupolev bureau's designers, Robert Ludvigovich Bartini, has recently been promoting the use of the ground-effect for high-speed high-capacity aircraft, which could prove useful for any number of large projects.
As with the last one, feedback appreciated.
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The USSR was one of the only nations prior to the Revolution to have had a socialist government - regardless of what many think of the Marxist-Leninist doctrine that the USSR followed. While limited by the circumstances of the November and October Revolutions, as well as the later actions of the Lenin and Stalin governments, the USSR still possessed substantial research and development organizations at the start of the Last Great War - several of which proved capable of producing genuinely excellent aircraft when given the chance.
While hampered by the resource pressures of the time, as well as technological limitations, the Soviet Union was nonetheless one of the few powers to share a land border with the HRE at the start of the Last Great War in the late 1930s and not be forced to capitulate by the Imperial advance. And while much is said about the work of the common Soviet soldier or tanker, much credit is owed to the brave pilots of the VVS, and the aircraft they flew.
Mikoyan-Gurevich
Assembled in the late 1930s and lead by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich, the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau was responsible for a sizable majority of the Soviet Union's high-altitude interceptor aircraft - a category which proved vital later in the war, as the HRE began to utilize their Grosse Bombers in attempts to disrupt or destroy Soviet industry which had been relocated past the Ural mountains.
Towards the end of the war, in addition to the MiG-13 combined power motorjet fighter, the MiG bureau also produced the MiG-9 jet fighter, and was rapidly developing what would become the MiG-15 - one of the most advanced jet fighters to be developed prior to the Revolution.
Yakolev
One of the other design bureaus producing high performance fighter aircraft, the Yakolev bureau is most well known for their Yak-1 and Yak-3 fighters, their Yak-7 and Yak-9 fighter/bombers, and the Yak-15 jet fighter - the first fully jet-powered fighter to enter service with the VVS. Beyond this, Yakolev was known for their medium sized transport and utility aircraft, which proved quite useful for the paratrooper forces of the USSR during the war.
Lavochkin
Originally a component of the team behind the LaGG-3 fighter, the Lavochkin bureau became well known for their high performance radial engine fighters - which, while nominally intended for air superiority work, were increasingly pressed into the interceptor role as the Last Great War entered its nuclear phase, working to stem the tides of Imperial bombers trying to ensure that even if the HRE fell, so too would the Soviet Union.
Aside from their work on the La-5, La-7, La-9, and La-11, the Lavochkin bureau also collaborated with Mikoyan-Gurevich on swept wing research, which later went on to enable the MiG-15 prototype's tremendous performance (alongside the acquisition of British jet engine technology).
Ilyushin
Established in the early 1930s, Ilyushin would end up being most well known for their Il-2 and Il-10 "Sturmovik" aircraft - dedicated single engine attack bombers used for close air support to devastating effect on the Eastern Front. In addition to this, they also produced the DB-3 and Il-4 tactical bombers - although these aircraft exited service before the end of the Last Great War.
Tupolev/Petlyakov
The major producers of multi-engine bombers in the Soviet Union, these design bureaus were most known for their work on the PT-8 four engine strategic bomber - eventually selected as the carrier aircraft of choice for the Soviet Union's first operational nuclear weapons, although never used in the nuclear attack role prior to the end of the Last Great War.
Also a project of note is the Tupolev Tu-4 - ultimately canceled before entering full production following the end of the Last Great War, this aircraft was a near perfect duplicate of the American B-29 Superfortress strategic bomber, after an American bomber was so badly damaged during a raid against the Empire of Japan it was forced to land in the Soviet Union. While the American aircraft was eventually returned, Tupolev's engineers were able to gather substantial information about the aircraft during its time in the USSR.
One of the Tupolev bureau's designers, Robert Ludvigovich Bartini, has recently been promoting the use of the ground-effect for high-speed high-capacity aircraft, which could prove useful for any number of large projects.
- Location
- Not the asylum anymore
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Have any of the ex-Soviet design bureaus remained intact in any capacity post World Revolution, if only for civilian work? I'm not sure how the Soviet Union as a whole made the transition, but I'd imagine better than the various ex-reactionary state structures.
Given that a lot of the influential design bureaus during the war were operating out of sharashkas, and the Soviet Union's insistence on their way being the right way (and we're definitely not doing things their way), I suspect the transition might not have been that clean.
Edit: for example, both Glushko and Korolev were detained in OKB-16 during the war; I don't think they'd be eager to stick around.
Last edited:
pbluekan
Somethin's Fucky ...
- Location
- Trumpistan
Debatable. It might have been communist, but it was a version of it that required a high degree of control over every process and was inflexible as hell. We have anarcho-communism, which is about as different from Soviet style communism as that is from free market capitalism.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
The main thing, and this is kind of a common problem with alt hist, is that there's a certain tendency to reproduce events from real history, even when the circumstances no longer make sense. Now, this might just be a personal pet peeve, but these sorts of historical cameo's are usually boring and undermine the integrity of the rest of the work.
Otherwise the thing is great.
Well, part of the reason for that is that we've had mention of similar people with similar backstories in the main story posts - which implies a degree of "even with different circumstances, similar stuff still happened" is in play. This makes sense, because it's a lot easier to have us pick mostly from OTL persons associated with aerospace, computing, etc., than to generate entirely unique individuals. Likewise, it's easier to go with "projects similar to our timeline" than it is to try and speculate about unique projects - and even then, there's probably going to be stuff like that in the Japan section in particular, seeing as the invasion of Japan was the straw that broke the camel's back for the Revolution. As such, I'm probably going to give them a few more unique aircraft projects focused on high-altitude interceptors (stuff aimed at countering the inevitable waves of American bombers trying to turn Japan's beaches and cities into glass), just to help explain how they managed to avoid collapsing completely.
I mean, Japan did collapse completely, into one of the first fronts of the world revolution. That is a thing that probably happened.
- Location
- Fort Worth, TX
What is the level of technology in this world? Is it the same as OTL 1955 or is it a little more advanced? Say 5 to 10 years?
DracoDracul
Transbian Communist
- Location
- Austin
- Pronouns
- She/They
It depends. For instance the transistor was invented in this world a better part of a decade after it was IRL. A lot of the big advances we're getting now are a direct result of being able to pull a sizable chunk of the world's resources towards pure research.
pbluekan
Somethin's Fucky ...
- Location
- Trumpistan
It sounds like it was more advanced, given the years of war to push development, but it regressed a great deal during the collapse and reorg into the current government(s).
I think it's about on par generally. Some things farther ahead, some farther behind. I think the potential there to advance more quickly due to the more unified structure.
That said, I do worry that a lot of advancement will be more linear. Large RnD orgs are great, but if there is one thing I'll give capitalism, it's a wonderful ability to breed wild innovation.
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
You might. I won't, primarily because it only has that if there is a profit to be made. People are wildly creative by nature - and are free to be more so without the shackles of worry over livelihood around their necks.
The fiction of war driving innovation also needs to die.
chaotic-logic
possible impossibility
- Location
- unknown
it is not really war that drives innovation but necessity, which is what war causes because to both sides it is necessary for them to win if they want their way of life to continue as it is.
- Location
- The great frozen north
Necessity is the mother of innovation yeah. And by the latter half of 20th century the age of lone geniuses making major engineering advances in their garage was gone (outside of software development maybe). Creating something new or discovering a new principle requires some fairly expensive and specialized machinery. That is, capital. Which with the industrial base in tatters is in limited supply. The priorities of the people pulling the purse strings are a different class from OTL, but for the foreseeable future I expect the pace of technological development will be similar to OTL. Overall there's the a similar amount of problems and impetus to solve them.
10ebbor10
DON'T PANIC
- Location
- Present
Mostly it's a good excuse to get the government to give you a few billion dollars.
There were cheaper, better, safer methods to develop nuclear power than the Manhattan project, but the government never would have funded something on the same scale.
September 30th, 1955//Q3 1954 Results
Shadows
Sacred Priestess of the Benevolent Dice Gods
- Location
- USS Civilian, DDG-214
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Plan: Realistic Strategy, Dramatic Execution
-[X] Launch the stockpiled R-2 Gale (free)
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (77/120) (1 die, -35R)
--[X] And Launch it (1 Die)
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Expand the Assembly Complex (182/350) (2 dice 40R)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (347/450) (2 dice, -50R)
--[X] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (388/450) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (271/300) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Spacefarer Training Facilities (175/300) (2 dice, -30R)
-[X] Observation Satellites (3/4 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (3/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (2/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (179/200) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Vacuum Nozzles (0/200) (2 dice, -10R)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) [MATSCI] (134/400) (4 dice, -100R)
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations (1/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Creative Sponsorships (141/400) (3 dice, -30R)
-[X] The Right Stuff (282/300) (1 die, -5R)
-[X] Launch the stockpiled R-2 Gale (free)
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (77/120) (1 die, -35R)
--[X] And Launch it (1 Die)
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Expand the Assembly Complex (182/350) (2 dice 40R)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (347/450) (2 dice, -50R)
--[X] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (388/450) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (271/300) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Spacefarer Training Facilities (175/300) (2 dice, -30R)
-[X] Observation Satellites (3/4 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (3/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (2/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (179/200) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Vacuum Nozzles (0/200) (2 dice, -10R)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) [MATSCI] (134/400) (4 dice, -100R)
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations (1/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Creative Sponsorships (141/400) (3 dice, -30R)
-[X] The Right Stuff (282/300) (1 die, -5R)
September drew to a close and October was hours away, and Penelope felt that recently there was never quite enough time. She was pulled between the IEC and its various demands (her most common description of what she did to others who did not know was 'professional cat wrangler'), raising Iris and Alice, and preparing for her own wedding - which was now around the corner, coming during her usual scheduled vacation time in December. She was very much looking forward to that, of course - she was nothing if not excited about the prospect, truth be told, despite very much not needing any kind of ceremony to officialize the love she felt for her wife-to-be. There's just… something about it, though.
Korolev and his wife were attending, as were Turing and his husband, her parents, her wife's sister and brother (her parents were, sadly, not approving), and a number of their friends. It promised to be a memorable occasion… and damned if I'm not nervous. The next two months are going to be hell.
What she wasn't looking forward to as much was coming back to deal with the World Council immediately after. At least Mom and Da offered to watch the girls so Ruby and I could go to the cabin upstate for a week… I'm just glad they're all okay after that awful hurricane.
HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
NEW DELHI - The IEC has cut the ribbon on a new physics institute in the outskirts of New Delhi today, bringing crowds of tens of thousands from across the area to come and see the high-tech, top-of-the-line facility in all its grandeur. The institute promises to be a world center for new physics research, and is certainly equipped for the purpose…
BEIJING - A chemistry laboratory of industrial proportions was opened by the IEC in the outskirts of Beijing, after months of prep-work expanding the local water and power supplies to handle the new facility, plus slack that was made available to the area for its own usage. Concerned residents are wary of the possibility of chemical leaks or explosions that could potentially impact the area, but IEC representatives have stated that they are 'taking every precaution against those eventualities that can be thought of and physically implemented'...
ATHENS - The Communist Party of Athens, Greece, has been ousted by the local Free Workers of the World contingent during local elections, making it the first European city to be taken by the FWW since the 1940s…
ANTARCTICA - The first Antarctic Exploration Cooperative expedition has departed for the icy continent…
NORTH AMERICA - An active hurricane season has brought significant death and destruction across the breadth of North America, from Hurricane Diana sweeping the Northeastern seaboard, killing two hundred, to Hurricanes Hilda and Janet smashing their way across the Caribbean and Central America, causing more than a thousand deaths…
Resources:
15R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 Curiosity-class Satellite
Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
State of the World
(Updated at the end of every Quarter)
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+) (Big Ear) (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (Big Ear)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4
Eastern Asia
Education: 11 (+) (Beijing science complex)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 11 (+) (New Delhi science complex)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 7 (+)
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (New railways completed, ports upgraded)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3
Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10 (+) (Post-war reconstruction)
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3
South America
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3
Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces
Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-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 (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)
Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)
Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-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 (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)
Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)
Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)
State of the World
(Updated at the end of every Quarter)
Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3
Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+) (Big Ear) (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (Big Ear)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4
Eastern Asia
Education: 11 (+) (Beijing science complex)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5 (-)
Western Asia
Education: 11 (+) (New Delhi science complex)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)
Australia and New Zealand
Education: 7 (+)
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (New railways completed, ports upgraded)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3
Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10 (+) (Post-war reconstruction)
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)
North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3
South America
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3
Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
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 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 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)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
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 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)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Scientific Advances
Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
CHEM - +11(+7)= +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9(+9)(+2)= +20
PROP - +14
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 Spacefarer Assembly:
Passive Effects
Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 2 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful orbital rocket launch. [UPGRADED]
Nuclear Power Authorization - The World Council has been successfully convinced to support the IEC conducting peaceful, power-generating nuclear experiments. (Current WC approval status: Given, Apprehensive; Current public approval status: Apprehensive)
Promises Made (Expires Q1 1956 unless otherwise stated):
Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (Int(C), Int(M-L), FWW) (small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)
Build the Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (Int(C))
Build the New Delhi Institute for Physics (CPAL, Int(C))
Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus on completion) (Int(M-L)
Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1 (+2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus on completion) (Int(D)))
Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (FWW) (Does not expire as long as the dice is locked)
Build 1 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (FWW) (Modified)
Hire a spacefarer from South America (UWF)
Rocket & Payload Construction
Dawn construction was slow again this quarter, as significant numbers of the Assembly team were tasked with aiding in the expansion work on the assembly complex. You figured they'd be back up to their prior pace once that construction work was finished. A single Curiosity-class satellite was finished besides, and placed in long-term storage, awaiting its time to fly.
Rocket Launches
None this quarter.
Expand the Assembly Complex (243/350)
The slowdown in R-4 production was matched by a relative uptick in the construction of the expanded Assembly Complex, with large sections of the Assembly team seconded to Facilities to help site locations for the equipment they would use and give input as the build process went along. The facility expansion stands at just over two-thirds complete, and will likely be done in the next quarter.
Build a Scientific Complex
-Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (452/450) (Omake added)
The Beijing Institute for Chemical Research was opened to much fanfare and excitement (mostly from your chemists and those around the world). The local population was relatively pleased with their new electrical grid, more stable and extensive than before, and that dulled the complaints about, well, an experimental chemistry facility being built nearby. The location was, at least, downwind of the city, which helped alleviate concerns as well.
Your chemistry department in Mogadishu was largely a ghost town anymore. You'd have to hire more scientists… who would then probably also flee to Beijing. Some of them, anyway.
(+7 to CHEM) (+1 to Education in East Asia)
-New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (454/450) (Omake added)
New Delhi's state-of-the-art Institute for Physics opened its doors in late September, offering tours for the public at large to see what the IEC had built. There were a considerable number of people in the first week - some two hundred thousand from the surrounds of New Delhi alone - and there were plans in the works for the volunteers from the scientists who were moving there to teach classes at the local universities and high-school equivalents. The thing that made physicists from around the world perk up, of course, was the hundred-meter-diameter Delatron particle collider, the largest of its kind yet built. While not all of your physicists at Mogadishu had left for New Delhi, it did sometimes feel like they had.
Slightly more concerning to all involved was the test reactor that would be helping the power plant design teams refine their datasets into something that would hopefully prove beneficial to the world. That, too, was slated to come online in early October, after the first shipment of fissile material arrived from Mogadishu.
(+9 to PHYS) (+1 to Education in West Asia)
Big Ear [PHYS] (361/300)
The Big Ear radio telescope was finished in late August to much excitement from the world's astronomical community - well, at least the section that found the idea of using radio waves to probe the universe rather than the naked eye exciting. There were, of course, always curmudgeons who shunned the newfangled technology, but none of them, it seemed, worked for the IEC. Testing was conducted throughout the rest of the quarter, and the first operational data-gathering run was slated to begin in October.
(+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)
Spacefarer Training Facilities (319/300)
The spacefarer training facilities were completed with input from the various teams who were devising crewed spaceflight missions and technologies, and just in time for your first class of spacefarers to use them. This, of course, lead back to the debate about the informal term 'spacefarer' - should the name remain the same, codified into being the official term, or should it be changed?
[ ] [NAME] Keep Spacefarer
[ ] [NAME] Cosmonaut
[ ] [NAME] Astronaut
[ ] [NAME] Taikonaut
[ ] [NAME] (Write-in)
Observation Satellites (4/4 turns) (COMPLETE, dice unlocked)
At last, the observation satellite teams married their disparate lines of inquiry into a single upgraded satellite design, based on the Curiosity-class satellite chassis. This new chassis was capable of longer stays in orbit and was able to direct itself to point at a desired location or locations on the ground - or even out in space. There had been intentional work put in place to enable the basic chassis to potentially be used as an orbiting telescope with a mirror diameter of up to half a meter. The biggest benefit of using the Curiosity as the basis for the design was that due to hardware commonality it was only slightly more costly to actually build, even if the build time hadn't gone up significantly enough to push it into a multi-quarter build.
They had also, notably, beefed up its communications equipment space a fair amount in anticipation of improved gear becoming available, so that it could pull double (triple? quadruple??) duty as an interplanetary probe in the coming years.
[Tech added: Curiosity-B class satellite, 20R. Can return film canisters to earth via re-entry capsule for up to 1 year after launch, or transmit mid-low resolution continuous television for ~1 quarter, or be sent out to the Moon with low-power experiments for ~1 quarter. Upon finishing Photovoltaic Investigations, it is upgraded to the Curiosity-C class satellite, capable of 1-2 years of use; the chassis can then be used to investigate celestial bodies beyond the Moon and do higher-power experiments at the Moon.]
Human-rated Rocketry (4/8 turns)
More work was poured into the single-crew capsule design started last quarter. Multiple decisions needed to be made in relatively quick succession as to just how bare-bones and sparse the capsule would actually be. The overall size of the craft was somewhat in flux, depending on the focuses selected during the Spacefarer selections that were also ongoing at the time.
Overall, more work ended up being done on the booster that would launch the capsule than the capsule itself, thanks to those considerations. The R-4a, as it was being called, would be tank-stretched to bring the initial and final accelerations down to something a bit kinder to the rider while keeping the vehicle's total pad weight just under the thirty-ton limit of the current pad, and the second stage was brought out to the full diameter of the first stage, presenting something of a curiously stubbier appearance than the toothbrush-like R-4.
Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (3/8 turns)
Your nuclear plant design studies group split into teams based on their desired reactor configuration and began to test their builds. The 'traditionalist' plant team moved to New Delhi at the end of the quarter, bringing with them their notes and equipment necessary for them to evaluate the performance of the test reactor built into the Institute for Physics' facilities. The molten-core team remained in Mogadishu and began constructing a sub-scale demonstration reactor that even the New Delhi test reactor dwarfed, but was cheap enough to build that it fit entirely inside the existing budget for the project while still providing useful information about that reactor type's functioning.
The space reactor proponents largely split themselves between those two projects, but a team of ten remained at the drawing board, exclusively looking into designs for space use. These had the complication of needing a lot of radiator area, something that had been discovered as a general problem with anything in space already, as it lacked an atmosphere or a surface to conduct or convect away heat produced by mechanical and electronic components on spacecraft.
Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (219/200)
Your engineers had, finally, blessedly, cracked the code on balloon tanks. The issues were many and the causes equally varied, but they had at last wrestled that particular bear into submission through a variety of new welding and manufacturing techniques that were very particularly suited to the task of making them. The promise of what they could do when paired with high-performance engines (upper and lower stage) had kept interest in the project going even when the tanks themselves seemed to have no interest in being a solvable problem in terms of manufacturing.
Personally, I'm just glad we finally know what we're doing with them.
(Unlocks Balloon Tanks for use in rocket designs: Gain +Payload Mass/Velocity,+Cost.)
Vacuum Nozzles (94/200)
The authorization for research into vacuum nozzles was met with no small amount of fanfare amongst your propulsion engineers, as they were excited to test their hypotheses about how best to increase the performance of upper stages. There were a variety of ideas to that end, of course, but the simplest and most straightforward of these was simply enlarging the exhaust nozzle of the upper stage engine - by allowing the curve of the engine bell to continue on for up to two hundred percent of the initial nozzle length, additional performance could be gained for relatively little additional mass. There was some thought given to making these extended nozzles out of graphite composites, as the material was cheap and heat-resistant enough to make a lightweight bell that would ablate rather than burn through as the engine burn went on.
Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) [MATSCI] (429/400)
The initial phase of materials research completed after multiple months of incredible advances, bringing with it new advancements in the science. These were, perhaps, less spectacular, but in their own way they were quite exciting.
The first of these was a new adaptation of an older technology - metal foaming. By using various liquids and gasses during the production of metals and alloys, they could be forced to foam, in essence creating a sponge-like maze of open spaces within the material, vastly reducing their weight for a given volume while retaining their strength. The closed-cell foam that had been investigated in Dnipro had some excellent possibilities for use as the structural components of new spacecraft, or as a shock-absorbing layer to back a heat shield with. The open spaces within the material would rob an impact of a great deal of force as they crumpled, though that same crumbling effect meant that such materials could only be used that way once before needing to be melted down and reblown. The primary advancement in this old technology, this time, was an improved process for foaming the metal, which should somewhat bring down their considerable cost.
The second was an offshoot of the carbon fiber research done earlier in the year. This time, the material produced was known as aromatic polyamide, largely shortened to aramid, a strong, lightweight and elastic synthetic fiber. Given those three properties, there were already ideas floating around the IEC of using the fibers as parachute material, to start with. There were, of course, other proposals the moment the specification was released to the public. New ropes for ships. Fire retardant clothing. That sort of thing.
The third and final was a polyimide film that showed great promise as a fire resistant insulator for wiring and other applications that were directly pertinent to you, such as low-outgas insulation for spacecraft. In small-scale vacuum chamber tests, the film showed itself to be quite superior in that role for helping maintain temperature regulation in spacelike conditions. There was also some interest from the electronics engineers for its potential usage in producing circuitry.
[Tech added: Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.]
[Tech added: 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…]
[Tech added: 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 this quarter.]
Photovoltaic Investigations (2/4 turns)
The photovoltaic investigations resumed at the beginning of the quarter, bringing a lot of materials scientists and physicists who'd been a part of the first authorization back off of the other projects they'd dispersed to when funding hadn't been renewed. After spending some time catching back up on where they'd been, they continued investigating silicon-based photovoltaics. Curiously, a class of materials called 'perovskites' showed great promise for cheap, easily-manufactured cells - but, in testing, showed themselves to have extremely short lifespans… when exposed to sunlight. This, naturally, made them completely unsuited for, well, anything at all, really. Perhaps more advanced techniques and materials in the future could rectify their problems and bring them into usability.
Creative Sponsorships (427/400)
The creative sponsorship program finished setting up its offices and staffing and began to expand its cooperation across the board. New cartoons, new movies, new music, new books, new paintings - every medium under the Sun that lent itself to conveying a sense of wonder and excitement. There was even a children's show proposed by a puppeteer named Jim Henson that had seen some significant interest amongst the section of the sponsorship office that was concerned with stuff for the youngest brackets, as televisions continued to make their way into homes across the world as the new premier way of getting news. A screenplay set aboard a starfaring ship (it was in the air as to whether this was more of a cruise ship or a colony vessel) was considered and eventually accepted by the sponsorship office, which no doubt made the man who'd submitted it very happy, one Gene Roddenberry. A dozen books, ten songs, a half-dozen artist's impressions of the surface of the Moon and Mars and Venus… there was virtually no artform not touched by the program. You were even sure that at some point you saw mention of pottery.
I ought to make note of that. If it turns out well, I might contact the potter and work out something for a vase or three… I only need two, but, well, small children.
The Right Stuff (375/300)
The sortition was finally complete, and you had a roster of potential spacefarers on your desk. There were many, but the IEC's executive council (you, Korolev, Turing, and the rest of the department heads) had decided to limit the available slots to seven. This gave you a reasonable number of slots to allocate as needed to various priorities the IEC had - including your political promise to the UWF councilors who'd backed your last Council session agenda. That slot, of course, would be taken up by the best candidate you could find from South America, but the others were more open.
So, what to prioritize?
[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Flight Experience - This would encompass those with extensive piloting experience, as that stood as the greatest stand-in for high-G flight available. This would largely mean your first spacefarers would be veterans of the Third Great War and the Revolution.
[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Science - This would encompass those whose academic background best lent themselves to doing space science. This would, naturally, result in your first class being largely made of PhDs. The fittest you could find, of course.
[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Size - A line of thought amongst the engineers working on the human-rated rocketry program was that smaller people would be easier for the first rockets to loft into orbit, as they could be fit into smaller, lighter capsules. This would likely result in many of your first spacefarers being women and those from smaller-built groups, such as post-colonial regions.
[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Inclusion - There was an argument to be made that the colonized peoples of the world had the right to the first shots at what would (hopefully) become a prestigious position. Choosing this would prioritize them - never at the expense of being qualified in at least two of the other considerations, but it would open the doors more to them, thanks to no one having been a spacefarer before, and what needed to be known could be taught.
[Note: choosing to prioritize one or the other doesn't mean the other two don't get considered at all, just that, well, the priority is the priority.]
Advanced Concepts Office
"ACO members largely concerned with human rocketry program at present. Have seen doodles for space stations adorning their desks. Will probably see proposals for those in the future. Coffee supplies have stabilized after delivery totals having been upped multiple times. Caught Johanssen snorting a line of cocaine. May need to strengthen anti-overwork measures, look into hiring staff psych help."
- Location
- Raleigh, NC
[X] [RIGHT STUFF] Inclusion - There was an argument to be made that the colonized peoples of the world had the right to the first shots at what would (hopefully) become a prestigious position. Choosing this would prioritize them - never at the expense of being qualified in at least two of the other considerations, but it would open the doors more to them, thanks to no one having been a spacefarer before, and what needed to be known could be taught.