Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

Shadows · Feb 4, 2024

[X] Labs, Spaceplanes, and New Hires, Oh My!
-[X] [FUND] 1.5%
-[X] Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
-[X] Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
-[X] Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
-[X] Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
-[X] Conduct Spaceplane Development design studies
-[X] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
-[X] Do not conduct military rocket launches or research
-[X] [GRAD] Facilities (x2)
-[X] [GRAD] Engineering
-[X] [GRAD] Science

You returned from another eventful World Council meeting with an even greater allocation of resources to show for it. Eventually, you knew, you wouldn't be able to keep pulling it off, but for now, you were more than satisfied with the state of things. Oh, to be sure, you had a number of new commitments - but they were, after all, all things you and your fellow directors had floated as things you wanted to do anyway. The commitments merely simplified the order in which they got done.

You'd also met with the head of the Antarctic Exploration Cooperative while you were there, and wished them the best of luck with the research they'd be undertaking at the bottom of the world. Between Africa and Antarctica, you would take Africa any day. Yes, penguins were adorable dears, but that frigid place was too cold even for your New Englander self.

Now that it was over - and you'd not have to go back until the Council's next meeting, which would be in Christchurch this time next year - it was time to be getting back to the business of rocketry.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

ANTARCTICA - The AEC has announced that they will be sending an expedition to Antarctica in October, beginning their operations at the South Pole once local summer has arrived…

HAMBURG - Cleanup brigades are nearing completion of their task of removing contaminated topsoil, ruins and debris from the city, six years after an American atomic weapon was dropped on the city to sink the Imperial High Seas Fleet's flagship, the HIMS Deutschland, along with the portion of the fleet that was at harbor on that day. Local hospitals still report multiple instances of individuals coming down with radiation sickness from lingering long-lived fallout in the surrounding area…

CASCADIA - The first color television broadcast was sent over the airwaves on New Year's Day, allowing those who had received their new color receivers to see the New Year's Day parade broadcast from Seattle, which was, for a wonder, seeing a day of chilly sunshine…

LONG BEACH - Local leaders are thrilled to receive the news that they have been selected as the host city for an Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative research center focused on propulsion research. The facility will be home to up to a thousand scientists and their assistance, and several hundred additional support staff.

Resources:
445R (+480R/turn) (-35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases)
58 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (18500/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 4
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 7

Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 11

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 9
Electrification: 10
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8 (-)
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 13
Partisan Activity: 10

South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 4
Electrification: 4
Industry: 3
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 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.)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +5
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 Ukraine within 10 years.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Spaceplane Development design studies
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Operations (5 dice, +3 bonus)

[ ] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)
-[ ] And do a recon launch in the North American conflict (gains launch experience)

[ ] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for two years, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (20R per dice, 13/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. It's a sizeable rocket, but thankfully you have a sizeable pad to launch it from. Unfortunately, it won't ever fit on a Stormchaser. (25R per dice, 68/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you) (Unlocks Weather Observation Campaigns)

~~[] Construct an R-4 Dawn~~

Facilities (8 dice, +10 bonus)

(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 0/350, changes 2 Build Capacity to 1 Program slot, enabling campaigns to be run 'in the background', passively gaining experience and science, +3 Build Capacity)

[ ] Expand the Launch Complex - You have two launch pads (one of which has gone entirely unused, so far) but, soon enough, you expect to need additional pads to account for the maintenance and upgrades the existing ones will certainly need. Getting a head start on that need may be a good idea. (20R per die, 0/350, gain two 500t launch pads)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, 0/450, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)]
-[] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF]
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS)
-[] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL]
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS)

[ ] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) - The first stage of Tracking Stations rolls out the facilities along the equator as best as possible where land exists, and deals with constructing the first of the fleet of tracking vessels the IEC will need to cover all those thousands of square kilometers where there is no land to be had. Thanks to the decision to use converted warships for the base of the tracking vessels, the process will be somewhat quicker, though also more expensive. (30R per die, 89/350, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

Engineering (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Spaceplane Development) [AERO] - If you're going to be building spaceplanes, it would be a good idea to develop a working design to build in that hangar the spaceplane gang had wanted. Your engineers were talking about things like payload fraction and use cases and aerodynamic loading - all of which went more or less over your head but it certainly seemed they knew what they were about. (5R per die, 0/100, unlocks Prototype Spaceplane)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 0/300, ???)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (R-4 Dawn) (Phase II) [AERO, PHYS, FUEL] - The initial design and engineering challenges have been tackled, an engine has been made that meets requirements, and now it's time to begin testing the tankage that will serve as the main structure and fuel supply for the IEC's orbital rocket pathfinder. (15R per dice) (Phase III) (225/300) (Unlocks Early Orbital Rocket) (2.4m diameter, 2 Payload, 35 RpD)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] - With your first orbital-class rocket nearing design lock, it's time to start thinking about what will go in it. Some are thinking small - essentially a bucket of batteries and a radio transmitting a fixed signal that would nevertheless allow some important science to be done - while others are… somewhat more grandiose. Radiation detection experiments are chief among those.
(Phase I, 15R per dice) (0/150) <- Rollover limited to 25 progress towards Phase II
(Phase II, 25R per dice) (0/200) <- Construction of prototype complete

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 0/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

Science (4 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] - Better alloys and manufacturing techniques would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. A fair deal of research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 4/300, provides access to new manufacturing techniques)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] - While the IEC's remit wasn't extended to the design and testing of new jet aircraft, there was an argument to be made that studying what shapes worked under what conditions at high speed and why very much was something you had good cause to be interested in. You had a couple of buildings full of engineers; some of them would certainly be interested. (15R per die, requires a completed Hangar Complex and Runway to finish, can be started without, 0/240)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] - With the weather observation program started, keeping it going is now almost a given. The returns have been very valuable for the meteorological community at large, and the PAO has received numerous calls from various localities across the globe asking for the IEC to put up instruments where they are, each hoping to reap the rewards of more accurate weather prediction. (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 14/240) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Nuclear Power Studies [PHYS] - You now had a rather absurd amount of nuclear infrastructure making its way to Mogadishu. This included a number of nuclear physicists, some of whom had very big names, coming to join the IEC. While the world was still scarred by the horror of the atom's splitting, it was possible to use the technology for peaceful purposes - the IEC just had to show them. (15R per die, 341/400) (-15PS on completion, +4 to PHYS) (Opens further nuclear research)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) - The third phase of Rocket Box deployment was a complete success, and your Public Affairs Office wants to keep up the momentum by shifting their focus to South America and the Pacific Islands. The rocket motors will likely still be made near Mogadishu, but they plan to contact workshops across those two regions to supply everything else. (5R per die, 171/450. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in South America and the Pacific Islands. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Creative Sponsorships - A junior physicist has made the suggestion that by sponsoring the work of fiction authors (particularly science fiction), interest in space, science, and the IEC could be generated outside the bounds of colleges and classrooms. This sparked another suggestion from one of the Outreach department's people - broaden the sponsorship from simply authors to filmmakers and more traditional artists as well. This would help reach even more people than before, they thought. (10R per die, 0/400) (-5R per turn when done, provides additional variable passive PS income and can result in shuffled costs and requests at World Council meetings.)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (56/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn and -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)

The Personnel department reports that there's no one currently available for hire, as we have already snatched up everyone who was looking to get into the field. Check back in later quarters.

Shadows · Feb 7, 2024

[X] Plan Come Fly With Me
-[X] Construct an R-2 Gale 2 dice, 40R
--[X] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets)
-[X] Construct an R-3 Snow 1 die, 25R
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex - 7 dice, 175R
--[X] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) 2 dice 50R
--[X] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] 3 dice 75 R
--[X] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] 2 dice 50R
-[X] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) 1 die, 30R
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (R-4 Dawn) (Phase II) [AERO, PHYS, FUEL] 1 die 15R
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] 3 dice 45R
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Spaceplane Development) [AERO] - 1 die, 5R
-[X] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] 3 dice 45R
-[X] Nuclear Power Studies [PHYS] 1 die 15R
-[X] Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) - 3 dice, 15R

You were, after a moment's contemplation, fairly giddy, all things considered. Good news seemed to have come from all corners this quarter - from within the IEC and from without. The North American conflict continued on, though victory seemed to be in sight; the Dawn was completed, and ready for its maiden flight; the world seemed to be slowly healing, as partisan attacks began to die down; and, on a personal level, you and your partner had adopted a pair of war-orphaned twins.

You were musing over a set of new proposals from the Advanced Concepts Office when Sergei came in. You glanced up and offered him a slight smile; the two of you got along, even if your impression of him as a gentleman had been rather broken the first time you'd come across him cursing out an engineer. You'd had to talk with him after that. "What can I do for you, Sergei?"

He shook his head. "Is what you have already done, not what you can do. Thank you, for both the rocket and the Metallurgy centre. With these, I think we can do great things, start justifying ourselves on more than just hopes and dreams."

You let out a short chuckle. "All I did was sign the authorizations, Sergei; you should go thank the engineers and the Facilities crews for getting it done."

"Easier to thank one person, but, da, I will. I have arranged for a celebration; there is a ship full of vodka and other spirits on its way to us now."

You blinked. "... how much did that cost?"

"Are you sure you wish to know?"

(-5R for booze)

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

TRIPOLI - The North African Spine Railway has been completed for initial operating capability, linking lines from Cairo and Marrakech. This, in turn, allows for train access as far south as Cape Town by means of the East African Spine Railway, which has also linked Cairo, Mogadishu and Cape Town, amongst many other towns and cities between, with those three serving as hubs…

VLADIVOSTOK - The East Asian Coastal Spine Railway has begun construction, starting in Vladivostok, taking advantage of existing rail where possible, and will eventually extend across the entire coast of Asia. Eventually, it will meet with the West Asian Spine Railway (likely in New Delhi, possibly elsewhere) and it will become possible to take a train from Paris to Istanbul to Hanoi to Beijing and Vladivostok - then back home again, this time taking the Trans-Siberian Railway…

NORTH AMERICA - The conflict with the FAS continues on, with an end perhaps now in sight, as the Red Army of the Rockies has pushed south to surround Dallas. The casualties amongst the FAS have been huge, even while reinforcements have been coming from the Internationale at such a rate as to once again expand their total troop numbers on the continent. The Battle of Augusta, close on the heels of Atlanta, continues on, though the smaller city lacks the urban sprawl necessary to turn it into the same slugfest Atlanta was…

PITTSBURGH - Polio, one of the great scourges of the world, has taken a heavy blow in our war against it, as the first group of children to be vaccinated against the disease have received their shots in the city of Pittsburgh. The hope, amongst medical professionals, is to eradicate the disease entirely within a generation…

Resources:
30R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
58 Political Support
2 R-2 Gale
1 R-3 Snow

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (21500/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6 (+) (Expanded Education access for women and girls)
Electrification: 5
Industry: 5 (+) (Expanded oil and gas extraction and refinement)
Infrastructure: 6 (+) (Tripoli-Cairo-Marrakesh line)
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5 (+) (Cairo-Mogadishu-Cape Town line)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10 (+) (Industrial expansion)
Infrastructure: 9 (+) (East Asian Coastal Spine Railway begins)
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6 (-)

Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 9 (--)

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6 (+) (New mining)
Infrastructure: 7 (+) (Rail infrastructure expansion)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 9
Electrification: 10
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 14 (+)
Partisan Activity: 8 (--) (Battle of Augusta, Battle of Dallas)

South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 4
Electrification: 4
Industry: 4 (+) (Agricultural modernizations)
Infrastructure: 6 (+) (Port expansions and modernizations)
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 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)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +5
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 Ukraine within 10 years.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
~~Conduct Spaceplane Development design studies~~
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Construct an R-3 Snow (7/80) (1 rocket built)

The Assembly teams started the quarter by finishing off the R-3 they had nearly completed last quarter, before moving on to the Gale orders that had been placed at the beginning of this one. The large, single-stage R-3 was sitting in storage before the end of January.

Construct an R-2 Gale (19/45) (2 rockets built)

For the first time in a reasonably long while, the Assembly teams constructed R-2 Gales in the assembly hall. The two-stage sounding rockets were placed in storage ahead of whenever they'd be launched.

Rocket Launches

While the Assembly team was working on new Gales, the Launch team was busy blowing one up.

In the only launch scheduled for the quarter, the intent had been for the Gale to test a new fin configuration, using new shapes pioneered in the wind tunnel complex that looked promising. Unfortunately, due to a flaw in installation (probably), one of the fins broke off, causing the rocket to corkscrew uncontrollably before crashing into the ocean close offshore. It was largely destroyed by the impact, but enough of the fin can remained intact to glean that much information.

Build a Scientific Complex
- Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) (171/450)

The Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre construction started off extremely well, with the utilities and foundation being laid nearly immediately upon project approval, as when the city selections for the research centers had been announced, the local council had decided to pre-site and grade the location they wanted the centre to be built on. A series of warehouses in the cities saw materials stored in them, from structural pieces like beams, concrete, wood paneling, metal sheeting and the like, to the first parts for the Turing computer that would become an integral part of the research team's computing capabilities here.

- Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) (195/450)

Construction in Long Beach was off to an excellent start, with the ground graded, the foundation laid, and utilities routed in before the end of the quarter. The first structural elements had been set into the concrete when the foundation had been laid, and the follow-on elements were being prepared while the foundation cured. A series of heavy, bunker-like buildings would hold the testing cells in which the engines would be fired, connected by pipes to a series of tanks which would eventually hold the myriad propellants the IEC might test, with anti-detonation devices placed along the piping in the (likely) future event in which a running engine ate itself spectacularly, to keep the rest of the complex from going up with it.

- Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) (106/450)

The progress on the Mombasa Computer Science Institute was disappointing only in comparison to the blazing pace the other two centers set. Being that this was going to be a research centre devoted to the advancement of computer science, a lot of preparatory work had to be done, routing in enough cooling water for the computers to use, upgrading the local water infrastructure to support that, and then upgrading the local power infrastructure to support both. Meanwhile, the computers and fabrication equipment the centre would need were sourced and began to be produced across the world, to make them ready for delivery when they were ready to be installed.

Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) (183/350)

More tracking stations were started this quarter, and some of the initial stations were even now online, giving the IEC partial coverage for tracking all the way to the southern tip of India. These stations would eventually also have the task of communicating with orbiting satellites, relaying information across the globe - in theory, anyway.

Conduct Design Studies (R-4 Dawn) (Phase III) (312/300)

The first orbital-class rocket ever built was finally complete near the end of March.

It weighed in at twenty-eight tonnes, had three stages, and could put around two hundred kilograms into low Earth orbit. It was also, perhaps, the silliest thing you'd ever seen, reminding you of nothing so much as a multi-story tall toothbrush. Your engineers, though, assured you that, provided that luck was on the IEC's side on launch day, it would in fact make it to orbit with a usable payload.

Which you didn't have, yet, but were working on. So, into the storage bay it went, waiting for its moment in the sun.

Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) (126/150)

The first satellite studies were off at an absolute clip, and you had the feeling that a distinctly non-zero number of your engineers had had a sheaf of ideas riding in their briefcases for at least a year, waiting for the day you finally authorized the studies to commence. By the end of March, they were zeroing in on one of two ideas - minimalist, and maximalist.

The minimalist design was essentially a cheap steel ball filled with batteries and a radio transmitter whose sole ability to contribute to science would be being successfully inserted into orbit and having the orbit's decay measured by the changes in the radio signal over time.

The maximalist design was also a cheap steel ball filled with batteries and a radio transmitter, but it also contained a small video camera and a geiger counter, the latter of which would transmit its readings via the transmitter, while the camera filmed the Earth passing by below. A tiny deorbit motor on the front of the satellite would push it back into Earth's atmosphere, where it would land (likely in the ocean) and could be recovered, along with its camera film.

Conduct Design Studies (Platform) (Spaceplane Development) (96/100) - Within 5 - COMPLETE

There was a very enthusiastic set of engineers who weren't engaged in either rocket prototypes or devising satellites, who were elbow deep in slide rules and bearing ink-stained hands as evidence of their fervor. On multiple occasions you had to remind some of them to go home before midnight, though those were thankfully very much a minority amongst the group. The initial results pointed at certain kinds of spaceplane being very much doable, but also very dependent on what you wanted to do with them. Taking off from a runway and launching into space might or might not be possible, but if a spaceplane were to be mounted to the top of a sufficiently powerful rocket it would be very possible to use it as a crewed vehicle with the ability to control its descent into the atmosphere upon re-entry, enabling low G-load returns that might be favorable in the event of some emergency in the future.

Needless to say, they wanted to do more research, but at least now they had a good starting point to begin looking into the possibilities.

Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] (175/240)

A very closely related group of scientists flocked to the wind tunnel complex all quarter, and every day it seemed they had a new scale model to throw into the tunnel for testing. They learned a lot, there, about how lifting and control surfaces behaved when an aircraft was passing through the sound barrier and then beyond it, though the tunnel could only manage so high a windspeed. Swept back wings appeared to be the way to go, as opposed to the straight-winged subsonic jets that had dominated the skies in the Third Great War. The concept of the area rule was discovered, in addition; it was a calculation which described the ideal wing size and configuration for supersonic flight, which was something that would be useful in the future, and proved to be the undoing of a Gale sounding rocket in the present, as a set of prototype fins designed using the new knowledge ended up coming apart.

Nuclear Power Studies [PHYS] (442/400)

The first round of nuclear power studies was completed by March. The results were promising; nuclear power had the capacity to revolutionize energy generation across the world, providing cheap, nearly-endless power. It had the potential to propel spacecraft across space at incredible speeds. It could even, if one were crazy enough, potentially be used to launch enormous masses from the Earth's surface.

There was, of course, a catch. It was nuclear. In a world that had recently seen the horrors of general atomic warfare, and was still recovering. Getting authorization for any of that might be a Sisyphean task - save, maybe, the power.

(Adding previously noted projects to your plan options.)

Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) (371/450)

The fourth, and for now final, phase of Rocket Boxes was nearly completed this quarter, with tens of thousands of Rocket Boxes made across dozens of workshops in South America and shipped to classrooms in every elementary, middle, and high school, and every college besides. The Outreach department had even thought to create intermediate and advanced boxes for the high schools and the colleges, respectively, making sure that the way the material was presented was updated for the age group it was intended for while still being fun. Of course, nothing stopped schools from requesting higher graded Boxes to teach their students with, for advanced classes.

Advanced Concepts Office

Atomic-powered Ground Launch Concept Studies - The idea of in-space nuclear propulsion, brought down to Earth. This program would study the possibilities for using nuclear power to get from the surface to space, both directly and indirectly. (10R per die, 0/300, -5PS on start, and an additional -10 on completion)

Lifting Body - Work with the Wind Tunnel and on the Spaceplane studies had revealed a new configuration for air- and spacecraft fuselage design - the concept of the lifting body, where the wing area was minimized to reduce drag at high speeds, with the body itself providing the lifting force used. While not terribly useful for aircraft, it was potentially very useful for spacecraft design. (10R per die, 0/150)

Shadows · Feb 7, 2024

You were nursing a rather unpleasant headache the day after Sergei's shipful of spirits arrived, as were, you suspected, at least ninety percent of the people working here, judging by the uncharacteristic quietness of the whole facility. Normally, there was the sound of someone somewhere hammering, welding or cutting on something, or the roar of the wind tunnel turbines, or… well, something. But it was quiet, which suited you just fine, thank you. It made your day of quarterly authorizations far, far more pleasant than it had been shaping up to be.

Resources:
475R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
58 Political Support
2 R-2 Gale
1 R-3 Snow
1 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (21500/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 5
Industry: 5
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 9

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 9
Electrification: 10
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 14
Partisan Activity: 8

South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 4
Electrification: 4
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 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)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
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 Ukraine within 10 years.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1955):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Operations (5 dice, +3 bonus) (1 type of Rocket may be built at a time)

[ ] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)
-[ ] And do a recon launch in the North American conflict (gains launch experience)

[ ] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for two years, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (20R per dice, 19/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. It's a sizeable rocket, but thankfully you have a sizeable pad to launch it from. Unfortunately, it won't ever fit on a Stormchaser. (25R per dice, 7/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you) (Unlocks Weather Observation Campaigns)

[] Construct an R-4 Dawn - The first Orbital-class rocket, the Dawn is capable of lifting 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit. It may be able to do more, in time, but for now that would suffice. It can only launch on the Heavy Sounding Pad or heavier, as yet unbuilt ones. (35R per dice, 0/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete)
-[ ] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
–[ ] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)
~~–[ ] First Satellite~~

Facilities (8 dice, +10 bonus)

(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 0/350, changes 2 Build Capacity to 1 Program slot, enabling campaigns to be run 'in the background', passively gaining experience and science, +3 Build Capacity)

[ ] Expand the Launch Complex - You have two launch pads (one of which has gone entirely unused, so far) but, soon enough, you expect to need additional pads to account for the maintenance and upgrades the existing ones will certainly need. Getting a head start on that need may be a good idea. (20R per die, 0/350, gain two 500t launch pads)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (171/450)
-[] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (195/450)
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (0/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (106/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (0/450)

[ ] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) - The first stage of Tracking Stations rolls out the facilities along the equator as best as possible where land exists, and deals with constructing the first of the fleet of tracking vessels the IEC will need to cover all those thousands of square kilometers where there is no land to be had. Thanks to the decision to use converted warships for the base of the tracking vessels, the process will be somewhat quicker, though also more expensive. (30R per die, 183/350, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

Engineering (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Prototype Spaceplane [AERO, PROP, CREW] - Your spaceplane enthusiasts returned to your office with another proposal, building off the back of the design studies they had undertaken through the winter of 1954. Their desire was to create a crewed 'space' plane that would be towed behind or carried underneath a carrier aircraft, be released, and activate a rocket engine that would take it up over the Karman line. It would have a multitude of sensors, of course, and would also need air supplies and likely a heated flight suit to keep the pilot alive and able to work. (0/300, 15R per dice)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 0/300, ???)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] - With your first orbital-class rocket nearing design lock, it's time to start thinking about what will go in it. Some are thinking small - essentially a bucket of batteries and a radio transmitting a fixed signal that would nevertheless allow some important science to be done - while others are… somewhat more grandiose. Radiation detection experiments are chief among those.
(Phase I, 15R per dice) (126/150) <- Rollover limited to 25 progress towards Phase II
(Phase II, 25R per dice) (0/200) <- Construction of prototype complete

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 0/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

[ ] Lifting Body [AERO, PHYS] - Work with the Wind Tunnel and on the Spaceplane studies had revealed a new configuration for air- and spacecraft fuselage design - the concept of the lifting body, where the wing area was minimized to reduce drag at high speeds, with the body itself providing the lifting force used. While not terribly useful for aircraft, it was potentially very useful for spacecraft design. (10R per die, 0/150)

[ ] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies [PHYS] - Now that initial work had been completed verifying that, at the lab scale, nuclear energy could be used to generate power, now it was time to actually forward that knowledge into a practical, useful form. It would not be cheap, but, hopefully, it would be worth it. (25R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Terrestrial Fission Power Plants for the world, leads to Radioisotope Thermal Generators, 2nd Generation Terrestrial Fission Plants, 1st Generation Space-rated Fission Plants)

[ ] Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies [PROP, PHYS, MATSCI] - A side-effect of the nuclear power studies lead to several of your researchers realizing that the heat a reactor produced could be harnessed for things other than turning a turbine. By passing propellant over a reactor's core housing you would cool the core and heat the propellant alike - and the propellant would be very hot indeed, making it an attractive candidate for being flung out the back of the spacecraft at extremely high speeds. (20R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for spacecraft)

Science (4 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] - Better alloys and manufacturing techniques would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. A fair deal of research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 4/300, provides access to new manufacturing techniques)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] - While the IEC's remit wasn't extended to the design and testing of new jet aircraft, there was an argument to be made that studying what shapes worked under what conditions at high speed and why very much was something you had good cause to be interested in. You had a couple of buildings full of engineers; some of them would certainly be interested. (15R per die, requires a completed Hangar Complex and Runway to finish, can be started without, 175/240)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] - With the weather observation program started, keeping it going is now almost a given. The returns have been very valuable for the meteorological community at large, and the PAO has received numerous calls from various localities across the globe asking for the IEC to put up instruments where they are, each hoping to reap the rewards of more accurate weather prediction. (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 14/240) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Atomic-powered Ground Launch Concept Studies [PHYS, PROP, MATSCI] - The idea of in-space nuclear propulsion, brought down to Earth. This program would study the possibilities for using nuclear power to get from the surface to space, both directly and indirectly. (10R per die, 0/300, -5PS on start, and an additional -10 on completion)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing, along with other possibilities besides. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) - The third phase of Rocket Box deployment was a complete success, and your Public Affairs Office wants to keep up the momentum by shifting their focus to South America and the Pacific Islands. The rocket motors will likely still be made near Mogadishu, but they plan to contact workshops across those two regions to supply everything else. (5R per die, 371/450. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in South America and the Pacific Islands. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Creative Sponsorships - A junior physicist has made the suggestion that by sponsoring the work of fiction authors (particularly science fiction), interest in space, science, and the IEC could be generated outside the bounds of colleges and classrooms. This sparked another suggestion from one of the Outreach department's people - broaden the sponsorship from simply authors to filmmakers and more traditional artists as well. This would help reach even more people than before, they thought. (10R per die, 0/400) (-5R per turn when done, provides additional variable passive PS income and can result in shuffled costs and requests at World Council meetings.)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (56/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn and -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)

[ ] The Right Stuff - With work underway on several programs that would require the services of skilled and courageous pilots, you would soon need to begin finding them so they could be integrated into the IEC - and someday, they would become your first astronauts. (0/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Feb 9, 2024

[X] Plan: R-4 Reserves
-[X] Launch 1 R-2 for weather studies, 1 R-3 sounding rocket
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (35R per dice, 0/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete) (4 dice)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex:
--[X] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (171/450) (3 dice)
--[X] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (195/450) (2 dice)
--[X] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (106/450) (3 dice)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (5R per die, 0/300) (2 dice)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] (15R per dice,126/150) (1 die)
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (15R per dice, 0/200) (2 dice)
-[X] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research [AERO] (15R per die, 175/240) (3 dice)
-[X] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 14/240) (1 die)
-[X] Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) (5R per die, 371/450) (1 die)
-[X] Creative Sponsorships (10R per die, 0/400) (2 dice)

The excitement over finishing the first Dawn had faded somewhat after the decision had been made not to launch it this quarter, instead opting to wait while a surplus of Dawns was built up. The world seemed to be quieting down in general, which suited you just fine. It let you focus on the two tiny terrors whose presence you were still adjusting to, while still being able to adequately discharge your duties as Director.

After the Great Vodka Incident of April '54, there hadn't been any particularly wild partying, though you'd been honestly surprised at just how crazy some of these staid scientists and engineers could get. It had been, in hindsight, somewhat disconcerting, but… oh well. Everyone deserved to celebrate great accomplishments, even if you might personally have wished they'd show a little more restraint.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

EAST ASIA - The Councils of East Asia have given a press release stating that the Coastal Spine Railway is nearing the quarter completion mark, with limited service connected between stops that would eventually be linked into the greater network. This new railway is expected to enable greater ease of movement and greater feats of industry in the region as travel times and costs are dropped greatly.

MOMBASA - The IEC is nearing completion on a sprawling computing science complex in Mombasa, where teams of scientists lead by Dr. Alan Turing will advance humanity's knowledge of how to better make and use these thinking machines…

SAO PAOLO - The Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre is all but complete, local officials and IEC spokespeople report. The project to build out the centre expanded even out to the local utilities, and the city of Sao Paolo now boasts the most advanced water and power infrastructure in the South American continent…

Resources:
0R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
59 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
3 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (25000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Ministry of Agriculture (5%)
-Subministry for Forestry
-Subministry for Aquaculture and Fishing
Ministry of Transportation (10%)
-Subministry for Sea Travel
-Subministry for Road and Rail
-Subministry for Air Travel
Ministry of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Subministry for Occupational Health and Safety
Ministry of Energy (8%)
Ministry of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (29.4%)
Ministry of Health and Welfare (24%)
Ministry of Education (17%)

Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 5
Industry: 6 (+)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 6 (+) (Educational improvement over time)
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10 (+) (Railway expansion continues)
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11 (++) (Hospital expansions) (Rail network expansions)
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 8 (-)

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7 (New power infrastructure)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10 (+) (Educational improvements)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (Backline reconstruction)
Security: 14
Partisan Activity: 7 (-)

South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8 (++) (Cross continental railroad network construction)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 5 (+)
Electrification: 5 (+)
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0 (-)

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)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
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 Ukraine within 10 years~~.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Construct an R-4 Dawn (69/120) (2 rockets built)

Now that you had a design locked down and a prototype built, your Assembly team tore into the task of making more Dawns with the fervor of religious converts. Despite being nearly twice the size of even the Snow, they were not much more difficult to actually build, and the exact same skillset needed to produce those quickly applied. As such, when you gave them the authorization to build the Dawns, expecting roughly two rockets, you were pleasantly and thoroughly shocked when they reported that they were nearly done with a third by the end of the quarter.

At this point, you were tempted to just schedule a week off for the Assembly team at the beginning of every quarter. After that, you needed to find other rewards.

Rocket Launches (2 successes)
-[X] Launch 1 R-2 for weather studies, 1 R-3 sounding rocket

The Launch teams found themselves slightly busier this month, launching a second R-3 into space, carrying a mousetronaut much as the first one had. This time, the little creature was placed in an improved launch cushion, its eyes covered with a piece of cloth to keep it calm while its midsection was secured to the cushion with an elastic band. It was hoped that this would keep the mouse from receiving the same injuries its predecessor was still recovering from at the time.

The launch went just as smoothly as the first, lofting the hefty sounding rocket out over the Indian Ocean a short ways, spending most of its delta-V going upwards, reaching a maximum altitude of five hundred kilometers. The nosecone came back to earth several minutes after liftoff, splashing down in the ocean two miles offshore from Mogadishu while a small flotilla of IEC motorboats kept the landing area clear of traffic. Once again, the mousetronaut inside survived, and this one was in far better shape than the first. It had been suspected that on reaching apogee, a moment of weightlessness had caused the first to tumble before the return of gravity smacked it into the less-padded roof of the sphere it rode in. This one had no broken bones and no concussion - merely a bit scared and confused.

The Gale launch scheduled for this quarter saw a Launch team once again shipping itself across the world, this time to Southeast Asia, where with the assistance of their Stormchaser truck they launched a weather studies payload into an out-of-season tropical cyclone. The launch was a success, and the results were of interest to the scientists working on the project. (Continued in Weather Studies Phase 4)

Build a Scientific Complex:
- Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (425/450)

The Sao Paolo facility continued its frenetic construction pace in the second quarter, with the walls going up and the computers it would use installed and tested. A wind tunnel was rapidly constructed on the concrete pad prepared for it last quarter, and deliveries of prototyping equipment were shipped in from factory partners across the planet. By the end of June, the entire complex had been all but completed, with essentially only office furniture and supplies as well as hand tools being needed to call the entire project complete, along with finishing the upgrade to the local power grid required to handle all that high powered gear.

- Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (293/450)

Progress at Long Beach slowed considerably but did not stop, with most of the Facilities department's attention being focused on Sao Paolo's rapid construction. The testing cells were nearing completion, fully enclosed with their control wiring and propellant storage largely routed and finished. The next order of business would be to install Long Beach's Turing computer, and then to add in the fabrication workshop that would allow the scientists and engineers working there to come up with both simple and full models of engines they wanted to test. This, along with the computational resources, would greatly enhance their capabilities in the field of propulsion development.

- Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (273/450)

Mombasa's Computer Science Institute saw its construction pace increase substantially as soon as the preliminary work upgrading the local power and water supplies was complete. The local council and citizens were all very happy about that particular state of affairs, as the IEC had uprated both to about triple their previous capacity, giving the growing city substantial buffers on which to draw, even when the facility was fully complete and drawing its full complement of both. There would need to be a substantial force of engineers and workers to operate the water and the power, but that was very likely to be a problem that would solve itself, and in the meantime the Facilities department was able to handle it along with a detachment from the Reconstruction Ministry.

Turing himself had all but moved to Mombasa already to supervise and advise on the building's construction, though you half suspected he spent most of his time simply enjoying a vacation that you yourself needed to take before much longer.

Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (177/300)

The scientists you put on the Alternative Launch Systems project, you discovered, were very avid readers of science fiction. The first proposal they came to you with was very obviously inspired by the writings of Jules Verne: a giant gun, capable of launching a payload all the way into orbit (with a little help from a rocket motor aboard it to circularize the orbit at the end). It seemed to you to be the height of wackiness to try and build a gun even the Holy Roman Empress, damn her soul, would have blinked twice at. But, they assured you, if the concept worked it would let you put things into space for far, far less money than any rocket you'd ever build.

The next two things they came up with were closely enough related you suspected they were thought of over the same cups of coffee: air and balloon launch. As the names suggested, these were ideas for launching rockets from aircraft and from high altitude balloons, respectively. The thought was that, by getting the rocket above the majority of the atmosphere, they could loft the same payload with a smaller rocket or launch more payload on the same rocket. The exact starting point was the only real difference between the two, save the fact that air launched rockets would be going faster at release.

Next was the thought of the mass driver, which seemed to be the space gun taken to its logical conclusion. By means of electromagnetic propulsion a payload would be accelerated down a multi-kilometer air-evacuated barrel only to exit at incredible speeds high above the thickest part of the atmosphere. It was suggested that one of these could be built up the side of a mountain to save on structural support costs.

Another was a concept lifted directly from the Father of Rocketry himself, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky: the space tower, and the closely related concept of the space elevator. One envisioned a tower, built upward to the heavens like the mythical tower of Babylon; the other envisioned something akin to an elevator in a skyscraper, hung down from the heavens above; a cable upon which a car would ride, taking people and material up for only the price of electricity to run the car, no fuel required.

There were more, so many more, being worked on. They all sounded like fantasy to you, but then you supposed spaceflight itself sounded like fantasy to many. You'd exercise some patience and keep an open mind.

Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase I) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] (152/150)

The first phase of the satellite design program was complete, narrowing the possibilities before you down to three: minimalist, enhanced, maximalist. Each had their own perks and drawbacks; primarily time, cost and mission scope. You had six months to build and fly whatever you chose, and you knew it was very possible to get any of the three built… as long as you were willing to throw enough effort at it.

[ ] Minimalist (lowers progress requirement for Phase 2 to 100, Resource cost to 10R/die, minimal utility (basically just Sputnik))

[ ] Enhanced (retains Phase 2 progress requirement at 200, Resource cost at 15R/die, gain +1 to PHYS, discover Van Allen belts (Explorer I))

[ ] Maximalist (increases Phase 2 progress requirement to 300, Resource cost at 20R/die, gain +1 to PHYS, discover Van Allen belts, use broadcast television technology to gain a live (low resolution) view of Earth for 1 quarter (+PS))

Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (100/200)

The balloon tank research had been off to a promising start, with the Assembly teams sparing a couple of machinists from the Dawn builds to help make test articles. Two test tanks were made; the first was deemed too thick and heavy, though the ballooning process itself was determined to have worked, so a second attempt was made, trying to make the thinnest tank wall possible while preserving structural strength. This actually did turn out right, but when the team went to pressurize it further, the tank inexplicably crumpled inward.

They were quite perplexed for several weeks until it was discovered that the high pressure pump feeding that particular testing cell had been installed backward - so when the team had gone to pressurize it, they had inadvertently sucked all of the pressurant out. As failures went, it wasn't awful, but the test cell's high pressure pump would need to be reconfigured to the correct configuration, which would set the research effort back some time. (Progress reduced to 100/200)

Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase I) [AERO] (407/240), (Phase II) (167/320)

The first jet research program conducted by the IEC largely involved the wind tunnel. Several military jets had been requested and delivered to the program's warehouse, and the first thing that was done to them was clipping their wings. Building new engines and testing them took a while; building a new wing with new geometry took a week or two, installing another week or two, and testing about the same. So, the team decided to test a variety of wing sweeps, looking for the most efficient sweep angles at low and high speed, and then built wings for the test aircraft for flight testing. They acquired the services of experienced pilots willing to do test pilot work, and you heard the first jets rumbling off the flight complex's runway by the end of June.

While some of the team investigating supersonic flight were dealing with wings, others were at the drawing board, putting together designs for higher-speed, higher-thrust jet engines to be tested next, and beginning to prototype and test them. These would need additional work, but the hope was that they would be able to begin doing aircraft-mounted engine testing soon.

Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (118/240)

The weather studies program was revived this quarter after reports of a building storm in Southeast Asia sparked the curiosity of your scientists, and by the time the call came in from local universities in the area requesting a Gale launch, you were able to tell them that your Stormchaser was already in the area and setting up for a shot.

After the launch, a team took a small ship out to the landing zone of the rocket's detached payload. They found the bobbing nosecone by following the trail of dye a canister in the nosecone was dripping into the ocean and recovered it. Their data told them interesting things about the temperature and pressure gradients the rocket had experienced as it flew, but they couldn't help but wish there was a better way to get these measurements.

Rocket Boxes (Phase 4) (462/450)

The Rocket Box program drew to a temporary close as the South American distribution effort kicked into full swing. With that done, all a school had to do was request a Box and it would be delivered within a week or two, regardless of where on the continent the school was. At this point, it was possible to leave managing the program on the continent to the Outreach department to do while IEC attention was diverted elsewhere.

While North America and Europe hadn't yet been added to the program, you judged that as one was home to an active warzone and the other had the material capability to acquire its own material, they could wait for the time being. They would be added, in time, but now was not the right time.

Creative Sponsorships (10R per die, 141/400)

The Outreach department started off their new initiative by putting it out in papers the world over that the IEC was looking for writers, filmmakers and musicians to partner with in creating 'inspiring, exciting and or educational books, movies and music intended to drive a passion for science and exploration in the coming generations.'

Naturally, they did receive just about as many applications for the program as physically possible. Sorting through the mail to find the first, best applicants to go forward with would take some time, but already some were standouts, such as one Isaac Asimov. He had written several short stories already, and had even published novels; among the people working for you already, he was quite popular. You weren't entirely sure what it was the Outreach department's people would arrange with him, but you assumed it would be another book.

Advanced Concepts Office

"Currently working on Alternative Launch Systems ideas; nothing new yet. The espresso machine has been greatly appreciated. Must forbid Mr. Parsons from drinking more than two per day. Still rebuilding engine testing cell from the last time."

Shadows · Feb 11, 2024

It seemed as if the IEC could only pick up steam, or so you thought, as summer arrived with its abominable humidity once again. Which, truthfully, made any thoughts of 'steam' whatsoever less than pleasant, given that you generally felt as if you were walking around inside a particularly large boiler. Oh well.

The good news was, of course, that the satellite program was nearing its end, and soon the Cooperative would be able to fully justify its existence to the world. It had been a near thing, the decision on what satellite variant to use - for a while, it seemed as if the engineers would go all-out with it, giving it every bell and whistle they could stuff inside the mass budget. In the end, the middle-road variant won out, and now all there was to do was build the thing and stick it atop a Dawn.

You couldn't wait.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

EAST ASIA - The Councils of East Asia have given a press release stating that the Coastal Spine Railway is nearing the quarter completion mark, with limited service connected between stops that would eventually be linked into the greater network. This new railway is expected to enable greater ease of movement and greater feats of industry in the region as travel times and costs are dropped greatly.

MOMBASA - The IEC is nearing completion on a sprawling computing science complex in Mombasa, where teams of scientists lead by Dr. Alan Turing will advance humanity's knowledge of how to better make and use these thinking machines…

SAO PAOLO - The Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre is all but complete, local officials and IEC spokespeople report. The project to build out the centre expanded even out to the local utilities, and the city of Sao Paolo now boasts the most advanced water and power infrastructure on the South American continent…

Resources:
0R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
59 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
3 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (25000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Ministry of Agriculture (5%)
-Subministry for Forestry
-Subministry for Aquaculture and Fishing
Ministry of Transportation (10%)
-Subministry for Sea Travel
-Subministry for Road and Rail
-Subministry for Air Travel
Ministry of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Subministry for Occupational Health and Safety
Ministry of Energy (8%)
Ministry of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (27.4%)
Ministry of Health and Welfare (24%)
Ministry of Education (17%)

Discretionary Funding (3.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 5
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 8
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 8

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 7
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 14
Partisan Activity: 7 (-)

South America
Education: 5
Electrification: 6
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

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)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +9
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +3
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
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 Ukraine within 10 years~~.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1955):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Operations (5 dice, +3 bonus) (1 type of Rocket may be built at a time)

[ ] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)
-[ ] And do a recon launch in the North American conflict (gains launch experience)

[ ] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for two years, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (20R per dice, 19/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. It's a sizeable rocket, but thankfully you have a sizeable pad to launch it from. Unfortunately, it won't ever fit on a Stormchaser. (25R per dice, 7/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you) (Unlocks Weather Observation Campaigns)

[] Construct an R-4 Dawn - The first Orbital-class rocket, the Dawn is capable of lifting 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit. It may be able to do more, in time, but for now that would suffice. It can only launch on the Heavy Sounding Pad or heavier, as yet unbuilt ones. (35R per dice, 69/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete)
-[ ] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
–[ ] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)
–[ ] First Satellite

[ ] Construct a Prototype Spaceplane -

Facilities (8 dice, +10 bonus)

(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 0/350, changes 2 Build Capacity to 1 Program slot, enabling campaigns to be run 'in the background', passively gaining experience and science, +3 Build Capacity)

[ ] Expand the Launch Complex - You have two launch pads (one of which has gone entirely unused, so far) but, soon enough, you expect to need additional pads to account for the maintenance and upgrades the existing ones will certainly need. Getting a head start on that need may be a good idea. (20R per die, 0/350, gain two 500t launch pads)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (425/450)
-[] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (293/450)
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (0/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (273/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (0/450)

[ ] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) - The first stage of Tracking Stations rolls out the facilities along the equator as best as possible where land exists, and deals with constructing the first of the fleet of tracking vessels the IEC will need to cover all those thousands of square kilometers where there is no land to be had. Thanks to the decision to use converted warships for the base of the tracking vessels, the process will be somewhat quicker, though also more expensive. (30R per die, 183/350, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

Engineering (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Prototype Spaceplane - Your spaceplane enthusiasts returned to your office with another proposal, building off the back of the design studies they had undertaken through the winter of 1954. Their desire was to create a crewed 'space' plane that would be towed behind or carried underneath a carrier aircraft, be released, and activate a rocket engine that would take it up over the Karman line. It would have a multitude of sensors, of course, and would also need air supplies and likely a heated flight suit to keep the pilot alive and able to work. (0/300, 15R per dice)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 177/300, ???)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase II) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] - With your first orbital-class rocket nearing design lock, it's time to start thinking about what will go in it. Some are thinking small - essentially a bucket of batteries and a radio transmitting a fixed signal that would nevertheless allow some important science to be done - while others are… somewhat more grandiose. Radiation detection experiments are chief among those.
(Phase II, 15R per dice) (2/200) <- Construction of prototype complete (unlocks First-Generation Science Satellite)

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 100/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

[ ] Lifting Body - Work with the Wind Tunnel and on the Spaceplane studies had revealed a new configuration for air- and spacecraft fuselage design - the concept of the lifting body, where the wing area was minimized to reduce drag at high speeds, with the body itself providing the lifting force used. While not terribly useful for aircraft, it was potentially very useful for spacecraft design. (10R per die, 0/150)

[ ] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies - Now that initial work had been completed verifying that, at the lab scale, nuclear energy could be used to generate power, now it was time to actually forward that knowledge into a practical, useful form. It would not be cheap, but, hopefully, it would be worth it. (25R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Terrestrial Fission Power Plants for the world, leads to Radioisotope Thermal Generators, 2nd Generation Terrestrial Fission Plants, 1st Generation Space-rated Fission Plants)

[ ] Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies - A side-effect of the nuclear power studies lead to several of your researchers realizing that the heat a reactor produced could be harnessed for things other than turning a turbine. By passing propellant over a reactor's core housing you would cool the core and heat the propellant alike - and the propellant would be very hot indeed, making it an attractive candidate for being flung out the back of the spacecraft at extremely high speeds. (20R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for spacecraft)

Science (4 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] - Better alloys and manufacturing techniques would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. A fair deal of research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 4/300, provides access to new manufacturing techniques)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 2) [AERO] - With the initial testing of wing geometries underway, your scientists and engineers are wanting to move ahead with engine testing, and are just about ready to put a prototype in a plane and see how it flies with either and both improvements. (15R per die, requires a completed Hangar Complex and Runway to finish, can be started without, 167/320)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] - With the weather observation program started, keeping it going is now almost a given. The returns have been very valuable for the meteorological community at large, and the PAO has received numerous calls from various localities across the globe asking for the IEC to put up instruments where they are, each hoping to reap the rewards of more accurate weather prediction. (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 118/240) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Atomic-powered Ground Launch Concept Studies - The idea of in-space nuclear propulsion, brought down to Earth. This program would study the possibilities for using nuclear power to get from the surface to space, both directly and indirectly. (10R per die, 0/300, -5PS on start, and an additional -10 on completion)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

[ ] Propagandize for Nuclear Power - As the IEC has gained more and more knowledge on the subject of nuclear power, it's become apparent that if you want to put this knowledge to good use for humanity, you'll need to start working against the (justified) stigma nuclear as a whole has in order to realize its full potential. (-2PS per die) (0/???)

[ ] Propagandize for Space - Now that you've gotten your first orbital class rocket (and soon your first satellite), now is the best time to start touting the benefits of space exploration and access to space to the public. You'll need to find ways of engaging everyone in the idea, and there was no better time to start than now. (5R per die) (0/???)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 5) - The fourth phase of Rocket Box deployment has completed across South America and the Pacific Islands. Next up is Europe; it needs the program probably the least of all the regions under the World Council, but it would be unadvised to not extend it anyway. New factories will be built for the motors and parts in Europe, which should ease logistics in the area. (5R per die, 0/250. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Europe. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Creative Sponsorships - A junior physicist has made the suggestion that by sponsoring the work of fiction authors (particularly science fiction), interest in space, science, and the IEC could be generated outside the bounds of colleges and classrooms. This sparked another suggestion from one of the Outreach department's people - broaden the sponsorship from simply authors to filmmakers and more traditional artists as well. This would help reach even more people than before, they thought. (10R per die, 141/400) (-5R per turn when done, provides additional variable passive PS income and can result in shuffled costs and requests at World Council meetings.)

[ ] Accepting Submissions - The idea has been suggested to you while meeting with your lead scientists and engineers that it might be of value to solicit the public for ideas of what might be done in space, providing something of an auxiliary for the Advanced Concepts Office. Ninety-nine percent of what you receive will be of no use to you, half a percent will be interesting but impossible, and the last half… might just have something to it. That's the estimate, anyway. (1 dice to activate)

[ ] University Rocket Competitions - Now that Rocket Boxes are widely distributed all over the world, there are a number of rocketry clubs at universities everywhere (including the places that did not as yet have Rocket Box coverage). A competition, where the teams design and build their own rockets and then come together to see who did the best in various categories would be an interesting way of keeping interest in the IEC up and scouting for future members. (5R per dice, 0/240)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (56/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn and -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)

[ ] The Right Stuff - With work underway on several programs that would require the services of skilled and courageous pilots, you would soon need to begin finding them so they could be integrated into the IEC - and someday, they would become your first astronauts. (0/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Feb 17, 2024

[X] Plan: (Lightly) Inflated & Ready for Launch
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (35R per dice, 69/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete) (3 dice)
--[X] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload) (2 dice)
---[X] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)
---[X] Advanced latex envelope (spare weather balloon) inflated via technologically-mature capillary action-delayed release fluid reservoir (a fountain pen full of water with a notch cut out of the cap) as an orbital payload mass simulator
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex (25R per die)
--[X] Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (425/450) (1 Die )
--[X] Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (293/450) (3 Dice
--[X] Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (273/450) (3 Dice)
-[X] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) (30R per die, 183/350) (1 die)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase II) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] (15R per dice, 2/200) (5 dice)
-[X] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 2) [AERO] (15R per die, 167/320) (3 dice)
-[X] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (10R per die, 118/240) (1 die)
-[X] Propagandize for Nuclear Power (-2PS per die) (0/???) (2 dice)
-[X] Accepting Submissions (1 die)

Penelope wanted to chew her nails nervously as she stood in the control bunker, the humidity and heat of the late-September morning blocked somewhat by the fact that the bunker was partially recessed underground. Through a narrow slit of armored glass, she could see a Dawn rocket, second of its type to stand on that pad, its first stage painted ocean-blue and its upper stage and fairing, respectively, painted black and red as had been decided by the Council. She had tried to tell them that the IEC's scientists recommended white for thermal control reasons, but that had been rejected, and so it was done. To her right she could see a small cluster of color televisions mounted along a wall, showing multiple angles of the launch pad taken by mounted cameras placed around the launch complex, capturing every moment in living color.

Penelope wanted to pace and fret while the waiting stretched on, but she was kept frightfully still by the dozing toddler in her arms, much as her partner was as she stood beside her. Penelope shared a bemused glance with her and got a wry smile in return. "Relax," the love of her life whispered.

So she tried. But she didn't know just how much longer she could keep this up.

There was at least some chatter in the room as controllers reported the statuses of the aspects of the rocket and the launch they were overseeing - fuel fill status, temperatures, guidance, the works. But as the time ticked towards zero even these seemed to be muted, as if they were all holding their breath.

"T-minus thirty seconds to launch." Five words set her heart to racing and made her jump ever so slightly where she stood, which woke the aforementioned toddler up, grumbling and complaining. Penelope absently patted the tyke's back, but it seemed she didn't want to go back to sleep, rubbing at one eye with a skinny fist as she looked about blearily.

"Twenty seconds." Somewhere out past the gate leading into the space center you knew that there was a speaker relaying the countdown for the gathered crowd of thousands of onlookers. People from across the world had made the trek - mostly Councillors, but others besides - and by far the largest contingent was from the city itself. Please just work, Penelope thought to herself. Just work.

"Ten." Her attempts to keep herself calm evaporated as her heart leapt in her throat.

"Nine." The child in her arms was looking around with a mix of confusion and curiosity that only a child could truly achieve.

"Eight." Penelope turned a bit to point the tot's eyes towards the rocket. "Lookit," she whispered. "It's going to fly!"

"Seven." - "But… it doesn't have wings?" the kid asked, confused.

"Six."

"Five." - "Just watch. You'll see."

"Four."

"Three."- "Main engines start." - The array of igniters around the base of the rocket provided a brief spark that bloomed into a roaring flame, blown into shock diamonds.

"Two." - "Thrust nominal." - The diamonds steadied, too bright to look at even from here.

"One." - "Releasing hold-down clamps."

"We have liftoff!" - "It's flying!"

The Dawn lumbered off the pad, picking up speed with every second; the thunderous roar of four propane-burning engines filled the air, billowing out like the cloud of dust from the bottom of the launch mount. It flew true, though not straight; after just a short while the rocket began to lean in the direction of the Earth's rotation, picking up horizontal velocity as it tipped over to achieve the speed necessary to make orbit.

The engineers in the room jumped out of their seats and cheered, some of them racing out of the bunker to look up; the six flight controllers diligently stayed in their seats, monitoring the rocket's progress. Penelope followed the engineers with an armful of wonderstruck toddler and shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the bright, loud dot racing into the heavens.

"Where is it going?" the girl asked.

"It's going to outer space." Penelope told her, and was rewarded with a tiny gasp.

"Wow!"

"Wow!" Penelope agreed with a smile.

"Are there people in it?" the little one asked. Penelope chuckled softly.

"No, not yet."

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

MOGADISHU - THE INTERPLANETARY EXPLORATION COOPERATIVE LAUNCHES SATELLITE INTO ORBIT - On September 26th, the IEC successfully launched the world's first artificial satellite, the Curiosity I. This one-hundred-twenty kilogram sphere, carrying batteries, antennas, and scientific equipment, is currently orbiting the earth at an altitude of five-hundred kilometers or more, transmitting data to ground stations across the equator…

MOMBASA - IEC computer science facility completes - IEC construction crews have put the finishing touches on the Mombasa Computer Science Institute, whose staff is now beginning to arrive from around the world, comprised of the brightest minds on the planet. Dr. Alan Turing, the head of the new facility, has stated that after the start of the new year, classes will be offered at the facility in the operation, construction and maintenance of high-powered electronic computers, with the local populace prioritized for access…

SAO PAOLO - IEC brings aerodynamics lab online - The lights in Sao Paolo are burning steady and bright, thanks to power system upgrades provided by the IEC in order to support their new aerodynamics laboratory. These were made necessary by the power requirements of the on-site computing equipment and the wind tunnels located there, but the upgrades provided go far beyond the needs of the facility itself in order to provide for the area in which it resides…

LONG BEACH - Rocket engines heard across city - A new IEC facility in Long Beach became operational yesterday, hosting its inaugural engine test campaign in the early afternoon. The thunder of powerful engines could be heard all across the city, and even beyond in the right conditions…

NORTH AMERICA - FAS forces continue to retreat south - The FAS is seemingly in full flight southwards as the armies arrayed against them continue to make gains. Their southward flight is being matched by a northward march by Councilist-aligned armies coming up from South and Central America…

Resources:
5R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
55 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (30000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Ministry of Agriculture (5%)
-Subministry for Forestry
-Subministry for Aquaculture and Fishing
Ministry of Transportation (10%)
-Subministry for Sea Travel
-Subministry for Road and Rail
-Subministry for Air Travel
Ministry of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Subministry for Occupational Health and Safety
Ministry of Energy (8%)
Ministry of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (27.4%)
Ministry of Health and Welfare (24%)
Ministry of Education (17%)

Discretionary Funding (3.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 6 (+) (Gas power plant construction, electrification intensifies)
Industry: 7 (+) (New refinery complexes)
Infrastructure: 7 (+) (Railroad construction, local road pavement, water supply expansions)
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7 (+) (Mombasa Computer Science Institute)
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 10 (+) (Rural school programs)
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 9 (+) (Rural school programs)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 7 (-)

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 9 (+) (Rebuilt industrial facilities come online)
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 8 (+) (Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex)
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 14
Partisan Activity: 7 (-)

South America
Education: 6 (+) (Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre)
Electrification: 7 (+) (Electrification intensifies)
Industry: 7 (+) (New metalworks, mining)
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

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)

Scientific Advances
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.
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.)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
PROP - +14

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 Ukraine within 10 years~~.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 1 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful rocket launch.

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1954):
Build the Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex X2
Build the Mombasa AND Sao Paolo Scientific Complexes
Build the Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre by 1955Q1.
Conduct Satellite Design Studies and launch the satellite before 1955Q1.
Conduct Jet Research (Phase 2) X2
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Construct an R-4 Dawn (100/120) (1 rocket complete)

The Assembly team seemed to have finally learned the word 'moderation' at some point during the last year, as they took a somewhat more sedate approach to building rockets this quarter. Of course, that meant they 'only' finished one rocket and three-quarters finished a second, and these rockets were, of course, orbital-class, larger than the Bedens, Gales and Snows by half again at least. The speed with which they worked did not come at the cost of quality, either; they had built 4 Dawns at this pace… and thus far, when launched, those rockets had been one-hundred percent successful, by the end of quarter.

Rocket Launches (2 successes)

The first of the two launches this quarter received vastly less fanfare than the second did, but was, in some ways, no less important. On the morning of the 1st of August 1954, humanity's first orbital-class rocket tore away from the launchpad at the Mogadishu Space Centre, racing into a mostly clear (if humid) blue sky with wispy upper-atmosphere clouds in attendance. It carried little more than a heavy sounding payload, not dissimilar from what might be flown in an R-3 (though actually lighter, because of the tyranny of the rocket equation meaning that the orbital rocket needed to trim weight where possible). It arced out over the Indian Ocean, tracked by the partially-complete network of tracking stations that would one day soon span the whole of the Earth's equator (though not continuously, given the need to refuel the tracking ships), and achieved orbital velocity roughly seven minutes into flight, with the onboard avionics and the tracking stations combined data pointing towards a successful orbital insertion.

At that point, the deorbit command was sent; a few minutes later, as the upper stage's trajectory continued past inhabited areas, a series of small solid motors placed facing opposite the direction of travel fired and lowered its perigee inside the Earth's atmosphere once more. Approximately thirty minutes later, the stage burned up over the Pacific as it re-entered, having successfully completed its mission.

This success set the stage for the second Dawn launch of the quarter, this time carrying a far, far more important payload...

Build a Scientific Complex
- Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (AERO) [CPAL, Int(C)] (485/450)

The Aerodynamics Centre completed in late September, just shy of the launch of the IEC's first satellite. With its impressive suite of computers, wind tunnels and workshops, it is fully expected to greatly benefit the IEC in the future as new, more powerful rockets and other craft are in need of study. In the meantime, it also serves the dual function of teaching new aeronautical engineers in South America as a whole, using state of the art techniques, as well as allowing aircraft building organizations from across the world to have a place to test their own designs.

- Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (PROP) [Int(D),UWF] (516/450)

The Long Beach complex finished in early September, and nigh-immediately began testing new rocket engines. Granted, the initial test runs were done using the Dawn's engine, to measure the difference between the laboratory equipment in Mogadishu and the new, state-of-the-art equipment here, as a way of calibrating it. Soon, however, all-new designs began to be proposed and prototyped.

- Mombasa Computer Science Institute (COMP) [CPAL] (515/450)

The Mombasa Computer Science Institute finished in late August and opened its doors to its first computation experiments on the first of September, along with its first class of hopefuls looking to become computer scientists alongside Dr. Turing and his compatriots in the Computer Science division. There was no one, quite, who did what they did; so, there was nowhere else someone wanting to learn on the bleeding edge of that field would want to go.

Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) (288/350)

A line of tracking stations (and tracking ships, when the need arose) now stretched from Mogadishu to Quito to the east, and to Kampala to the west. This provided a near-continuous band of coverage around the equator of the Earth, and the remainder of the stations were under construction even as the quarter ended. Soon that band would form the backbone of data transmission to and from your satellites, and from there be branched out to the north and to the south for when you began servicing the other latitudes.

Conduct Design Studies (First Satellite) (Phase II) [PHYS, FUEL, COMP] (256/200) (75 on deployment)

The Curiosity I, as the satellite came to be named, was finished in late August, fitted with a hefty payload of batteries and communications equipment, along with a geiger counter intended to measure the radiation environment over time while in orbit. It would transmit its data back to Earth, where the ground stations would measure its altitude via radio ranging.

It was loaded aboard the rocket it would ride to orbit two days prior to the rocket being lifted vertical on the launch pad, and its ride-along experiment was double checked before the fairing was closed with explosive bolts.

The launch was absolutely perfectly nominal, with the satellite being placed into an equatorial orbit roughly seven-and-a-half minutes after lift-off. While the more complicated electronics aboard the satellite were conducting their check-ins with ground control, the secondary payload found itself released, a hundred-meter length of fishing line keeping it loosely connected to the Curiosity I. The payload, which was, put simply, a mylar balloon wrapped around a pen filled with water, was dubbed Yasin's Big Balloon, after the person who suggested the idea to the IEC. Slowly, water leaked from the pen and into the balloon, which, heated by the sun, turned the water to steam, which filled the balloon; it was, when fully inflated, considerably larger than the Curiosity I itself, and provided an excellent radar target for tracking the satellite.

With a nominal launch, orbital insertion, and payload deployment, within days the Curiosity I discovered bands of intense radiation that it dipped in and out of as it flew in its ellipsoid orbit around the Earth. One of your scientists, James van Allen, theorized that the bands were caused by ionized particles coming off the sun being trapped by the Earth's powerful magnetic field. It would require additional study, but for the time being, his conjecture was panning out.

And all the while, while the IEC was doing science and celebrating their success, anyone who could look up across the whole of the Earth's equator could see a brand new, fast, artificial star zip across the heavens at night...

Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 2) [AERO] (467/320) (Phase 3) (147/640)

The jet research was paying off already. With a second quarter of funding, the scientists and engineers there pressed forward with their new engine prototypes, implementing new alloys and construction methods in the turbines' construction, enabling them to survive higher speeds without melting. It was also discovered that if fuel was injected into the exhaust stream after it had passed through the combustion chamber, the fuel would ignite and provide substantial additional thrust. It was inherently inefficient and wasteful, but these 'afterburners' enabled much higher speeds for short periods of time. This was an idea that would certainly be of interest to the parties currently fighting the FAS in North America, but on a personal level you didn't much care about it.

You supposed it might be good for an air launch system, one day, though.

Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (146/240)

With a (relatively quiet) hurricane/typhoon season this year (so far, anyway), there wasn't a lot of opportunity to study new and interesting weather phenomena, so much of the work was on the back end, going through old data and comparing what was known now to what what known when it was taken and seeing what might be learned with new knowledge applied to it. This, too, was valuable in the scientific endeavor;

Propagandize for Nuclear Power (-2PS per die) (100/???)

Your efforts to begin counteracting the (understandable) pall over nuclear science that nuclear war had cast over it were… mixed, at best, but neither did they go badly, which was a blessing. It wasn't as if you went straight to the populace, of course; first, you had to develop your exact approach to the subject, and then you tested it on the world's most willing subjects - Councilors. You approached representatives from cities that were still in the process of being reclaimed and rebuilt, and laid out your case, asking them to hold judgement until you'd said your peace. The Bomb had devastated the lives of tens of millions through direct and indirect means; clearly, the power of the Atom was a potent and unforgiving one when misused. But there were uses to which it could be put that would be peaceful, that would benefit the world - nuclear power, and nuclear medicine.

You pointed to the IEC's own preliminary studies on nuclear power, and numerous medical journal papers describing the ways in which radioactive isotopes could be used to treat illnesses, rather than cause them (well, so long as they were administered correctly). You pointed out the strengths, weaknesses, and risks; there was zero point attempting to fluff those aspects of nuclear power and nuclear technology. By the end of it, you thought you'd made some headway with them. If you could get them on board with the idea, you could take that idea more broadly and begin working with the many, many people of the world who held a justified fear of that incredible power.

Accepting Submissions

The IEC began accepting public submissions for ideas and proposals at the beginning of the quarter.

This, promptly, required you to double your mailroom staff in order to deal with the influx of letters from the world over, and train the sorters you had also hired in spotting what ideas were quite literally physically impossible and those which were worth passing on to the scientific offices. Others got redirected to Outreach; there were quite a few ideas for things like movies and books submitted, and your efforts with the creative community might benefit from having an index of prompts to spark their creativity with.

Advanced Concepts Office

Photovoltaic Investigations - Batteries are all well and good for powering spacecraft, but are also heavy and do not generate power on their own - once they're discharged, they're done. Your scientists suggest that by utilizing the photovoltaic effect, it might be possible to power spacecraft with it. (4 turns, 1 Science dice locked; 20R per turn)

(Projects that require locked dice can be unlocked at any time, but progress will not be made without a dice locked in.)

Shadows · Feb 18, 2024

Following most of a week of celebrations of varying intensity, Penelope found herself back in her office once more on the first day of another new quarter, with a raft of proposals on her desk.

One thing that certainly hasn't changed, that.

She started in on her work, and neither her daughters nor that little ball in the sky bleeping out radio signals were ever far from her mind, and both the most important things in her world for the time being. The latter, of course, would leave; the Curiosity I would deorbit some time next year and burn up somewhere, hopefully completely, before it hit the ground or ocean.

For the first time in quite a long time, there were no promises of any variety pulling on the IEC; they had complete freedom of action to choose what they wanted to pursue... for a quarter, at least.

Resources:
450R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
69 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (30000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Ministry of Agriculture (5%)
-Subministry for Forestry
-Subministry for Aquaculture and Fishing
Ministry of Transportation (10%)
-Subministry for Sea Travel
-Subministry for Road and Rail
-Subministry for Air Travel
Ministry of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Subministry for Occupational Health and Safety
Ministry of Energy (8%)
Ministry of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (27.4%)
Ministry of Health and Welfare (24%)
Ministry of Education (17%)

Discretionary Funding (3.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 5
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity:

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 14
Partisan Activity: 7

South America
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 5
Electrification: 5
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

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)

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 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.
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.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
PROP - +14

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 Ukraine within 10 years~~.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 2 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful orbital rocket launch. [UPGRADED]

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1955):
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Operations (5 dice, +3 bonus) (1 type of Rocket may be built at a time)

[ ] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)
-[ ] And do a recon launch in the North American conflict (gains launch experience)

[ ] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for two years, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (20R per dice, 19/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. It's a sizeable rocket, but thankfully you have a sizeable pad to launch it from. Unfortunately, it won't ever fit on a Stormchaser. (25R per dice, 7/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you) (Unlocks Weather Observation Campaigns)

[] Construct an R-4 Dawn - The first Orbital-class rocket, the Dawn is capable of lifting 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit. It may be able to do more, in time, but for now that would suffice. It can only launch on the Heavy Sounding Pad or heavier, as yet unbuilt ones. (35R per dice, 100/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete)
-[ ] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
–[ ] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)
–[ ] Curiosity-class Satellite (+25 progress requirement) - Used primarily for earth-orbit science.

~~[ ] Construct a Prototype Spaceplane -~~

Facilities (8 dice, +10 bonus)

(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 0/350, +1 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot (runs repeatables in the background))

[ ] Expand the Launch Complex - You have two launch pads (one of which has gone entirely unused, so far) but, soon enough, you expect to need additional pads to account for the maintenance and upgrades the existing ones will certainly need. Getting a head start on that need may be a good idea. (20R per die, 0/350, gain two 500t launch pads)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (0/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (0/450)

[ ] Tracking Station Construction (Phase I) - The first stage of Tracking Stations rolls out the facilities along the equator as best as possible where land exists, and deals with constructing the first of the fleet of tracking vessels the IEC will need to cover all those thousands of square kilometers where there is no land to be had. Thanks to the decision to use converted warships for the base of the tracking vessels, the process will be somewhat quicker, though also more expensive. (30R per die, 288/350, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

[ ] Spacefarer Training Facilities - Should the IEC wish to fly humans into space, it will need a place to train them for their missions, and ready their bodies for the rigors of flying on a rocket. (15R per dice, 0/300) (+2 CREW) (will have projects to expand it later for new capabilities, enables crew to be trained for basic LEO flight)

Engineering (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Rudimentary Heat Shielding [MATSCI] - Currently, you now have the ability to put things into space. But what if you want to get them back? Your engineers have some ideas they've floated past your materials scientists, and they're asking for time and space at Dnipro to do some investigations. (2 turns, 1 locked dice, 15R per turn)

[ ] Observation Satellites - Now that we can put things in space, we should branch out what we're doing with them. The chief request of your weather scientists (and those elsewhere) is the ability to observe storms forming in real time, and while weather radar has been greatly helpful, it doesn't reach everywhere it needs to and would be far more uneconomical besides. By sticking a television camera and an antenna on a satellite, perhaps you could do something about this. (6 turns, 1 locked dice, 15R per turn)

[ ] Human-rated Rocketry - Satellites would certainly be useful for many things that you didn't want to spend precious human time on, nor deal with the constraints involved in getting them back. But, should the need arise, it would be a good idea to develop a way to get a human into space, then orbit, and back, alive. (8 turns, 1 locked dice, 20R per turn)

[ ] Prototype Spaceplane - Your spaceplane enthusiasts returned to your office with another proposal, building off the back of the design studies they had undertaken through the winter of 1954. Their desire was to create a crewed 'space' plane that would be towed behind or carried underneath a carrier aircraft, be released, and activate a rocket engine that would take it up over the Karman line. It would have a multitude of sensors, of course, and would also need air supplies and likely a heated flight suit to keep the pilot alive and able to work. (0/300, 15R per dice)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 177/300, ???)

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 100/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

[ ] Lifting Body - Work with the Wind Tunnel and on the Spaceplane studies had revealed a new configuration for air- and spacecraft fuselage design - the concept of the lifting body, where the wing area was minimized to reduce drag at high speeds, with the body itself providing the lifting force used. While not terribly useful for aircraft, it was potentially very useful for spacecraft design. (10R per die, 0/150)

[ ] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies - Now that initial work had been completed verifying that, at the lab scale, nuclear energy could be used to generate power, now it was time to actually forward that knowledge into a practical, useful form. It would not be cheap, but, hopefully, it would be worth it. (8 turns, 1 locked dice, 25R per turn, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Terrestrial Fission Power Plants for the world, leads to Radioisotope Thermal Generators, 2nd Generation Terrestrial Fission Plants, 1st Generation Space-rated Fission Plants)

[ ] Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies - A side-effect of the nuclear power studies lead to several of your researchers realizing that the heat a reactor produced could be harnessed for things other than turning a turbine. By passing propellant over a reactor's core housing you would cool the core and heat the propellant alike - and the propellant would be very hot indeed, making it an attractive candidate for being flung out the back of the spacecraft at extremely high speeds. (20R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for spacecraft)

(Projects that require locked dice can be unlocked at any time, but progress will not be made without a dice locked in.)

Science (4 dice, +6 Bonus to All)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 0/150, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] - Better alloys and manufacturing techniques would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. A fair deal of research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 4/300, provides access to new manufacturing techniques)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) [AERO] - Basic testing has been completed, and interesting phenomena observed when experimenting with the engines that have been built. More can be done, of course. (15R per die, requires a completed Hangar Complex and Runway to finish, can be started without, 147/640)

[ ] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] - With the weather observation program started, keeping it going is now almost a given. The returns have been very valuable for the meteorological community at large, and the PAO has received numerous calls from various localities across the globe asking for the IEC to put up instruments where they are, each hoping to reap the rewards of more accurate weather prediction. (10R per die, requires a 2-Stage Sounding Rocket, requires Mobile Launch Operations, 146/240) (+5 PS on complete)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Atomic-powered Ground Launch Concept Studies - The idea of in-space nuclear propulsion, brought down to Earth. This program would study the possibilities for using nuclear power to get from the surface to space, both directly and indirectly. (10R per die, 0/300, -5PS on start, and an additional -10 on completion)

[ ] Photovoltaic Investigations - Batteries are all well and good for powering spacecraft, but are also heavy and do not generate power on their own - once they're discharged, they're done. Your scientists suggest that by utilizing the photovoltaic effect, it might be possible to power spacecraft with it. (4 turns, 1 Science dice locked; 20R per turn)

(Projects that require locked dice can be unlocked at any time, but progress will not be made without a dice locked in.)

Politics (3 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

[ ] Propagandize for Nuclear Power - As the IEC has gained more and more knowledge on the subject of nuclear power, it's become apparent that if you want to put this knowledge to good use for humanity, you'll need to start working against the (justified) stigma nuclear as a whole has in order to realize its full potential. (-2PS per die) (100/???)

[ ] Propagandize for Space - Now that you've gotten your first orbital class rocket (and soon your first satellite), now is the best time to start touting the benefits of space exploration and access to space to the public. You'll need to find ways of engaging everyone in the idea, and there was no better time to start than now. (5R per die) (0/???)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 5) - The fourth phase of Rocket Box deployment has completed across South America and the Pacific Islands. Next up is Europe; it needs the program probably the least of all the regions under the World Council, but it would be unadvised to not extend it anyway. New factories will be built for the motors and parts in Europe, which should ease logistics in the area. (5R per die, 0/250. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Europe. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Creative Sponsorships - A junior physicist has made the suggestion that by sponsoring the work of fiction authors (particularly science fiction), interest in space, science, and the IEC could be generated outside the bounds of colleges and classrooms. This sparked another suggestion from one of the Outreach department's people - broaden the sponsorship from simply authors to filmmakers and more traditional artists as well. This would help reach even more people than before, they thought. (10R per die, 141/400) (-5R per turn when done, provides additional variable passive PS income and can result in shuffled costs and requests at World Council meetings.)

[ ] University Rocket Competitions - Now that Rocket Boxes are widely distributed all over the world, there are a number of rocketry clubs at universities everywhere (including the places that did not as yet have Rocket Box coverage). A competition, where the teams design and build their own rockets and then come together to see who did the best in various categories would be an interesting way of keeping interest in the IEC up and scouting for future members. (20R to activate)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (56/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn and -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice, +5 to Facilities rolls)

[ ] The Right Stuff - With work underway on several programs that would require the services of skilled and courageous pilots, you would soon need to begin finding them so they could be integrated into the IEC - and someday, they would become your first astronauts. (0/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Feb 23, 2024

[X] Plan Magic Carpet Riders
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn - (69/120+25) 3 dice, 105R
--[X] And launch it - 2 die
---[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (+25 progress requirement)
-[X] Expand the Assembly Complex 3 dice 60R
-[X] Tracking Station Construction (Phase 1) - (288/350) 2 dice 60R
-[X] Spacefarer Training Facilities 2 die 30R
-[X] Rudimentary Heat Shielding [MATSCI] - 1 die 15R [LOCKED
-[X] Observation Satellites - 1 die 15R [LOCKED]
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry - 1 die 20R [LOCKED]
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - (100/200) 1 die 15R
-[X] Lifting Body 1 die 10R
-[X] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] 2 dice 30R
-[X] Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] 1 die 10R
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations -1 die 20R [LOCKED]
-[X] Propagandize for Space - (0/???) 2 dice 10R
-[X] The Right Stuff -1 die 5R

The last quarter of 1954 was one of alternating rest and frantic work, as everyone was given a solid month off, to be used in rotating shifts, where they were free to do whatever they pleased, wherever they pleased to. One of the perks of having a flight complex now was that the IEC had acquired a trio of airliners that could be flown aboard by any IEC personnel to wherever they were headed, with a set schedule of flights posted in the cafeteria at the beginning of each quarter. This enabled those whose homelands were far away from Mogadishu to travel there in comfort and at speed - which, in December, included you, your partner, and your children, bound for New England and an introduction to your parents. Which was not, in any way, terrifying.

(It was.)

When you returned to Mogadishu at the end of December, happy to escape the worst of that northern winter, you had the unenviable task of transitioning straight from vacation mode to World Council prep for January. You didn't regret a thing… though the travel lag was atrocious.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

MOGADISHU - IEC aces second satellite launch, has issues on-orbit - The recent launch of a second Curiosity satellite into orbit went smoothly, lifting off on November 1st and cleanly lifting itself into space. The satellite, however, ran into some variety of issue, and has ceased operation since…

NORTH AMERICA - FAS forces accept the given terms of surrender after crushing defeat - After a crushing defeat in the Battle of San Antonio, the Free American States have officially dissolved and disbanded their army, upon receiving a surrender demand from the combined forces of the free world encircling them. This marks an end to the North American conflict nearly two years after its beginning, and many hope reconstruction can be swiftly restarted…

PARIS - New television show sponsored by IEC - The Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative has begun production of a new television show to be aired on all interested networks, following the adventures of a spacefaring explorer, riding an advanced rocketship to visit strange new worlds…

Resources:
45R (+480R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
70 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (36000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (10%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (27.4%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24%)
Department of Education (17%)

Discretionary Funding (3.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.5%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 7 (+) (Rural school improvements)
Electrification: 7 (+) (Electrical grid expansion)
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 6 (+) (Electrical grid expansion)
Industry: 5 (+) (Factory construction, agricultural modernization)
Infrastructure: 6 (+) (Road and rail spur expansions)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 6

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7 (+)
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 9 (-----) (Drawdown)
Partisan Activity: 3 (----) (Battle of San Antonio) (FAS Surrender)

South America
Education: 7 (+) (Teachers' training programs bear fruit; rural and urban school improvements)
Electrification: 8 (+) (Electrical grid expansion)
Industry: 8 (+) (Aircraft manufacturing plant comes online)
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 6 (+) (School improvements)
Electrification: 6 (+) (Gas plants come online)
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

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)

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 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.
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.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
PROP - +14

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 Ukraine within 10 years~~.]

Rocket Reels - Adds a coinflip for 2 gained political support per quarter; gain an additional flip for every successful orbital rocket launch. [UPGRADED]

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1955):
Do not conduct military rocket launches or research

Construct an R-4 Dawn + Satellite - (117/120+25) (1 Satellites + 1 Rocket Built)

The Assembly team kept up a steady, competent pace even as each shift rotated through their vacation periods, successfully completing one Dawn and Curiosity II, and nearly finishing both Curiosity III and its carrier rocket. A certain number of them were tapped to advise Facilities on the Assembly Complex expansion, which may explain why they did not quite manage to finish that pair of craft.

Rocket Launches (2 successful launches) (Launch crit success) (Curiosity II (Failure), sounding payload)

In November, Curiosity II was launched aboard its Dawn carrier rocket on a perfectly clear, cool morning, shooting into the sky on a nominal trajectory. It was the second flight since Curiosity I had flown, and using knowledge from the sounding flight and that first orbital flight, the launch procedures for the Dawn had been revised with new information gleaned from studying the launch footage and the data collected during and after. The new procedures paid off; not even the minor issues the first flight had dealt with reared their heads, and the Curiosity II was promptly inserted into its equatorial orbit, now fully covered by tracking stations and vessels.

The satellite itself, unfortunately, had issues, and within a day of launch was no longer communicating with the ground. It was suspected that there had been a fault in the electrical system that had caused the batteries aboard to discharge into the shell and fry the avionics. It wasn't the best outcome, but it also wasn't the worst; there was data to review and knowledge to be gained, after all.

The second launch of the quarter was another Dawn, this time carrying a payload from the team researching heat shielding. It carried a variety of materials arranged singly or in patterns atop several inert re-entry vehicles. These, in turn, were released at the top of the Dawn's very unusual (for its class) flight path - straight up.

They re-entered the atmosphere at orbital return velocities, targeted in such a way as to land in Arabia to the north, in an unpopulated stretch of desert the IEC had negotiated to use as a landing area for this launch. The data they provided the heat shielding research teams was quite valuable in showing just what the ideal properties of such a thing would be.

Expand the Assembly Complex (182/350)

The Facilities crews, working in tandem with the Assembly teams, began building out a series of additional production halls connected to the original building that every rocket that the IEC had launched so far had been manufactured in. Their work was swift; these plans had been drawn up for several months at this point, and once the resources were allocated calls went out across the world, looking for the machine tools the Assembly teams had requested. There were needs for lathes, bench presses, new welding machines, bespoke machines that could hold and rotate sections of rockets of varying diameters and lengths while they were being welded to their fellows… the list went on.

By the time the quarter ended and you were traveling from your hometown in New England to Christchurch for the next World Council, they were roughly halfway done with the expansion, with manufacturing buildings' shells finished and the new storage hangar under construction.

Tracking Station Construction (Phase 1) - (350/350); (Phase 2) (94/250)

The tracking station construction project kept up a solid pace this quarter, finishing the last of the tracking ships needed for continuous observation of the rockets and satellites as they went to and entered orbit, along with completing the chain of stations that stretched through the middle of Africa and to the east coast of South America, and all the power lines they'd need to operate.

With that complete, work began on a series of stations around the northern latitudes, proofing against a future where the IEC would be operating weather observation satellites and needing to relay the information gleaned from them to local authorities and weather forecasters for use. By the end of the quarter, tracking stations were dotted from Scotland and Nova Scotia to the farthest-north cities of Russia and Anchorage in North America.

Spacefarer Training Facilities (113/300)

Work on something somewhat more exciting than usual began in October - the start of a series of facilities that, when finished, would allow the IEC's spacefarers to be trained for missions to space… when it had any spacefarers, that was. There were various simulator buildings, intended to eventually hold mockups of the control areas for whatever craft the IEC would be operating; there were test facilities, such as an arm-mounted centrifuge with a seat mounted to the swinging end that would allow the high g-force loading of liftoff to be simulated in order to train spacefarers in resisting it; and, of course, plenty of spare space for other facilities besides. One of the last ideas submitted was a residential complex, though that was put on hold until there were actually spacefarers to house. For the time being, it would be good enough to let them live out in Mogadishu with the rest of the IEC's personnel, but in the future it might be wise for them to have a place to be quartered at the space center if some event might require their rapid presence for one reason or other.

Rudimentary Heat Shielding - (Turn 1/2)

The heat shielding investigations started with a variety of compounds and solid materials, proposed for their high heat tolerances, being subjected to a series of tests at Dnipro using a curious setup that looked like nothing so much as a rocket engine strapped in front of a target area that contained what looked like a pitchfork, to which samples could be welded, strapped or otherwise secured to. The materials were then subjected to the nearest approximation to the estimated two-thousand plus degree (Celsius, obviously) calculated to be present during re-entry from Low Earth Orbit.

Some of these materials were composites, meant to ablate; others were solids, meant to soak the heat; and others still were passively cooled, allowing them to function in a variety of circumstances at the cost of being heavy. In the end, virtually all of them would be tested to some extent by the Dawn rocket launched near the end of the quarter, and upon recovery several promising candidates were selected from the best-performing samples recovered from the re-entry payload.

Observation Satellites (Turn 1/4) (Modified duration)

The first problem that faced the team selected to investigate purpose-built observation satellites for weather and mapping was that of lifespan. Any satellite built would need power in order to broadcast the television signals they were recording; as such, they would be relying entirely on the batteries they carried, at this point in time. The second problem was one of guidance and pointing: if you wanted to be able to steer a non-spinning satellite's view, you needed either a camera with a suitable mount (which was weight intensive), a higher orbit to allow greater field of view (which needed a powerful rocket), or reaction control thrusters of some description (again, weight intensive). If a satellite was spinning, you had to make sure it was fast enough to be stable but slow enough to be able to get useful data back down. It was something of a tough nut to crack, but the team was hopeful.

Human-rated Rocketry (Turn 1/8)

You had authorized Korolev to assemble a team of engineers to begin looking at a variety of ways in which the IEC could get a spacefarer to orbit and then keep them alive there, and return them safely to the Earth. The what would then determine the how - would it be some variety of spaceplane? A capsule? If it was a capsule, what was its shape? What orbit accesses were desired? All of these questions and more would drive the creation of the actual spacecraft that would carry your spacefarers, and determine its ending mass and characteristics. That, in turn, would let you define your requirements for a rocket to carry them into orbit - though you already knew that 'larger and more powerful than the R-4' was almost certain to be the case.

As a result, they spent virtually all of the first quarter discussing amongst themselves the pros and cons of each approach, occasionally rising to the level of heated debate in the cafeteria with a slew of Russian, English, French, German, Chinese and Arabic invectives (amongst others) thrown about, but Korolev seemed largely happy with the progress they had made in his end-of-quarter report to you. You almost cannot have good engineering without argument, he had said after the last cafeteria incident. They are passionate about their preferred answers to this question, but requirements will win out in the end, when we decide what is to be done.

Balloon Tanks - (142/200)

The balloon tank investigations had another frustrating quarter, as technical problems relating to pressurization and rusting were worked through. Given the steel construction of the tanks, something would be needed to protect them from being oxidized by the atmosphere before they were filled and launched into space; thus, the problem was deferred to your chemists, who set about identifying compounds to protect the tanks from rusting. By the end of the quarter, they had tentatively identified a candidate substance, and the pressurization problems had been largely worked through on the test article. It was hoped that the project would soon be done, with satisfactory test data available to the IEC in order to make use of these tanks in future spacecraft designs.

Lifting Body (30/150)

The lifting body investigation started somewhat poorly, with the vacation schedule partly to blame - the lead engineers and scientists were all on different schedules, so progress was slower than might have been liked. It was, thankfully, a non-emergency task, so taking longer wasn't a big issue.

The basics of the lifting body were that it was, by contrast with a standard plane, mostly fuselage with very little wing. It did, in fact, produce lift, given its shape - it would never be able to take off from a runway, but while in the air it would, in theory, be able to be controlled with relatively standard aircraft control surfaces. This was highly beneficial if you wanted to design a spaceplane or spaceplane-like capsule for gentler re-entry, as the aerodynamics of the craft would allow you to re-enter at a shallower angle, minimizing g-force load at the expense of needing a longer re-entry path.

There were prototypes on the drawing board and pieces of wood in the lathes by the time you got back from your vacation. It wasn't much progress - but it was progress.

Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 1) [CHEM] (148/150+5 Omake Bonus=153/150)

Jack Parsons was a very happy man this quarter.

You'd authorized he and Glushko to begin looking into propellants - both of them had built engines in their time, and while Glushko was indisputably the better of the two for liquid rocketry, Parsons was the better chemist, and the better man for solids. So Glushko set off for Long Beach with his team in tow, while Parsons stayed at the Mogadishu Space Centre and used the chemistry labs and testing areas there to begin probing the mysteries of propellant combinations.

The results of his investigations were…

Let's go with terrifying.

There was a distinct, sharp uptick in the number of explosions at the testing facility - granted, it had been built with those events in mind and no one was hurt - and there were a number of calls from Mogadishu complaining about the noise because of them, even though the city was several kilometers away from the centre. What he discovered, however, was something he termed 'useful, excellent information' and everyone else termed 'absolutely insane'.

[Solid rocket propellant unlocked: Ammonium Perchlorate Composite Propellant - Relatively safe and reliable, not much to be complained about.]

[Liquid propellant combination unlocked: Liquid fluorine/liquid oxygen - Your chemists and engineers have fled the premises, screaming, into the hills.]

Weather Studies (Phase 4) [PHYS] (260/240)

The weather sciences division were able to conduct quite a bit of work even without the launch of additional rockets thanks to the incredible computing power on hand at Mombasa. There, they were able to model storm formation to a reasonable degree based on data gathered over the course of various launches, and in turn apply that knowledge to attempting to give better predicting capability to local meteorologists across the world through informing them about newly-understood intricacies of the relationship the weather had to things like temperature, pressure, humidity, time of day - the list went on. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was better.

Here, though, they hit a hard roadblock.

If they wanted to learn more, they'd need to be able to follow a storm from formation to dissolution and watch every minute of it, measuring it with whatever instruments were available. And that meant satellites.

[Unlocks Weather Satellites after Observation Satellites completes]

Photovoltaic Investigations (Turn 1/4)

While the observation satellite teams were fretting about how to power their spacecraft, another team you had ordered set up to investigate photovoltaics were hard at work trying to identify an answer to their problem. Through a handy property of certain materials, it was possible to generate electricity from mere sunlight - and, in addition, it was surprising to you to learn that this effect had been known for more than a hundred years at this point. What your teams were doing, therefore, was finding ways to harness that effect with a sturdy, long-lasting material that would also deliver a decent amount of power for its weight. The manufacturing of these cells would need a semiconductor base and a variety of materials - some of which were highly toxic on their own - applied to it in order to allow for a current to be generated across what was being referred to as a 'cell' and then captured by electrical wiring for use. Needless to say, these would be an entirely in-house build, likely for quite some time.

By the end of the quarter, they were beginning to put together prototype 'cells' to be tested in the African sun the following quarter, with eyes towards setting up a sun simulator in one of the empty buildings available in order to do accelerated investigations of wear-over-time.

Propagandize for Space - (138/???) 2 dice 10R

Your Outreach department took up the reins in the political realm this quarter, beginning to put together materials extolling the eventual values and virtues of spaceflight and space travel. Amongst these were several books, a small television show, and a number of musicians contacted to make songs about being a spacefarer (even though exactly what one of those would be and look like was only just being defined, the musicians were encouraged to use their creativity). In addition, your Council liaisons started talking to the Councillors who would be attending the next World Council - some of the last ones you had worked with were, for varying reasons, no longer Councillors - and talking them up more directly. It was very much a case of hitting the problem from the bottom and the top simultaneously, and you could only hope it would be helpful as time went on.

The Right Stuff (91/300)

The Personnel department, at your direction and on Korolev's advice, began putting out calls for applicants across the globe, seeking 'strong-willed, physically fit, mentally-capable and intelligent persons interested in performing spaceflight activities'.

That call and that wording, of course, generated a tsunami of applications they then had to wade through. There were, by your estimate, roughly three hundred thousand applications by the end of the quarter, and there was absolutely no way whatsoever you could afford to hire even a fraction of them, even if they were all geniuses with flight experience and doctorates besides.

But.

There were, in fact, geniuses with flight experience and doctorates besides who had applied, and Personnel slowly began assembling a list of candidates from the sea of applicants.

Shadows · Feb 24, 2024

You had come back from your vacation to a different world. Oh, most of it was the same as you'd left it, but there was one, large exception.

The FAS had been defeated while you'd been away.

Given that you had been away from the newspaper stands while you'd been visiting your parents, your first clue that anything at all had changed had been when you'd returned to your office in Mogadishu, and seen the headline of the paper sitting on your desk - Korolev's doing, no doubt. It felt like there was a weight gone from your heart, and you'd had a spring in your step ever since.

Now, as you walked through the buildings the Council had been allowed to use for its meeting in Christchurch, you heard snippets of hopeful conversation, but also noticed the absence of some of the Councilors you'd come to know over the last several years. You hoped that they had simply not been elected again - whether by choice or… not - but you knew that most of the missing faces had come from North America, and remembered the last Council you'd attended.

You sighed as you entered the Council chamber - in reality, it was a well-covered sporting venue - and were all but physically assaulted by the sound of five thousand people arguing this, that, and the other. Five years running, now, and I still never quite get used to the sheer noise and press of people.

1955 World Council

The Internationale (Marxist-Leninist) - (The Internationale's Marxist-Leninist wing, primarily formed from the former Soviet Union. They lean more authoritarian than most of the other major factions, given their ideological bent, but are also heavily pro-industrialization and trending towards shedding the -Leninist side of their ideology.

The M-Ls are currently running a campaign to electrify Eastern Europe fully, and seeking allies in the endeavour. With the conflict with the FAS in North America now over, their militant arm has returned to their homes and is once again engaged in the business of disarmament, and they are likely to push for additional funding to be devoted to the Health Department to cover the needs of the many wounded. The fighting there has also given them a newfound sense of comradeship with their Int(D) siblings.

The Internationale (Debsist) - The Internationale's Debsist wing, primarily popular in Anglosphere regions and particularly in America. Less authoritarian than the M-L wing, they are also somewhat reserved on the topic of transitioning to a fully non-hierarchical society due to their roots as a socialist movement.

The Debsists have emerged battered from their engagement with the Free States, but are on the whole riding a victory high after the closing months of the war. They are still engaged in efforts to root out the last holdouts of FAS diehards in North America, but they are very likely to be interested in restarting and accelerating the now-doubly post-war reconstruction efforts. The fighting there has also given them a newfound sense of comradeship with their Int(M-L) siblings.

The Internationale (Councilist) - The Councilists are the largest faction of the Internationale by a small but significant margin, advocating for the devolution of power into the hands of locally- and trades-based councils, thus their name. This is the faction most comfortable with non-hierarchical society and anarchist teachings.

The Councilists are currently focused mainly on building up the productive forces in Eastern and Western Asia, as well as South America, as those are the bases of their power. They are interested in a high-tech industrialization effort driven by a space center akin to Mogadishu in order to diversify the industry in either South America or Asia.

United Workers' Front - The UWF is something of a vanguard party, regularly getting into brawls with SDL members. Their numbers include many of the people fighting to keep the forces of capital and authoritarianism from rising again, and as such their main focus is maintaining enough security funding to allow local community defense organizations to fend off guerrillas and partisans, which are still active in much of the world. They are relatively non-hierarchical in bent, but tend also to be somewhat more socially conservative. They are the smallest of the major parties, but they are not without weight. Geographically, their strongest base of support is South America.

Freed now from the needs of supporting a war, the UWF have returned to their homelands and lent considerable weight to reconstruction effort in South America and elsewhere. They are still calling for the expulsion of the SDL, but with the recent end of the FAS war there are few willing to go along with an action that might spark another, wider conflict, even if they sympathize with the desire. The UWF are likely to ask for the establishment of a permanent standing force under the Council soon.

Free Workers of the World - The FWW formed from the Industrial Workers of the World following the end of the Revolution. Growing to encompass all trades and occupations, from steelworkers to chemists to prostitutes, the FWW relentlessly campaigns for greater rights and protections for anyone performing work that society values.

The Free Workers are, as befits their scattered nature, somewhat concerned with everything everywhere. Most of their efforts are social - they are fighting to enshrine the rights and respect for people of orientations other than straight, for one thing, which is why Dr. Turing is a card-carrying member - and less concerned with physical infrastructure as a general rule. They are, however, still largely comprised of factory workers, and as such are firmly in favor of getting additional industry and electrical infrastructure built, as they can recruit from those workers easiest.

Social Democratic League - Having the middlemost numbers of the major parties, the SDL draws under its banners everyone who wants a seat at the table but isn't aboard with either a transition to full communism or socialism, wishing to see a limited return of capitalist thought. Some members are considerably more extreme, to include monarchists and populist authoritarians.

With the drawdown of fighting in North America, one would think that the accusations and suspicions leveled at the SDL would at least somewhat subside, and one would be quite wrong. If anything, now that there's not an active war to fight anymore, the SDL is held in more suspicion than ever. Particularly as new Councilors who look strangely like reported FAS leaders have appeared on their roster this year.

Colonized Peoples' Advancement League - The CPAL is another middleweight party focused on providing restitution and assistance to those peoples crushed by the weight of Imperial (and imperial) oppression across the world. Their major foci are on building equality of opportunity, infrastructure and industry in places that had been extracted from by the world's powers.

The CPAL is currently trying to keep too much funding from being hovered up for use in rebuilding the colonizer nations. With the end of the FAS conflict, they are requesting renewed focus on building infrastructure and providing services to previously-colonized lands. Their current concerns remain building up Africa and the Pacific Islands.

Total Councilors: 5000
Stances on IEC (Strongly Favor/Somewhat Favor/Somewhat Oppose/Strongly Oppose)

Int(M-L): 80/458/320/0
Int(D): 20/230/170/0
Int(C): 50/750/200/0
UWF: 5/300/50/20
FWW: 20/377/300/0
SDL: 18/390/420/5
CPAL: 27/400/197/0
Minor: 10/25/27/38

Council Liaison Reports:
Objectives of the World Communal Council

Complete Post-War Reconstruction (36000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

State of the World

Total Education: 70
Total Electrification: 72
Total Industry: 69
Total Infrastructure: 74
Total Security: 43
Total Partisan Activity: 34

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 6

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 9
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 7
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

Here you can spend and gain PS advocating for policies, pursuing programs, and performing tasks for the WCC.

Funding Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope

Current WCC Budget: 40,000RpT//160,000RpY
Current IEC Budget (without extras): 600RpT//2400RpY (1.5%)
Current PS: 70

[ ] [FUND] 0.25% - Returning to your initial funding percentage would seriously constraint the pace of operations you've become accustomed to, so, realistically, it's not an option. Politically, that's another matter. (-500R/turn, +55 PS)

[ ] [FUND] 0.5% - Reducing your funding share to half a percent will be somewhat less constraining to your ambitions than a quarter of a percent, while still being painful, but could buy you some needed goodwill for any major asks. (-400R/turn, +45PS)

[ ] [FUND] 0.75% - Cutting your funding level in half would be an excellent way to buy some goodwill and allow the IEC to take fewer promises this year, allowing somewhat more flexible planning. (-300R/turn, +30PS)

[ ] [FUND] 1% - Going down to a single percent of the Council's funding after multiple years of increases wouldn't harm your actual ability to get things done too much, and would take some of the pressure off you to perform more miracles.(-200R/turn, +10PS)

[ ] [FUND] 1.5% - Last year you'd requested a percent and a half of the budget, promising to deliver a worldwide slate of research centres and other promises besides, and you'd delivered on everything - and then some. You'd even put a satellite into orbit successfully, and gave a second satellite the best shot you could. However, that level of funding is jealously regarded by those tasked with distributing the portion of the world's resources allocated to the Council, and will be hard to hold on to. (-70PS)

[ ] [FUND] 2% - If you've got big plans and a desire to put them into action, two percent of the Council's budget will get you there - but be prepared to fight for it every millimeter of the way. (+200R/turn, -120PS, must take at least two promises from all parties (except SDL, who will oppose your budget in any case here) and complete them. Failures cost twice as much PS. Failing more than half will lock out any budget allocation higher than 1% for 5 years, and may lock down to .75%.)

Promises
All promises, unless stated otherwise, are intended to be kept within the year - from Q1 to Q1.

Kept in 1954:
All promises kept.

Failed in 1954:
None.

Must take at least two.

Internationale (Marxist-Leninist)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+10 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor, small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)

[ ] Conduct Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 towards Oppose)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in Eastern Asia before 1957Q1 (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and Europe. (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from Eastern Europe. (+5PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in Western or Eastern Europe (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Campaign for the Marxist-Leninists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Internationale (Debsist)

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) (+5 PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)

[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in North America by 1957Q1. (+10PS) (Int(D) moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering North America. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from North America. (+5PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Campaign for the Debsists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Internationale (Councilist)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor, small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in Asia by 1957Q1. (+10PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and South America. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1956Q3. (+5PS, +2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)

[ ] Build the New Delhi AND Beijing Scientific Complexes by 1956Q1. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 4d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from Western or Eastern Asia. (+5PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in Asia (+5 PS, Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Campaign for the Councilists (Unlocks a political action) (Int(C) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Free Workers of the World

[ ] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)

[ ] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Conduct Prototype Spaceplane research (+5PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Oppose)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in the Pacific Islands by 1957Q1. (+10PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from the Pacific Islands. (+5PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Commit to building a telescope on the Moon by 1975. (+15PS, FWW will move 20d10 steps towards Favor on completion.)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion) (can be taken multiple times)

[ ] Campaign for the Free Workers(Unlocks a political action) (FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

United Workers' Front

[ ] Do everything the SDL wants you to not do. (+5PS) (UWF gains great satisfaction, SDL moves 4d10+2d5 steps towards oppose)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in South America by 1957Q1. (+10PS, UWF moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build and test-fly a spaceplane before 1956Q3. (+5PS, +2 to Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre's bonus)

[ ] Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Oppose)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from South America. (+5PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Campaign for the Front (Unlocks a political action) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Social Democratic League

[ ] Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1956Q1. (+10PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)

[ ] Conduct All-Sky Survey (Phase 3) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)

[ ] Do not pursue Spaceplane research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Do not pursue Rocketry research (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Campaign for the League (Unlocks a political action) (SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Colonized Peoples' Advancement League

[ ] Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (+10PS, CPAL moves 6d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1957Q1. (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build a Launch Facility in South America by 1957Q1 (+10PS) (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build the New Delhi Institute for Physics by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build the Big Ear by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Hire a spacefarer from Africa and the Pacific each. (+10PS, CPAL moves 4d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Help sponsor the construction of 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in colonized regions (+5 PS, CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor) (Requires you to take at least that many Redirect Funding to Africa requests, or using the Bother Councilors option during the year for other locations)

[ ] Campaign for the Colonized Peoples (Unlocks a political action) (CPAL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion)

Requests

[ ] Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (-5PS, +3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1955Q1)

[ ] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power. With the initial investigations into the possibilities of nuclear power complete, they have provided you with a dossier you can use to argue the case for the benevolent usage of the atom. Your Outreach department has also started doing groundwork to combat the stigma around nuclear power. (-35PS, variable reactions from the Parties, gain permission to further pursue the topic of the usage of nuclear technology)

[ ] Demil Locker Access - In the future, your scientists may come up with ideas for spacecraft that may require access to the kind of parts that can really only be found ready-made within the stockpiles of military equipment lying about. By acquiring pre-emptive permission, you can gain access to things like rocket motors, artillery barrels and the like before they're turned into scrap steel once more. Given the current situation, the giving of this permission may be grudging. (-30PS, eases some Alternative Launch Systems research)

[ ] Right Stuff Assistance - You have such an incredible volume of applications that it might be worthwhile to ask for help in processing them all. This will auto-complete Right Stuff, but some of the candidates you get might be… less qualified than desired. (-5PS)

[ ] Request Negotiation Aid - The most time-consuming part of locating appropriate sites for new launch complexes is negotiating with local interests, some of whom are opposed to such projects for a variety of reasons. By asking the regions' Councilors for help, the IEC may find itself in position to more quickly advance its plans in a way that is beneficial for everyone involved. (Lowers progress requirements on Launch Sites, slightly increases R costs) (-10PS)

[ ] Redirect Funding to the IEC - By pulling on the right strings, you can get funding redirected to the IEC beyond the percentage allotment.
-[] Write-in PS cost (1PS=5R/turn)

[ ] Redirect Funding to Africa - The homeland of the IEC is ever in need of further investment, industrialization and modernization. The stench of centuries of imperialist exploitation can only be washed away with the wealth that was stripped from it being returned. (Adds extra rolls per turn for Stat increases)
-[] Write-in stat category (e.g., Electrification) (-5 PS per time taken, can be taken multiple times)

Graduates
Each Graduate pick adds 1 dice to the sector you picked. You have a maximum of 7 5 picks this year. Picking fewer Graduates than are available will add additional background rolls per quarter to increase the world's stats, such as Industry or Electrification. E.g., taking 1 fewer dice adds 1 additional roll per quarter for stats. This directly influences the world's Reconstruction rate and thus your baseline budget update during the next WC.

Each can be picked up to two times. Each pick comes with a cost of -5R/turn.

(2 GRAD picks removed due to North American reconstruction)

[ ] [GRAD] Operations
[ ] [GRAD] Facilities
[ ] [GRAD] Engineering
[ ] [GRAD] Science
[ ] [GRAD] Politics

---

QM/N: I had a bit of a brain-fart with regards to omake rewards. If you submitted an omake and I did not ping you to tell you your reward, please ping me.

Voting begins at noon tomorrow, EST.

Shadows · Feb 26, 2024

[X] Plan: Achievable Goals, Long Term Growth
-[X] [FUND] 1%
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+10 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor, small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+10 PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor, small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Build the New Delhi AND Beijing Scientific Complexes by 1956Q1. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 4d10 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Build the New Delhi Institute for Physics by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus)
-[X] Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1. (+5PS, +2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus)
-[X] Take the hit for broaching the Nuclear Power topic to the Council. (FWW sets stance: Quietly Pro-Nuclear) (+15PS)
-[X] Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (+10PS) (No movement)
-[X] Broach the topic of Nuclear Power. With the initial investigations into the possibilities of nuclear power complete, they have provided you with a dossier you can use to argue the case for the benevolent usage of the atom. Your Outreach department has also started doing groundwork to combat the stigma around nuclear power. (-35PS, variable reactions from the Parties, gain permission to further pursue the topic of the usage of nuclear technology)
-[X] Build 2 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (+5 PS, FWW moves 2d5 steps towards Favor per project completion) (can be taken multiple times)
-[X] Build the Big Ear by 1956Q1. (CPAL moves 3d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (+5PS) (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 2d10 steps towards Oppose)
-[X] Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (-5PS, +3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1955Q1)
-[X] Hire a spacefarer from South America. (+5PS, UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) by 1956Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards favor)
-[X] Redirect Funding to the IEC - By pulling on the right strings, you can get funding redirected to the IEC beyond the percentage allotment.
--[X] 15 PS; 75 R
-[X] [GRAD] Science
-[X] [GRAD] Politics

You hadn't been quite sure what the reaction to requesting permission to study nuclear power production would be, but you knew it was never going to be anything but negative, given… everything. The moment the words had finished leaving your mouth, there was a contingent of angry Councilors shouting immediately calling you everything under the sun - and they weren't, unfortunately, neatly delineated by party. It was, perhaps, the one thing about which certain members of the UWF and the SDL could ever agree on - that the answer should not just be no but that the request was enough for them to start a floor vote on whether or not you should be removed from the Directorship.

But it was here that other dealing you'd done had come in handy - the FWW delegation, after a moment, stood to voice support for both you and your request. The Internationale, after some debate, also gave their tentative support as a whole, as did, surprisingly or unsurprisingly depending on how you looked at it, the Colonized Peoples' Advancement League. The SDL, of course, was staunchly opposed to it (simply because they disliked you, you were sure) and the Front was also upset, though most of them came around to at least abstaining on the topic of nuclear power, and supported you remaining as Director. (The SDL then simply walked out.) The various minor parties fractured this way and that, with a half-dozen flavors of European communist parties each having wildly different reactions. The French delegation, for example, gave negative on both counts - while the Germans, after talking with their comrades from Frankfurt and Berlin, decided to support you.

That managed to actually shock you, but you were grateful, nonetheless. You were rather more grateful than usual when you returned to Mogadishu, your family, and the Space Centre.

(-10 steps FWW, -10 steps CPAL, -15 steps Internationale, -25 steps UWF, -40 steps SDL)

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

GLOBAL - In coordination with the Department of Education, schools around the world will begin offering Esperanto as a required language in addition to the traditional languages spoken in those areas. "It is not intended that Esperanto will replace any language in the region in which it has been spoken," the Education Department's Steering Committee said in a statement, "rather, that it will offer anyone, anywhere, the ability to converse with anyone, from anywhere else."...

GLOBAL - During this year's session of the World Council, Director Carter requested permission from the assembled Councilors for the Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative to undertake the study of power production using atomic energy. In a post-session statement, Director Carter said, "The scars of wars past will be with us for some time, but we can, and should, move forward with bringing hope and progress from tragedy and devastation."

The Council session also saw the Cooperative tasked with sending automated explorers, colloquially known as 'probes', to Venus and Mars; these initial explorations of the Earth's nearest neighbors - both in distance and in likeness - are set to be done by the end of the decade…

Resources:
485R (+475R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +440/turn net)
115 Political Support (Decays to 100 on Q2)
1 R-2 Gale
1 R-4 Dawn

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (36000/200000)
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 (3.1%)
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: 6
Industry: 5
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 5

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 8
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 9
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 6

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 6
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 9
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 7
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 4
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Partisan Activity: 0

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)

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 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.
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.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +9
CHEM - +11
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9
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 2 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (FWW)
Build the Big Ear (CPAL)
~~Transfer APCP formula to the UWF for use in military rockets. (UWF)~~ (Autocomplete)
Hire a spacefarer from South America (UWF)
Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) (SDL)

Operations (5 dice, +3 bonus) (1 type of Rocket may be built at a time)

Rockets

[ ] Construct an R-1 Beden - Standard Sounding rocket launches are now something of an old hat. Still perfectly useful, of course, and they're not actually that old, but the two stage rockets have stolen some of their thunder. (15R per dice, 3/35, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-2 Gale - The IEC's engineers and scientists have come up with a moderately reliable stage separation system for multi-stage rockets. The Gale has seen active use for two years, now, and is turning into quite the reliable workhorse. (20R per dice, 19/45, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[ ] Construct an R-3 Snow - The Heavy Sounding Rocket, now known as the Snow, is ready for construction. It's a sizeable rocket, but thankfully you have a sizeable pad to launch it from. Unfortunately, it won't ever fit on a Stormchaser. (25R per dice, 7/80, costs 1 Build Capacity until complete)
-[ ] And launch it (free action for Sounding Rockets) (gains Scientific Data, launch experience, results to show the people funding you)

[] Construct an R-4 Dawn - The first Orbital-class rocket, the Dawn is capable of lifting 200 kilograms to low Earth orbit. It may be able to do more, in time, but for now that would suffice. It can only launch on the Heavy Sounding Pad or heavier, as yet unbuilt ones. (35R per dice, 117/120, costs 1 build capacity til complete) (2 Payload Mass capacity)
-[ ] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
–[ ] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)

~~[ ] Construct a Prototype Spaceplane -~~

Payloads

[ ] Construct a Payload
–[ ] Curiosity-class Satellite (20R) (1.5 Payload Mass)

Programs (0 slots available)

[ ] Activate Weather Observation Satellites (1 slot required)

[ ] Activate Sounding Rocket Programs (1 slot required) (removes Sounding Rockets from build queue)

Facilities (8 dice, +10 bonus)

(A maximum of 3 dice may be used on any project - representing 3 shifts of work.)

[ ] Expand the Assembly Complex - A proposal to expand the Assembly Complex to allow for more rockets to be constructed simultaneously has hit your desk. This will significantly up your launch cadence, you are told, and allow for multiple rocket programs to be run in parallel, as well as future proofing you somewhat against the upcoming orbital rockets. (20R per die, 182/350, +1 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot (runs repeatables in the background))

[ ] Expand the Launch Complex - You have two launch pads (one of which has gone entirely unused, so far) but, soon enough, you expect to need additional pads to account for the maintenance and upgrades the existing ones will certainly need. Getting a head start on that need may be a good idea. (20R per die, 0/350, gain two 500t launch pads)

[ ] Build a Scientific Complex - While there are a significant number of people within the IEC who want to keep the Cooperative's footprint confined to Mogadishu - at least for now - there is definitely an argument to be made for building dedicated facilities in other locations to build up buy-in from the rest of the world by providing them something tangible in return. One of those ideas is for a dedicated Scientific Complex, dedicated to a particular discipline, much like the Soviet closed cities - just not closed. This has the potential to greatly increase your scientific output and your political sway at the same time. (25R per die, opens up new research possibilities, +1d5+5 bonus in the associated field, +1 Education for the region)
-[] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (0/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (0/450)

[ ] Build a Mission Control Center - As the IEC's operations continue to expands, it finds itself in need of additional control space dedicated to both new and ongoing missions. That control space will need significant computing capability, as well as dedicated communications links - both of which are power-hungry. The benefits, however, could be worth it. (25R per die, 0/250) (+3 to Operations) (+1 Program slot (runs repeatables in the background))

[ ] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 2) - The second stage of Tracking Stations rolls out tracking stations across the northern latitudes to better serve potential polar-orbiting satellite as best as possible where land exists. (30R per die, 94/250, adds equatorial tracking for rocket launches)

[ ] Spacefarer Training Facilities - Should the IEC wish to fly humans into space, it will need a place to train them for their missions, and ready their bodies for the rigors of flying on a rocket. (15R per dice, 113/300) (+2 CREW) (will have projects to expand it later for new capabilities, enables crew to be trained for basic LEO flight)

[ ] Construction and Reconstruction Support - The IEC has a fairly sizeable and very skilled Facilities department that, if desired, could be of help in rebuilding the world's ruins and advancing the state of humankind besides. This can be done with or without a promise owed to someone, and will always be a good way of improving your relationships with the people you serve. (0/250) (can be done multiple times in parallel)
-[ ] Specify Region
--[ ] Electrification (25R per dice)
--[ ] Industry (30R per dice)
--[ ] Infrastructure (20R per dice)

Engineering (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All, +3 from Research Support (1956Q1)) (3/5 Locked)

[1 LOCKED] Rudimentary Heat Shielding [MATSCI] - Currently, you now have the ability to put things into space. But what if you want to get them back? Your engineers have some ideas they've floated past your materials scientists, and they're asking for time and space at Dnipro to do some investigations. (1/2 turns, 1 locked dice, 15R per turn)

[1 LOCKED] Observation Satellites - Now that we can put things in space, we should branch out what we're doing with them. The chief request of your weather scientists (and those elsewhere) is the ability to observe storms forming in real time, and while weather radar has been greatly helpful, it doesn't reach everywhere it needs to and would be far more uneconomical besides. By sticking a television camera and an antenna on a satellite, perhaps you could do something about this. (1/4 turns, 1 locked dice, 15R per turn)

[1 LOCKED] Human-rated Rocketry - Satellites would certainly be useful for many things that you didn't want to spend precious human time on, nor deal with the constraints involved in getting them back. But, should the need arise, it would be a good idea to develop a way to get a human into space, then orbit, and back, alive. (1/8 turns, 1 locked dice, 20R per turn)

[ ] Prototype Spaceplane - Your spaceplane enthusiasts returned to your office with another proposal, building off the back of the design studies they had undertaken through the winter of 1954. Their desire was to create a crewed 'space' plane that would be towed behind or carried underneath a carrier aircraft, be released, and activate a rocket engine that would take it up over the Karman line. It would have a multitude of sensors, of course, and would also need air supplies and likely a heated flight suit to keep the pilot alive and able to work. (0/300, 15R per dice)

[ ] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] - Still more of your engineers were talking about investigating different ways of potentially getting to space. Jules Verne stuff. Big guns and space towers and the like. You didn't think them likely to work, but having the knowledge wouldn't hurt. (5R per die, 177/300, ???)

[ ] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] - A curious phenomenon has been observed with the use of stainless steel for tankage. If made very thin, it is flimsy - but if the material is then appropriately pressurized, it regains significant structural strength, saving greatly on weight at the cost of being much more expensive to manufacture. This could be ideal for some applications that the IEC has in mind where cost is not an issue while performance is, but needs further testing beforehand. (15R per dice, 142/200, unlocks balloon tankage for use in later rockets)

[ ] Lifting Body - Work with the Wind Tunnel and on the Spaceplane studies had revealed a new configuration for air- and spacecraft fuselage design - the concept of the lifting body, where the wing area was minimized to reduce drag at high speeds, with the body itself providing the lifting force used. While not terribly useful for aircraft, it was potentially very useful for spacecraft design. (10R per die, 30/150)

[ ] Strap-on Boosters - By utilizing additional, solid-or-liquid-fueled boosters attached to the side of a given rocket, we may be able to significantly increase its payload without needing an entirely-new rocket. (10R per dice, 0/250) (Enables the use of boosters to increase payload capacity at the cost of Progress and Resources (flat))

[ ] Multi-Stage Designs - Through the use of additional stages, we can give rockets the capability to throw payloads further out into space - potentially even interplanetary distances. (15R per turn) (2 turns) (Enables the use of third stages and up for sending payloads to geostationary orbit and beyond at the cost of Payload Mass)

[ ] Impactor Designs - One of the proposed methods of probing our neighboring planets and Moon is by, quite literally, hitting them with a sizeable weight going at incredible speed and seeing what we can learn from the resulting dust plume (in the case of the Moon) or following the instrumentation's readings as they transmit on their way to impact. Or both. (10R per turn, 1 engineering dice locked, 3 turns)

[ ] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies - Now that initial work had been completed verifying that, at the lab scale, nuclear energy could be used to generate power, now it was time to actually forward that knowledge into a practical, useful form. It would not be cheap, but, hopefully, it would be worth it. (8 turns, 1 locked dice, 25R per turn) (Unlocks 1st Generation Terrestrial Fission Power Plants for the world, leads to Radioisotope Thermal Generators, 2nd Generation Terrestrial Fission Plants, 1st Generation Space-rated Fission Plants)

[ ] Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies - A side-effect of the nuclear power studies lead to several of your researchers realizing that the heat a reactor produced could be harnessed for things other than turning a turbine. By passing propellant over a reactor's core housing you would cool the core and heat the propellant alike - and the propellant would be very hot indeed, making it an attractive candidate for being flung out the back of the spacecraft at extremely high speeds. (20R per die, 0/500, -30PS on completion UNLESS given WC authorization) (Unlocks 1st Generation Nuclear Thermal Propulsion for spacecraft)

(Projects that require locked dice can be unlocked at any time, but progress will not be made without a dice locked in.)

Science (5 dice, +6 Bonus to All, +3 from Research Support (1956Q1)) (1/5 Locked)

[ ] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 2) [CHEM] - A group of chemists attached to the IEC came to you with a proposal to conduct an exhaustive campaign characterizing just about as many propellants as they could come up with. While expensive, and dangerous, and potentially deadly, the knowledge gained could also be invaluable for nailing down mixtures and ratios of fuels that could help the IEC achieve its objectives. (15R per dice, 3/200, unlocks fuel mixtures and further fuel development)

[ ] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] - Better alloys and manufacturing techniques would lead to higher-performing engines and lighter rockets, you were told. A fair deal of research had already been done into the subject, giving you a much-improved set of materials with which to build your rockets and engines out of, but there was much more that could be done. (20R per die, 4/350, provides access to new manufacturing techniques) [Modified by promise til Phase 5 complete]

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) [AERO] - Basic testing has been completed, and interesting phenomena observed when experimenting with the engines that have been built. More can be done, of course. (15R per die, requires a completed Hangar Complex and Runway to finish, can be started without, 147/640)

[ ] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] - The Science Committee at the WCC put forward the proposal to perform an All-Sky Survey, mapping the entire night sky with telescopes across the world. The first such survey, the Carte du Ciel, had never actually finished, despite starting nearly three quarters of a century ago. With advancements in photography and optics, the science teams predict that they will be able to perform the task… in roughly a decade. First, though, you needed to wrangle observatories… (10R per die, 0/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] Big Ear [PHYS] - The scientists working for the IEC have latched on to the opening the new broadcast regulations have given them, and are clamoring for funding to construct a radio telescope in a remote part of Africa. It might need a bit of infrastructure run out to it, and probably a security force of some sort to dissuade partisans, but it looked doable. Personally, you thought it was also a good excuse to help electrify somewhere that needed it. (20R per die; At least 1 dice must be Facilities, 0/300) (+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

[ ] Atomic-powered Ground Launch Concept Studies - The idea of in-space nuclear propulsion, brought down to Earth. This program would study the possibilities for using nuclear power to get from the surface to space, both directly and indirectly. (10R per die, 0/300, -5PS on start, and an additional -10 on completion)

[ ] Photovoltaic Investigations - Batteries are all well and good for powering spacecraft, but are also heavy and do not generate power on their own - once they're discharged, they're done. Your scientists suggest that by utilizing the photovoltaic effect, it might be possible to power spacecraft with it. (1/4 turns, 1 Science dice locked; 20R per turn)

[ ] Very Long Range Communications - In order to properly communicate with probes we send out into the solar system to explore our neighboring worlds, we will need to begin studying ways to communicate more efficiently at these incredible distances. (5R per turn, 1 Science dice locked, 3 turns)

[ ] Weather Observation Satellites [PROGRAM] - By using specially-built observation satellites, the IEC can provide real- or near-real-time observation of weather phenomena across the globe. This has obvious benefits for forecasting and emergency alerting, and would be a valuable way of cementing the IEC as a permanent fixture of the Council. (25R to activate, takes up a Program slot) (Requires Observation Satellites)

(Projects that require locked dice can be unlocked at any time, but progress will not be made without a dice locked in.)

Politics (4 dice, +10 bonus, reroll 1 failure per turn)

Political

[ ] Bothering Councilors - The year's budget is set, but next year's is very much not. You can influence investment priorities if you want to apply enough political pressure to the right people to convince them to fund, say, better roads out of Mogadishu… elementary and secondary schools in Africa… that kind of thing. (-10 PS, roll a quality dice to give options for influencing infrastructure funding, triggers subvote)

[ ] Propagandize for Nuclear Power - As the IEC has gained more and more knowledge on the subject of nuclear power, it's become apparent that if you want to put this knowledge to good use for humanity, you'll need to start working against the (justified) stigma nuclear as a whole has in order to realize its full potential. (-2PS per die) (100/???)

[ ] Propagandize for Space - Now that you've gotten your first orbital class rocket (and soon your first satellite), now is the best time to start touting the benefits of space exploration and access to space to the public. You'll need to find ways of engaging everyone in the idea, and there was no better time to start than now. (5R per die) (138/???)

Outreach

[ ] Rocket Boxes (Phase 5) - The fourth phase of Rocket Box deployment has completed across South America and the Pacific Islands. Next up is Europe; it needs the program probably the least of all the regions under the World Council, but it would be unadvised to not extend it anyway. New factories will be built for the motors and parts in Europe, which should ease logistics in the area. (5R per die, 0/250. Gives Rocket Boxes to every middle-school, high-school and university or equivalent in Europe. Encourages future scientists and engineers - some of whom will even come work with the IEC.)

[ ] Creative Sponsorships - A junior physicist has made the suggestion that by sponsoring the work of fiction authors (particularly science fiction), interest in space, science, and the IEC could be generated outside the bounds of colleges and classrooms. This sparked another suggestion from one of the Outreach department's people - broaden the sponsorship from simply authors to filmmakers and more traditional artists as well. This would help reach even more people than before, they thought. (10R per die, 141/400) (-5R per turn when done, provides additional variable passive PS income and can result in shuffled costs and requests at World Council meetings.)

[ ] University Rocket Competitions - Now that Rocket Boxes are widely distributed all over the world, there are a number of rocketry clubs at universities everywhere (including the places that did not as yet have Rocket Box coverage). A competition, where the teams design and build their own rockets and then come together to see who did the best in various categories would be an interesting way of keeping interest in the IEC up and scouting for future members. (20R to activate)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (56/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Engineering dice)

[ ] Laboratory Talent Scouting - (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn on completion. Gain +1 Science dice)

[ ] There is Power in a Union - The PAO says you should expand your physical footprint so more people can interact with the IEC. Preparations and initial expansions have already been made, but your facilities unions need more able bodies to do more with. (0/150, 5R per dice, -5R per turn and -5 PS on completion. Gain +1 Facilities dice.)

[ ] The Right Stuff - With work underway on several programs that would require the services of skilled and courageous pilots, you would soon need to begin finding them so they could be integrated into the IEC - and someday, they would become your first astronauts. (91/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

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