Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

Shadows · Mar 2, 2024

[X] Plan: Doing More With Less
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (117/120) (1 die, -35R)
--[X] And launch it (1 die)
---[X] Curiosity-class satellite
-[X] Construct a Payload
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (0/450) (3 dice, -75R)
--[X] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (0/450) (3 dice, -75R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (0/300) (2 Facilities dice, -40R)
-[X] Rudimentary Heat Shielding [MATSCI] (1/2 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Observation Satellites (1/4 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (1/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (0/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (177/300) (1 die, -5R)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] (4/350) (3 dice, -60R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (0/300) (2 Science dice, -40R)
-[X] University Rocket Competitions (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Bothering Councilors (1 die) (-10 PS)
-[X] Propagandize for Nuclear Power (1 die, -2 PS)
-[X] Engineering Job Fair (56/150) (1 die, -5R)

January became February, which in turn faded into March, and now you sat at your desk at the end of the quarter, musing over the progress the IEC had made. It wasn't, perhaps, as explosive as some points last year, but it very much was substantial, and you often felt as if the baseline of improvement was creeping ever so gradually upward, quarter-for-quarter. The research team reorganization you'd introduced in late 1954 was already paying off, bringing new heat shield materials to support the dream of crewed spaceflight, along with returning spaceborne experiments safely to the Earth after time on orbit. What you liked best about it, though, was that the engineers and scientists assigned to those teams seemed happier and better rested than before. The IEC somewhat self-selected for those who had passion and drive enough to ignore physical discomfort and exhaustion in pursuit of their goals, but that didn't exactly make it a healthy habit to encourage. Perhaps progress was less rapid than it had been (though, personally, you thought it remained about the same, which truly said something about the value of a good night's sleep), but that didn't bother you at all.

Musing, you took a sip of your coffee and pulled out the day's paper…

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

NEW YORK CITY - The Union of New England Communes has become the first region to recognize same-sex marriages. This represents a major victory for the queer community, as while homosexuality was decriminalized worldwide in the wake of the Revolution, there is still work to be done achieving equal rights for that group, and marriage equality is chief amongst those concerns..

SYDNEY - Councillor John O'Rourke (SDL) leveled accusations against the IEC of making 'nuclear rockets'. The Councillor has repeatedly made remarks lambasting the IEC, calling it a 'boondoggle' and 'wasted resources.' A spokesperson for the IEC dismissed the accusations, saying that, "The only nuclear thing we're working on is power plants, which we sought and received Council permission for. If the good Councillor has a problem with that, he can raise it at the next Council."...

GLOBAL - The polio vaccine, entered into limited trial last year, has begun worldwide rollout. The effort has been applauded and pushed in equal measure by the medical community, touting the possibility of eradicating once and for all a disease which has plagued humankind since time immemorial. "There will be no more children taken from this world too early by this monstrous disease," the Department of Health and Welfare said in a statement…

CHAD - The practice of spirulina farming has taken off across Sub-Saharan Africa in recent months, as the age-old technique has been spread by people moving across the region. Spirulina, which is a type of algae, is cultivated in lake waters and harvested, then dried into cakes for later consumption. Highly nutritious, some doctors with the Health and Welfare Department are looking into its utility as a disaster-relief foodstuff and a way to reduce food scarcity across the world...

Resources:
30R (+475R/turn - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +440/turn net)
103 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 (40000/200000)
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: 6 (+)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 9 (+)
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: 9 (+) (Post-FAS reconstruction)
Security: 9
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (+) (Shipyards built) (LIMIT REACHED)
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 - +10 (+1 from First Satellite)
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)

Rocket Construction (1 R-4 Dawn Complete, 2 Curiosity-class Satellites Complete)

Construct an R-4 Dawn (17/120)
Construct a Curiosity-class Satellite

The Assembly teams found themselves assigned to continuing Dawn production and beginning serial-production of Curiosity-class satellites this quarter. While progress on the Dawn front was slower than you'd become accustomed to, it was more than sufficient to put the last touches on the Dawn begun last quarter and move on to the next, while other teams put together Curiosity III and IV.

Rocket Launches

There was only one launch this quarter, a Dawn carrying Curiosity III into a polar orbit. The Dawn was just able to accomplish the task, given the increased delta-V requirements imposed by the inclination not taking advantage of the eastward spin of the Earth for a 'free' four hundred meters per second of velocity. The launch was fully nominal, and a short time later as the satellite passed back overhead it reported that its deployment had been successful as well, bringing the satellite class' success rate up to 2/3.

(+1 to AVIONICS)

Build a Scientific Complex
-Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (187/450)
-New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (178/450)

Fresh off of finishing the scientific complexes in Sao Paolo, Long Beach and Mombasa, the Facilities teams charged straight ahead into the complexes in Beijing and New Delhi. These were the best-developed locations they had yet been asked to build in - Beijing in particular - and as such their issues were somewhat fewer than expected. Neither site, at this point, needed either additional power or water and waste supply added on, as both had received rebuilding assistance that had brought their areas up to modern standards (where they hadn't been before, anyway).

The Beijing Institute for Chemical Research, given its area of focus, was located on the outskirts of the city, as far away as possible while still receiving utilities. It was situated next to a railroad, and in fact one of the beginning stages of construction involved driving in a set of rails for trains to be able to pull cargoes of reactants (solid, liquid and gaseous) directly up to the facility. This, too, necessitated an efficiently-planned cargo handling area with separated stations each material type could be stored in. As the cargo area was under construction, so too were the labs and their air and liquid handling systems. Everything was built to be as safe as was conceivable, and with justified reason - many terrible tales could be found utterly trivially of the accidents that could occur at any chemical works, and given that some of the experiments that were hoped to be undertaken here would also incorporate elements of mass production for testing purposes, the Institute certainly counted as one of those.

The New Delhi Institute for Physics too was on the edge of the city, but it had, in contrast, somewhat simpler requirements. It needed high amounts of power available on-site for physics experiments, and an ample amount of water and space available - for it was here that the heads of the nuclear power research project wanted to site their test and prototype reactors. That, of course, necessitated a series of negotiations with the local leadership to make sure they understood what the IEC wanted to do and, once again, obtain their permission, though this time for those experiments only. They were given approval, wary though it was, and ground was broken for those buildings at the same time as the rest of the facility's buildings. Its second biggest draw were its computers, aimed at helping the physicists here solve their problems; it had nearly as many as Mombasa itself did, and while the construction was underway there were classes in Mogadishu training operators and maintainers alike in how to run the machines - because there just quite simply were not enough qualified people available on the planet for the number of computers the IEC ran, and would run.

Big Ear [PHYS] (209/300)

One of the more exciting things you'd been able to greenlight this quarter was the construction of the Big Ear, the nickname given to the large radio telescope that your astronomy department had requested a year or so back. It was most of a hundred meters long, with the receiver on one side and a curved parabola taking up the other wall some twenty meters away. The reflected radio waves coming in from across the universe would feed into that little (somewhat steerable) strip of receivers and from there a combination of computers and human brainpower would turn the signals into information about where they had come from, how long ago they had been made (and thus how far away they were), and all sorts of other interesting information besides.

It was also, thankfully, relatively quick to set up - as evidenced by the nearly-complete frame and receiver strip when you went to visit it. The larger problem was needing to upgrade the local power supply - but it wasn't the first time the Facilities personnel had done that, and it probably wouldn't be the last. It was, however, pricey - all the radio equipment was special-order, and then there was the power plant gear itself. But it was a price worth paying, you'd been convinced.

Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (216/300)

You'd authorized another quarter of funding for the Alternative Launch Systems studies, though it seemed that letting it languish for a while had somewhat dulled the enthusiasm of the researchers involved. Still, they did make some progress on what they called a 'launch loop', a (very) large structure that should, in theory, be able to put payloads into orbit with little more than electricity and a small kick stage. It would run along the ground (ideally equatorially, and again ideally out to sea) and an electromagnetic drive system would accelerate the payload it carried up through the atmosphere and out into space. Even calling it very large was somewhat underselling it, however - by their estimates, such a loop would be thousands of kilometers long, and easily the largest and most expensive infrastructure project the IEC had ever considered, and in the top ten in world history. It had some drawbacks in the form of, of course, cost, weather concerns, and the sheer power draw it would need just to keep itself upright. The engineers on the project, however, assured you that if it were possible to build it at all, those concerns could be dealt with.

Other ideas advanced included air-launching systems - which ran smack into a number of problems with regards to practicality and the laws of physics, along with lack of sufficiently large carrier aircraft - and more work on the previously advanced ideas of the space elevator and space tower. You had, from the word go, known that this study would attract the most wild-eyed dreamers amongst your engineering staff, but you hadn't been quite aware of how willing they were to be absolutely wild with the things they came up with. It was refreshing and amusing in equal parts.

Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (1/8 turns, 1 locked dice)

The nuclear power plant design work began promptly, with civil, mechanical and electrical engineers pulled in to begin mulling over the requirements of any nuclear reactor (currently envisioned, at any rate). Power. Water. Road or (preferably) rail access. Security considerations. Infrastructural requirements for the fuel itself. The list went on, and on. With New Delhi under construction, finding a location for a test reactor and a prototype was made somewhat simpler than expected, and permission was sought from that locality for the privilege of building both there - and, once received, the talks turned more to the specifics of the reactor's operating regime.

Rudimentary Heat Shielding [MATSCI] (2/2 turns, 1 locked dice returned)

After reviewing the results of the previous quarter's test launch of ablative heat shielding materials, a particular set proved the most resilient and was chosen for future testing and usage on IEC spacecraft - a resin-impregnated hemp base, formed into a honeycomb pattern, atop which an ablative silicone elastomer was poured in and set, secured with an additional, outer ring made with a combination of carbon cloth and phenolic resin. While descending at re-entry speeds through the atmosphere, the elastomer would burn away, or ablate, and in so doing remove heat from the heat shield, keeping the overall ablation rate low enough so the payload it protected would remain at survivable temperatures internally through the entire descent - and, critically, un-burnt.

Observation Satellites (2/4 turns, 1 locked dice)

With the basics knocked out, the Observation Satellites group moved to the actual mechanical details of 'how do we keep this pointed in the direction we want'. Some favored spin stabilization for its simplicity, while others preferred having the ability to actually point the spacecraft - which would also be quite valuable for interplanetary probes. So it was that they set about developing a reaction control system that used a series of what were essentially small pressure-fed motors linked to tanks of compressed nitrogen to point a spacecraft in a desired direction. A group split off and began devising avionics to control that system, and between those two efforts the majority of the funding and engineering time available to the project for the quarter were spent. Some, however, was made available to the optics team, who investigated the cameras in production around the world, hoping to find either an off-the-shelf model or a manufacturer that could make exactly what they wanted for the task of weather observation.

Human-rated Rocketry (2/8 turns, 1 locked dice)

One of the challenges with human-rated rocketry was the sheer force a rocket could, would, and did exert on its payload during the entire ascent phase, followed by an abrupt cessation when the engines cut out in the target orbit. While, theoretically, a well-optimized R-4 could put a single spacefarer into orbit, two or more was right out and that single spacefarer would have quite the unpleasant ride the entire way up, as the maximum g-force loading on the payload right before engine cutout was over eight Gs. Ideally, a crew-carrier rocket would have a more sedate acceleration, perhaps starting at 1.3 to 1.5 G at liftoff and ending around 4 G. It would thus have to either have some sort of throttling capability for its engines, be carrying a heavy mass, or be sufficiently large as to limit the acceleration thus. This was, necessarily, more inefficient than a satellite-carrier, in size and fuel expenditure. The upside was that, provided a throttling method could be devised, the same rocket could put heavier payloads of cargo into orbit without needing to design an entire extra launch vehicle specifically for cargo use.

The IEC, of course, could do either the single-seater option or the multi-crew option, but it could only do one at a time, at this particular time, so a choice must be made.

[ ] [HUMAN] Go with a single-person spacecraft.
[ ] [HUMAN] Go with a two-seat spacecraft.

Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] (231/350) (Nat 100)

While the current round of materials science research was underway (and indeed ongoing), the teams reported results from personal side-projects undertaken by small groups of the overall research team. The first of these was inconel - an alloy known since the 40s, where it had been used in jet engines - now applied to rocketry. The specific formulation for jet turbines was not quite well suited enough to be used in rocket turbomachinery, but with a slight tweaking of the formula, they were able to come up with one that was, and for what it was good at, it was superior to just about everything else available.

The second of these was hastelloy-N, a nickel superalloy that had a shockingly high heat tolerance while maintaining strength at those temperatures. This was a reasonably good material for making, say, rocket nozzles with, or maybe combustors, but what really got the scientists involved excited was its applications in the field of nuclear reactors - which were, by all accounts, going to have high pressures and high temperatures (or at least one of those) involved, and would benefit from the material.

[Tech added: Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.]
[Tech added: Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.]

University Rocket Competitions

Given the success of the Rocket Box so far, when one of your new graduate engineers approached you with the suggestion that the IEC sponsor a worldwide series of rocketry competitions at the university level, you walked the suggestion straight to Outreach and asked them about the feasibility and how exactly to go about it.

Now, most of a year after that day, they had brought forward a plan: each Region would host a series of competitions in various classes, such as Altitude Record Solid and Liquid classes, respectfully, along with various size classes, but also preserving a 'Novelty' class - for the more… eccentric designs to be shown off in. Then, once a year, the winning university teams from each region would be flown to Mogadishu to tour the Space Centre and take part in a two week shadowing program during the equatorial summer, getting to actually work alongside IEC engineers and scientists and gain valuable knowledge and experience.

Naturally, you signed it, and with a reasonable staff allocation and a budget, it was off to the (rocket) races.

Bothering Councilors

Even though you'd just come back from the World Council session, there were promises you'd made that, while the could be completed by the IEC's own Facilities personnel, they could also be accomplished by getting ahold of the Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief's Executive Council and asking them to consider a slight priority modification. Thanks to being, well, the Director of the IEC, you were quickly able to get ahold of one of the Councilors there, a young man from Sumatra who had managed to find himself elected by his region on the strength of the actions he'd taken to save several towns from devastating wildfires caused by incendiary bombing during the Third Great War.

With congratulations afforded and a certain amount of schmoozing on your part, you asked him to…

[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Electrification in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)
[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Industry in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)
[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Infrastructure in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)

Propagandize for Nuclear Power (155/???)

Building on your work from months ago, you began to strategize the most appropriate tone and direction to take with your propagandizing. The best path forward seemed to be to present the benefits of clean air and emphasize how little waste a reactor would produce - it wouldn't, for example, make a river un-swimmable and un-fishable thanks to toxic runoff the way other plants might, nor would it have enormous piles of ash to deal with after the fuel was used up. It would be necessary to emphasize that these plants' only function would be producing power, and nothing whatsoever to do with producing any new bombs.

At this point, you yourself had become convinced that this was the right path forward - but you were very aware of how many people would likely disagree. So, when the Outreach department asked if they could start taking the propaganda public, you told them to trial it in Mogadishu - a city untouched by atomic fire, and also, handily, right next door. Hopefully all went well.

Engineering Job Fair (93/150)

The Personnel department resumed its search for more engineering candidates and began talking to a wider spread of universities to inquire about their graduating classes. Masters students graduated somewhat year round - there was typically a cohort every quarter - but the bachelors' only appeared, really, at the end of the school year for that particular region. There wasn't much progress made, mostly for that reason - they hired on an additional batch of graduate students, but the undergraduates who were typically far more numerous were as yet unavailable. Hopefully, next quarter would fare better.

Shadows · Mar 3, 2024

[X] [HUMAN] Go with a single-person spacecraft.
[X] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Penelope found herself musing over her coffee on the first of April. A great deal of progress had been made in the last quarter, and she was, once again, authorizing the quarterly project list today. Her desk was strewn with papers: lab reports informing her of experimental results, a reply from the Councillor she'd been pestering saying that he would happily begin further electrification projects in Sub-Saharan Africa (which was, on further thought, a very large place - perhaps the planning region ought to have been split into Central Africa and Southern Africa…), engineering proposals, a letter from Dr. Turing, a letter from her father…

And, well, a catalog of wedding dresses provided by a friend back home who specialized in making such things. I will need two, after all.

A knock at her door caused her to look up. "Come in!" she invited cheerily. The door opened to reveal Korolev, bearing his own coffee cup (which she knew was spiked with rum - she would have expected vodka, and he did, of course, partake in that) and a curious metal part. "Good morning Sergei. Have a seat, if you like."

Korolev nodded and took the chair opposite her, sinking into the cushion with a sigh, placing the part on the table. "I bring good news this morning." he said, gesturing at the part.

"Oh? What's that?"

"It is inconel, part of what is known as a 'turbopump'. It pumps fuel from the tank to the engine, as the name implies. This metal is very heat tolerant, which makes it ideal for engines. It came on this morning's mail flight, from North America." he said, and gave her a wry smile. "That bastard Glushko is dancing in Long Beach, I'm sure of it. He will probably be asking for funding to make new engines soon, using this."

Penelope chuckled. "You two still don't get along, do you?"

"No, we do not. I will.. concede that he is good at what he does - though do not ever tell him I said so - but he also got me thrown in the gulag during the Third Great War, and that is not something easily forgiven." Korolev stated matter-of-factly.

Penelope shook her head and smiled slightly. "Understandable, I think. Did he send you that?" she asked, gesturing at the part. He nodded.

"Da. To gloat, I am sure. He did, however, also send the instructions on how to make more, as is protocol. So, I too will be looking into new engine designs." he said, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips.

"Good. I wish the both of you the best of luck." Penelope said, and gestured at her papers. "I'm going to need some myself. Every quarter I do this, and every quarter I'm astonished at just how much I have to process in the space of a week."

"Reasons why I am glad you are the Director and not I." he responded with a chuckle, and stood. "I will leave you to your papers, then." He glanced down, and caught sight of the catalog. "Getting married?"

Penelope nodded. "I am. Soon, hopefully."

"Let me know when and where. I would like to be present, my friend."

"So you know… I am getting married to another woman." Penelope warned.

Korolev shrugged. "So?" he asked, and walked out with a wave before Penelope could respond, leaving her there, blinking in faint surprise.

Resources:
490R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 R-4 Dawn
1 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (40000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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: 6
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 9
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: 9
Security: 9
Partisan Activity: 3

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

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
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 Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
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, 17/120, 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) (187/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (178/450)

[ ] 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] 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. (2/4 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. (2/8 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, 216/300, ???)

[ ] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket - Now that our first orbital rocket has flown to space and delivered payloads, we can begin to look at what may be improved about it. We can also, if we wish, begin thinking about other, new designs. (15R) (4 turns to Design) (2 turns to Redesign) (Triggers subvote)
-[ ] Design
-[ ] Redesign (Rocket name here)

[ ] 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)

[1 LOCKED] 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. (1/8 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, 231/350, 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, 209/300) (+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)

[ ] Closed-Input Life Support Systems - We know from high-altitude flights during the Third Great War that systems can be designed to provide breathable air and a temperature-controlled environment for high-flying pilots. By taking that knowledge and acknowledging the lack of oxygen in space from which to replenish breathable air supplies, we can design a system capable of keeping a human alive for at least a short time (days) in space with no external inputs. (10R per dice, 0/200)

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

Politics & Management (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) (155/???)

[ ] 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.)

Personnel

[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (93/150, 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)

Shadows · Mar 7, 2024

[X] Plan: Rational Assessment, Reasonable Solutions
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (17/120) (2 dice, -70R)
--[X] And launch it (1 die)
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Launch the stockpiled R-4 (1 die)
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (stockpiled)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (187/450) (3 dice, -75R)
--[X] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (178/450) (3 dice, -75R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (209/300) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Spacefarer Training Facilities (113/300) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Observation Satellites (2/4 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (2/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (1/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (216/300) (1 die, -5R)
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (142/200) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] (231/350) (4 dice, -80R)
-[X] The Right Stuff (91/300) (3 dice, -15R)
-[X] Engineering Job Fair (93/150) (1 die, -5R)

Penelope looked over the blizzard of quarter-end reports that had blanketed her desk and rubbed the bridge of her nose with a sigh. I really ought to divert some more of these to Sergei, she thought to herself, even as a pair of tiny giggles brought her attention to her daughters, playing (thankfully relatively quietly) in the corner. She smiled, watching them for a moment, and wondered what the world would look like when they were her age.

I was certainly not expecting the world to look like this when I hit thirty-two, she thought to herself. I suppose that's why I'm h-

Before she could go much further with that, a knock at the door drew her attention. "Come in!" she called out, and watched the girls perk up and swivel their heads to the door with that sometimes-uncanny synchronicity they sometimes had.

A young Chinese woman stepped in, dipping her head slightly towards you. "Director Carter, do you have a moment?" she asked in accented but perfectly understandable English. She was familiar enough that Penelope racked her brain for a split second, trying to recall her name. Yao Xia. Engineer.

"Of course. Is this a sensitive matter?" she asked, and Xia - Yao? Which name is her first, again? Did I swap the name into first-last already or..? - shook her head in the negative.

"No, it concerns the balloon tanks." the engineer replied with a grimace. "They have… failed again."

Penelope sighed. "Of course. Is anyone hurt?"

"No," the woman replied, "but we will be set back at least another week or two."

How many resources have I poured into this project already only for us to run into roadblock after roadblock?, Penelope mused.

"Tell me what happened."

Xia sat down, glancing about as she did so. She spotted the girls, who were watching her - and looked away and quickly returned to playing when they realized she realized.

"Don't mind them, I simply wanted to spend more time with them today." Penelope said with a small chuckle.

Xia nodded. "I understand. Um, okay, the tanks…"

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

DNIPRO - Members of the IEC's Materials Science division have unveiled a new production process for rustless (or stainless) steel, enabling far larger quantities to be produced at once, enabling lower costs and allowing for the material to be used in more applications. The cost of surgical tools is expected to decrease dramatically…

ANTARCTICA - The AEC has announced that its first expedition to the South Pole will embark in October, during local spring. The goal of the expedition is to conduct general scientific endeavors, to include taking cores of the ice for study by scientists on-site, enabling them to track the change in the Earth's atmosphere over time, from millions of years ago to today…

MOMBASA - The staff of the Mombasa Computer Science Institute have reported the creation of the 'transistor', an electronic component that may one day replace the vacuum tube. The announcement was made by Dr. Alan Turing, the facility's head, at a symposium on electronics engineering held at Moscow Polytechnic…

Resources:
30R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (42000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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 (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7 (+) (Road and Rail network expansions)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 10 (+) (Electrical network upgrades, new power plants)
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 6

Western Asia
Education: 10 (+) (Education system improvements)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 5 (-)

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: 4 (-)

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 7 (--) (Drawdown)
Partisan Activity: 3

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

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)

Scientific Advances
Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
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)~~

Rocket & Payload Construction

The Assembly teams worked at a more sedate pace this quarter - and you couldn't blame them, after a year of working at an incredible pace - and were only able to finish roughly half of the next Dawn rocket. It was a good thing, perhaps, as the investigation into the quarter's Curiosity IV failure was sure to turn up process improvements for the construction of the IEC's rockets.

In addition to a half-built Dawn, they were also able to build Curiosity V, which would, hopefully, not share the fate of its predecessor.

Rocket Launches (0 successes, 1 failure)

The launch of Curiosity IV went… poorly. The satellite, in point of fact, never made it out of the rocket, which itself never made it out of the atmosphere. The current suspicion is that an engine bay fire led to an engine explosion and very soon thereafter a general rapid disassembly of the entire rocket in the space of a few seconds. Unfortunately, the rocket was far enough down range at the point of failure that by the time a search vessel arrived in the impact area to collect any debris, there was nothing left to salvage, and precious little data to diagnose the problem besides.

Build a Scientific Complex
- Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (347/450)

The delivery station, along with the first of several laboratory buildings, were completed this quarter, with the rest close behind. The first items to cross the delivery station's interior transit tracks after arriving on a cargo train weren't chemicals or catalysts - they were more equipment, bound for the labs, delivered by the most convenient method now available. These pieces included scrubbers to go atop the ventilation and exhaust system outlets - it would be Bad if there were any release of the kinds of nastily toxic chemicals that could be handled inside, especially if either gaseous or aerosolized. The odds were good that construction would complete next quarter, and already a great deal of Mogadishu's chemical engineers and chemists were beginning to pack their bags for Beijing.

- New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (388/450)

Construction of the particle accelerator, nearly fifty meters in diameter, was completed by the end of June. The control apparatus, a specially-built Turing computer, was made available shortly beforehand and was undergoing installation by the time the accelerator itself was complete. The cooling systems and power requirements were significant, and some plans did end up needing to be drawn up for the city itself to be able to supply the power required to run the accelerator (which might one day be accelerators) along with the power-hungry computers, the majority of which were either installed or undergoing installation at the Institute by the end of the quarter. All of the buildings were structurally complete at this point; the work that was going on now was furnishing and outfitting them for use by the staff.

Big Ear [PHYS] (271/300)

The Big Ear was nearly done - in fact, it would have been done this quarter, if not for a few key problems. First: a localized materials shortage (thanks in no small part to your pestering of the Reconstruction department, who were using a lot of the same materials you needed for the telescope in order to improve the electrical network), and a set of faulty receivers for the receiver strip that would actually make the telescope functional. Neither of these problems were intractable - but they were both annoying, and caused enough delays for the completion of the telescope to slip into next quarter. (Can be finished with either Science OR Facilities dice, rather than AND)

Spacefarer Training Facilities (175/300)

While the spacefarer selections were drawing to a close, the facilities in which they would train and learn together were still undergoing construction. A large portion of the facilities were actually classrooms - in many ways, the training facility was like a university, distributing necessary skills amongst all of the spacefarers before they would be sent into space on the missions they were selected for. A gym was also under construction, along with running tracks and other necessary facilities for ensuring fitness amongst the spacefarers - they did not have to be Olympians, but nobody knew what effects space would have on the human body and the rigors of high-speed flight were somewhat understood. As such, they would need to be in at least good shape before going up.

Observation Satellites (3/4 turns)

The reaction control systems devised last quarter began to be tested in this one, and the wind tunnel found itself home to an odd experiment, where a small 'satellite' fitted with tanks of compressed gas was suspended in the tunnel and made to spin and orient itself on command. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough to get a general idea of the principles of the system down. Meanwhile, the camera teams were closing in on several different cameras - film and broadcast - that could be used for earth observation. One of the teams even suggested using the film cameras for a space telescope, pointed out towards the stars. Lastly, the team in charge of figuring out how to get the broadcast cameras to be used for the weather satellites to be able to relay their images back to Earth was experimenting with radio bands, trying to find the best data throughput rate at the lowest power possible, to ease the task's demand on the satellite's power budget.

Human-rated Rocketry (3/8 turns)

With the decision made to pursue a single-person spacecraft, design work began accordingly, beginning to envision the shape the capsule would take. Some suggested spaceplanes rather than capsules; however, capsules could borrow existing design experience from sample return capsules used in sounding rockets, combined with the new heat shielding materials developed by the materials scientists in Dnipro last quarter. This, in turn, led to a shorter turnaround on design and presumably greater odds of success overall. Members of the team began to draw up experiments designed to test how the human body reacted to the stressors of launch using equipment now being installed and verified at the spacefarer training facility in order to inform the requirements of the rocket itself, which would very likely be a modified R-4.

Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (2/8 turns)

The power plant design studies proceeded apace, with a few competing schools of thought vying for control of the direction of the project. First, the space reactor advocates: they wanted to pursue a reactor design that would provide the most benefit to the IEC, while still being serviceable in a terrestrial power role. Next, the solid core advocates: they contended that a design comprised of solid rods of radioactive material, submerged in water and provided with some type of moderating material to control the rate of reaction would be the easiest to construct and likely the fastest, in addition to being the closest to technical readiness, based on recovered experiment logs from the Third Great War. Lastly, the molten core advocates: they argued that their design was inherently fail-safe and equally applicable to land, sea and space, and needed no water as a working fluid (though it could, of course, still use it).

You weren't quite sure which of them were the right path forward, to be honest, but you were happy that they weren't attacking each other in their wide-ranging debates on the merits of each position. They were also, notably, drafting actual plans and doing experiments as well.

Conduct Design Studies (Alternative Launch Systems) [AERO, PHYS] (342/300)

The Alternative Launch Systems investigation team finally called it quits after nearly a year of study, having achieved their objectives - which weren't, necessarily, to produce actually actionable plans, but to broaden the IEC's horizons and get some basic concepts out amongst the academics the world over for them to chew over. The majority of the proposed systems were either unworkable due to materials constraints or to practicality, but with advances in technology both of those might change overnight, or over the course of decades.

A few were, of course, more promising than others - in particular, the various electromagnetic launch options were of interest, along with other kinetic launch systems, one of which was akin to a centrifuge, throwing a payload at great speed, and of course air launch, which was the most technically mature of the proposed options (as it was already well understood how to launch a (military) rocket from an aircraft).

Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (179/200)

The balloon tank project continued to be plagued with problems related to bad welds, oxidation, overpressure, underpressure - you name it, it had probably happened at least once and probably three times. Some of the engineers on staff had taken to calling it 'cursed', and while you didn't partake in superstition much yourself (nor did they, which amplified your surprise at hearing the sentiment), you couldn't help but feel they might have had a point here.

Conduct Materials Research (Phase 4) [MATSCI] (484/350) (Nat 100), (Phase 5) (134/400)

For the second quarter in a row, the Materials Science teams at Dnipro delivered wonderful news, bringing to completion several long-running investigations - along with a couple of surprises none had foreseen.

First, the surprises.

Carbon fiber had been worked with in laboratories for a century at this point, with carbon wire being used in incandescent bulbs, but it had lacked the strength and ease of production required to take it beyond those cases… until now. Utilizing a process that started from a rayon base, the scientists at Dnipro were able to create a carbon fiber that was 99%+ carbon, enabling it to be both relatively easily manufactured and also quite strong, making an excellent strengthening material for other composites. Your engineers were, naturally, very, very interested in these lightweight, strong, heat-resistant materials.

Another group entirely (a group you suspected was friendly with Korolev) brought forward a ceramic enamel formulation that strongly resisted the oxidative environment found inside a turbopump's machinery, and while it was brittle, given the general tolerances to which turbine production was held, there should - should - be little worry of the enamel causing problems inside a properly-manufactured engine. It was, of course, also perfectly applicable as a material to jet and power turbines, though power turbines at least gained relatively little from having the enamel applied given the much lower temperatures involved.

One of the groups that had actually been started up with the beginning of this most recent round of investigations brought forward something that was broadly only something the IEC would care about - isogrid and orthogrid manufacturing. By milling or otherwise forming into the material that would comprise a tank wall a series of equilateral triangles, an isogrid was formed, giving the tank wall enough compressive and lateral strength to still be useful as a rocket component while also decreasing weight, improving performance. An orthogrid was much the same, only using a grid of squares or rectangles in place of the triangles. Once again, your engineering teams at Mogadishu were already hard at work finding ways to apply this to rockets to come. The only downside to the technique, as far as you could see, was the fact that the milling process would make tank manufacturing take longer by necessity. A large amount of material was also wasted in the process - but, in the case of metals, could largely be recovered and remelted into later tankage.

Finally, partially as part of your promises to look into civilian applications for the materials science research the IEC undertook but also to add yet more options to the growing list in the Cooperative's toolkit, another team brought forward a series of improvements to the manufacturing of stainless steel, enabling it to be produced in far greater quantities and at lower cost. There were very few applications around the world that stainless steel couldn't impact - anything where you wanted steel and didn't want rust, essentially, though there were yet still certain applications, like marine alloys, where it wasn't useful in the environment those qualities were desired in.

[Tech added: High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.] (Nat 100)

[Tech added: Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)] (Nat 100)

[Tech added: Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.]

[Tech added: Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.]

The Right Stuff (282/300)

Candidate selection was well underway, now that the majority of the applications for spacefarer roles were processed. Interviews were happening all across the world, and large sections of the Personnel department were gone at any given time during the quarter. It was decided that seven was the ideal size for the first 'class' of spacefarers; some quipped that it was 'seven spacefarers for seven continents', though that was usually followed with some variety of joke about penguins with PhDs. The head of Personnel assured you that there would be a list of candidates for your approval by the end of the next quarter.

(Very likely to open something akin to For the Tyrants Fear Your Might's Captain submissions here, I can only come up with so many characters before I repeat myself.)

Engineering Job Fair (183/150) (-5R/turn) (+1 Engineering dice)

As you'd predicted, once the school year in the Northern Hemisphere was over (for most places, anyway) the Personnel department had had far better luck finding sufficient junior engineers to help staff an additional engineering team. The majority of them were already in transit and would be settled in (more or less) in time to help with the next quarter's projects.

Shadows · Mar 7, 2024

"...so, in short, Madame Director, this device, this 'transistor' -" Alan Turing stood before her, holding up a tiny wafer of silicon with a pair of tweezers, "- enables a more robust method of computing, and may perhaps be even cheaper to manufacture than vacuum tubes, after more refinement. They are crude, now, but we will continue our investigations into them."

Penelope felt a minor headache coming on, and she wasn't quite sure whether it was the sheer volume of information she was trying to process in one go or the fact that she'd had no water in a couple of hours. "I see." she replied, for she did. "Are they resilient enough to be used in a spacecraft?" she asked.

"This one? No." Turing said with a shake of his head. "But, perhaps. They are solid-state, after all - it's just a matter of finding better ways of putting them together."

Penelope nodded again. "Well, in any case, excellent work, Dr. Turing. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing, current-" he began, then stopped. "Actually, if we could have some additional funding, that would perhaps speed our research efforts."

Penelope hummed. "I'll have to bring it up to the rest of the executive council, but I don't see any reason why they'd not."

Turing nodded again, nearly a half-bow. "That shall suffice, madame. I won't take up any more of your time, then." he said, turning for the door. His hand was on the doorknob when he looked back at her. "Oh, and Director?"

"Yes, Doctor?"

"I nearly forgot - congratulations on your imminent nuptials." he said, offering a slight smile, which Penelope returned.

"Thank you, Alan."

Resources:
475R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (42000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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 (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 7
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

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

Western Asia
Education: 10
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 5

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: 4

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 7
Partisan Activity: 3

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

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
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)
Hire a spacefarer from South America (UWF)

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, 77/120, 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) (347/450)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450)
-[] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (388/450)

[ ] 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, 175/300) (+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 (6 dice, +6 Bonus to All, +3 from Research Support (1956Q1)) (3/6 Locked)

[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. (3/4 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. (3/8 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)

[ ] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket - Now that our first orbital rocket has flown to space and delivered payloads, we can begin to look at what may be improved about it. We can also, if we wish, begin thinking about other, new designs. (15R) (4 turns to Design) (2 turns to Redesign) (Triggers subvote)
-[ ] Design
-[ ] Redesign (Rocket name here)

[ ] 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, 179/200, 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)

[ ] Vacuum Nozzles - After having conducted several orbital flights, the engineering teams have come up with an optimization for the IEC's upper-stage engines - make them longer. Given the mechanics on which a rocket engine worked, having a longer, larger bell on the upper stage allowed for a more efficient use of the force of the rocket's exhaust, giving gains in performance for a slight gain in weight. (5R per dice, 0/200)

[ ] 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)

[1 LOCKED] 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. (2/8 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 5) [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, 134/400, 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; This dice can be either Facilities OR Science this turn, 271/300) (+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)

[ ] Closed-Input Life Support Systems - We know from high-altitude flights during the Third Great War that systems can be designed to provide breathable air and a temperature-controlled environment for high-flying pilots. By taking that knowledge and acknowledging the lack of oxygen in space from which to replenish breathable air supplies, we can design a system capable of keeping a human alive for at least a short time (days) in space with no external inputs. (10R per dice, 0/200)

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

Politics & Management (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) (155/???)

[ ] 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.)

Personnel

~~[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (33/150, 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. (282/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Mar 21, 2024

[X] Plan: Realistic Strategy, Dramatic Execution
-[X] Launch the stockpiled R-2 Gale (free)
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (77/120) (1 die, -35R)
--[X] And Launch it (1 Die)
--[X] Curiosity-class Satellite (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Expand the Assembly Complex (182/350) (2 dice 40R)
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (347/450) (2 dice, -50R)
--[X] New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (388/450) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Big Ear [PHYS] (271/300) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Spacefarer Training Facilities (175/300) (2 dice, -30R)
-[X] Observation Satellites (3/4 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (3/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (2/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (179/200) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Vacuum Nozzles (0/200) (2 dice, -10R)
-[X] Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) [MATSCI] (134/400) (4 dice, -100R)
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations (1/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Creative Sponsorships (141/400) (3 dice, -30R)
-[X] The Right Stuff (282/300) (1 die, -5R)

September drew to a close and October was hours away, and Penelope felt that recently there was never quite enough time. She was pulled between the IEC and its various demands (her most common description of what she did to others who did not know was 'professional cat wrangler'), raising Iris and Alice, and preparing for her own wedding - which was now around the corner, coming during her usual scheduled vacation time in December. She was very much looking forward to that, of course - she was nothing if not excited about the prospect, truth be told, despite very much not needing any kind of ceremony to officialize the love she felt for her wife-to-be. There's just… something about it, though.

Korolev and his wife were attending, as were Turing and his husband, her parents, her wife's sister and brother (her parents were, sadly, not approving), and a number of their friends. It promised to be a memorable occasion… and damned if I'm not nervous. The next two months are going to be hell.

What she wasn't looking forward to as much was coming back to deal with the World Council immediately after. At least Mom and Da offered to watch the girls so Ruby and I could go to the cabin upstate for a week… I'm just glad they're all okay after that awful hurricane.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

NEW DELHI - The IEC has cut the ribbon on a new physics institute in the outskirts of New Delhi today, bringing crowds of tens of thousands from across the area to come and see the high-tech, top-of-the-line facility in all its grandeur. The institute promises to be a world center for new physics research, and is certainly equipped for the purpose…

BEIJING - A chemistry laboratory of industrial proportions was opened by the IEC in the outskirts of Beijing, after months of prep-work expanding the local water and power supplies to handle the new facility, plus slack that was made available to the area for its own usage. Concerned residents are wary of the possibility of chemical leaks or explosions that could potentially impact the area, but IEC representatives have stated that they are 'taking every precaution against those eventualities that can be thought of and physically implemented'...

ATHENS - The Communist Party of Athens, Greece, has been ousted by the local Free Workers of the World contingent during local elections, making it the first European city to be taken by the FWW since the 1940s…

ANTARCTICA - The first Antarctic Exploration Cooperative expedition has departed for the icy continent…

NORTH AMERICA - An active hurricane season has brought significant death and destruction across the breadth of North America, from Hurricane Diana sweeping the Northeastern seaboard, killing two hundred, to Hurricanes Hilda and Janet smashing their way across the Caribbean and Central America, causing more than a thousand deaths…

Resources:
15R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
1 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

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

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+) (Big Ear) (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (Big Ear)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 11 (+) (Beijing science complex)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5 (-)

Western Asia
Education: 11 (+) (New Delhi science complex)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 4 (-)

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 7 (+)
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8 (+) (New railways completed, ports upgraded)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10 (+) (Post-war reconstruction)
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3 (-)

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6 (-)
Partisan Activity: 3

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

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
CHEM - +11(+7)= +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +9(+9)(+2)= +20
PROP - +14

IEC Leadership:

Director of the IEC:
Penelope Carter [The Director] - [+10 to Politics rolls, +2 Politics die, +5R/turn in funding from Connections, reroll 1 failed politics roll per turn]

Assistant Director of the IEC:
Sergei Korolev [The Engineer] - [+5 to Science and Engineering rolls (unless researching [HGOL][FUEL] projects, then it becomes a -15), +1 Science dice, +1 Engineering Dice. Request: Build and launch a 2nd Generation Orbital Rocket within 5 years. Demonstrate crewed orbital spaceflight within 5 years.]

Chief Scientist of the IEC:

Assistant Director of the Spacefarer Assembly:

Passive Effects

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

Nuclear Power Authorization - The World Council has been successfully convinced to support the IEC conducting peaceful, power-generating nuclear experiments. (Current WC approval status: Given, Apprehensive; Current public approval status: Apprehensive)

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1956 unless otherwise stated):
Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) (Int(C), Int(M-L), FWW) (small additional progress requirement added in order to represent finding materials good for civilian use)
Build the Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (Int(C))
Build the New Delhi Institute for Physics (CPAL, Int(C))
Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus on completion) (Int(M-L)
Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1 (+2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus on completion) (Int(D)))
Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (FWW) (Does not expire as long as the dice is locked)
Build 1 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (FWW) (Modified)
~~Build the Big Ear (CPAL)~~
Hire a spacefarer from South America (UWF)

Rocket & Payload Construction

Dawn construction was slow again this quarter, as significant numbers of the Assembly team were tasked with aiding in the expansion work on the assembly complex. You figured they'd be back up to their prior pace once that construction work was finished. A single Curiosity-class satellite was finished besides, and placed in long-term storage, awaiting its time to fly.

Rocket Launches

None this quarter.

Expand the Assembly Complex (243/350)

The slowdown in R-4 production was matched by a relative uptick in the construction of the expanded Assembly Complex, with large sections of the Assembly team seconded to Facilities to help site locations for the equipment they would use and give input as the build process went along. The facility expansion stands at just over two-thirds complete, and will likely be done in the next quarter.

Build a Scientific Complex
-Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (CHEM) (452/450) (Omake added)

The Beijing Institute for Chemical Research was opened to much fanfare and excitement (mostly from your chemists and those around the world). The local population was relatively pleased with their new electrical grid, more stable and extensive than before, and that dulled the complaints about, well, an experimental chemistry facility being built nearby. The location was, at least, downwind of the city, which helped alleviate concerns as well.

Your chemistry department in Mogadishu was largely a ghost town anymore. You'd have to hire more scientists… who would then probably also flee to Beijing. Some of them, anyway.

(+7 to CHEM) (+1 to Education in East Asia)

-New Delhi Institute for Physics (PHYS) (454/450) (Omake added)

New Delhi's state-of-the-art Institute for Physics opened its doors in late September, offering tours for the public at large to see what the IEC had built. There were a considerable number of people in the first week - some two hundred thousand from the surrounds of New Delhi alone - and there were plans in the works for the volunteers from the scientists who were moving there to teach classes at the local universities and high-school equivalents. The thing that made physicists from around the world perk up, of course, was the hundred-meter-diameter Delatron particle collider, the largest of its kind yet built. While not all of your physicists at Mogadishu had left for New Delhi, it did sometimes feel like they had.

Slightly more concerning to all involved was the test reactor that would be helping the power plant design teams refine their datasets into something that would hopefully prove beneficial to the world. That, too, was slated to come online in early October, after the first shipment of fissile material arrived from Mogadishu.

(+9 to PHYS) (+1 to Education in West Asia)

Big Ear [PHYS] (361/300)

The Big Ear radio telescope was finished in late August to much excitement from the world's astronomical community - well, at least the section that found the idea of using radio waves to probe the universe rather than the naked eye exciting. There were, of course, always curmudgeons who shunned the newfangled technology, but none of them, it seemed, worked for the IEC. Testing was conducted throughout the rest of the quarter, and the first operational data-gathering run was slated to begin in October.

(+1 Electrification and Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, +2 to PHYS)

Spacefarer Training Facilities (319/300)

The spacefarer training facilities were completed with input from the various teams who were devising crewed spaceflight missions and technologies, and just in time for your first class of spacefarers to use them. This, of course, lead back to the debate about the informal term 'spacefarer' - should the name remain the same, codified into being the official term, or should it be changed?

[ ] [NAME] Keep Spacefarer
[ ] [NAME] Cosmonaut
[ ] [NAME] Astronaut
[ ] [NAME] Taikonaut
[ ] [NAME] (Write-in)

Observation Satellites (4/4 turns) (COMPLETE, dice unlocked)

At last, the observation satellite teams married their disparate lines of inquiry into a single upgraded satellite design, based on the Curiosity-class satellite chassis. This new chassis was capable of longer stays in orbit and was able to direct itself to point at a desired location or locations on the ground - or even out in space. There had been intentional work put in place to enable the basic chassis to potentially be used as an orbiting telescope with a mirror diameter of up to half a meter. The biggest benefit of using the Curiosity as the basis for the design was that due to hardware commonality it was only slightly more costly to actually build, even if the build time hadn't gone up significantly enough to push it into a multi-quarter build.

They had also, notably, beefed up its communications equipment space a fair amount in anticipation of improved gear becoming available, so that it could pull double (triple? quadruple??) duty as an interplanetary probe in the coming years.

[Tech added: Curiosity-B class satellite, 20R. Can return film canisters to earth via re-entry capsule for up to 1 year after launch, or transmit mid-low resolution continuous television for ~1 quarter, or be sent out to the Moon with low-power experiments for ~1 quarter. Upon finishing Photovoltaic Investigations, it is upgraded to the Curiosity-C class satellite, capable of 1-2 years of use; the chassis can then be used to investigate celestial bodies beyond the Moon and do higher-power experiments at the Moon.]

Human-rated Rocketry (4/8 turns)

More work was poured into the single-crew capsule design started last quarter. Multiple decisions needed to be made in relatively quick succession as to just how bare-bones and sparse the capsule would actually be. The overall size of the craft was somewhat in flux, depending on the focuses selected during the Spacefarer selections that were also ongoing at the time.

Overall, more work ended up being done on the booster that would launch the capsule than the capsule itself, thanks to those considerations. The R-4a, as it was being called, would be tank-stretched to bring the initial and final accelerations down to something a bit kinder to the rider while keeping the vehicle's total pad weight just under the thirty-ton limit of the current pad, and the second stage was brought out to the full diameter of the first stage, presenting something of a curiously stubbier appearance than the toothbrush-like R-4.

Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (3/8 turns)

Your nuclear plant design studies group split into teams based on their desired reactor configuration and began to test their builds. The 'traditionalist' plant team moved to New Delhi at the end of the quarter, bringing with them their notes and equipment necessary for them to evaluate the performance of the test reactor built into the Institute for Physics' facilities. The molten-core team remained in Mogadishu and began constructing a sub-scale demonstration reactor that even the New Delhi test reactor dwarfed, but was cheap enough to build that it fit entirely inside the existing budget for the project while still providing useful information about that reactor type's functioning.

The space reactor proponents largely split themselves between those two projects, but a team of ten remained at the drawing board, exclusively looking into designs for space use. These had the complication of needing a lot of radiator area, something that had been discovered as a general problem with anything in space already, as it lacked an atmosphere or a surface to conduct or convect away heat produced by mechanical and electronic components on spacecraft.

Balloon Tanks [MATSCI] (219/200)

Your engineers had, finally, blessedly, cracked the code on balloon tanks. The issues were many and the causes equally varied, but they had at last wrestled that particular bear into submission through a variety of new welding and manufacturing techniques that were very particularly suited to the task of making them. The promise of what they could do when paired with high-performance engines (upper and lower stage) had kept interest in the project going even when the tanks themselves seemed to have no interest in being a solvable problem in terms of manufacturing.

Personally, I'm just glad we finally know what we're doing with them.

(Unlocks Balloon Tanks for use in rocket designs: Gain +Payload Mass/Velocity,+Cost.)

Vacuum Nozzles (94/200)

The authorization for research into vacuum nozzles was met with no small amount of fanfare amongst your propulsion engineers, as they were excited to test their hypotheses about how best to increase the performance of upper stages. There were a variety of ideas to that end, of course, but the simplest and most straightforward of these was simply enlarging the exhaust nozzle of the upper stage engine - by allowing the curve of the engine bell to continue on for up to two hundred percent of the initial nozzle length, additional performance could be gained for relatively little additional mass. There was some thought given to making these extended nozzles out of graphite composites, as the material was cheap and heat-resistant enough to make a lightweight bell that would ablate rather than burn through as the engine burn went on.

Conduct Materials Research (Phase 5) [MATSCI] (429/400)

The initial phase of materials research completed after multiple months of incredible advances, bringing with it new advancements in the science. These were, perhaps, less spectacular, but in their own way they were quite exciting.

The first of these was a new adaptation of an older technology - metal foaming. By using various liquids and gasses during the production of metals and alloys, they could be forced to foam, in essence creating a sponge-like maze of open spaces within the material, vastly reducing their weight for a given volume while retaining their strength. The closed-cell foam that had been investigated in Dnipro had some excellent possibilities for use as the structural components of new spacecraft, or as a shock-absorbing layer to back a heat shield with. The open spaces within the material would rob an impact of a great deal of force as they crumpled, though that same crumbling effect meant that such materials could only be used that way once before needing to be melted down and reblown. The primary advancement in this old technology, this time, was an improved process for foaming the metal, which should somewhat bring down their considerable cost.

The second was an offshoot of the carbon fiber research done earlier in the year. This time, the material produced was known as aromatic polyamide, largely shortened to aramid, a strong, lightweight and elastic synthetic fiber. Given those three properties, there were already ideas floating around the IEC of using the fibers as parachute material, to start with. There were, of course, other proposals the moment the specification was released to the public. New ropes for ships. Fire retardant clothing. That sort of thing.

The third and final was a polyimide film that showed great promise as a fire resistant insulator for wiring and other applications that were directly pertinent to you, such as low-outgas insulation for spacecraft. In small-scale vacuum chamber tests, the film showed itself to be quite superior in that role for helping maintain temperature regulation in spacelike conditions. There was also some interest from the electronics engineers for its potential usage in producing circuitry.

[Tech added: Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.]

[Tech added: Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…]

[Tech added: Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after this quarter.]

Photovoltaic Investigations (2/4 turns)

The photovoltaic investigations resumed at the beginning of the quarter, bringing a lot of materials scientists and physicists who'd been a part of the first authorization back off of the other projects they'd dispersed to when funding hadn't been renewed. After spending some time catching back up on where they'd been, they continued investigating silicon-based photovoltaics. Curiously, a class of materials called 'perovskites' showed great promise for cheap, easily-manufactured cells - but, in testing, showed themselves to have extremely short lifespans… when exposed to sunlight. This, naturally, made them completely unsuited for, well, anything at all, really. Perhaps more advanced techniques and materials in the future could rectify their problems and bring them into usability.

Creative Sponsorships (427/400)

The creative sponsorship program finished setting up its offices and staffing and began to expand its cooperation across the board. New cartoons, new movies, new music, new books, new paintings - every medium under the Sun that lent itself to conveying a sense of wonder and excitement. There was even a children's show proposed by a puppeteer named Jim Henson that had seen some significant interest amongst the section of the sponsorship office that was concerned with stuff for the youngest brackets, as televisions continued to make their way into homes across the world as the new premier way of getting news. A screenplay set aboard a starfaring ship (it was in the air as to whether this was more of a cruise ship or a colony vessel) was considered and eventually accepted by the sponsorship office, which no doubt made the man who'd submitted it very happy, one Gene Roddenberry. A dozen books, ten songs, a half-dozen artist's impressions of the surface of the Moon and Mars and Venus… there was virtually no artform not touched by the program. You were even sure that at some point you saw mention of pottery.

I ought to make note of that. If it turns out well, I might contact the potter and work out something for a vase or three… I only need two, but, well, small children.

The Right Stuff (375/300)

The sortition was finally complete, and you had a roster of potential spacefarers on your desk. There were many, but the IEC's executive council (you, Korolev, Turing, and the rest of the department heads) had decided to limit the available slots to seven. This gave you a reasonable number of slots to allocate as needed to various priorities the IEC had - including your political promise to the UWF councilors who'd backed your last Council session agenda. That slot, of course, would be taken up by the best candidate you could find from South America, but the others were more open.

So, what to prioritize?

[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Flight Experience - This would encompass those with extensive piloting experience, as that stood as the greatest stand-in for high-G flight available. This would largely mean your first spacefarers would be veterans of the Third Great War and the Revolution.

[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Science - This would encompass those whose academic background best lent themselves to doing space science. This would, naturally, result in your first class being largely made of PhDs. The fittest you could find, of course.

[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Size - A line of thought amongst the engineers working on the human-rated rocketry program was that smaller people would be easier for the first rockets to loft into orbit, as they could be fit into smaller, lighter capsules. This would likely result in many of your first spacefarers being women and those from smaller-built groups, such as post-colonial regions.

[ ] [RIGHT STUFF] Inclusion - There was an argument to be made that the colonized peoples of the world had the right to the first shots at what would (hopefully) become a prestigious position. Choosing this would prioritize them - never at the expense of being qualified in at least two of the other considerations, but it would open the doors more to them, thanks to no one having been a spacefarer before, and what needed to be known could be taught.

[Note: choosing to prioritize one or the other doesn't mean the other two don't get considered at all, just that, well, the priority is the priority.]

Advanced Concepts Office

"ACO members largely concerned with human rocketry program at present. Have seen doodles for space stations adorning their desks. Will probably see proposals for those in the future. Coffee supplies have stabilized after delivery totals having been upped multiple times. Caught Johanssen snorting a line of cocaine. May need to strengthen anti-overwork measures, look into hiring staff psych help."

Shadows · Mar 23, 2024

Your first cosmonaut class arrived at the space center on the first of October.

Your directive to the selection committee had told them to emphasize picking smaller, lighter candidates, the better to make the engineer's jobs easier for the first set of crewed launches. They, of course, had enough applications to-hand to make it happen.

First amongst them was a young woman from Japan - Reiko Riko. She had a bachelor's degree in engineering, a modicum of flight experience in light aircraft, and had tested very well in the g-force simulator. She also stood only a hundred and fifty five centimeters tall, and would have earned the addition of 'slight' to the description of her stature if she'd been any skinnier.

Second was a man from Botswana named Oluwaseyi Botha, with a runner's lithe build and the distinction of being the first man from his village to have been sent to college, where he'd charged his way through a medical doctorate and returned home to practice medicine. He was a hundred and sixty centimeters in height, had a very respectable g-tolerance, and he was, without any doubt on your part, one of the smartest people you'd ever met.

Third was a tiny Ukrainian woman - Natasya Sokolova. She was the only one of your candidates without some form of degree, though she did have a technical certification listing her as a master electrician and aircraft technician. She was also the only fighter pilot of the female candidates, and had fought for the Soviet Union in the Third Great War, achieving the status of ace of aces - and returned home to Ukraine just in time for the Revolution to break out. She was also, notably, one hundred and forty-five centimeters tall, and had the highest g-tolerance of any of the candidates.

Fourth was a man from what had been Colombia - Vicente Cordoba. He had the distinction of being the only multiple degree holder in your initial group, holding a master's in geology and another in physics. He was a hundred and sixty-four centimeters tall, the tallest of the bunch, and had an acceptable g-tolerance. It was probable that his greatest contribution to the IEC would be joining your scientific teams when he wasn't training for a space mission, but that was fine.

Fifth was an Irish woman, Deirdre Mackenzie. She held two world records for speed and distance flown in the custom two-seater aircraft she'd built for the purpose. She held a master's degree in mechanical engineering from University College Dublin, which certainly explained the aircraft. A hundred and fifty-one centimeters tall in shoes, she was also only beaten in g-tolerance by Natasya, to no one's surprise.

Sixth was a Malay woman named Anisa Wibowo. She had been one of the first crop of students to make their way through the post-Revolution college programs in that region and was also one of the first to receive their degree from the new-built university there as well, with her bachelor's degree being in biology. She had probably the lowest g-tolerance of the group, but she tested well in every other category set out for the cosmonaut candidates. She stood at one hundred and fifty-eight centimeters, making her the tallest of the women candidates.

Seventh and last, but not least, was Aretas Abdul of Egypt. He needed very, very little introduction - he was, after all, the man who'd killed the Empress of the HRE by shooting down her plane. In addition to his flight experience, he brought with him a bachelor's degree in physics, an incredible g-tolerance, and a standing height of a hundred and sixty-two centimeters. He had, at one point, also been considered for your job, and had the intervening time being one of your biggest supporters in the Council.

You weren't entirely sure about his selection, thanks to that, but he was qualified by the requirements set out, and there was nothing to be done about it now. With that out of the way, you now had nothing else to distract you from authorizing the next quarter's projects - well, nothing at the moment. You could have sworn you just heard something break…

Oh no, I hear little whispers.

Well, you had one thing distracting you, then. Time to go find out what it was.

Resources:
460R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

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

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 7
Electrification: 7 (+1 in 1955Q4 from Bothering Councilors)
Industry: 6
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 10
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

Western Asia
Education: 11
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 4

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 7
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 10
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3

North America
Education: 8
Electrification: 9
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 3

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

Pacific Islands
Education: 6
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
CHEM - +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +18
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 Cosmonaut 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):
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)

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, 97/120, 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) (lasts one quarter)
--[ ] Curiosity-B-class Satellite (25R) (2 Payload Mass) (2 quarter lifetime depending on mission)

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, 243/350, +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)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (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)

[ ] 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 (6 dice, +6 Bonus to All, +3 from Research Support (1956Q1)) (2/6 Locked)

[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. (4/8 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)

[ ] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket - Now that our first orbital rocket has flown to space and delivered payloads, we can begin to look at what may be improved about it. We can also, if we wish, begin thinking about other, new designs. (15R) (4 turns to Design) (2 turns to Redesign) (Triggers subvote)
-[ ] Design
-[ ] Redesign (Rocket name here)

[ ] 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)

[ ] Vacuum Nozzles - After having conducted several orbital flights, the engineering teams have come up with an optimization for the IEC's upper-stage engines - make them longer. Given the mechanics on which a rocket engine worked, having a longer, larger bell on the upper stage allowed for a more efficient use of the force of the rocket's exhaust, giving gains in performance for a slight gain in weight. (5R per dice, 94/200)

[ ] 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)

[1 LOCKED] 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. (3/8 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 led 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, 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 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, ???)

[ ] 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)

[ ] [1 LOCKED] 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. (2/4 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/turn to activate, takes up a Program slot)

[ ] Closed-Input Life Support Systems - We know from high-altitude flights during the Third Great War that systems can be designed to provide breathable air and a temperature-controlled environment for high-flying pilots. By taking that knowledge and acknowledging the lack of oxygen in space from which to replenish breathable air supplies, we can design a system capable of keeping a human alive for at least a short time (days) in space with no external inputs. (10R per dice, 0/200)

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

Politics & Management (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) (155/???)

[ ] 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.)

Personnel

~~[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (33/150, 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. (75/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Apr 11, 2024

[X] Plan: Prior Naming Scheme Got Old; New One Pending
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (97/120) (2 dice, -70R)
--[X] And launch it (1 die)
---[X] Curiosity-B-class Satellite (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Expand the Assembly Complex (243/350) (2 dice, -40R)
-[X] Build a Mission Control Center (0/250) (3 dice, -75R)
-[X] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 2) (94/250) (3 dice, -75R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (4/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (3/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Strap-on Boosters (0/250) (2 dice, 20R)
-[X] Vacuum Nozzles (94/200) (2 dice, -20R)
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations (2/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Closed-Input Life Support Systems (0/200) (2 dice, -20R)
-[X] All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] (0/300) (2 dice, -20R)
-[X] Rocket Boxes (Phase 5) (0/250) (4 dice, -20R)

For the first time, Penelope felt sad that she had to go back to work as December drew to a close. The plane ride back to Mogadishu was bumpy and loud, despite the plane itself being the pride and joy of the Seattle Aircraft Collective, the SAC-707, otherwise known as the Globetrotter. It was well-appointed, and was outfitted throughout in what a decade ago would have been termed 'first class'; the little pamphlet she'd been handed on boarding told her that all of the 707s would be delivered from the factory as such. It was, she thought, a pretty plane.

But between the woman holding her hand and the sleeping toddlers in both of their laps, she simply wished she could turn the plane around and go back to the little cabin she and her fian-

My wife -

- had shared for the last few weeks. It still seemed quite surreal. Ten years ago the mere thought of marrying the woman she loved would have been only a wistful, painful dream, yet the ring on her finger, the ceremony, the New England General Collective paperwork in her bag, were all proof that she wasn't dreaming.

She closed her eyes and she was back in the chapel again, her sister and her brother on either side of her as they approached the door. Her heart was in her throat. "Relax," her sister had chided her gently as her shaking made her nerves known. "You're just marrying your best friend. Besides, what does this actually change in your life?" The question had calmed her down, some - nothing worth mentioning was changing, after all.

But still, there was just… something about it. The reason they had decided to be wed in the first place.

Then her sister had pushed the door of the chapel open, and Penelope's world stopped for the shortest, most infinite moment of her life as she looked up the aisle and caught sight of her beloved, stunning in a black dress that managed to evoke a tuxedo while looking nothing like one whatsoever, and her love wore a heartbreakingly beautiful smile that was directed at her.

Penelope would never quite remember how she wound up next to her - she had to have walked, of course, but she had no memory of doing so. She could barely remember the minister talking through his part in their wedding; she had eyes, thoughts and attention only for Ruby. Only the fact that her love's 'I do' was first reminded Penelope that she, too, had a part to play.

"I do."

Then that first searing kiss and the sound of cheering and clapping from their gathered friends and family, and Korolev revealing his gifts of alcohol and several others besides, amongst which was a picture frame made of the same alloy the new rocket motors would be, engraved with rosevine designs and heat-treated to an iridescent sheen. Turing was also there, and so many others besides, all there to wish the happy couple the best.

She'd never particularly wanted a big wedding, but in hindsight it just wouldn't have been the same without everyone there either. She'd not change it for the world. Or the two uninterrupted weeks of alone time with Ruby afterward, either…

But neither time nor Council cooperatives wait for anyone, and she found herself having to get mentally prepared for the most stressful part of her job right after the best month of her life. C'est la vie.

HEADLINES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

NEW ENGLAND GENERAL COLLECTIVE - IEC Director Penelope Carter celebrated her marriage to her wife, Ruby Carter (former family name withheld from this publication) in a ceremony attended by their family and a who's who of the world's brightest scientists...

NEW ORLEANS - A late-season hurricane battered New Orleans a week before Christmas, killing 37 people and displacing upwards of 10,000. Rebuilding efforts are already underway and expected to take up to half a year...

NEW DELHI - The IEC physics institute in New Delhi is approaching the completion of the test reactors the Council cooperative intends to use to 'prove the efficacy and safety of nuclear power', say Cooperative spokespeople...

Resources:
10R (+475R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 35R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +445/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8 (+)
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 8 (+) (Councilors bothered)
Industry: 7 (+)
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (+)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11 (+)
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

Western Asia
Education: 12 (+) (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 4

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8 (+)
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 11 (+)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3

North America
Education: 9 (+)
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (+)
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 9 (+)
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9 (+)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 2 (-)

Pacific Islands
Education: 7 (+)
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Assembly Complex (+1 Build Capacity)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +11 (+)
CHEM - +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +18
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 Cosmonaut 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):
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)~~

Rocket Construction (1 R-4 built)

The '9 month Dawn' finally managed to make it out of the assembly facility in late December, after the expansion work was done, just in time to loft the first Curiosity-B into orbit. You were in no way upset at the slower pace of construction this year as opposed to last year - that had been truly awe inspiring but obviously unsustainable - but you did hope they would find a good balance to strike between making progress and not overworking the teams.

(Overflow 18 progress)

Rocket Launches (1 successful launch, deployment)

The first of the IEC's Curiosity-B satellites launched atop a pillar of fire and thunder on a humid November evening, the timing of the event causing a gorgeous and as-yet unseen atmospheric effect to materialize: the plume, catching the light of the sun over the curve of the earth, lit up brilliantly, wowing onlookers below and drawing significant amounts of attention from people across the region, many able to see it directly because of its great altitude.

The launch was as smooth as could be wished for and the satellite's deployment equally so, the new model unfolding a prototype deployable directional antenna and pointing it at ground stations below as it passed them by, relaying the imagery captured by the satellite's onboard television camera down to the ground. The images were relayed worldwide, the first live view of the Earth from low orbit.

The limited battery life of the satellite meant that it was little more than a curiosity (though a useful stepping stone, hopefully soon superseded), but during the month and a half it stayed online it would catch the formation of several storms out to sea, one of which ended up forming an early-season typhoon that crashed into Jakarta. The International Forecasters' Union and the Department of Agriculture's Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expressed great interest in using satellites to monitor weather in the future, once they had sufficient lifespan to be useful.

(+1 to Avionics from First Satellite)

Expand the Assembly Complex (351/350)

The Assembly Complex expansion finally completed right on the tail end of December - right before you were due to come back from your vacation-slash-honeymoon, in fact. The gleaming new expansion housed enough machines and floorspace to work on several projects in parallel, opening up the possibility of keeping a constant flow of rockets and payloads under construction for repeat projects, such as future communications and weather satellite programs. Hopefully, its completion would also break the Assembly teams from this year's malaise.

(+1 Program slot)
(+1 Build Capacity (can now build two different rocket types at once))

Build a Mission Control Center (133/250)

Somewhat away from the launchpads, but in full view of them, a new building began construction this quarter. The Mission Control Center, modeled after the current launch bunker but on a far larger scale, would be the nerve center of IEC space operations in the coming years. A large cleared area in the lee of the building (in case of rocket explosions) began to be filled in with radio dishes, the better to communicate with passing satellites or departing probes with. The initiative to build it was informed by the increasing claustrophobia of the launch bunker on the one hand - each new, larger launch, and now the satellites, too, imposed their own personnel requirements, and packing people in shoulder to shoulder was neither comfortable nor safe - and a desire to proof the IEC against the future on the other, with several control rooms available for launch operations and orbital control.

The building's pad-facing side was hardened in much the same way as the launch bunker - a sloped face of concrete, now faced with an artistic touch of stainless steel cladding, meant to divert the blast wave of a laden rocket significantly larger than an R-4 exploding on the pad up and over the structure without allowing dangerous pockets to form where the concussive force could be amplified enough to damage the hardened structure. Hopefully that precaution would be unnecessary, but it was going to be built ready for the possibility regardless.

Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 2) (288/250)

The second ring of tracking stations was installed above the 45th parallel across the course of the quarter, opening up the possibility of polar-orbiting satellites for a variety of uses. Such orbits were primarily going to be useful for weather observation, but communications satellites for higher latitudes would be important as well, especially for arctic or antarctic scientific endeavors. There were orbits that could all but hover over the North Pole, in theory, extremely eccentric polar orbits that would come down low and fast over the South Pole before departing to spend days or weeks going in an arc over the North.

Plus, it dispersed still more IEC infrastructure across the world, which was never a bad thing, you thought.

Human-rated Rocketry (5/8 turns)

The rocket design work began in earnest, with the first test articles for actual physical hardware coming out of the fabrication rooms in Mogadishu in late November. Virtually all of those pieces were subscale demonstrators meant to verify processes, but they represented an important step, nonetheless. Just as important was the lock-in of the design of the R-4a, a significantly improved design over the R-4, based on in-progress work being done across the IEC's laboratories.

R-4a 'Dawn-A' (Q4 1955)
Weight: 30.3 tonnes
Payload (LEO): 1.2 tonnes (12 Payload)
Payload (GEO): ???
Payload (Lunar): ???
Lower stage:
Aluminum-Lithium isogrid tankage
4 liquid propane/liquid oxygen expander-cycle engines
Structural reinforcement for booster attachment points (2-6 booster configurations)
Upper stage:
Aluminum-Lithium pressure-stabilized isogrid tankage
1 liquid propane/liquid oxygen gas-generator vacuum-optimized engine
Optional kick-stage
Costs: 30RpD, (0/100)

Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (4/8 turns)

The test reactors in New Delhi are coming along swimmingly, and the first shipments of fissile materials are being containerized in Mogadishu. Given the small size of the reactors, they are expected to be finished and ready for operation next quarter, which, conveniently, is roughly when the total fuel requirement will be available on-site. The Space Reactors group is finished preparing a device of their own design at Mogadishu - a cylindrical, multi-finned assemblage that will turn radioactive heat directly into power by means of a thermocouple, which should be ideal for outer-system probes. The total power provided isn't large, but that was to be expected out of a first-generation design.

Strap-on Boosters (157/250)

The concept of the strap-on booster was quite simple: it was all in the name. Take a solid rocket or a liquid-fuelled secondary core, attach to the outside of your center, payload-carrying core, and burn the whole rocket stack in such a way as the secondary boosters burnt out before the central one, and then detach them so the center core could take advantage of a large boost to its capabilities and put a larger payload into orbit, or the same payload it would normally carry into a more energetic one. All well and good. They just had to figure out how to get the boosters to separate from the central core reliably, which proved to be slightly more time-consuming than anticipated on their subscale demonstration rockets.

Vacuum Nozzles (269/200)

The vacuum nozzle research finished with a trip to Long Beach, where the research team set up a test motor in a very curious device:

A vacuum chamber.

These were not new devices - far from it - but this was a novel usage of one. Immense pumps sucked the air out of the room-sized chamber, the inlet of one of which was directly downstream of a rocket engine test stand. This setup would allow for the testing of vacuum engines on Earth in realistic conditions, as calculations indicated that flow instability around the thin, extended nozzles of vacuum engines could cause a resonant flex to set up in the nozzle and tear it apart inside of Earth's atmosphere otherwise.

The engine fired successfully, and the performance increase the team had been hoping to register showed up, exactly as planned.

With their concept proven, they returned home - with the first testing of R-4a hardware done behind them.

Photovoltaic Investigations (3/4 turns)

New cell formulations have undergone testing at Dnipro, using suggestions and materials provided by Beijing. The new dopant materials have the potential, according to longevity testing performed at Dnipro, to allow the solar cells to operate at full capacity for roughly a year, with a five year lifespan before power outputs drop to unusable levels. It's not ideal, but for a first generation cell it should be quite useful. There is a need to confirm the results, which will take another quarter, but should those confirmations pan out the Curiosity-C satellite should be available in Q2 with the new panels.

Closed-Input Life Support Systems (126/200)

One of the biggest problems with regards to crewed spaceflight was getting the cosmonaut inside the capsule back home alive. The aerodynamicists and aeronautical engineers had their hands full with designing the craft that could make it happen; the doctors, biologists, chemists and a dozen other specialties besides were needed to give them the systems that could keep the cosmonaut breathing. Enter the Closed-Input Life Support System, or CILSS. This basic mechanism provided breathing air by means of a canister of compressed air with a backup 'oxygen candle', which was exactly what it sounded like: a candle that, when burned, released oxygen. It was of inherently limited duration, and both the air tank and candles themselves weren't particularly light, so endurance would be a problem, but it had the advantage of being a simple stopgap while something better was sought. In addition, the crew's exhaled carbon dioxide had to be dealt with, which was done by means of passing the air in the cabin over a calcium substrate, forming calcium carbonate and removing the carbon from the air.

All of these things combined to mean the CILSS system was fairly heavy, but it would work well for short stints in space - potentially as long as a week.

All-Sky Survey (Phase 1) [PHYS] (124/300)

The first phase of the All-Sky Survey was authorized, and the International Astronomers' Union was more than happy to help begin setting up the grand effort when contacted. Working with them, your Astronomy and Planetary Science department, until now a nascent thing only buoyed by the existence of the Big Ear, began putting together a series of meetings with the directors of existing observatories to coordinate viewing time and other support. Meanwhile, your Facilities crews began work on a series of new, large telescopes in the Atacama Desert of Chile, that high, dark location deemed a favorite for observing the plane of the Milky Way. Additional sites were selected in the Northern hemisphere, primarily in what had been Spain and New Mexico, where dark, pristine skies could be found readily.

Rocket Boxes (Phase 5) (273/250)

The final phase (for now) of the Rocket Box rollout was completed across Europe by the end of the quarter. The distribution of Boxes saw the number of entrants to the University Rocketry Competition increase accordingly, though the competition was still half a year away. Already, there were ideas among the Outreach staff regarding more advanced kits and programs that could be instituted to further stimulate interest, but as it was you were more than satisfied with the progress the IEC had made in presenting itself to those who would one day, hopefully, work alongside you.

(+1 to Education worldwide)

Shadows · Apr 11, 2024

All good things had to come to an end, and that included your honeymoon, unfortunately. There was something to be said for consistency: you took December off every year like clockwork, and you'd managed to wrangle everything important to you into respecting that. Unfortunately, that did not include the World Council meeting, which, also, had the virtue of consistency in that it was always the first thing you took care of when you returned from your vacation, as it was always right after the new year began.

This year seemed to be a… calmer World Council than those prior. You couldn't put a finger on why you felt that way, only that you did; roughly the same number of fist fights between the SDL and… everyone else occurred as had been the norm for the last several years. Still… hmm.

Regardless, that meant a somewhat more relaxed negotiating environment, for good and ill - without as much political pressure as had been the norm, there was less to be gained from politicking as no one felt a particular need to wheel and deal.

1956 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. Their push for additional resources devoted to the Health Department was successful, and they are now pushing for a number of new research universities to be founded across the world, devoted to promoting medical research. They now regularly collaborate with the Debsists on projects of mutual importance, and others besides.

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 Debsists and the M-Ls are on good terms, the two wings of the Internationale behaving as a significantly more aligned bloc.

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, and with a year now past the end of the FAS war some of the bloodthirstier Front members are clamoring behind the scenes for less tolerance of the 'reactionaries' (both real and perceived) in the SDL.

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.

The SDL is under a great deal of internal and external strain, as the ideological social democrats come to clash with those using the party name as a fig leaf to sow doubt as to their actual intentions. A split is likely in the near future.

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): 80/470/308/0
Int(D): 20/230/170/0
Int(C): 58/770/180/0
UWF: 0/287/63/25
FWW: 20/383/296/0
SDL: 0/400/438/15
CPAL: 27/408/189/0
Minor: 10/30/30/30

Council Liaison Reports:
Objectives of the World Communal Council

Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

State of the World

Total Education: 84 (+14)
Total Electrification: 76 (+4)
Total Industry: 74 (+5)
Total Infrastructure: 81 (+7)
Total Security: 38 (-5)
Total Partisan Activity: 27 (-7)
Total Social Unrest: 1 (=)

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (28.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (24.5%)
Department of Education (17.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.6%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

Interplanetary Exploration Cooperative (1.0%)
Antarctic Exploration Cooperative (0.1%)
(Others)

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11 (+)
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

Western Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 4

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3

North America
Education: 9
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9 (+)
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 2

Pacific Islands
Education: 7
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

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

Funding Wars, Episode V: The Beancounters Strike Back

Current WCC Budget: 46,000RpT//184,000RpY
Current IEC Budget (without extras): 460RpT//2400RpY (1%)
Current PS: 100

[ ] [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. (-345R/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. (-230R/turn, +25PS)

[ ] [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. (-1150R/turn, +15PS)

[ ] [FUND] 1% - Maintains your current level of funding.(+-0R/turn)

[ ] [FUND] 1.5% - Going back to 1.5% of the budget would be a difficult sell, but you could point to the ongoing human spaceflight program as justification for it. That didn't mean it'd be easy, of course. Just easier. (+230R/turn, -55PS)

[ ] [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. (+460R/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 1955:
All promises kept.

Failed in 1955:
None.

Ongoing:
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)

Must take at least two.

Internationale (Marxist-Leninist)
Stances: Industrialist, Scientific, High Centralist, Soft Pro-Nuclear

[ ] Conduct Supersonic Jet Research (Phase 3) (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)

[ ] Complete Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies by 1957Q1. (-5PS, FWW and Int(M-L) will move 2d5 steps towards Favor) (PS cost of promise replaces PS cost of project) (Grants Nuclear Propulsion Authorization)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in Western or Eastern Europe (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)
Stances: Industrialist, Militaristic, Moderate Centralist, Nuclear Agnostic

[ ] 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 1957Q1. (+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)

[ ] 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)
Stances: Developmentalist, Moderate Localist, Nuclear Agnostic

[ ] 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 1957Q3. (+5PS, +2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)

[ ] 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
Stances: Industrialist, High Localist, Pro-Nuclear

[ ] 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)

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

[ ] Complete Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Applications Studies by 1957Q1. (-5PS, FWW and Int(M-L) will move 2d5 steps towards Favor) (PS cost of promise replaces PS cost of project) (Grants Nuclear Propulsion Authorization)

[ ] Build 2 points of Industry or Electrification in the Pacific or Africa (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
Stances: Moderate Localist, Militaristic, Soft Anti-Nuclear

[ ] Back the creation of a Council-bound standing military formation. (+10PS) (UWF moves 2d20+5 steps towards Favor, SDL moves 4d10+2d20 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 1957Q1. (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Build and test-fly a spaceplane before 1957Q3. (+5PS, +2 to Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre's bonus)

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

Social Democratic League
Stances: Moderate Centralist, Industrialist, Hard Anti-Nuclear

[ ] Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1957Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 1d10 steps towards Favor)

[ ] Conduct All-Sky Survey (Phase 3) by 1957Q1. (+5PS, 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
Stances: High Localist, Developmentalist, Soft Anti-Nuclear

[ ] Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1958Q1. (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)

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

[ ] 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)

[ ] 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 8 6 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

Shadows · Apr 16, 2024

[X] Plan: Disaster Prevention
[FUND] 1.5% - Going back to 1.5% of the budget would be a difficult sell, but you could point to the ongoing human spaceflight program as justification for it. That didn't mean it'd be easy, of course. Just easier. (+230R/turn, -55PS)
Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and Europe. (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering North America. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering Asia and South America. (+10PS) (Int(C) moves 3d10 steps towards Favor)
Build a Launch Facility in Asia by 1957Q1. (+10PS, Int(C) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
Build a Launch Facility in Eastern Asia before 1957Q1 (+10PS) (Int(M-L) moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (+10PS, CPAL moves 6d5 steps towards Favor)
Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1957Q1. (+5PS, SDL moves 1d10 steps towards Favor)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(M-L) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (+5 PS, Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (+5 PS, SDL moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1957Q3. (+5PS, +2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)
Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1957Q1. (+5PS) (Int(D) moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1957Q1. (UWF moves 2d5 steps towards Favor)
Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1958Q1. (+5PS, CPAL moves 2d10 steps towards Favor)
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)
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)
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.
- 8 PS (+40 R/turn)
[GRAD] Operations
[GRAD] Facilities
[GRAD] Politics

A calm(er) World Council was a new, and slightly unnerving experience for you. Maybe it was because the IEC now had a track record of success, maybe it was a general feeling of either accomplishment or exhaustion or both, but whatever the cause, it had contributed to a largely perfunctory round of negotiations where you'd managed to argue the IEC back up to a higher funding level. Certainly, there were a variety of promises that had had to be made, but that was the way of things.

You found yourself back in the office on the thirteenth of January; the World Council was still ongoing, and would be til the end of the month, but the part you in particular cared about was now over. Coffee in hand, you made your way to your desk. A giggle from behind the potted plant that took up a corner of the room drew your wry attention, where you noticed a head of ink-black hair and a pair of big, almond-shaped grey eyes peeking back at you.

"You need to get better at hiding, Iris. You can't very well sneak up on me if you giggle every time you manage to make me not notice you." you chided teasingly, and beckoned her over. "Come here. Where's your sister?"

"Ally is under the desk!" Iris piped up brightly.
"Aww!" came the disappointed cry from under the desk, before a near-identical little girl peeked up over it. "You're not supposed to tell, Iris!"

"But she knew we were here…"

"She didn't know about me!" humphed the indignant four-year-old.

"You two aren't ever far apart." you pointed out. "I guessed you were in here as soon as I saw your sister. Now, stop arguing." you said, and cast your eyes about the office, looking for a suitable distraction. Oh, that should do.

One of the first Rocket Boxes had come to your office for your inspection and approval before the first of those had shipped - and there it had remained, a good conversation piece for when you were talking to new members of various related programs or trying to woo a Councilor. You'd had hinges added to it for ease of access for those little presentations, rather than the more unprofessional method of just leaving the pried-off top "loose" like it would be in so many schools around the world.

It was into this box you reached, pulling out a small box of paints and a couple of the cardboard tubes held within. You held them up before the twins, watching as their eyes lit up - they liked the rocket launches you'd taken them to, and they recognized the tubes for what they were without issue. "Why don't you two paint up these rockets? When you're finished, we can go launch them off the big pad, just like a real one."

They rushed forward to take the rockets-to-be and the paints off your hands, and you ushered them over to the coffee table where you usually met with your various department heads one-on-one, or the more important of your Council backers. With the kiddoes thus occupied and chatting amongst themselves, you finally got to your desk to check on how the projects you'd authorized had gone since you'd been out of office. But first, the paper.

You brushed a couple of reports off the top of it, intending to get to them once you had caffeine in your system, and turned it over.

NOBEL-PRIZE WINNING PHYSICIST ALBERT EINSTEIN DIES AGED 77

Resources:
695R (+730R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 50R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +685/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9.2%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (26.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (25.5%)
Department of Education (18.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.4%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

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

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

Western Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 4

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8
Electrification: 7
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 8
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3

North America
Education: 9
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 9
Electrification: 8
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 2

Pacific Islands
Education: 7
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 6
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Expanded Assembly Complex (+2 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.
Vacuum Nozzles - Enables the use of vacuum-optimized engines.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
CHEM - +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +18
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 Cosmonaut 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)

Demil Locker Access - Access granted to the world's stockpiles of military equipment in the process of being decommed. (Lower progress requirements for spaceplanes, space-gun experiments, etc.)

Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (+3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1957Q1)

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1957 unless otherwise stated):
Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus on completion) (Int(M-L)
Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1 (+2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus on completion) (Int(D)))
Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (FWW) (Does not expire as long as the dice is locked)
Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering :

Asia (Int(M-L),Int(C))
Europe. (Int(M-L)
North America (Int(D))
South America (Int(C))

Build a Launch Facility in Asia by 1958Q1. (Int(C))
Build a Launch Facility in Eastern Asia before 1958Q1 (Int(M-L))
Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (CPAL)
Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1957Q1. (SDL)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (Int(M-L), Int(D))
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (SDL)
Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1957Q3. (+2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)
Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1957Q1. (Int(D), UWF)
Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1958Q1. (CPAL)

Operations (6 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, 18/120, 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 an R-4a Dawn - A refined version of the R-4, capable of carrying several times the payload to orbit and is even capable of launching small crewed capsules or interplanetary probes. ~~(30R per dice, 0/100, costs 1 build capacity til complete) (12/4/2 Payload Mass capacity)~~ [Requires finishing Human-rated Rocketry]
~~- [ ] Add additional solid boosters (2R per booster, max 6, +2 LEO Payload Mass per booster)~~ [REQUIRES LARGER LAUNCH PAD] [REQUIRES STRAP-ON BOOSTERS]
--[ ] And launch it (1 Operations dice; specify payload)
---[ ] Sounding payload (inert payload for testing)

Note here: the 12/4/2 are the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) / Geostationary/synchronous Orbit / Beyond Earth Orbit payload masses. For every 3 LEO payload, gain 1 GEO/GSO payload. For every 6, gain 1 BEO payload.

~~[ ] Construct a Prototype Spaceplane -~~

Payloads

[ ] Construct a Payload
–[ ] Curiosity-class Satellite (20R) (1.5 Payload Mass) (lasts one quarter)
--[ ] Curiosity-B-class Satellite (25R) (2 Payload Mass) (2 quarter lifetime depending on mission)
--[ ] Curiosity-C-class Satellite (30R) (2 payload mass) (16 quarter lifetime)

Programs (1 slot available)

[ ] Activate Weather Observation Satellites (1 slot required) - Dedicates a portion of the Assembly Complex to the serial production of weather satellites and the rockets required to launch them, leading to savings from the assembly-line nature of the operation. 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. (40R/turn) (Delivers polar-orbiting satellites every turn starting 1956Q3 until required slots are filled, beginning with a satellite covering the Americas and East Asia, followed by one covering Europe, Africa, Australia) (Deactivates on completion, returning slot until satellites need replenishing)

[ ] Activate Sounding Rocket Programs (1 slot required) - Begins a more rigorous, regimented program of sounding rocket launches, opening the doors for more cooperation with universities across the world. (10R/turn) (+5PS/year) (removes Sounding Rockets from build queue)

Facilities (9 dice, +10 bonus)

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

[ ] Build a new Space Center- Mogadishu was an excellent site (and it had all your stuff), but a growing space program needed to expand to new sites to service different orbits and different communities. Doing so was a major undertaking, of course, and would necessarily need a great investment. (35R per dice) (Phase 1 (0/250), select site and perform negotiations with the locals (negotiation bonus applied, rejection not a concern for sites named) (-1 Facilities dice when complete)
(Phase 2 (0/600), begins construction, 1 500T pad available when complete)
(Phase 3 (0/600), continues construction, 3 500T pads available when complete)
(Phase 4 (0/500), local Assembly Complex completed, +2 Program slots)
-[ ] Singapore
-[ ] Kourou, Guiana
-[ ] Vladivostok
-[ ] Vandenburg
-[ ] Write-in (will be evaluated for actual suitability)

[ ] 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)
-[] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (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, 133/250) (+3 to Operations) (+1 Program slot (runs repeatables in the background))

[ ] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) - The final stage of Tracking Stations rolls out tracking stations in between the poles and the equator, providing access to satellite communications (when that happens) and tracking for every region. (30R per die, 0/550)

[ ] 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 (6 dice, +6 Bonus to All, +3 from Research Support (1956Q1)) (2/6 Locked)

[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. (5/8 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)

[ ] Design/Redesign an Orbital Rocket - Now that our first orbital rocket has flown to space and delivered payloads, we can begin to look at what may be improved about it. We can also, if we wish, begin thinking about other, new designs. (15R) (4 turns to Design) (2 turns to Redesign) (Triggers subvote)
-[ ] Design
-[ ] Redesign (Rocket name here)

[ ] 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, 157/250) (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)

[1 LOCKED] 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. (4/8 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 led 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, 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 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, 124/300) (+5 PS, ???)

[ ] 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)

[1 DICE LOCKED] 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. (3/4 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)

[ ] Closed-Input Life Support Systems - We know from high-altitude flights during the Third Great War that systems can be designed to provide breathable air and a temperature-controlled environment for high-flying pilots. By taking that knowledge and acknowledging the lack of oxygen in space from which to replenish breathable air supplies, we can design a system capable of keeping a human alive for at least a short time (days) in space with no external inputs. (10R per dice, 126/200)

[ ] Transistor Computing Investigations - After some pestering by Dr. Turing, a program to more fully investigate the possibilities related to transistor-based computing has been authorized. One part investigating how to best build one, one part trying to improve on that method, and one part trying to use them for things. He promised that it'd be worth it, and you believed him. (20R per turn, 6 turns)

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

Politics & Management (5 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) (155/???)

[ ] 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

"All's quiet on the Outreach front, Director. Or, well, it's not, but our hands are full enough at the moment."

Personnel

~~[ ] Engineering Job Fair - (33/150, 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. (75/300, 5R per dice, gain astronaut candidates)

Shadows · Jun 11, 2024

[X] Plan: So Long, Big Al
-[X] Construct an R-4 Dawn (18/120) (6 dice, -210R)
-[X] Activate Weather Observation Satellites (1 program, -40R)
-[X] Build a Space Center (0/250) (3 dice, -105R)
--[X] Singapore
-[X] Build a Scientific Complex
--[X] Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (0/450) (3 dice, -75R)
-[X] Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) (0/550) (3 dice, -90R)
-[X] Human-rated Rocketry (5/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (4/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)
-[X] Multi-Stage Designs (0/2 turns) (1 die, -15R)
-[X] Impactor Designs (0/3 turns) (1 die, -10R)
-[X] Strap-on Boosters (157/250) (2 dice, -20R)
-[X] Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 2) [CHEM] (3/200) (3 dice, -45R)
-[X] Photovoltaic Investigations (3/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Transistor Computing Investigations (0/6 turns) (1 die, -20R)
-[X] Bothering Councilors (1 die, -10PS)
-[X] Propagandize for Nuclear Power (155/???) (4 dice, -8PS)

The first three months of the year were personally eventful. You had thought nothing would change, going from the situation before your marriage to the one now. And, in a way, you'd been right. At the same time… something did feel different, now. You couldn't quite put your finger on it, but every day you woke up beside her and felt something like wonder about it. Ten years ago it would have been a wistful dream. Now, it was real, and you didn't have to hide it from anyone.

In a professional sense, however, it was a minor exercise in frustration and boredom as things that had been intended to pan out failed to properly materialize, while everything else kept ticking over, needing only time…

For a wonder, though, you had barely glanced at the newspapers for the last three months. You knew there was construction going on the world over, minor conflicts happening as interethnic tensions all over the world proved that they weren't quite done with humanity's oldest sins yet, natural disasters and scientific advances… but you'd spent most of your mornings alternating between reading the scientific reports of your teams, getting caught up on Council business, and teaching your daughters how to read.

All in all, you were pretty sure your blood pressure was lower than it had been in years.

Resources:
0R (+730R/turn + 5R/turn from Connections - 50R/turn from payroll/dice purchases = +685/turn net)
100 Political Support
1 R-2 Gale
2 Curiosity-class Satellite

Objectives of the World Communal Council
Complete Post-War Reconstruction (45000/200000)
Defeat Partisan Forces

Department of Agriculture (5%)
-Forestry Commission
-Aquaculture and Fishing Commission
Department of Transportation (9.2%)
-Sea Travel Commission
-Road and Rail Commission
-Air Travel Commission
Department of Industrial Coordination (5%)
-Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Department of Energy (8.2%)
Department of Reconstruction and Disaster Relief (26.0%)
Department of Health and Welfare (25.5%)
Department of Education (18.2%)

Discretionary Funding (2.4%)
Council Standards Commission (Negligible)

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

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

Mediterranean/Saharan Africa
Education: 9 (+)
Electrification: 8 (+)
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 9 (+)
Security: 2
Partisan Activity: 3

Sub-Saharan Africa
Education: 8
Electrification: 8
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 9 (+)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 4

Eastern Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 5

Western Asia
Education: 12 (LIMIT REACHED)
Electrification: 11
Industry: 11
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 4

Australia and New Zealand
Education: 8
Electrification: 8 (+)
Industry: 7
Infrastructure: 9 (+)
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 3

Europe
Education: 11
Electrification: 10
Industry: 10
Infrastructure: 11
Security: 5
Partisan Activity: 3

North America
Education: 10 (+)
Electrification: 9
Industry: 9
Infrastructure: 10 (+)
Security: 6
Partisan Activity: 3

South America
Education: 9
Electrification: 9 (+)
Industry: 8
Infrastructure: 9
Security: 4
Partisan Activity: 2

Pacific Islands
Education: 7
Electrification: 6
Industry: 5 (LIMIT REACHED)
Infrastructure: 7 (+)
Security: 1
Social Unrest: 1

1 Launch Stand (0-5 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Heavy Sounding Rocket Launch Pad (5-30 tonne) (+1 Operations dice)
1 Expanded Assembly Complex (+2 Build Capacity, +1 Program Slot)
1 Engineer's Hall (+2 Engineering Dice)
1 University Affiliate (+2 Science Dice)
1 Materials Lab (+5 bonus to projects tagged [MATSCI])
1 Chemical Plant (+5 bonus to projects tagged [CHEM])
1 Electronics Cooperative (+5 bonus to projects tagged [AVIONICS])
2 Construction Union Halls (+2 Facilities die)
1 Publications Office (+1 to all science and engineering fields; coinflip each year to get an additional +1)
1 Hardened Tracking and Observation (T&O) Complex (+3 to Operations)
1 Engine Test Stand (+2 to PROP projects)
1 Isotope Separation and Nuclear Science Facility (Enables Nuclear Technology tree) (fully unlocks 1954Q1)
1 Computational Research Facility (+3 to all rolls)
1 Model 1952 'Stormchaser' Mobile Rocket Launch System (+1 Operations dice)
Advanced Concepts Office (unlocks experimental new programs from time to time)
1 Wind Tunnel (+3 to AERO)
1 Flight Complex (+2 Operations dice, enables the construction and launch of air- and spaceplanes.)
Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre (+9 MATSCI, +1 Education in Europe)
Sao Paolo Aerodynamics Centre (+10 AERO, +1 Education in South America)
Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex (+7 PROP, +1 Education in North America)
Mombasa Computer Science Institute (+10 COMP, +1 Education in Sub-Saharan Africa)
Beijing Institute for Chemical Research (+7 CHEM, +1 Education in Eastern Asia)
New Delhi Institute for Physics (+9 PHYS, +1 Education in Western Asia)
Equatorial Tracking System (Provides communications and guidance across the equator)
Big Ear Radiotelescope (+2 PHYS)
Cosmonaut Training Facilities (Allows for crew and crew training)

Scientific Advances

Improved Instrumentation - Gain +1d2 bonus to a random field every 2 launches. Gain +1 to AVIONICS immediately.) (Made obsolete by First Satellite)
Regenerative Cooling - Starts down the path to more powerful and advanced rocket engines.
Second Stages - Can now build 2-Stage Rockets.
Combustion Instability Research - Turns the initial success roll for a rocket from a >60 to >50.
Engine Cycles - Enables Early Orbital engines.
Mobile Launch Operations - Can launch Sounding Rockets without the need for a launch pad.
Improved Stringer Alloys - New (expensive) alloys improve the performance of structural tanks. (+5 to R cost of Heavy Sounding Rockets and above)
Copper-Chrome combustion chamber alloys - New combustion chamber alloys with higher heat transfer efficiency allow for hotter (and thus more efficient) chamber temperatures, leading to the ability to produce more powerful engines. (Future rocket designs will be higher performing.)
Aluminum-Lithium monolithic tanks - New tank alloys enable lighter, higher performing tankage to be produced for new rocket designs. (Future designs that use Al-Li tankage will be more performant, but more expensive in R terms.)
First Satellite - With the launch of the Curiosity I, the IEC and the world have entered a new era of spaceflight, and the horizons of science and engineering broaden ever further. (+10PS, Improved Instrumentation bonus deactivated. Gain +1d2 bonus to a random non-CREW field per two satellite launches.)
Van Allen Belts - An area of charged particles from the Sun, trapped by Earth's magnetic field. These belts have caused several minor hiccups with the Curiosity I satellite, and given the transmitted radiation readings, care must be taken if the IEC intends to launch humans through them. Staying for any significant length of time would be... ill advised.
Inconel turbine parts - Enables higher-performance rocket engines to be constructed.
Hastelloy-N reactor parts - Enables higher-performance nuclear reactors and nuclear engines to be constructed.
Rudimentary Heat Shielding - An ablative heat shield made of a pourable elastomer laid over a resin-impregnated hemp honeycomb, rimmed with a carbon cloth that together made an effective protection against the heat of Low Earth Orbit re-entries. (Enables return of film, sample, and crewed capsules/craft)
High-Carbon Carbon Fiber Composites - Useful both for you and for general civilian industry in applications where high strength and/or high-temperature conditions are found, produced from an initial rayon feedstock. Examples: Rocket fuel tanks, airplane wings, bicycles, light boats, etc.
Turbine enamel formula - A ceramic enamel formula ideal for protecting rocket engine turbines from being attacked by their oxidizers. Enables high-performance Staged Combustion engines. (IRL: This is how the Soviets worked their space magic. It's probably also how Raptor is made.)
Isogrid/Orthogrid manufacturing - A different way of forming tankage, pressing or milling out a grid of equilateral triangles in the tank material chosen, in order to reduce its weight while maintaining compressive and lateral strength. Orthogrid is very similar, except it uses a grid of squares or rectangles. Enables higher-performing tankage, improving rocket payload performance.
Stainless Steel Mass Manufacturing - A collection of techniques and technologies centered around improving the production of stainless steel, including argon-oxygen decarburization processes (to remove sulfur and carbon), hot rolling, continuous casting, and more. Primarily good for civilian applications. Enables stainless steel tankage, stainless steel parts for use in applicable applications such as probes.
Alternative Launch Systems - A series of high-technology or infrastructure-intensive launch systems projects that may or may not come about in the future.
Lightweight Foamed Alloys - offers an expensive but potentially worthwhile method for lightening spacecraft or providing shock absorption for landings.
Aramid - an aromatic polyamide fiber that shows great promise for any application where a tear-resistant, fire-resistant, strong and elastic material would be of use. Such as spacesuits, parachutes…
Kapton - a tape-like film with excellent insulation properties for various space and ground-side applications, largely under your level of abstraction but providing a small buff to reliability for spacecraft built after 1955Q3.
Vacuum Nozzles - Enables the use of vacuum-optimized engines.

Scientific/Engineering Specific Field Bonuses
AERO - +19
AVIONICS - +10
CHEM - +18
CREW - +3
COMP - +13
MATSCI - +17
PHYS - +18
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 Cosmonaut 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)

Demil Locker Access - Access granted to the world's stockpiles of military equipment in the process of being decommed. (Lower progress requirements for spaceplanes, space-gun experiments, etc.)

Research Support - You have a network of scientific institutions to whom you send a variety of data and perform experiments for. By putting a little extra pressure on those institutions, you can get some help for your internal purposes. (+3 to all Science and Engineering dice until 1957Q1)

Promises Made (Expires Q1 1957 unless otherwise stated):
Launch a Venus probe before 1960Q1. (+2 to Dnipro Aerospace Metallurgy Centre's bonus on completion) (Int(M-L)
Launch a probe to Mars by 1960Q1 (+2 to Long Beach Propulsion Research Complex's bonus on completion) (Int(D)))
Conduct Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (FWW) (Does not expire as long as the dice is locked)
Deliver a Weather Observation Satellite covering :

Asia (Int(M-L),Int(C))
Europe. (Int(M-L)
North America (Int(D))
South America (Int(C))

Build a Launch Facility in Asia by 1957Q1. (Int(C))
Build a Launch Facility in Eastern Asia before 1957Q1 (Int(M-L))
Complete all stages of Tracking Facilities by 1957Q1 (CPAL)
Build the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre by 1957Q1. (SDL)
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in North America (Int(M-L), Int(D))
Build 2 points of Industry or Infrastructure in industrialized regions (SDL)
Launch a Lunar Impactor before 1957Q3. (+2 to New Delhi Physics Institute bonus)
Complete Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 3) by 1957Q1. (Int(D), UWF)
Conduct Transistor Computing Investigation in Mombasa by 1958Q1. (CPAL)

Rocket Construction (1 rocket built, 1 under construction)

Construct an R-4 Dawn (103/120) (6 dice, -210R)

With the expansion of the assembly facility finally complete, you directed the Assembly teams to work on a slew of new R-4s. While progress wasn't as rapid as you would have liked (and it was, you admitted, very possible you'd been spoiled from their cadence in years past) they did finish one rocket and very nearly complete the next, with several partially complete stages resting in the Complex's cavernous integration bay.

Rocket Launches

None to report this quarter.

Programs (1 active, 0 slots available) (-40R/turn)

Activate Weather Observation Satellites (1 program, -40R)

You stood up the Weather Observation Satellite program, to no small amount of fanfare from the meteorological community. With prototype solar cell characteristics in hand, they began building out both satellites and the rockets to carry them based on the Curiosity-C template; they would begin deploying them the moment they had production solar arrays in hand.

Build a Space Center (Phase I, 250/250), (Phase II, 33/600) (3 dice, -105R)
- Singapore

With an invitation in hand from the people living around Singapore, the first phase of construction on the IEC's second space center was cut in half, leaving only the need to survey and level the site, placed just outside of Kampung Gambu, a tiny village on one of the island's larger roads. This location meant there were few people affected by the actual construction, and there would be equally few to be annoyed by the worst of the noise generated by actual launches. Those that were there were offered significant assistance in moving if they so wished, and accommodations were reached with those that remained. Most were curious about the project, though strong opinions either way were few and far between, for better and worse.

Dozens of tons of dirt and rock were moved from further inland to compact the soil of the site to the point that, soon, it would be possible to begun construction of the two heavy pads, alongside the assembly complex and mission control center.

(-1 Facilities dice)

Build a Scientific Complex
-Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre (AVIONICS) (133/450) (3 dice, -75R)

Construction on the Sydney Microelectronics Research Centre began at a sedate pace, with the site graded and the foundations poured by the end of the quarter. The majority of the resources for the project had been put towards acquiring the precision manufacturing equipment the centre would need to do its appointed tasks, and those were expensive in both rare materials and rare skilled labor. The hope was that by September the centre would be largely operational, if not completely so, and a number of members of Turing's team of computer scientists were looking at the possibility of moving over to Sydney once it was complete.

Tracking and Communication Station Construction (Phase 3) (70/550) (3 dice, -90R)

The final (for now) array of tracking stations started construction, albeit at a slower rate than had been expected. As it turned out, several of the localities that had volunteered to host the stations had replaced the councils who had originally agreed to the projects, and, due to their organization, the agreements had to be re-ratified, which was time consuming, resulting in a lot of waiting and not a lot of construction.

Human-rated Rocketry (6/8 turns) (1 die, -20R)

The single-seat capsule started to take shape on the production floor this quarter, starting with a wooden mockup that rapidly progressed through a series of tests before actual metal started to get machined. It looked almost cork-shaped, to you - a fat bottom covered in ablative cork and resin heat shielding, narrowing down to an aerodynamic, rounded nose that hid an array of small RCS thrusters not too dissimilar from what would be on the next generation of Curiosity satellites. You weren't exactly a towering figure, nor a wide one, and yet you felt somewhat stuffed inside of it when you accepted an offer to sit in it. You were thankful you had picked small pilots for the task of flying the thing.

Meanwhile, the R-4a's first parts started leaving the machine shops and showing up on the assembly floor. They were, by design, not much different to the R-4's, so there was little rush to that side of the operation.

Nuclear Power Plant Design Studies (5/8 turns) (1 die, -25R)

With new data arriving from the research reactors in New Delhi, the power plant design teams made good progress towards hammering in the design, requirements and operating processes needed for a truly safe, mass-construction power plant design that could form the backbone of the world's energy needs. So too did research progress on molten core concepts, as well as a small, prototype Space Nuclear Power Reactor, SNPR, otherwise known as the Snapper. That was to be a small, sub-kilowatt power source potentially useful for space probes or, in series, a crewed station or surface base.

Multi-Stage Designs (1/2 turns) (1 die, -15R)

The investigation into the usage of multiple stages on your orbital-class rockets was an evolution of the prior work done that had produced the R-2 sounding rockets, scaled up and with time and consideration given to three and four stage design possibilities. The cutoff for useful payload to orbit seemed to end at that point, though for fast interplanetary probes there was something of a case to be made for a solid 'kick-stage' that could be considered the fifth stage of a nominally four-stage rocket. Using explosive bolts and a pneumatic pusher, a rocket could be given a sealed, aerodynamic 'interstage' that would keep the rocket's aerodynamic profile consistent during the early ascent stage of flight and send a second (or third, and so on) stage on its way when the preceding one had burnt out.

A secondary group of researchers also proposed a skeletal open interstage and the use of hot-staging, which was a process by which the next stage would be ignited while the previous one was still running (you assumed that it would be very close to burnout at that point) to keep the fuel settled in the upper stage tanks, enabling somewhat simpler, weaker pumps to run the upper stage motor's fuel system and negating the need for a header to keep pressure.

Impactor Designs (1/3 turns) (1 die, -10R)

It was very easy to smash one thing into another.

It was somewhat more involved in setting up the experiments one wished to run to get data from said smashing. Telescopes with spectrometers would need to be looking at an impact site, and ideally your impactor probe would be gathering whatever photographs or other measurements it could as it sailed towards its inevitable doom.

Thus, the first quarter of the study focused on exactly what it would be feasible to learn from an impactor, and then building out experimental packages to do that, and only then did that team begin to draw up the actual probe.

Strap-on Boosters (318/250) (2 dice, -20R)

Despite being billed as 'strap-on', the act of adding side-mounted boosters to a rocket actually involved a certain level of redesign of the rocket itself to enable it to support the mass and thrust of those motors, which were not on the straight up-and-down centerline of the rocket as it had been designed. It was, you were told, not precisely difficult, but it did make the resulting base rocket somewhat heavier than one that wasn't built to support them, thanks to the extra structural reinforcements. Still, it seemed to you that the extra performance would tend to cancel that out. And, it seemed, the research team you'd assigned to the project agreed, for by the end of the quarter they had produced a viable test article using an R-2 they had purpose-built to test both the strap-on reinforcements and the new multi-stage designs, and after a few successful test launches and recoveries they were firmly pleased with their work.

Exploratory Propellant Research (Phase 2) [CHEM] (200/200), (Phase 3, 29/250) (3 dice, -45R)

The next set of developments to come out of your propellant research teams was a highly refined form of kerosene, suitable for both jet aircraft and rockets alike, though, in practical terms, the extra refining steps were somewhat unnecessary for fuel meant for the average jet. Titled High-Refinement Kerosene-1, or HK-1, it was one of those technologies whose methods were released to the public almost before the confirmations of efficacy and methods of production hit your desk.

The other advancement (amongst dozens of tested and discarded formulas, for reasons from efficacy to safety) was a so-called 'monopropellant' fuel known as hydrazine. It wasn't cryogenic, like liquid oxygen, and it didn't need an oxidizer to burn. It was ideal for things like RCS thruster fuel - but it was also incredibly toxic, and one demonstration of the stuff had Korolev cursing up a storm.

Photovoltaic Investigations (4/4 turns) (1 die, -20R)

The teams working on photovoltaics finally unveiled their first mass-producable cells towards the end of the quarter. They were expensive, and their efficiency wasn't great, but they did represent a significant step forward for on-orbit power supply, enabling a much lower weight of batteries to power a satellite for as long as the cells could provide enough power. When the report was released to the public, there was a certain amount of interest amongst the more independently-minded communities, further from the reach of the large municipal power plants that fed most of the world's electric demands, and a general interest from the scientific community at large. Time would tell if that interest would be enough to fuel further research into the technology.

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

The transistor labs at Mombasa were spun up this quarter, with Dr. Turing handpicking a team to investigate the potential combinations of conductors and semiconductors that could lead to more efficient, smaller computer equipment. Of particular interest was the new idea of the 'integrated chip', which could allow a number of functions currently served by large and separated portions of a vacuum tube computer to be condensed down to something roughly the size of a couple of postage stamps.

Bothering Councilors (1 die, -10PS)

It was time, once again, for you to get ahold of your new friend in the Reconstruction Department - the same one who had been able to help you last year. He answered your letter within a week with a response, and after a few more weeks of back-and-forth, you raised the idea of:

-[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Electrification in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)
-[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Industry in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)
-[ ] [BOTHER] Divert resources to rebuilding Infrastructure in [name the region you want]. (Takes 3 turns to complete)

Propagandize for Nuclear Power (312/???) (4 dice, -8PS)

You turned the Outreach crew loose on the problem of the public perception of nuclear power again, this time to a measurable amount of success, especially as you now had a working example of a power plant in operation in New Delhi. Seven years after the last of the bombs fell, there was enough distance in time for the worst of the trauma to have been dulled, allowing those who wouldn't have considered it before now to at least give the concept the time of day, particularly as it was the IEC doing the suggesting. Surveys indicated a drop in antagonism towards the concept, with a smaller but still appreciable rise in favorable views.

--

Sorry for the long update wait. I've just had a lot going on. Including, notably, the fact that I'm now helping make an actual space exploration videogame.

Per Aspera (Space Agency Plan Quest)

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