SD.Net World Redux Comment Thread V

[PeZook]

The nuclear engine is inert, but the ion thrusters and chemical rockets on the EGL work. Maybe we can retrieve them from the Zepp. Get the ship in orbit and pressurize it, since the seals in the crew areas work, and they can use that as a haven for a little while.

Alan has a tether. It will probably be unnecessary, but is much appreciated. Alan would appreciate a taser,though, since he still has to manhandle Miranda into the Soyuz

[Coyote]

Heheh... this'll be something to bear in mind for future missions: keep a taser on board in case a crewer flips out...

Anyhow, I made an in-story explanation about the plan. It's dangerous and risky, but Arik would feel bad if he didn't at least make the offer. The EHAZE crew can probably see the capsule with binoculars as they go by well above them, after all...

[Beowulf]

Tasers won't go through space suits... too thick.

[Coyote]

Cattle prods?

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Cattle prods?

I think one thing we have to understand is that a suit like that happens to have no just a thick insulating layer, but also a lead layer and others to keep out radiation.

Also, you risk destroying the oxygen circulation equipment.

[Coyote]

Yeah, but this is Miranda Moonbeam we're talking about.

Maybe just a good ol'-fashioned stick; just keep it away from the faceplate.

I do wonder how the public relations of the Nordic religion is going to fare in light of this episode.

[PeZook]

Or...build tasers into suits themselves! Have the button at Mission Control to zap Shroomanians

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Or...build tasers into suits themselves! Have the button at Mission Control to zap Shroomanians

Is that wise? If it gets triggered by accident, you risk quite a few problems.

Whatever is the case, I might add that for this sort of thing, it's quite certain that Miranda would never ever return to space again.

[PeZook]

Is that wise? If it gets triggered by accident, you risk quite a few problems.

It's a joke, dude

Whatever is the case, I might add that for this sort of thing, it's quite certain that Miranda would never ever return to space again.

Well, duh. This, and all the other problems people already outlined

[RogueIce]

I would suggest that you cut the tether, wait for her orbit to decay, and see how long the current model of FASTA spacesuit will survive reentry.

EDIT: I would just like to state that since I read the comment thread first, I posted the above without seeing the Zorian idea. Not that I disagree, although my idea comes from a different perspective with a different goal.

Unless she lands in MSA territory in which case Alan gets a star treatment and pleasently trumped around the country until long after he wants to leave while she spends some time being debriefed then returned .

MSA has territorries now?

And damn, Rogue is persistent in his hatred of the fine well-hung Shroomanian hero that Alan Shroompard is

I could do him a favour. After all, these is the question of testing the S-500 ABM's capabilities...

I can also support this plan.

EDIT: On a more serious note Coyote, if they're going to be up there with no way back down because they lack the power, and they only have enough air, water, whatever for a couple days...who exactly is going to be able to rescue them with a two day limit?

[Coyote]

EDIT: On a more serious note Coyote, if they're going to be up there with no way back down because they lack the power, and they only have enough air, water, whatever for a couple days...who exactly is going to be able to rescue them with a two day limit?

Well... two days to think of something, or twenty minutes to certain death. Roll the dice...

[RogueIce]

Well... two days to think of something, or twenty minutes to certain death. Roll the dice...

Twenty minutes to certain death for two, or two days of probably going to die for those two plus however many are on your Eagle ship?

I'd rather not throw more lives away on something that you don't even know if it has a chance of working (and by time you figure out it doesn't it's already too late), but that's just me. And they're not my men, so...your call I guess.

EDIT: Actually, rephrase. It's one thing to risk lives on a plan you don't know for sure will work in order to save others.

It's something else to toss them up there when you don't even have a plan on the off chance you might think of one later...and that's assuming you even have a decent chance of catching either of them in the first place, but since I don't know the specifics of your platform nor enough about space things in general I can't really comment on that.

[Coyote]

I should have spotlighted it, but remember, the King got called because his engineers on the Eagle are willing to risk their lives to help their fellow pioneers in space. Remember, Arik said over the phone that he didn't like the idea, but he'd make the offer.

The guys on the Eagle see a space disaster as a potential coffin nail for public support of space exploration at all. They're thinking that even if someone else on the planet with launch capability can send them a tin can full of air and granola bars they can hold out for awhile until a real plan comes along.

[Siege]

I could send a Silver Streak up there to interface with the Eagle* and retrieve some of its passengers, but it'd take multiple hauls to carry everybody back dirtside (the civvie version has room for four astronauts). I have a few of those ships though, so depending on how many people are aboard the Eagle it might be possible (if insanely expensive) to rescue them.

* Assuming we've got standardized docking hatches, but I don't think that's much of a stretch.

[Coiler]

Siege's plan may be the most workable, and IIRC, Baerne has Silver Streaks too, so that gives us even more capacity.

[CmdrWilkens]

Not that I'm totally contesting since I haven't really been foreceful in it but there is an awful lot of tech out there capable of putting a man in space right now...hell the MSA, which is certainly the second and possibly the best funded of the agencies out there, is just past the 2ton to GTO line and has an active spaceplane program...FASTA has Mercury and now Soyuz so when did we suddenly develop all of this spare launch capacity and mroe importantly when did we get the capacity to put it on station on such short notice.

I know that given the current launch schedule for the MSA that we would likely have either an X-series or a Delta II ready to go (the former obviously much better than the later) but for everyone else prepping an actual launch even of an expendable vehicle is a weeks long process AT BEST. For a short notice (say 2 days until they die) mission you would need something already on the pad which has all the essential capabilities but with enough time to re-program the orbital insertion and/or change out the cargo.

[Coyote]

Well, truth is, we rushed to space because we wanted to (admittedly) pick up where we left off in the old version and do it before Shep killed us all again.

And, let's remember, the tech level is supposed to be similar to modern Earth of 2007 when we started this, where F-22s were just starting to come online. So in reality, the high tech existed, it just needed to be put to use-- so playing catch-up will go quickly.

Plus, we've always had a bit of "weird science" or "ideal science", with people willing to go along with ideas that are typically shot down, and we're expected to be a little fantastic. Compared to the previous game (cyborg wars, killer megafauna, Celine Dion) this version is downright tame and realistic.

I'm trying to add some technical glitches to the Eagle to slow its development, but we've always oriented towards getting to space quickly. At least we've managed to avoid Killer Space Rods.

[CmdrWilkens]

Oh I'm not saying that its ridiculous that people have space tech but there is a HUGE difference in the cost of a manned versus and un-manned space program and manned launches have MUCH longer prep windows unless you just don't give a shit about safety margins in which case your incidence of massive failure shoudl rise accordingly. I know the FASTA manned program is proceeding about as fast as most components of the MSA programs and none of them are past the 1/2 person LEO stage. Realistically we are several years away from the lift capacity for more than 2 people or distances greater than LEO...moreover we are certainly decades from the point where we could build a manned mission from scrap in a matter of days (unmanned you could maybe say we might acheive short turnaround but I'm still iffy).

So my objection is not to the programs themselves but rather that:
1) Any manned program out there has less than achance in hell of being further along than the FASTA or X-plane programs simply because nobody else has yet even fired a single test rocket from such programs
2) Any manned or unmanned program out there is going to take weeks to go from tasking to launch and even then the faster the launch the greater the odds of catastrophic failure.

[Siege]

So my objection is not to the programs themselves but rather that:
1) Any manned program out there has less than achance in hell of being further along than the FASTA or X-plane programs simply because nobody else has yet even fired a single test rocket from such programs

Pardon me, but Silver Streak first flew in the summer of 2010. After the first FASTA and OD launches, to be sure, but it's still a heck of a lot farther along than single test rockets-- it's done at least two manned launches since.

2) Any manned or unmanned program out there is going to take weeks to go from tasking to launch and even then the faster the launch the greater the odds of catastrophic failure.

This is a fair enough point-- certainly these things cannot be rushed too much. The chances of there being an orbiter on the pad being prepped for launch, however, are fairly good (the things fly regularly).

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

The SNC has its own space plane it can send up as well, just a note. Not to mention, it's highly automated.

But if I am not wrong, such space planes tend to be crewed by two and there's not much space for another crew member.

[PeZook]

And of course the Mig-105 can't be sent up on a whim either. At this point, no "space rescue" is possible, I'm afraid.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

And of course the Mig-105 can't be sent up on a whim either. At this point, no "space rescue" is possible, I'm afraid.

Well, at this point, there's not much point. I doubt the space craft can send more than 2 people on board, and sending an automated craft up there is kinda pointless.

At this point, should a disaster befall on the woman, it should not be unexpected. No manned space program has been entirely a clean sweep either.

[RogueIce]

What, there's no flu shot in San Dorado?

[Siege]

What, there's no flu shot in San Dorado?

I just wanted my alter-ego to feel as miserable as me (vindictive as that may sound), so apparently not .

[TimothyC]

Alaska can put a 300 kg payload into LEO in about 2 hours after getting the payload, so I can throw supplies up to the astronauts.

Edit: Remember that ASAT system I mentioned before - I can quickly repurpose it for this mission (the Guidance software is there as in the launcher - a Skybolt strapped to a B-58.