SD.Net World Redux Comment Thread IV

[PeZook]

Frankly, Katangwa is pointless at this stage, unless we really want to uplift the country. Current rockets are sufficient, there are no requirements for really heavy lift capacity, and actually building the goddamned site would be a gigantic pain and require incredible amounts of monies.

As for Zeppelins: the Energia booster is almost 60 meters long and weighs close to 2500 tonnes. Can your zeps move that kind of cargo safely, over the ocean, in reasonable time?

Not to say of various launch pad elements that have to be reinstalled after every launch, or the basic mobile tower.

EDIT: Bulletin updated! Praise the Admins!

BTW, Zor, the guys you listed will be in Class 2011, so they will fly next year, after participating in mission control and planning.

[CmdrWilkens]

Moreover amongst launch sites right now the MSA's Keppler is the closest to the equator. Unless I'm off in looking at the map our equator should run roughly dividing the IRT's top 1/3 and then on through the middle of Japanistan before clipping the very top of al-Akharabat, splitting fredonia and baically serving as the southern border of Akori based on the official map.

The Byzantine launch complex would probably be the next closest and it has obvious advantages for polar or retrograde orbits since you are shooting over the desert (though the OD has a better backstop in most of the Atlantic for such missions) meanwhile the FASTA launches probably are in the worst position relative to the equator to get a speed boost.

So while Katangawa (and I forget where it is on the map truth be told) is going to get a bit of a boost relative to the existing facilities but I don't know if there is enough demand right now to make it worthwhile. Since all of the exisitng launch facilities are already within countries with built up facilities where either port or rail shipment is established and critical infrastructure (say power for instance) is already close at hand the unit launch cost would be better, simply put if you have to Zepplein everything over to the complex, and have an on-site reactor, and build everything from scratch with no nearby support infrastructure then you per-unit launch costs will be much higher and probably not enough to offset the bonus of better launch position. All of that on top of the fact that we are just getting in to the space race which means actual demand is going to be ramping up and may not support another major launch complex.


*Edited now that I remember kata is equatorial*

[Coyote]

Hmm. Well, I was thinking that new Energia & Saturn style boosters would have to have whole new facilities built, and since we'd have to start from scratch to do it, may as well start on the Equator. But... durn it.

I guess it would even be a sucky place for a space elevator, since once things get down from space they still end up having to be shipped to mainlands.

I'll go back to air-launch vehicle research. Crumbs!

[Siege]

EDIT: Bulletin updated! Praise the Admins!

Gus Grissom eh? I like it. Bear in mind though that he can't reach LEO before the first manned Silver Streak launch. It's really too bad for Mr. Grissom, but inter-corporate politics demands that the first San Doradan to go "up there" heads into space in a locally manufactured spaceplane, instead of in a FASTA capsule.

[CmdrWilkens]

So anyway that rogue launch shoudl now be fully broken up. The next attempt should be a Delta 3223 sometime over the next week. If it is successful then it probably won't be announced but movement continues along that development path though I rather suspect the RS-27A is still a few years away.

[PeZook]

Gus Grissom eh? I like it. Bear in mind though that he can't reach LEO before the first manned Silver Streak launch. It's really too bad for Mr. Grissom, but inter-corporate politics demands that the first San Doradan to go "up there" heads into space in a locally manufactured spaceplane, instead of in a FASTA capsule.

Then you better hurry up with it

Gus Grissom was actually a real astronaut. I just thought the name...fitted San Dorado somehow

He died in the Apollo 1 fire, though...

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Gus Grissom eh? I like it. Bear in mind though that he can't reach LEO before the first manned Silver Streak launch. It's really too bad for Mr. Grissom, but inter-corporate politics demands that the first San Doradan to go "up there" heads into space in a locally manufactured spaceplane, instead of in a FASTA capsule.

Then you better hurry up with it

Gus Grissom was actually a real astronaut. I just thought the name...fitted San Dorado somehow

He died in the Apollo 1 fire, though...

You are not going to follow the real life situation, are you?

[PeZook]

No, not really. I may blow someone up, though, just to underscore that space exploration is a dangerous game...but no fire. It was just too gruesome...

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

No, not really. I may blow someone up, though, just to underscore that space exploration is a dangerous game...but no fire. It was just too gruesome...

Well, ... it's going to be gruesome either way. The fuel for the rocket is pretty toxic.

[PeZook]

Yeah, but blowing up vs. burning alive...well, the choice would be obvious

Though the Apollo 1 fire went very quickly, supposedly. All three astronauts were dead before the technical crews even got to the hatch - wonders of 100% oxygen atmosphere.

[Karmic Knight]

Is anyone willing to sell me 25 MiG - 29Ks and/or 15 SEPECAT Jaguar Ses?

[PeZook]

Yeah, I've got some 90 Mig-29M OVT upgrades (with thrust vectoring), I'll let all of them go for 15 million a pop with spare parts, pilot training and technical crews.

[Siege]

Then you better hurry up with it

Mr. Sadler will head into space sometime in the next three months, I think. We might have to rush it though if that doesn't accomodate your schedule .

[PeZook]

Mr. Sadler will head into space sometime in the next three months, I think. We might have to rush it though if that doesn't accomodate your schedule .

Nah, 'tis cool. The first Soyuz flies in six, and we can simply move Grissom to a later flight.b

[PeZook]

Well Fingolfin, time for a ticker tape parade for one of your own

Also, no, the bag won't survive re-entry

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Well Fingolfin, time for a ticker tape parade for one of your own

Also, no, the bag won't survive re-entry

Huh?

[PeZook]

Huh?

Why, a Byzantine astronaut just performed a first stand-up EVA!

And the bag comment was aimed to prevent smartassery...

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

Huh?

Why, a Byzantine astronaut just performed a first stand-up EVA!

And the bag comment was aimed to prevent smartassery...

Ah.. Ok... Hmm...

Actually, the cameras could well be worth 100,000 bucks. I know a few cameras with one photon sensitivity which cost about half that.

[PeZook]

Actually, the cameras could well be worth 100,000 bucks. I know a few cameras with one photon sensitivity which cost about half that.

Well, I didn't really know the prices

I know a modern digital Hasselblad costs something like 15 thousand. Modified for space use it could easily reach over 20 thousand, and there were two similar cameras in the bag, made by different companies, to see which would perform best.

[Lonestar]

DAMN CAMERAS!

[PeZook]

DAMN CAMERAS!

And who put the X-20 on the same orbit, huh?

It's a fuckup by your mission planners, especially since the bag's orbit was already deteriorating (it flew past the X-20 at 140kms, while Mercury missions generally fly above 200)

[Lonestar]

Yeah, I was originally planning on having the X-20 "Buzz" the capsule, but determined it couldn't make the altitude, so...

[Siege]

So you got a manned Dyna-Soar up. Bloody finally . Now I can begin preparations for my own...

[Karmic Knight]

Yeah, I've got some 90 Mig-29M OVT upgrades (with thrust vectoring), I'll let all of them go for 15 million a pop with spare parts, pilot training and technical crews.

Are MiG-29Ms carrier-capable?

The reason I want Ks is their carrier-capability.

[PeZook]

Are MiG-29Ms carrier-capable?

The reason I want Ks is their carrier-capability.

I am reasonably certain Stas can sell you carrier-capable Su-27s, or maybe even Su-31s.