Let's play: Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space

[PeZook]

Not quite,comrade Chief Designer

[Simon_Jester]

OK. I'll think about it some more. But for the moment, my Fall '68 plan.

Plan Pavylyvych Fall 1968

Comrades of the Baikonurek Cosmodrome, let us all join to hail the safe return of comrade cosmonauts Klimuk and Brzęczyszczykiewicz from the Voskhod 3 flight! I have borne witness myself to the dedication and energy applied by the cosmonauts and ground crew alike to make this mission a success, and it never ceases to amaze me.*

Zenobian progress in the design of moonbot probes advances by leaps and bounds, and the Unmanned Planetary Lab has fulfilled all expectations on the design of the new experimental models. We look forward to great developments in the coming months.

Nor are these achievements, noble and impressive though they may be, the only ones set by the labor of our scientists, engineers, and staff. The acclaimed super-ship has passed through the blueprinting phase, and assembly of the first model will begin in the next few months, after completion of the prototype's heat shield, courtesy of the small yet disturbingly advanced Baikonurek Armor Plate Production Plant. It will be this craft and its successors that will take the cosmonaut-heroes of the OSCR to the moon, and perhaps one day even beyond!

*What, admit a partial failure? Fat chance...

---

Budget: 141 megarubleoids

Hardware Procurement
Purchase three Proton rockets
Purchase two Cosmos satellites

Total cost: 42 MB
Remaining budget: 99 MB

Cosmonaut Management: Phase I
Disband Voskhod capsule teams and return them to the pool.

I might reassemble a pair of Voskhod teams for some specific purpose in the future, as a mission-specific thing (the obvious candidate would be a Voskhod lunar pass), but this is somewhat unlikely and not part of my immediate plans.

Research and Development
Begin Lapot shuttle program: 65 MB
4 teams' research on Luna probe: 16 MB
2 teams' research on Lapot shuttle: 14 MB
Total cost: 95 MB

Remaining budget: 4 MB

Cosmonaut Management: Phase II

If feasible, form Lapot crews (one or more). Do not pull any more cosmonauts from training to do so, though.

Schedule Missions
Schedule lunar flyby on Pad A
Schedule lunar flyby on Pad B
Schedule lunar probe landing on Pad C

[I may be canceling some combination of these missions, but I need them scheduled ahead of time]

Mission Go/No-Go Status: Phase I
We are GO for lunar flyby on Pad A
We are GO for lunar flyby on Pad B
We are REPLY HAZY ASK AGAIN LATER for lunar probe landing on Pad C...

Set launch date for Proton/Luna probe mission, along with the Proton/Cosmos flybys, as usual.

Fly the lunar flybys as scheduled. Then:

Mission Go/No-Go Status: Phase II

IF both lunar flybys succeed, AND IF Luna probe reliability is 88% or higher,
THEN
We are GO for Proton/Luna mission on Pad C.

IF one and only one lunar flyby succeeds, AND IF Luna probe reliability is 89% or higher,
THEN
We are GO for Proton/Luna mission on Pad C.

IF both lunar flybys have failed,
OR
The above Luna probe reliability conditions are not met,
THEN
We are NO GO for Proton/Luna mission on Pad C. Scrub the launch, we'll try again in the spring of '69.

[ChaserGrey]

Gah. Meant Johnny Olds, of course. The successor.

And E_F, looks good to me as a rough outline. We'll have to adjust the precise schedule depending on funds available.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Obviously, but I think that is the overall plan. But unless we get a break, I foresee a manned landing not happenning till 1975 at least.

[OmegaChief]

Very good to see the Muricans pulling back, it was looking iffy for them for a second.

And I've no clue as to what the thing that amused the GM is, unless it was somthing to do with how well all the other rolls went after the cock-up?

[Simon_Jester]

Baikonurek Armor Plate Production Plant
July 1968

"Good morning, comrades. Let's see the prototype, shall we?"

"Of course, Comrade Chief Designer."

The Armor Plate Production Plant owed its existence to a confused period when Syrgy's indisposition left him unable to maintain control of the program. Fresh from the flying-tankski program, Director of Operations Ignaty Dubolomov had apparently grown confused as to the purpose of Baikonurek's operations. His displeasure with the base's low production of armor plate led to the sudden import of a team of metallurgists and designers from around the Zenobian Onion... vetted with the same standard of care as any of the base's rocket scientists.

On his return from surgery, Syrgy had sunk his face into his hands when he learned of the chaos. But the cloud had its silver lining- the armor-plate men were among the best team possible to design a nigh-invulnerable heat shield for the Zenobian shuttle project! Design after design had been considered, rejected, marked for further testing, or flown on various crude unmanned rocketplanes of BORing lack of interest to the bulk of the space program.

This had, of course, secured Ignaty's position as Director of Operations. Ignaty still occasionally slipped up and referred to heavy-lift rocket boosters as tractors, but the industrialist had grown on Syrgy, the commissar, and the other old hands. By now he was a cornerstone of the tight-knit, if occasionally dysfunctional and homicidal, Baikonurek family.

"As you see, the shield is designed using high-temperature metallic alloys of exceptional refractory quality, mounted on articulated ceramic bearings, to permit differential expansion of various components under the heat of re-entry. Landing skids here, here, and here, and over here we have a full mockup of Lapot..."

"Lapot?" Why are they calling it 'cheap-shit shoe?'

"The shape of the nose, sort of slipper-like, you see, ah... are you all right, Comrade Chief Designer?"

Syrgy slipped another nitroglycerin pill under his tongue. "I will be all right. But I must insist that in official documentation, the craft be referred to by its proper designation, the ZiG-105. We will come up with a name for the first flight model in due time."

Syrgy hoped that nickname didn't catch on too much.

The armor-plate man nodded. "Of course. With this graph, we see expected temperature distribution across the shield during reentry, note how the design protects the crew module. We have assembly nearly complete- the prototype can be unveiled shortly."

"Excellent."

[Narkis]

Nyet

One last try. I think I got it: the fail roll was a 99, meaning that it was the worst fail possible and there's no way it could be avoided and yet amounted to very little in the end.

[PeZook]

One last try. I think I got it: the fail roll was a 99, meaning that it was the worst fail possible and there's no way it could be avoided and yet amounted to very little in the end.

Nyet as well. What I have in mind is a very, very nerdy thing.

[Narkis]

Fine. I give up! I'll just go back to watching.

[Scottish Ninja]

Does it have anything to do with the failure being what cut short Glenn's orbital flight?

[Simon_Jester]

Er, I don't think that such a failure did cut short that flight.

[PeZook]

Herr von Braun, just to clarify: you want a simple orbital flight for the XMS-2, da? No duration, no EVA, no docking correct?

Also:

Does it have anything to do with the failure being what cut short Glenn's orbital flight?

Nyet, comrade!

[LaCroix]

A mouse in the cockpit.

No, not only one mouse - mice!

Gzregorz hadn't been very happy with the plan but he went along with it. Orders were orders, even if he disagreed with them. He had enough experience with mice to know they were a pest, and should be nowhere near anything destructible.

He had argued that the mouse - later mice - should be in the cage at all times, but his collegue found them cute. He even played with that despicable rodents, usually when Gzregorz was busy with chess, and naturally, they escaped him from time to time.

Ground control would never hear the truth about the incident; all evidence was disposed of, and both cosmonauts had sworn to never, ever, mention it to anyone. But another thing will also never be forgotten - the words Gzregorz yelled when they found out what happened to their transmitter.

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking mice on this motherfucking capsule!"

[Simon_Jester]

Well, it can't be a reference to the famous Cosmonauts' Chess Game, because "white rook to g5" never happened there.

I'm guessing it's something about the mouse...

[Eternal_Freedom]

PeZook, would making the orbital mission duration or EVA get me any more prestige?

[Scottish Ninja]

Moosecow, OKB Thripolev

October 1968

Alexei Thripolev cursed softly as he looked over the reports on his desk. The already repeatedly delayed Th-144 supersonic transport had suffered yet another problem; the requested turbojet engines were unavailable and the aircraft would have to be reworked to incorporate less efficient but available turbofans incapable of sustained supersonic flight. This would take more time and effort yet again in a desperate race to beat the deadline of a first flight by the end of 1968. Nothing was ready, the calendar pressed, and yet no more resources were to be available. For sure this first flight would not be followed by the desired commercial operation for a long while yet. Other priorities pressed as well, such as the Th-22M bomber which was urgently demanded for the air force, as well as the far less technically demanding Th-154 airliner which was scheduled for its first flight the following day.

Something would have to go - possibly several. Alexei picked up the first of the stack of files on his desk. Hmm...


In accordance with recent directives from the State Planning Committee and Chairman Nikolay Baybakov, the planned "Spiral 50-50" hypersonic carrier aircraft shall be indefinitely delayed. ZiG-105 launches are directed to continue in the interim to be ground-launched with heavier expendable rockets as planned for early series test flights.

[PeZook]

PeZook, would making the orbital mission duration or EVA get me any more prestige?

Yes it would.

A simple orbital mission will give you 20 prestige
A duration B orbital will give you 23
Duraction C can nails you 25, but will give you a modest reliability penalty, as you hadn't done duration B yet (I think? If you had, then no penalty will be applied.)

Still, duration C could allow you to leapfrog the Zenobians. Now, a real killer would be doing a duraction C with orbital docking: if succesful, it will net you 29 prestige points.

Of course it is also risky, as a failed docking (which is likely ; The docking module starts at 40% reliability) will also abort the duration attempt.

It's a pretty complicated decision: if you get Duration C out of the way and quickly follow with a lunar probe landing, you may beat the Zenobians to a manned lunar flyby. Introducing a docking attempt promises a pretty good prestige payoff (and Jeebus knows you need the cash...), and ups the reliability of the docking module, but risks you failing at the duration attempt.

An orbital EVA doesn't get you any extra prestige, so I guess it can be dispensed with for the time being.

EDIT: Also, the following XMS-2 crews are compatible:

OLDS/GORDON/WILLIAMS
COLLINS/BARNESTI/RAVENSBURH
BROWN/MCCANDLES/CUNNINGHAM
CONRAD/ROCKET/CHAFFEE
HAISE/LOOPY/SWIGERT

Your decision who to send up on the manned flight ; Also, remember your primary pad is wrecked, and thus any flight will be necessity happen mid-season due to the way the game work.

[Eternal_Freedom]

OK, we'll make it a Duration-C mission, with Collins/Barnest/Ravensburg as prime crew and Olds'Gordon/Williams as backup. Unless Chaser can see a glaring problem with that of course.

A docking mission would be nice but I don't have the cash to start docking module program, nor can I afford the rocket to launch it. So sod it, I'll leave the docking till next season.

We are GO with manned orbital duration-c with the XMS-2 launched by a boosted-Titan with Collins/Barnest/Ravensburg as prime crew and Olds/Gordon/Williams as backup. Phew!

[Akhlut]

How long will Manshuk be in the hospital, comrades?!?!? Oh, Manshuk knew he should have worn skates while playing hockey!

[Simon_Jester]

OK, we'll make it a Duration-C mission, with Collins/Barnest/Ravensburg as prime crew and Olds'Gordon/Williams as backup. Unless Chaser can see a glaring problem with that of course.

A docking mission would be nice but I don't have the cash to start docking module program, nor can I afford the rocket to launch it. So sod it, I'll leave the docking till next season.

My conscience compels me to inform you that you can launch both the minishuttle and the docking module on the same boosted-Titan rocket.

(On a side note, the historical US docking tests would be represented in-game with a joint orbital docking test using Titan/Gemini and Atlas/DM; this is roughly as cost-effective as doing it all on a single boosted-Titan, though of course it eats launch pads like candy).

[Eternal_Freedom]

That is excellent news. Can a docking module be used twice in one season? As in, I launch it and an XMS-2 in the first launch and another XMS-2 with a second launch? Or would I have to launch one docking module for each shuttle, but be able to resuse them in the fall?

It works out the same I know, but I'm curious.

[Simon_Jester]

For an unmanned mission, the docking module must be launched along with the capsule- I'm not sure if you can launch the two rockets separately, but they have to be part of the same mission.

A manned docking mission can rendevous with a docking module already in orbit from a previous mission earlier in that same season, or from the previous season, but not two seasons ago.

I'm pretty sure I actually did this with Voskhod 2: they docked with a module which had been launched by one of my previous unmanned docking tests.
____________________

Oh. One more thing.

I don't think you can get the XMS-2/Kicker-B combination onto a boosted-Titan, which would seem to commit you to the Saturn V for a lunar pass. I, on the other hand, can accomplish this using a boosted-Proton.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Bah humbug. Oh well. I'm sure the game will find some inventive way of kicking you in the balls Simon

[Simon_Jester]

Yes. It's called your minishuttle flight.

But you still need a name for your shuttle. As a traditionalist I'd suggest Enterprise, but it's entirely up to the Murcans, obviously.

[Shroom Man 777]

Silver Streak