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

[Scottish Ninja]

Undisclosed Location
Murca (probably)

"We now have a response to the Zenobians' new SS-19 "Scrapyard". I have it in this folder here..."

"Hmm. A Saturn V... options for road-mobile and rail-mobile variants... up to 300 Mk. 12 reentry vehicles... multiple hardened silos, between which the missiles can be covertly moved - a nuclear shell game. 150 missiles total. Impressive. And how much would all this cost?"

"Under Subsection 22A.II.b.1.c, you'll see it, there."

"Ah. I see. Twice the gross domestic product. Tell you what - let's leak it, minus the cost projections, and see how the Zenobians react..."

"Very good, sir..."

[Eternal_Freedom]

For reference...how big is the warhead on a Mk 12 Re-Entry Vehicle?

[Scottish Ninja]

The W62 warhead on the Mk. 12, as used on the Minuteman III, has a yield of 170 kilotons. That's plenty 'splodey enough when you can actually hit your targets.

[Eternal_Freedom]

"I told you then that the Zenobians must concede to avoid a devastating arms race. I maintain that demand.

Surrender, or EVERYBODY DIES!"

Johnny's secretary looked into his office:

"Who are you shouting at sir?"

"Oh, uh...nothing Jessica. Please bring me the latest budget summaries. And a large coffee."

[PeZook]

So...since I can clearly see people have lost interest, do we wrap this up? I had an ending in mind just for this occasion

[FaxModem1]

Let me guess, WWIII?

[LaCroix]

Everybody is WAITING for you to wrap it up...

I want to see who's won!

[PeZook]

Everybody is WAITING for you to wrap it up...

I want to see who's won!

No, actually, I was waiting for the next turn update. I'm not holding it against anybody that they might've lost interest in the game - games are there for fun, when they become a chore they become pointless.

But just in case people actually ARE interested and just got into real life crap, I thought I'd ask before moving ahead with an ending

[Eternal_Freedom]

I'm still interested, it's justI like sufficient knowledge of the game to make any substantial plans. I need Scottish or Chaser for that.

[OmegaChief]

I'm happy either way really! It's been a fun ride, and though it'd be nice to see it through to the conclusion, if we just don't have the time/interest to pull it off I'm sure Pezook will give us a suitile ending.

[Scottish Ninja]

I'm still in! I just keep getting behind when I mean to actually do something. I'll see if I can get the next plan out today. The story post I've been meaning to go along with it may have to come a little later though.

[Simon_Jester]

So...since I can clearly see people have lost interest, do we wrap this up? I had an ending in mind just for this occasion

Aaagh!

I'm sorry, I really am. Life has been... kinda stressful, and I tend to simply forget about this while thinking about other things. I still actively enjoy doing it, I just keep having it get lost in the shuffle. So if you don't mind giving me some time to put together the next plan, I'll have something for you soonish.

Or do I already have my plan submitted... [checks]

[Simon_Jester]

Plan Pavylyvych Fall 1974

Comrades of the Baikonurek cosmodrome! It fills me with pride to know that the space-vanguard of modern Zenobian technoproletarian labor is undaunted by such minor difficulties as exploderizing launch pads! The program goes on apace, as cosmonauts, techneers, enginicians, and other specialists prepare the great N-1 moon rocket for its long-delayed flights!

---

Budget: 50 megarubleoids

Hardware Purchase
Buy 1 Proton Rocket: 12 MB
Buy 1 Booster Stage: 4 MB
Buy 1 Comrade Module-bis: 6 MB

Total Cost: 22 MB

Total remaining unallocated budget: 28 MB

Research and Development
4 teams' research on N-1: 28 MB

Total remaining unallocated budget: 0 MB

Cosmonaut Management

Schedule Missions
Schedule Unmanned Lunar Pass on Pad A:
Very Not Haunted testbed spacetankski Avrora
To be launched on an N-1.

Schedule Earth Orbit LM Test on Pad C:
Spacetankski Potemkin
Lunar Module Granit

Primary crew is STREKALOV/YEBANOVY/GRECHKO
Backup crew is JKERMAN/VOLISHIN/NEFARTNYI

To be launched on an N-1, so NOT a joint mission. N-1 can loft a Lapot, a Duet, and a docking module to LEO in one throw, with no need for boosters since we don't have a kicker stage to worry about.

Mission Go/No-Go Status:
We are GO for unmanned lunar pass in spacetankski Potemkin on Pad A.

We are WANNA GO for Lunar orbit lunar module test in Definitely Not Haunted spacetankski Avrora and lunar module Granit. But we are NO GO, because of the HUGE SMOKING CRATER where Pad B used to be.

[Simon_Jester]

PeZook: please make the following modification to The Plan.

Do the R&D first, before procurement.

R&D is four teams on N-1, as I specified. If N-1 hits max R&D of 93%, do not buy the Proton rocket. Use an N-1 to launch the unmanned lunar pass, so we can double up and improve kicker and N-1 reliability in one go.

If, on the other hand, N-1 does not reach max R&D, use a boosted Proton as I specified.

[Scottish Ninja]

MASA Administration
The Cape
August 15, 1974

From his desk, Unnamed MASA Engineer saw his secretary looking down the hallway; she pulled her head back in as Trentson came in with a long thin package in his hands. Engineer went out to his outer office as Trentson was heading for the door, in time to hear Mira say, “... and no one gets in here, okay?”

“Sure - I can’t be here myself, I’ve got too much to do, but I’ve put ‘Moron’ Moran on the door. He’s a good kid; we should think about talking to - oh, hi there, sir. I’ll get back to you later, Mira; I gotta go.”

“What is this all about?” Engineer said, as Mira closed and locked the door behind Trentson, then pulled down the blind.

“We’ve got a lot of pressure bearing down on us so my hand’s been forced here.” She went over to her desk where the package sat. “Do you know how to handle a sword?’

“I did fencing at Balls State...”

“About the best I could have hoped for, really.” She opened the package and presented Engineer with an enormous longsword, hilt-first.

“What is this?” He drew the blade and held it up to the light. “It’s heavy - what, almost three pounds? Mira, what do I need a sword for?”

“If you figure that out, you’ll want to have it close by. Keep it somewhere by your desk.”

“Okay - what are you not telling me, and why?”

“I can explain later. But everything’s getting out of control now. We don’t have a lot of time. Let me just ask you one question - how soon can we go?”

“Hmm. Well, MIT and Raytheon are still fighting over the LM computer system - it has over a hundred defects in it, it’s still too heavy, it most likely won’t be ready to fly at least until early spring, and even that’s a maybe. But - spring, maybe. We’d have to fly the LM untested, ”

“I might be able to get some help with that. I’ll make some calls; what do we need to know first?”

“We have to work out the LM. That’s the key. As much recon of the proposed landing sites as we can get our hands on - but the plans are all ready.”

“Right; I’ll see if I can have Tom Kelly come down from Grumman, maybe tomorrow if I can swing it.”

“Grummang,” Engineer said.

“What?”

“It’s Grummang. You said Grumman. There’s a ‘G’ at the end.”

“Did I? Must have been a brain fart...”

---

August 16

“I know what we’re up against, Dr. Engineer. We can make the date.”

Engineer let out a breath. “Good, because you know if you don’t, I’m going to have to take your head.
…
“Can you believe it? She got me a damned sword.”

Kelly laughed. “See, now that’s almost as ridiculous as when this LM was only going to cost five hundred million... You know, I don’t know what I’m so worked up about. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Well, you ship the LM down here, we never get it to fly, the Zenobians beat us to the Moon, and within ten years we’re all living under the iron thumb of commienism.”

“Exactly! Well, if we can’t make the date... I’m going to have to take some cash from the Grummang safe and move to Vuvuzela.”

Engineer’s head sank into his head. “You know, this is almost so bad I can’t joke about it anymore. Everything depends on you now, Tom. We have to fly next spring.”

---

NTC News

“...Story Musgrave, Theodore Freeman, and Roger Chaffee, are on the verge of making a historic flight in early April. This is a MASA bombshell. An electrifying announcement, while only made today, that has obviously been in the planning stages for quite some time...”

---

“We’ve got all the systems checked out for the transmitter satellites. The launches, after the landing, should shut down the Scammer for good...”

---

Everything seemed so clear now. Engineer took another sip from the glass of scotch; on a sudden impulse he grasped the hilt of the sword and drew it. The last rays of the setting sun came through the windows on the opposite side of the building, and for a moment the blade seemed to glow bright red. A shiver ran down his spine; somehow, it felt right in his hand.

Then the sun disappeared, but the feeling remained.

We can do this.

---

Dr. U.M. Engineer's MASA Plan, Fall 1974

Budget: 53 MB

Hardware Purchase:

2x Titan II: 24 MB
2x Ranger: 10 MB

Research and Development:

5x teams Eagle: 10 MB

Remaining Budget, to be carried over to 1975: 9 MB

---

Dr. Engineer watched as the guards piled up all nine million in cash into the safe in his office. Plenty enough for both him and Tom Kelly to go south if things went south.

---

Astronaut Management:

None at this time.

Mission Go/No-Go Status:
PAD A: Manned Docking is NO-GO due to lack of FUNDS and NEEDS
PAD B: Lunar Flyby is GO
PAD C: Lunar Flyby is GO

Mission Scheduling:

PAD A: Historical Lunar Landing - Hermes shuttle Odyssey, Lunar Module Lucian, Saturn V/4-260 (B/Saturn V)
PAD B: Orbital Satellite (Atlas/Explorer)
PAD C: Orbital Satellite (Atlas/Explorer)

And one last note on the report -

MURCA FUCK YEAH!

[Scottish Ninja]

SHITS. Forget to specify crews for the landing: Prime is MUSGRAVE/FREEMAN/CHAFFEE; Backup is LOOPY/HAISE/SUITCASE. (Make sure to reorder HAISE/LOOPY/SUITCASE to LOOPY/HAISE/SUITCASE.)

[PeZook]

This...is pretty ballsy

I'll try to do an update today.

[Simon_Jester]

Whuh-buh-WHUH!?

...Oh crap.

Sigh. It is really too late for me to change plans in light of that sheer lunacy, I fear...

Well, I can take some consolation in the probability of a Murcan failure.

EDIT: I myself was planning in terms of a landing in Fall '75, barring disasters or a budget much worse than I hope it will be. While the Murcans might manage a Spring '75 landing, I think they're taking a lot of rather foolish chances with the LM...

[LaCroix]

That's not fair!

I wanted to be the first who crashed full speed into the moon!

[PeZook]

That's not fair!

I wanted to be the first who crashed full speed into the moon!

What, a memorial on the Kreamlin wall isn't enough now? Pfft. Cosmonauts and their unsocialist prima donna ways...

[LaCroix]

That's not fair!

I wanted to be the first who crashed full speed into the moon!

What, a memorial on the Kreamlin wall isn't enough now? Pfft. Cosmonauts and their unsocialist prima donna ways...

Put it inside of one of the Kreamlin's fancy towers, strap a N1 under it, and send it to the moon, THEN we have a deal...

[Simon_Jester]

Well, there's a tentative plan to inter cosmonaut remains on the moon on a second or later lunar flight.

Epitaphs written on tags from oxygen bottles are optional.

It was pointed out, of course, that this would be a mass penalty. It was also pointed out that the Zond cosmonauts burned up on the second stage of a skip-reentry, so mass of remains would be... pretty minimal.

[OmegaChief]

Well... this will be interesting to say the least, I mean I honestly can't recommend we rush here as given the Murican liklyhood of failure and how crippling failure is at this stage...

On the upside, if they get very lucky the Commissar might finally get to shoot someone for failure! He's had that gun loaded for nearly twenty years now.

[Simon_Jester]

!

Sigh.

But yes, while we could reschedule a launch to beat the Murcan launch, we'd have a lot of stages with reliability problems- it would be hard for me to calculate. Our probability of failure would be even higher than the likely odds of failure for the Murcans, because we have to rush our launches if we want to get credit for doing it first when we launch in the same month as the Murcans, too.

And it would hinge on PeZook being willing to let me rewrite the plan on the fly.

All in all, I would consider it a worse strategy than gambling on a Murcan failure.

[PeZook]

Simon, until I actually implement the plan, feel free to rewrite it ; Murcan activities are public knowledge, after all.

I didn't have time to run the plans through, so there's still time, no problem.