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

[Simon_Jester]

Thing is, I do think trying to rush a launch would be worse than gambling on a Murcan failure, under the circumstances...

[OmegaChief]

As do I, we will go through with the existing plan, we can't gamble on this one.

And this is coming from me, the big "We should risk it" guy on our team here.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Director von Braun looked out his office window atthe mighty VAB, where the incredibly manly Saturn-V was being assembled. The risk they were taking with this launch, but there was no other way it seemed.

In the back of his mind, words from an ancient poem floated in a sea of doubt:

"He either fears his fate too much;
Or his rewards are small.
He who dares notput it to the touch
To win or lose it all."

To Hell with it. Let's do it.

-----------------

Bloody hell this is nerve-wracking.

[Simon_Jester]

Ah, well.

Worst case, we can always launch Mir on an N-1 and pretend it was what we had in mind all along, pointing to the superiority of our planetary exploration program and space station research. That's what the real USSR did, after all...

[OmegaChief]

Indeed. And now we wait for Pezook to tell us how all this goes.

Boy am I nervous, and entirly OOC when I say this but; Good luck Muricans, you'll need it, if you screw up, espeiclaly apocalpytically I don't know if you can recover in time this late in the game.

[Simon_Jester]

Their moon shot doesn't take place until turn after next, mind. They just scheduled it; it doesn't happen until the beginning of the Spring 1975 launch season. A recovery from a LM failure, or a near-recovery from a Kicker-B failure, might actually be possible for the Murcans if they have the money, with a launch proceeding in 1977. A Hermes failure would be a more serious problem, likewise a Saturn V failure (which is unlikely)


The Zenobian moon shot is planned for Fall 1975, barring disasters with Duet- so if they have a failure with the lunar module (which I consider rather likely) or with something else (also possible), we should be able to get on the Moon before they can feasibly recover.

However, the Zenobian program would have more difficulty recovering from a failure due to lower Max R&D, a point which makes me nervous and may lead me to re-assess the plan to run a lunar orbital LM test in Fall '75 before the landing- although if I can do it at all at that point, I'm not in as much of a rush because it'll be because the Murcans crashed their lunar module or something.

In Race into Space 1.0.0, this would not be such a problem, as we could run hardware tests simultaneously with R&D, making recovery from a disaster faster.

[PeZook]

MISSIONS LAUNCH
RANGER IX, OCTOBER 1974
RANGER X, DECEMBER 1974

A very thin, very nervous and very coke-bottle glassed scientist who was giving the presentation did not exactly inspire confidence in the gathered MASA officials. He kept stumbling through his notes, accidentally dropping photo prints on the floor, mistaking slides.

"Why the hell isn't Stanley here?", Dr. Engineer whispered to his second secretary, asking about the head of the Unmanned Lunar Exploration lab.

"We haven't been able to find him, sir. Ever since Ranger IX failed to power up after entering lunar orbit, he's been impossible to get a hold of."

"Wait, what? A department head goes missing and I learn of it two months after the fact?!"

"We didn't think it was important."

"You didn't...of course this is important! Why the hell wouldn't it be important?!"

"Well, for one, the lab handles unmanned exploration..."

"Oh for...where's Mira? I need to speak to Mira..."

"She's on vacation, sir. I'm sorry."

"What? We're on the verge of the most historical mission ever attempted, and she's on..."

"HUSH!",someone shouted from the back rows, "This is interesting! And important!"

The scientists adjusted his absurdly thick glasses and switched a slide. The room collectively held its breath. Was this it? It was a little bit disappointing...

"Ladies and gentlemen, uh...", the presenter began, immediately stumbled, consulted the wrong note before finding the correct one, "...I give to you, eh, umm...the landing site at the Sea Of Rock! The, uh, arrow marks the uh, desired landing site."



"Wait, what?", Roger Chaffee asked after a very long and very uncomfortable period of silence, "That's just the overall shot, right? There's proper low-orbit maps?"

"Erm...no. Basically this is it, but it looks pretty good...I mean we have most of the details larger than fifty metres..."

Someone got up and left.

"Fuck this shit.", everyone could hear Loopy murmur to himself as he walked past the chock-filled room, "I'm a gonna become a freakin' musician like my momma always wanted. Screw you guys!"

The door slammed shut.

"So...", the Underdirector asked after yet another period of awkward silence,"...these marks to the side are alien cities, or...?"

***
LAPOT 11, NOVEMBER 1974

"Good day, comrade Chief Designer!", Vasily Mishingun was personally monitoring every aspect of the latest unmanned flight of the Avrora.He had been doing so ever since the strange and inexplicable happenings from the last attempt - the ones that never happened, obviously. The NKVDVDROM was very insistent that the flight went perfectly and there certainly were no ghosts involved in the not-failures.

Many of the flight engineers didn't care, though: one third of the staff requested an immediate relocation to Zyberia.

"Hello, Vasily.", Syrgy Pavylyvych was in a spectacularly good mood, "How is comrade Strachansky doing?", he referred to the first flight engineer to board the Avrora after its last flight, who was now confined in a psychiatric hospital in Moosecow.

"Ah, the NKVDVDROM assured me his special leave has been most relaxing."

"So, no more post cards covered with definitely not alien and inedcipherable yet strangely entrancing writing? Excellent."

"Comrades, we are coming up on re-entry. All systems are operating at capacity!"

"Good, good. Comrade Comissar, I hope the PVO delivers..."

"They better, comrade Chief Designer."

All gathered observed the gauges and telemetry screens and reactions of PVO officers, which were all indications of how well the re-entry was going. Miraculously As was entirely expected and a proper result of superior Zenobian engineering, the Avrora automatically maneuvered and gently landed after having detailed in-flight photographs of it taken by a Zig-31 pilot.

[PeZook]

CHAPTER 11: ENDGAME
Time is: Spring 1975

Launch windows: Mercury, Venus





MURCA
TEDDY SPACE CENTER

The people gathered in Dr. Engineer's office were unusually tense, even by the standards of these seasonal meetings that usually were enough to throw one or two officials into alcoholism. Even stranger, there was only item on the agenda today.

Or perhaps it was not strange at all.

"Zis is a difficult decision, herr Unterdirektor. I realize it must be conzidered most carefully, ja?", Wehrner von Shapp said. Weird how he was apparently unaged after nearly twenty years of working for MASA...

"Woof!", Maximillian added, lighting up a cigarette, "Woof woof, wark!"

Story Musgrave cleared his throat, nodding to himself at Maximillians truly sage point, "Whatever your decision is, Dr. Engineer, my crew and me are ready."

"I must stress again, the reconeissance of the landing sites is...less than optimal...", that was Stanley Heck, finally located in last month in a Tijuana brothel and brought back forcefully.

"Ya think? We all know that, but we ain't letting any socialist welfare queens get to the Moon first. We can pull this off with old-timer Murcan ingenuity!"

"Yeah! Fuck yeah! And hell, we know enough about the shuttles to be pretty sure they can't fail. Fuck Zenobian simplicity, we have so many redundancies in those things that we could build THREE shuttles out of one Hermes!"

U.M. Engineer sighed inwardly and looked at the single piece of paper laying before him. Unfortunately, it wasn't the shuttles he was worried about...

It was the final approval document for Hermes 16.

Code: Select all

Current funds: 134 megabucks

Astronauts in XMS-2 program:

Crew I:
OLDS - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 0, DOCK 3, END 3 ; MOOD: 33 (Pilot)
GORDON - CAP 0, LM 1, EVA 2, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 61 (LM Pilot/EVA specialist)
WILLIAMS - CAP 1, LM 3, EVA 1, DOCK 2, END 1 ; MOOD: 71 (Docking specialist) - will retire next season

Crew III:
ENGLE - CAP 4, LM 3, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 1 ; MOOD: 87 (Command pilot)
COLLINS - CAP 0, LM 3, EVA 4, DOCK 1, END 1 ; MOOD: 79 (LM Pilot/EVA Specialist)
BRAND - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 77 (Docking Specialist)

Crew IV:
MUSGRAVE - CAP 4, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 2 ; MOOD: 60 (Command pilot)
FREEMAN - CAP 2, LM 3, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 1 ; MOOD: 65 (LM Pilot/EVA Specialist)
CHAFFEE - CAP 0, LM 1, EVA 2, DOCK 3, END 2 ; MOOD: 56 (Docking Specialist)

Crew V:
OVERMEYER - CAP 4, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 0, END 4 ; MOOD: 62
FULLERTON - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 3, DOCK 1, END 1 ; MOOD: 67
EVANS - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 1, DOCK 2, END 1 ; MOOD: 57

Crew VI (WARNING: INCOMPATIBLE CREW):
LOOPY - CAP 4, LM 1, EVA 2, DOCK 3, END 2 ; MOOD: 21 - will retire nextyear
HAISE - CAP 4, LM 3, EVA 0, DOCK 0, END 2 ; MOOD: 31
SUITCASE - CAP 3, LM 2, EVA 2, DOCK 4, END 3 ; MOOD: 51- will retire next season


Unassigned astronauts:
MCCANDLESS - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 0, DOCK 2, END 2 ; MOOD: 60
CUNNINGHAM - CAP 1, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 4 ; MOOD: 55
BEAN - CAP 2, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 1 ; MOOD: 68
CRIPEN - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 1, DOCK 4, END 3 ; MOOD: 64
HARTSFIELD - CAP 3, LM 2, EVA 2, DOCK 0, END 1 ; MOOD: 69
PETERSON- CAP 3, LM 2, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 2 ; MOOD: 49
MCKAY - CAP 3, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 4 ; MOOD: 54
HENIZE - CAP 1, LM 2, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 2 ; MOOD: 59

Other astronauts:
ANDERS - retired, spring 1975
EISELE - retired spring 1974
BROWN - retired fall 1973
ROCKET - retired fall 1973
RAVENSBURG - retired fall 1973
MAY - retired spring 1973
CARR - physical washout, spring 1972
TRULY - physical washout, spring 1972
WEITZ - physical washout, spring 1972
SWIGERT - retired spring 1972, elected to Congress.
CONRAD - retired fall 1971
BARNESTI - retired spring 1971
REXMODEM - retired fall 1968
BORMAN - retired fall 1968
KNIGHT - retired fall 1967
FLASHHEART - retired fall 1967
MODEMJR - retired spring 1965
CUNTSER - retired fall 1965
KELLY - retired spring 1965
MCCAIN - retired fall 1963
HARDBEEF -  retired spring 1963
OHJESUS - DECEASED, MERCURY IX
JOHNSON - DECEASED, MERCURY XVI

Programs running: Explorer, Ranger, Mighty Strapons, Atlas, Titan, Mercury, XMS-2, EVA Suits, Kicker-B, Docking, SATURN V MURCA FUCK YEAH

Launch pads: 3

Scheduled missions: 
Launch Pad A, HISTORICAL LUNAR LANDING, Hermes/Saturn V, Crew V/Crew VI
Launch Pad B, Orbital Satellite 
Launch Pad C, Orbital Satellite

PHOTO RECON LEVEL: 85%

***

ZENOBIA
BAIKONUREK

"I am sorry, comrade Kerman. Your services to the space program have been great, and your name will truly remain in the annals of Zenobian history - indeed, world history, even! However, my hands are tied. I know you meant well, but riding an improvised rocket backpack to meet the Premier's helicopter was not well received in Moosecow at all."

Jeb Kerman left the Chief Designer's office, but he didn't hand his head in shame. Hell no. His stunt during the last official visit by the Premier left him fired, sure: but he got the MOST AWESOME photo out of it.



And he was pretty sure they'd never have let him fly an actual rocket to the Moon, anyways. He'd return to Kerbalistan and do things in his own way. Kerbalistan would become the third space power in the world. After all,they had plenty of junkyards to supply the parts, and plenty of brave Kerbals to fly the rockets.

They could not fail.

Code: Select all

Current funds: 78 megarubloids

Cosmonauts in Lapot program:

Crew II:
SAVINYKH - CAP 4, LM 0, EVA 1, DOCK 1, END 2 ; MOOD: 61
ZAIKIN - CAP 2, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 1, END 3 ; MOOD: 64
MAKAROV - CAP 0, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 3, END 2 ; MOOD: 20

Crew III:
STREKALOV - CAP 4, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 2, END 1 ; MOOD: 73
YEBANOVY - CAP 2, LM 3, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 2  ; MOOD: 48
GRECHKO - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 3, END 2  ; MOOD: 60

Crew IV:
JKERMAN - CAP 4, LM 0, EVA 0, DOCK 2, END 1 ; MOOD: 78 - will be retired next season
VOLISHIN - CAP 2, LM 2, EVA 3, DOCK 0, END 2 ; MOOD: 83
NEFARTNYI - CAP 2, LM 2, EVA 1, DOCK 3, END 2  ; MOOD: 46

Cosmonauts not assigned to programs:
ATKOV - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 3, DOCK 1, END 3 ; MOOD: 45
SEREBROV - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 1, DOCK 4, END 3 ; MOOD: 40
IVANOV - CAP 3, LM 1, EVA 1, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 40 - will retire next season
JAEHN - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 4 ; MOOD: 60
ZYKOV - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 1, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 59
REMEK - CAP 1, LM 0, EVA 4, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 59

Cosmonauts in Capsule training:
GURRAGCHAA - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 2, DOCK 2, END 3 ; MOOD: 72
BELOUSOV - CAP 3, LM 1, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 1 ; MOOD: 61

Cosmonauts in L.M. training:
LEBEDEV - CAP 2, LM 3, EVA 2, DOCK 0, END 4 ; MOOD: 72
BEREZOVOI - CAP 3, LM 3, EVA 2, DOCK 1, END 2 ; MOOD: 57

Other cosmonauts:
KOVALYANOK - was retired, spring 1975
KARZANOVSKI - was retired, spring 1975
LAZAREV - was retired, spring 1974
ZHOLOBOV - was retired, spring 1974
BORISOV - Retired, spring 1972
FILLYERESKI - Retired, spring 1972
SOLOVYEV - Physical washout, Spring 1972
KLIMUK - Deceased, Zond 1, Fall 1971
BRZECZYSZCZ - Deceased, Zond 1, Fall 1971
RUKAVISHNIKOV - retired spring 1972
SMIRNOFF - retired spring 1972
IVANCHENKOV - retired fall 1971
LEBEDEV - retired fall 1971
MAMETOV - joined the Red Army in 1969. 
PETROV - imprisoned for re-education in Spring 1969
FAAABIO  - retired spring 1969
BEREGOVOY - retired spring 1969
YEBANOV - retired spring 1968
ALEXANDROV - washed out in training, fall 1967
DIGADITCH - left to join the Red Army, spring 1967
NIKOV - retired Fall 1966
DOSTAROVASKI - Forcibly retired, Fall 1964
TITOV - Retired Spring 1964
IVANOVICH - Grounded due to lung cancer
VLADIMIRENSKY  - Deceased, training accident
IVANOV - Deceased, VOSTOK VII

Programs running: Sputnik, Cosmos satellite, Lunar Probe,A-Series, Proton, Booster stage, Voskhod, EVA Suits, Docking module, Lapot, Kicker-B, N-1, Duet Lander

Launch pads: 3, effectively 2

Scheduled missions: 
Launch pad A, Unmanned lunar pass, Lapot/N-1
Launch pad B, BLOWN UP
Launch pad C, Manned Earth Orbital LM Test, Lapot/N-1, Crew III, Crew IV
PHOTO RECON LEVEL: 99%

GM Notes:

Gentlemen! We stand on the verge of a historical event: either a succesful landing, or a horrible distater! Will the brave Murcan crew survive, bravely collect some rocks and flip off the world from the Moon? Or will their ascent engine fail, leaving them stranded to slowly aphyxiate inside their lunar module?

So make your bets, say goodbye to your loved ones and throw yourselves into the fray! THIS IS ENDGAME!

[Simon_Jester]

Well, my bet is (obviously) on "fails horribly." I'd be really worried if their free failure prevention had occured in the lunar module, though.

Also, crap, I'm gonna need another team... Will work out details later.

[OmegaChief]

So here we are, almost one hundred pages, neary twenty years of in game time, and we finally reach the race for the moon shot.

This is quite tense.

[Eternal_Freedom]

This, as they say, is IT.

The risk-all point. Do or die. Literally in the case of the crew.

[bilateralrope]

Pezook, why did you put the launch schedule at the start and end of that post ?

[PeZook]

Pezook, why did you put the launch schedule at the start and end of that post ?

Are you suggesting there was a mistake, comrade?

*glares*

Perhaps you would like to reconsider?

[Eternal_Freedom]

Bollocks I thought this was an update.

[Simon_Jester]

I'm working on a plan. Can anyone rattle off the stages for a historical lunar landing? I know there's a ton of them, but I don't have them listed, I only have them for the LM tests. Which makes calculating the odds on a historical landing a pain.

I'd check myself, but my copy of the game is on the other computer I won't see till Monday evening.

[Simon_Jester]

Ghetto Edit: PeZook, if you see this, I could do with an inventory check. I see that I have no stored Duet or Comrade Module-bis from previous seasons, but do I have a booster stage in inventory?

EDIT to the Edit...

Due to this budget, I do not think I can manage a lunar landing in 1975. Dammitski.

[OmegaChief]

On the upside, aside from hardware purchases our research is pretty straight forwards now, as from what I can see the only thing we can R&D on is the N1, unless I am totally confused about how this works.

[Simon_Jester]

You are correct. Also, to explain my problems:

Basically, I have budget to finish N-1, do the Earth orbit LM test (Apollolapotski 9), and do one launch of a full "stack" to the moon. The full stack can perform either a lunar orbital LM test (Apollolapotski 10) or a historical landing (Apollolapotski 11).

A historical landing, without having done the needed LM tests or a lunar orbital, is suicide, so the lunar orbital has to go first. If I had the Murcans' budget I could do both the lunar orbital and the lunar landing in one season, but I don't.

QED.

The most cautious way to do it would be to launch no men to the moon this year, do the unmanned test on N-1, and do the lunar launches in 1976. But we'd be banking on no serious budget cuts next year, and obviously this is a slow process, though if the upcoming Murcan attempt fails we are still virtually assured of landing first, with less risk of disaster to ourselves.

[PeZook]

Ghetto Edit: PeZook, if you see this, I could do with an inventory check. I see that I have no stored Duet or Comrade Module-bis from previous seasons, but do I have a booster stage in inventory?

No, it appears you do not.

[Simon_Jester]

Pity. Well, it's not decisive either way. I wish I'd been able to keep the Proton from the aborted launch (the one where my LM blew up on the pad)

[Simon_Jester]

Plan Pavylyvych Spring1975

Budget: 78 megarubleoids

Research and Development
2 teams' research on N-1: 14 MB

Total: 14 MB
Remaining budget: 64 MB

Sacrosanct Hardware Budget
One N-1 Rocket: 18 MB
One Booster Stage: 4 MB
One Duet Lunar Lander: 8 MB
One Comrade Module-bis: 6 MB
One Docking Module: 2 MB

Total: 22+16 = 38 MB
Remaining unallocated budget: 28 MB

Hardware Budget
One N-1 Rocket: 18 MB
One Duet Lunar Lander: 8 MB
One Docking Module: 2 MB

Total: 28 MB
Remaining unallocated budget: 0 MB

Cosmonaut Management
Form at least one compatible crew. If this requires removing cosmonauts from LM training that is acceptable. I would prefer to avoid pulling cosmonauts from capsule training if at all possible.

I know that this crew will not have a CAP 4 pilot; they are likely to be relegated to backup duties because of that. But I need a crew more than I need a good crew.

Schedule Missions

Schedule Historical-Launch Lunar Orbit LM test with spacetankski Potemkin and Lunar Module People's Technoproletarian Fellowship for Great Justice and the Glory of the Zenobian Onion and People*
Primary crew is SAVINYKH/ZAIKIN/MAKAROV
Backup crew is NEWLY FORMED CREW (SEE ABOVE)

*Named as the result of a compromise among several high-ranking officials, who couldn't agree on which adjectives went into the name, so they decided to use all of them. The module is nicknamed "Fellowship" for short.

Mission Go/No-Go Status:
We are NO GO for unmanned lunar pass- I'd love to test N-1 and Comrade Module-bis together that way, but there's just no money.
We are GO for Earth orbit LM test with Spacetankski Potemkin and Lunar Module Granit.

Recall that this LM test is going up on an unboosted N-1.

[Simon_Jester]

[Watches Murcan launch with gritted teeth]

[PeZook]

Okay. Are Murcans going to submit a plan, or is Dr. Engineer taking the money and running for the hills if the landing fails?

[OmegaChief]

I do think that was the jist of what the Muricans had planned, maybe someoen who's not Dr Engineer needs to make the plans for if they fail

[Eternal_Freedom]

I'm not making any plans. Dr Engineer got us into this and he'll see it through.