(OOC: A double slammer today! Two bulletins for the price of one post!)
FASTA Bulletin
Selene 1A-bis moved to reconstructed R-7 launch pad
The completed Selene 1A-bis launch vehicle has finished assembly and was rolled out to the launch pad today at dawn. The spacecraft, consisting of a Soyuz-2 launcher and a modern Soyuz-TMA space capsule, will be used to test the capsule's life support, guidance and attitude control systems.
The TMA version of the venerable Soyuz vehicle, called the "lunar capsule" by some, is a modified, high-endurance space vehicle designated to take the first Nova Terran astronauts to Selene and back. It has been fitted with modern avionics, a Standardized Inter-Agency Docking Port and modifications allowing it to carry the necessary equipment for lunar exploration.
The Selene 1A-bis mission will carry one passenger, a chimpanzee named Fajita. Animal rights groups have protested the use of live chimpanzees for spacecraft testing before, and have claimed they will attempt to "Have the launch aborted by any means necessary in order to save Fajita from certain death".
Fajita the Chimpanzee, selected to fly on the Selene 1A-bis spacecraft
In light of the recent terrorism wave by PAF-GENITAL, Korolev spaceport has been closed to spectators and tourists. No civilians will be allowed within 15 kilometers of the launch site, and Korolev's security co-ordinator has warned that any tresspassers entering the spaceport illegally will have to contend with the possibility of being detained or even shot.
Concept evaluation begins for lunar habitats
A group of volunteers have chosen to test a proposed lunar habitat prototype during a six-month stay in Zablania. The volunteers will evaluate the feasibility of long-term isolated living without access to regular resupply, and will use equipment similar to what real astronauts will have to utilize while exploring Selene.
"The purpose of this excercise is to see if the basic concepts are all right - obviously, the real mision will not attempt a six-month stay right at the start, but we need to see if the habitat has the capability to become the basis of a permanent outpost."
Two experiments will run concurrently: one using a full-sized mockup of the LK-700 heavy lander, and one using inflatable habitats. Zablania was chosen as the testing site because its charred landscape presents challenges very similar to a lunar environment.
LK-700 descent engine tests begin
While the Altair lander is slowly becoming a reality, the massive LK-700 Direct Ascent lunar lander, proposed as the basis of a future permanent outpost on Selene and an automated lunar supply ship, has just went out of the drawing board, with first descent engine tests conducted at Korolev Spaceport.
The engineers claim the unit performed well, well inside the desired specifications. This is the most complicated single rocket engine built by the Red Technocracy to date, and care must be taken to ensure it will fire in space without any problems.
ISCA bulletin
First Nuclear Passenger Ship finishing preparations
The first-ever Nuclear Passenger Ships is finishing construction in Shroomanian docks. The massive vessel, capable of carrying hundreds of passengers in lavish luxury, will not begin its life with a pleasure cruise, however. It has a far more important mission ahead of it.
Outfitted with top-notch scientific equipment provided by many ISCA and FASTA countries, the vessel will embark upon an epic journey: the first circumnavigation of the Nova Terran globe!
"We thought it was a great opportunity to explore the small islands uncovered by satellite photography which riddle the Great Western Ocean, map them out for construction of tracking stations next year. And, of course, it will be a great promotional tour, showing off the endurance of the NPS.", said the ISCA press spokesman
The NPS "Ferdinand Magellan", being towed to the Nuclear Refuelling Pier
The ship will carry more than 600 scientists and technicians on a mission of exploration which will surely go down the annals of history. After completing the circumavigation, the "Magellan" will be converted into a luxury cruise liner and will begin serving its stated purpose.
First undersea habitat prototypes now in operation
The first prototypes of the ISCA Modular Undersea Habitat are now operational. Constructed with the aid of the Duchy Of Baerne, these habitats are expected to perform the role of scientific laboratories which will aid the exploration of Nova Terran oceans. Powered by nuclear reactors and of modular design, the habitats can be scaled to any desired size. Data will be collected on habitat operation throughout 2012, at which time the ISCA will start offering the units to countries world-wide.
First autonomous sea platforms to see operation by end of 2012
The ISCA-managed project to develop autonomous tracking stations for the FASTA space program has come to bear fruit, with first prototypes seeing evaluation in the Central Sea.
These devices, capable of collecting and transmitting telemetry data from orbiting spaceraft, will work in conjunction with MacMillan Stratellites and land-based radars to aid the moon landing program. The FASTA intends to establish them early in 2013 with the use of ISCA Special Nuclear Commerce Ships, constructed explicitly for the purpose of delivering and servicing the tracking stations.
The likely power source for the devices will be the floating reactor barges currently being designed and evaluted by the Byzantine Empire.