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Docking module goes up to 93%; that is a very annoying thing to fail on a lunar mission. Docking mission launches cost us 15MB each; the Lapot can cost us no more than 135 MB this year. Fall launch of the Lunar lander may cost up to 52 MB, depending on how well we do on research. If we are very lucky we can get it up to 90% this turn; if that happens I would definitely recommend another docking mission in the fall. Otherwise I would schedule at least one next year; we'll be able to do something while we get the Lapot ready.

Though, we still need money for the N1, Kicker-B, and LM. Hopefully our budget remains as generous next year.

Scottish Ninja wrote:Docking module goes up to 93%; that is a very annoying thing to fail on a lunar mission. Docking mission launches cost us 15MB each; the Lapot can cost us no more than 135 MB this year. Fall launch of the Lunar lander may cost up to 52 MB, depending on how well we do on research. If we are very lucky we can get it up to 90% this turn; if that happens I would definitely recommend another docking mission in the fall. Otherwise I would schedule at least one next year; we'll be able to do something while we get the Lapot ready.

Though, we still need money for the N1, Kicker-B, and LM. Hopefully our budget remains as generous next year.

Well, this year's budget is artificially high because I saved money from last year specifically to start Lapot. Our real budget was 138 MB this year.

The big priorities this year are moon probes (orbiters and landers both) and starting Lapot. I am... somewhat concerned that the target date of Fall 1968 for the Luna lander may slip to Spring 1969. Part of the problem is that I can't easily alter my plan mid-turn because of the way this game works; I need to work out multiple decision trees.

Ghetto edit:

Thought I'd throw out the budget estimates again for the other required programs:

N1: Startup, 84 MB, development, 60-90 MB (2-3 seasons, 60%-95%); total 144-174 MB; no more than 144/year
Kicker-B: Startup, 18 MB, development, 50-60 MB (5-6 seasons, 10%-94%); total 68-78 MB; no more than 38/year
Duet LM: Startup, 30 MB, development, 50-60 MB (5-6 seasons, 10%-91%); total 80-90 MB, no more than 50/year

Spoiler Baikonurek Cosmodrome
Electronic Computational Labski
1967

Syrgy Pavylyvych had been here many, many times before, since the very earliest days of the Sputnik program. This was it- the lab headed by Václav Maisner, the great Zeichoslovukian computerman, who had done as much to ensure the high reliability of the Sputnik beep-transmitter as any three Strakhanovites.* He worked his way up to Maisner's solder-besmirched desk and unrolled a blueprint...


Of this!

"Behold, Comrade Maisner. One hundred meters tall and tipping the scales at over two and a half thousand tonnes. Thirty engines in the lower stage, eight on the second, four on the third, one on the fourth. Fifty million newtons' thrust on the pad. Ninety tonnes to low Earth orbit, or twenty-three to lunar injection. We call it... the N-1. "

"Thiz iz... very interesting."

"And you, Comrade Maisner, will design the control computer to keep its many engines from heterodyning and blowing each other up!" Syrgy gave the computerman his widest grin- not very wide, alas, not after the injuries to his jaw he'd suffered at the hands of Comrade Bear at Kylhyma.

From the memoirs of Syrgy Pavylyvych:

"And that was the day I learned how to say "Oh, shit" in Zeich..."

___________

*In Zenobian tradition, extremely diligent workers are occasionally permitted moments of asinine smarmness with minimal repercussion, in honor of their service to the state and the memory of the great coal miner Strakhanov. This is a great honor for any Zenobian citizen.

---

Quarters of the Chief Designer
January 1, 1968
Early Morning

Contemplating the future, Syrgy yawned. It had been a long day, and he'd had to go home early from the epic New Year's party. There were drawbacks to being the least drunken Zenobian in a room.

Heh.

In the aftermath of the great Triple Stas Bush Test in Moosecow, back in May of '62, much had been revealed, including the fact that that deranged scheme for a one-man lunar landing by 1967 was the product of the Thanasian hunchback von Evilstein- he had planned to use, in essence, the Zond capsule that was only now approaching man-rated reliability!

Syrgy shook his head, and wondered how things might have fallen out had Dr. von Evilstein gotten what he wanted, and how many men would be banging on the Thanasian's door this very night with awkward questions.

Not related to current game events at all, but the Triple Stas Bush Test still makes me laugh like a fiend whenever I think about it.

Aye, that was a fun time all around, and though the Muricans have thier Minishuttle under devleopment, if I remember right they've not done a single docking test yet, so they might not have as much an advantage in moon prep as it seems.

Spoiler

---

Unmanned Planetary Lab
January 18, 1968

"So... explain to me again why the communication system failed."

"Well, as the probe rounded the far side of the moon, it shut down the antennas as usual- no sense using power when there's three thousand kilometers of rock in the way, da?"

"And then what?"

"Obviously, with no telemetry we can't be sure, but we think..."

"Da?"

"Ah, we think there was a technical error in the 'restart' circuit for the antenna array- it worked fine during trans-lunar injection and stayed pointed on during the trip to the moon, but when we tried to turn it back on a second time it failed."

"Why? Have you finished looking over the photographs of the circuit boards?"

"...da, Comrade Chief Designer."

Pavylyvych's jaw clenched in a lopsided way "What are you not telling me?"

"...a transistor was installed incorrectly."

"Really? Was it properly labeled? You know the specifications for board layouts."

"...Da."

"Let me see, I have the task allotment binder right here. Show me the photograph and the drawing."

Walking very slowly, one of the Planetary Lab staffers retrieved the files.

"I see... circuit block 12B, component... oh, yes, I see what went wrong. Soldering done by Comrade... Baryshnikov. A pity." Pavylyvych shook his head. "Comrade Commissar Omeganski? I believe this technical error falls under your remit..."

Plan Pavylyvych Spring 1968

We join in saluting Comrades Klimuk and Brzęczyszczykiewicz as they prepare for their epic ten-day voyage, pushing beyond all previous records for human endurance in outer space. Lessons learned from this extended exploration of space medicine will be of immense value to us all, as we look toward the lunar missions planned for the coming years.

But this will not be a test of mere brute endurance! No, the comrade cosmonauts will also show the mettle of the Zenobian spirit by performing various scientific and intellectual pursuits. Speaking personally, I look forward to my game of chess with them, which will be played via radio-electronic link.

Meanwhile, work on the super-ship of which you have all heard so much continues apace. Testing of small-scale vehicles proceeds, though there is still much to be done. I must warn that the Baikonurek Armor Plate Production Plant is strictly off-limits to unauthorized personnel, so as to keep commissarial ammunition expenditures under control.

At the same time, the Unmanned Planetary Lab will continue work on their more advanced series of lunar probes, a number of which are being prepared for launch in the coming autumn and winter.

---

Budget: 174 megarubleoids

Hardware Procurement
Purchase one A-Series rocket
Purchase one Booster Stage
Purchase one Voskhod capsule

Total cost: 13 MB
Remaining budget: 161 MB

Research and Development
20 MB for five teams research on Luna probe.

Remaining budget: 141 MB

IF Luna probe reliability is greater than or equal to 76, THEN proceed with Schedule A
IF Luna probe reliability is less than 76, THEN proceed with Schedule B

---

Schedule A:

Schedule Missions
Pad A: Schedule lunar flyby.
Pad B: Schedule lunar flyby.
Pad C: Schedule lunar probe landing.

Mission Go/No-Go Status
Given that Voskhod capsule reliability remains at 90%, we are GO for Voskhod 3 (Orbital Duration C, Klimuk/Brzęczyszczykiewicz)



Schedule B:

Schedule Missions
Pad A: Schedule lunar flyby.
Pad B: Schedule lunar flyby.
Lunar probe landing is officially DELAYED until Spring 1969 due to slippage in the lander assembly schedule.

Mission Go/No-Go Status
Given that Voskhod capsule reliability remains at 90%, we are GO for Voskhod 3 (Orbital Duration C, Klimuk/Brzęczyszczykiewicz)

I think the Zenobians have the advantage right now. The random-event cut to 75 MB was disastrous, especially combined with the path we'd already committed to. I still think that if that hadn't happened we'd have had the budget to carry us through a couple of low-prestige years until we could get XMS-2 up and running. As it was, though, a cut at that particular time may just have been fatal.

Of course, it would help if just *one* of our planetary probes had worked too. Ah well. Welcome to BARIS!

EDIT: Looking back, I did make a serious mistake for which I apologize. I added weights and payloads wrong and incorrectly reported that a joint boosted-Titan could do an XMS lunar landing in a pinch. Not having that capability really puts a hamper on things.

ChaserGrey wrote:I think the Zenobians have the advantage right now. The random-event cut to 75 MB was disastrous, especially combined with the path we'd already committed to. I still think that if that hadn't happened we'd have had the budget to carry us through a couple of low-prestige years until we could get XMS-2 up and running. As it was, though, a cut at that particular time may just have been fatal.

Of course, it would help if just *one* of our planetary probes had worked too. Ah well. Welcome to BARIS!

I thought your Mars probe did work.

Also, Chaser, if we weren't following the minishuttles as per the gentleman's agreement, I would have already started work on Soyuz- possibly started it years ago, and be quite close to flying a lunar pass by now. Getting the tech transfer bonus from having a successful Voskhod program (albeit perhaps a Voskhod program of only one launch) would give me a noticeable bonus.

Simon_Jester wrote:I thought your Mars probe did work.

Yes, it did work just fine. That's probably the reason for their (slight) budget increase this year (and of course the good doktorr's veiled threats to various congressmangs).

Simon_Jester wrote:Also, Chaser, if we weren't following the minishuttles as per the gentleman's agreement, I would have already started work on Soyuz- possibly started it years ago, and be quite close to flying a lunar pass by now. Getting the tech transfer bonus from having a successful Voskhod program (albeit perhaps a Voskhod program of only one launch) would give me a noticeable bonus.

The minishuttles are really pretty terrible save for the coolness factor, aren't they? Their research price is massive, to the point where the price of getting them from the initial 5% to something approaching flight status can probably finance several Soyuz/Apollo flights

Although, a curiosity: some evaluations of spent Vostok capsules indicated the spacecraft were in such good shape that they could, in fact, be used again after refurbishment. Makes one think.

Since Vostok was the one that was built to plow into the ground at speed, that suggests some pretty impressive durability in the design...

And yeah. Minishuttles have big drawbacks. About the only thing I see going for them, really, is their reentry reliability (which I thought is supposed to be exceptional- I worry about that) and in principle reusability: buy one extra for 30 MB and you can use them for pretty much the entire late orbital and lunar program, where otherwise you'd be spending a good deal more on Apollo/Soyuz capsules.

I dunno, though.

Commissar Omeganski put the beating stick down on the table, where it sat under the dim light of a single low powered lightbulb that gentle rocked back and forth, not helping the poor woozy headedness of Comrade Baryshnikov.

As the poor circuit maker began pulling together the thoughts that were quite recently scattered by repeteded application of beating stick to heat recently he finally noticed the quiet clicking sound from across the table.

Baryshnikov looked up gulping as the sight he feared prooved true, the Commissar slowley and deliberatly loading his gun one bullet at a time.

"Please Comrade Commissar!" He pleaded, slightly distorted by a swollen cheek, "Was an honest mistake da! You said you were going to not be so harsh for simple failure!"

"Oh but Comrade" The Commissar began, in a tone of voice that sent chills up Baryshnikovs spine, he had not seen The Commissar this happy since the disapperance of that Voskhod flight engineer, "If it had been simple failure, you would have told us that you had incorrectly soldered that circuit, but no you just let it slide away, hoping that the problem would not happen and that it could not be traced back to you"

"B-but, I-I..." Baryshnikov began, silencing himself as the gun was cocked dramatically, wincing in preperation for a gunshot that never came.

Eventually he risked opening his eyes a little to see why he wasn't dead yet, and was reward with the sigh of the Commissar pushing the table to the side to reveal a simple metal hatch, which was flung open, revealing darkness below.

"I'm not going to shoot you Comrade, I did say worse punishments would be given to those who hid thier mistakes da? And we just shipped them in this morning"

The poor woozy circuit maker was lifteded out of his chair and unceremounsily dropped down the hatch, the fall wasn't as far as he expected, and in general didn't seem so bad, that is until he looked into the murk and saw the ursine shapes lumber towards him.

"Is a shame" The Commissar said to himself once the screaming had stopped, "I really would have liked to shoot someone"

PeZook wrote:

Simon_Jester wrote:I thought your Mars probe did work.

Yes, it did work just fine. That's probably the reason for their (slight) budget increase this year (and of course the good doktorr's veiled threats to various congressmangs).

Simon_Jester wrote:Also, Chaser, if we weren't following the minishuttles as per the gentleman's agreement, I would have already started work on Soyuz- possibly started it years ago, and be quite close to flying a lunar pass by now. Getting the tech transfer bonus from having a successful Voskhod program (albeit perhaps a Voskhod program of only one launch) would give me a noticeable bonus.

The minishuttles are really pretty terrible save for the coolness factor, aren't they? Their research price is massive, to the point where the price of getting them from the initial 5% to something approaching flight status can probably finance several Soyuz/Apollo flights

Although, a curiosity: some evaluations of spent Vostok capsules indicated the spacecraft were in such good shape that they could, in fact, be used again after refurbishment. Makes one think.

That, and the USAF sent up a previously enjoyed Gemini with a hatch cut into the heatshield as a test for the MOL; that came back just fine. Not sure how much you'd really want to reuse that kind of stuff, but various spacecraft under development now (Dragon, CST-100, &c) are expected to be reused something like ten times. Interesting to think that spaceplanes aren't the only path to reusability.

OmegaChief wrote:The poor woozy circuit maker was lifteded out of his chair and unceremounsily dropped down the hatch, the fall wasn't as far as he expected, and in general didn't seem so bad, that is until he looked into the murk and saw the ursine shapes lumber towards him.

"Is a shame" The Commissar said to himself once the screaming had stopped, "I really would have liked to shoot someone"

Heh, no wonder the Zenobians are doing so well, they have Bragulans on their side.

FaxModem1 wrote: Heh, no wonder the Zenobians are doing so well, they have Bragulans on their side.

Was that a joke, or did you just not read the above spoilers?

Simon_Jester wrote:And yeah. Minishuttles have big drawbacks. About the only thing I see going for them, really, is their reentry reliability (which I thought is supposed to be exceptional- I worry about that) and in principle reusability: buy one extra for 30 MB and you can use them for pretty much the entire late orbital and lunar program, where otherwise you'd be spending a good deal more on Apollo/Soyuz capsules.

I dunno, though.

Yeah, I think the big advantage of minishuttles is when you get them going early; then you start saving a lot more over the costs of replacing 2 and 3 man capsules. We haven't really done that, so the Lapot comes at a bit of a cost penalty over Soyuz at this point given the relatively limited number of flights we would make with either.

Actually, let me run the numbers real quick:

Lapot: Startup, 65 MB, Development, 140-175 MB (4-5 seasons, 5%-87%) Total 205-240 MB
Soyuz: Startup, 36 MB, Development, 50-75 MB (2-3 seasons, 40%-85%) Total 86-111 MB (the lower figure is only achievable if both Vostok and Voskhod are over 75% reliability; otherwise, with only Voskhod, Soyuz starts at 30%, which brings costs up towards the upper end.)

Let's also look at mission costs:

For a simple orbital mission with no other payload:

Lapot: A-series (3MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Lapot (0): 7 MB
Voskhod: A-series (3MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 13 MB
Soyuz: A-series (3MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 19 MB

Docking missions:

Lapot: Proton (12 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Lapot (0): 18 MB
Voskhod: A-series (3 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 15 MB
Soyuz: Proton (12 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 30 MB

Joint docking missions:

Lapot: A-series (3 MB) + A-series (3 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Lapot (0): 12 MB
Voskhod: A-series (3 MB) + A-series (3 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB) : 18 MB (though there's no good reason to do this)
Soyuz: A-series (3 MB) + A-series (3 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 24 MB

But then we get to the lunar missions:

Lunar Pass:

Lapot: Proton (12 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Kicker-A (3 MB) or Kicker-B (6 MB) + Lapot (0): 19 MB (22 with Kicker-B)
Voskhod: Proton (12 MB) + Kicker-A (3 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 21 MB
Voskhod Kicker-B: Proton (12 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Kicker-B (6 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 28 MB
Soyuz: Proton (12 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 24 MB

Historical Lunar Orbit LM tests and Landings:

Lapot: N1 (18 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Kicker-B (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Duet (8 MB) + Lapot (0): 38 MB
Voskhod: N1 (18 MB) + Kicker-B (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + L-3 (9 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 41 MB
Soyuz: N1 (18 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB) + Duet (8 MB): 38 MB

Joint EOR:

Lapot: 2x Proton (24 MB) + 2x Booster (8 MB) + Duet (8 MB)+ Kicker-B (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Lapot (0): 48 MB
Voskhod: 2x Proton (24 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + L-3 (9 MB) + Kicker-B (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 51 MB
Soyuz: 2x Proton (24 MB) + Duet (8 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 44 MB

Joint LOR:

Lapot: 2x Proton (24 MB) + 2x Booster (8 MB) + Duet (8 MB) + 2x Kicker-A (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Lapot (0): 48 MB
Voskhod: 2x Proton (24 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + L-3 (9 MB) + 2x Kicker-A (6 MB) + DM (2 MB) + Voskhod (6 MB): 51 MB
Soyuz: 2x Proton (24 MB) + Booster (4 MB) + Duet (8 MB) + Kicker-A (3 MB) + Soyuz (12 MB): 51 MB

So we can see that though the Lapot outperforms cost-wise in the earlier missions, there are fewer savings to be found later on, and in fact in the Joint EOR, the Soyuz is actually cheaper! But since we are past the earlier missions already, Lapot is now a poor choice, especially as it would force on us the extra development costs of the Kicker-B. Still, we do have that agreement to honor...

Shit. Sorry to say this guys but I'm rapidly loosing interest in this game. Is anyone else willing to take over as head of MASA?

By the way, are we going to start Lapot this season? If we were going to, it's not in the budget.

Geez, EF, sorry to hear that. just when you guys are about three more seasons from being able to do shuttle flights... !

Barnes could maybe step in. Or Chaser, if you're feeling up to it, unless you'd rather stick to kibitzing...


And Scottish, we start Lapot next season, in Fall 1968, because we don't have funds to do more than five teams' worth of Lapot development this year and properly fund the Luna probe mission. No sense in demoralizing the Voskhod 3 crews by having them end Spring '68 knowing that their capsule is obsolete; I made that mistake with the Vostok-Voskhod transition and regretted it.

Funds are set aside for that- there's a reason I've got so much still in the piggy bank at the end of Spring 1968.

That's one huge piggy bank right there. Must've been problematic to fit in the Chief Designer's office, even with the newly expanded floor space

Eternal_Freedom wrote:Shit. Sorry to say this guys but I'm rapidly loosing interest in this game. Is anyone else willing to take over as head of MASA?

Awww, man!

It's your prerogative, but I sure hope we can find a replacement so that the dirty commienists don't win by default!

I will keep playing, I'm RP'ing an astronaut after all. It's jsut at the start I had Barnest and Chaser helping out, but for the last few seasons, just when everything has gotten far more complex, I seem to have been abandoned. If I ha dmore help I'll gladly carry on, but I don't think I can maintain the entirety of MASA on my own when I have only played BARIS once (and then I failed).