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

[PeZook]

Awww...SHIT!

I forgot to schedule the duration flight.

I could load a save, but the flight results would be different. So, the Murcans would risk having a catastrophe.

Should I do it, or just make up an incompetent flunky?

EDIT: Nevermind, the duration flight was supposed to be schedules for spring 1962

Whew.

[FaxModem1]

About to say, use Fisher as a crazy McCarthian investigator who is ruining everything.

[LaCroix]

I have a feeling it will be me....

You're not on the roster yet. Neither side recruited new cosmonauts/astronauts this season.

YAY! Again, proud Zenobian bureaucracy has saved the day!

(Although I strongly doubt that the NKVDVDROM actually cares much for such technical nitpicks... )

[PeZook]

CHAPTER 5: THE (NOT) FINAL SHOWDOWN
Time is: Fall 1961

MURCA

[/size]

THE CAPE

"What is this bullshit? I just got a stupid card asking me to spend the space program's money!", Sam Francisco, Acting Director, screamed at a subordinate. He was holding a huge cardboard with a question emblazoned on it in large letters.

The subordinate, who was a new guy at the facility and thus fell victim to a prank, squealed and attempted to explain himself, but was smacked on the head with the cardboard.

"Dispose of that and call a meeting with the program and budget heads. I need to think, not make a flash decision about entire megabucks, you stupid bastard! And next time, try to at least phrase the question properly!", Sam wasn't really angry. He played his own share of pranks of interns and graduate students in his time, after all.

The meetig happened with incredible speed, as the head of the Atlas program especially would have to beg for money to correct a significant problem in the rocket's stabilization thrusters. It could be fixed by ordering replacement parts from the contractors, but that would require tremendous expense.

Code: Select all

Current funds: 41 megabucks

Current astronaut roster: 
MODEMJR - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 2, DOCK 1, END 2 (Mercury/I) ; MOOD: 64
FLASHHEART - CAP 1, LM 0, EVA 4, DOCK 1, END 1 (Mercury/II) ; MOOD: 68
CUNTSER - CAP 3, LM 3, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 1 (Mercury/III) ; MOOD: 73
MCCAIN - CAP 4, LM 1, EVA 2, DOCK 0, END 1 (Mercury/IV) ; MOOD: 93
KELLY - CAP 3, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 2, END 2 (Mercury/V) ; MOOD: 68
HARDBEEF - CAP 3, LM 0, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 2 (Mercury/VI) ; MOOD: 55
OHJESUS - CAP 4, LM 1, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 1 (Mercury/VII) ; MOOD: 68

Programs running: Explorer, Atlas, Mercury, EVA Suits

Launch pads: 3

Scheduled missions: Launch Pad A, manned suborbital, Mercury/Atlas, Ohjesus/Hardbeef
                            Launch Pad B, manned earth orbital, Mercury/Atlas, Cuntser/Flashheart
                            Launch Pad C, none

ZENOBIA

[/size]

BAIKONUREK

"And good for them!", Brzęczyszczykiewicz said, slapping a newspaper, "Excellent idea, this Berlin Wall!"

The other machinists and truck-loaders nodded profusely. They were sitting in a circle in Machine Shop 7, having their lunch break. Milk with break - a simple but filling meal. Meat was still a luxury here in the middle of nowhere, Boratstan.

"Have you heard rumors, comrade?", one of the drivers changed topics, "They say NKVDVDROM found a traitor in Baikonurek!"

"No!", Grzegorz spat, "Impossible! A traitor? Here?"

"Da, comrade! A traitor! He supposedly was seduced by a foul Murcanski film actress and made to do heinous things against the motherland..."

The field workers continued to shoot more and more outrageous scuttlebutt amongst themselves. Eventually, the rumored traitor was built up to a Murcan superagent responsible for comrade Pavylyvych's heart attack, the latest drought and that really nasty flu one of the truck drivers caught the other day.

In other parts of the complex, however, work happened. Important work, with many papers and red tape and designs and schematics. How comrade Pavyllyvych could manage it all was beyond his humble assistant, but he did as well as he could. Fortunately, the Chief Designer would return soon, and hopefully make all the important and difficult decisions.

Code: Select all

Current funds: 46 megabucks

Current astronaut roster:
KARZANOVSKI - CAP 4, LM 0, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 2 (VOSTOK/V) ; MOOD: 75
IVANOV - CAP 4, LM 2, EVA 0, DOCK 1, END 1 (VOSTOK/IV) ; MOOD: 54
FAAABIO  - CAP 2, LM 0, EVA 2, DOCK 0, END 3 (VOSTOK/I) ; MOOD: 94
DOSTAROVASKI - CAP 2, LM 0, EVA 1, DOCK 1, END 3 (VOSTOK/III) ; MOOD: 55
IVANOVICH - CAP 2, LM 1, EVA 3, DOCK 2, END 3 (VOSTOK/VI) ; MOOD: 60
NIKOV - CAP 4, LM 0, EVA 2, DOCK 0, END 2 (VOSTOK/VII) ; MOOD: 58
TITOV - CAP 3, LM 1, EVA 1, DOCK 0, END 1 (VOSTOK/II) ; MOOD: 51

Programs running: Sputnik, A-Series, Vostok, Booster stage, Cosmos satellite, Voshkhod

Launch pads: 2

Scheduled missions: Launch pad A, unmanned suborbital, A-Series/Vostok
                            Launch pad B, None

Notes: Whew. I am awfully sorry, Simon, because the launch I actually forgot to schedule was yours

I am not sure how to make it up to you. I usually got everything right, and I'm not aware of any way the game could be hacked to grant you that flight.

[HMS Sophia]

I'm assuming we have enough cash for the rockets and stuff for our launches, as well as repairing atlas? If so, do it. If not, scrub launches until we can afford it.
I believe I was going to save all the other cash for titan/gemeni... So maybe no R&D this fall

[PeZook]

I'm assuming we have enough cash for the rockets and stuff for our launches, as well as repairing atlas? If so, do it. If not, scrub launches until we can afford it.
I believe I was going to save all the other cash for titan/gemeni... So maybe no R&D this fall

You have 41 megabucks. Each mercury/atlas launch costs 6 MB (you have two scheduled), repairing your Atlas boosters is 15 megabucks. Your call what you want to do.

[PeZook]

Note: If Simon really really wants that unmanned suborbital, I am prepared to savescum until I get a similar mission result but with the launch still scheduled - in the interest of fairnes, since the Vostok really needs reliability improvements and losing 1% is important to Zenobians.

[HMS Sophia]

Yeah do it. Save up 14MB for next spring. Maybe we can do some good with it.

[OmegaChief]

Spoiler

I get unexpectidly busy for a bit and come back to find out we have a traitor? Best day ever!

At last, all his hard work investigating, ensuring the guards had sufficant vodka supplies and generally just standing around and looking intimidating had paid off, they finally had a tratior, the Commissar was beginning to think he'd never get to shot anyone.

Assuming the NKVDVDROM approved that was, but letters had been sent to the higher ups, he was sure they would approve a nice public execution to show everyone the fate of traitors and those who consort with the vile Muricans.

[Simon_Jester]

I would appreciate the savescum fix, PeZook.

[PeZook]

I would appreciate the savescum fix, PeZook.

There is actually a better way.

I checked,and it's relatively easy to hack up equipment reliability ratings using a hex editor. So, I propose we do this: you act as if the flight was scheduled, budget for the hardware, etc.

At the end of the season, I use a random number generator to roll the flight manually, and adjust the following save with any reliability changes, and of course substract the 6 MB from your budget.

This way we avoid the unfairness of re-rolling results for Murcans, and the risk of me making anothermistake due to the large amount of repetition involved in save scumming.

Then we make up an amusing story about a flight that happened despite nobody seeing a rocket lift off...

[HMS Sophia]

I like this plan. I dont even mind the plotting...

Plus, it will (hopefully) prove my idea about an onrunning game with future equipment just using dice rollers...

[PeZook]

I like this plan. I dont even mind the plotting...

Plus, it will (hopefully) prove my idea about an onrunning game with future equipment just using dice rollers...

Your idea can be done, but I'm not gonna be the one to do it, as it involves roughly a gazillion times more work.

[HMS Sophia]

Your idea can be done, but I'm not gonna be the one to do it, as it involves roughly a gazillion times more work.

Somehow I thought as much
Although I don't think so really... increase costs exponentially, start at a low percentage reliability based on, say, 5d10's, increase by 1d6 per research team... Base everything on real projects that came later than the space race, and I think it's doable with a minimum of hassle. You just don't get so many pretty pictures...

[Simon_Jester]

Barnes, you may be playing by yourself; I'm not sure I'll stay interested in this past that point. It's fun now, but I expect to have other things on my mind eventually. Can't speak for others, though.

Another problem: going into the post-moon landing period, we see less and less hardware that reached a concrete stage of development. With stuff like Apollo and Soyuz we know the details; with concepts like 'Jupiter' and the minishuttles there is at least a precedent in the form of hardware that was designed on paper and which got at least limited effort put into designing mockups and whatnot. If we're talking about going to Mars, the hardware designs simply never existed, which would make calibrating costs extremely difficult.

Balance is an obvious issue; you'd be asking people to make this hardware up on the fly, after all.

I would appreciate the savescum fix, PeZook.

There is actually a better way.

I checked,and it's relatively easy to hack up equipment reliability ratings using a hex editor. So, I propose we do this: you act as if the flight was scheduled, budget for the hardware, etc... Then we make up an amusing story about a flight that happened despite nobody seeing a rocket lift off...

I love it.

[Simon_Jester]

The "flight that happened despite nobody seeing a rocket lift off" should be the first thing that happens when Comrade Syrgy gets back from the hospital. He says "Comrades, I know very little of the paperwork made it to me while I was convalescing, but I saw nothing related to the unmanned Vostok launch (some number). What happened?"

"Ah... funny... that you should ask about that, Comrade Chief Designer!"

A cosmonaut perspective on that would be amusing.

[HMS Sophia]

Yeah, I know. Only me
Oh well, was just curious if it was possible mainly.

[Simon_Jester]

Yeah, I know. Only me
Oh well, was just curious if it was possible mainly.

You could do it, but it would be like taking any other computer game (of that period) and using die rolls and equations to replace the computer's calculations. Possible, but really more trouble than it's worth. After all, the computer games were invented precisely to take advantage of the fact that computers are better at math and dice rolls than you and I.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Johny von Braun looks up from the report ont he Atlas rockets:

"Repair the boosters, we'll simply pay now and reap the rewards of beating the Zenobians to orbit."
Spoiler

Although, I do find it amusing that even losing 20% reliability brings the Atlas to 74%. Which is still pretty damn good Go MURCAN R&D!

[HMS Sophia]

You could do it, but it would be like taking any other computer game (of that period) and using die rolls and equations to replace the computer's calculations. Possible, but really more trouble than it's worth. After all, the computer games were invented precisely to take advantage of the fact that computers are better at math and dice rolls than you and I.

Hey, I play pen and paper role-playing games... hell, I play traveller. Who needs a computer, when you have high guard sat next too you
(God some of the combats I have run would be easier if I could input all the relevant data into a computer)

[PeZook]

Jupiter is actually the first concept for Apollo before NASA decided what mission profile to use ; There were several concepts, one of them was direct ascent. The DA version of the capsule had a few concept drawings and IIRC a small mockup done before the concept was killed.

BTW, concept drawings and napkin calculations are about what Drago would be able to provide on the minishuttles and the Atlas without a proper research team and facilities. After all, MASA had been doing constant R&D for six months while he was gone, and changed more than a few things about the rocket ; Minishuttles are at the concept stage in either country.

Still valuable stuff, though. Sometimes all you need to crack a problem is an idea that something can be done.

[fnord]

As if there weren't ENOUGH conspiracy theories flying around...



As for reliability improvements from flying hardware, according to TFM, any hardware actually being flown (except the docking module) gets a 1% reliability improvement if at least one stage using the particular hardware (rocket, capsule, LM, kicker, EVA, etc) succeeds.

The major exception is the docking module - as you've probably noticed, it can't be researched and has to be flown. An unsuccessful docking attempt boosts its reliability by 5%, and a successful one by 10% - meaning, theoretically, you could take the docking module's reliability from 40% to 90% in two seasons, assuming three pads. Loft the module first, and the other two missions that season successfully dock, and all three follow on missions also succeed in docking.

Crunching the numbers, that sequence of five docking attempts will result in an expected docking module reliability of 78.7%, each flight adding roughly 7.7% on average.

[PeZook]

The module actually stays up for a year IIRC, but i will check that when we get there. Both sides will have to do docking unless somebody goes for direct ascent.

[Simon_Jester]

Johny von Braun looks up from the report ont he Atlas rockets:

"Repair the boosters, we'll simply pay now and reap the rewards of beating the Zenobians to orbit."
Spoiler

Although, I do find it amusing that even losing 20% reliability brings the Atlas to 74%. Which is still pretty damn good Go MURCAN R&D!

CURSE YOU VON BRAUN! CURSE YOU VON EVILSTEIN! CURSE YOU THANASIANS!

Jupiter is actually the first concept for Apollo before NASA decided what mission profile to use ; There were several concepts, one of them was direct ascent. The DA version of the capsule had a few concept drawings and IIRC a small mockup done before the concept was killed.

Precisely. We likewise have hardware examples of things like the Dyna-Soar and Lapot, prototypes of the minishuttle. These are known(ish) technological quantities; we can reasonably posit what's going on with them.

But when we get beyond the moon race, the variables become more unknown.

BTW, concept drawings and napkin calculations are about what Drago would be able to provide on the minishuttles and the Atlas without a proper research team and facilities. After all, MASA had been doing constant R&D for six months while he was gone, and changed more than a few things about the rocket ; Minishuttles are at the concept stage in either country.

Still valuable stuff, though. Sometimes all you need to crack a problem is an idea that something can be done.

Yes, this is my plan for where the Zenobian minishuttle really comes from.

I figured that the proposal had been basically considered and discarded by the Zenobians as impractical. But at the Baris (;)) air show, Syrgy actually hears someone going on about the idea and starts drawing on his rocket-glider and rocketplane experience, really thinking about it rather than just idly glancing at the sketch and circular-filing it so he can get back to working on wringing all the problems out of the A-Series.

At which point he says "Holy shit, we can probably do this... and the Murcans are doing it... and we are going to look LAME if they have reusable shuttles while we're still farting around with Soyuz, nyet?"

And thus both sides manage to bluff the other into going to the moon in minishuttles.

[Scottish Ninja]

Obviously we have to spread a rumor that the cosmonaut who retires actually died in this super-secret test flight of which there are no records. Silly Murcans will believe anything, right?