Clairmont
17-10-2003, 19:56
Today, the Bureau of Space in Clairmont announced the first large scale space project in the history
of the nation. It is a known fact that the resources of Earth are severely limited. The most accepted
calculations made state that the mineral deposits of aluminum, iron and various other metals at the
bedrock of Clairmont island, will run out in the next 40 to 50 years. Since for the development of the
nation it is vital that minerals are produced in a steady basis and ocean floor mining alone could not
produce enough, the goverment had to look elsewhere.
The answer was found from space, and not even too far from mother Earth. The asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter provided an excellent solution to the problem. There are thousands upon thousands
of asteroids in the field and initial analysis shows that most of them are very mineral rich in nature.
Because of the allready excellent base of space technology, the devisement of a project to mine some
of those minerals wasnt too difficult. The basic plan involved first setting up a space station of sufficient
size somewhere between the orbit of Mars and the asteroid field but out of any regular orbit around the
planet, sitting still in space. After this phase was completed, the station would be used to construct
several space mining vechiles and a mobile ore processing station which would transport the purified
mineral to the station where from it could be shipped back to earth.
Today, the subject is the prime news of the nation and the news network Clairmont Daily News made
a special documentary of the case and interviewed one of the key personnel in the project.
*Fade in with a pan of the CDN logo and background music playing. The beginning image quickly
fades out to reveal a stage with two seats and a table between them with a young blonde woman
sitting in the right chair and a middle-aged, bearded man sitting in the left one.*
"Good evening, i am Lisa Hamilton and today we have a very exciting subject to discuss. I have
here Professor Eric Danant from Bureau Of Space. Good evening professor, good to have you here"
The blonde woman began.
"Good evening Lisa, its good to be here."
"So Professor, would you mind to begin by telling our viewers what is our subject of the day."
"I wouldnt mind at all Lisa. As you know, space is a vast source of resources. There are resources
in planets, in nebulae and in smaller objects just floating there. Compared to the resources here on
earth, and the resources within our national borders, the sources up there are unthinkable." The
professor answered and explained enthusiastically.
"Go on professor."
"Well, since we allready have quite good level of space technology, we decided to try and aquire
some of those vast amounts of resources and the best and easiest source was the asteroid field
between Mars and Jupiter." The professor continued and went on after a few seconds.
"The project we are discussing about today will produce a large space station between the orbit
of Mars and the asteroid belt. That would be the first phase. The station would be built with a
small construction yard to begin with so it could be used as a space based rudimentary shipyard.
The first things to be produced would be 4 space mining vechiles and a single mobile ore processing
station. The ships would be deployed to the asteroid field with the ore processor remaining outside
the field and the miners breaking up mineral rich asteroids and collecting them to their internal
storages and then transferring those storages to the ore processor where the ore would be turned
to the pure form of the mineral. When the processors storage would be full, it would return to the
station and the minerals would be prepared for transportation back to earth."
"The project does indeed sound very exciting but it also sounds very expensive and difficult. The
real question here is, can Clairmont afford it and do we have the technology for it?" Lisa asked
with a analyzing tone.
"Good questions Lisa. The answers are yes and yes. First, the Bureau Of Space has allways
received a large portion of the national budget, altough that alone would not be enough to make
this project happen, a lot of more funds have been diverted to this project along with much of the
profits made during the last 5 years in arms sales. The tech question is a more difficult one. We
did not really have a long-range inter-solar-system transport which could be used for this kind of
project. The dropships dont have the range and they dont have the cargo space. So we needed
two new types of craft. The first one a heavy transport shuttle that could traverse from the station
to earth and one which had several times the cargo space volume of even the Kalith dropship.
Based on that idea we produced the Basilisk Inter-Solar-System Heavy Transport. The second
ship we needed was a larger one, capable of transporting large shipments between the station
and earth and traverse even as far as Pluto in practical times if necessary. The answer to that
was the Fairweather Inter-Solar-System Freighter. With those problems behind us, there were
no more problems hindering the project. We have the necessary tech base for constructing the
mining related ships and the space station."
Lisa was silent for a few seconds, tapping the papers on her lap with her pen slightly and then
spoke again.
"That is good to hear professor. What is the current timetable for the project?"
"At the moment the plan is to have the station completed by the 100th aniversary of our nation.
Thats three years from now and we have faith that we may succeed in that goal. We allready
have two of the Basilisk ISSHT's completed and the first of the Fairweather Freighters is about
30% completed with completion in another 5 to 6 months. At the same time we are producing
the components for the station and when the transportation capabilities ,that we need for the
construction phase of the project, are ready. The station should be completed in 20 to 21
months. The biggest problem with space is propulsion, and with the old style shuttles and
delivery capabilities this project would have been impossible. Now the small ships that cant
mount an impeller drive are using an advanced form of ion propulsion that allows us to cross
the distance between the construction site and earth, even when the distance is the greatest,
in 52 hours at most."
"With this information, i have much faith that the project will succeed and be very fruitfull."
Lisa said with a smile.
"But now it appears that our time is coming to an end. Thank you for visiting us professor
and i wish the best of luck for you in this project."
Thank you Lisa, the pleasure was all mine in talking here today."
*The camera pans back and the image begins to fade out*
As said, the goal is to build a space station for mining purposes. But, the plan is also to
use it as a commercial station for shipping between the inner planets and the outer solar
system. The station will be a freeport for merchant vessels and overally trade taking place
but the main purpose will be to act as a bridgehead for future steps forward to space
exploration and projects in space. I am also welcoming any foreign dignitaries who wish
to attend to the opening ceremony of the station, anyone who wishes to be there, tell me
and i will contact you by telegram when the time comes.
of the nation. It is a known fact that the resources of Earth are severely limited. The most accepted
calculations made state that the mineral deposits of aluminum, iron and various other metals at the
bedrock of Clairmont island, will run out in the next 40 to 50 years. Since for the development of the
nation it is vital that minerals are produced in a steady basis and ocean floor mining alone could not
produce enough, the goverment had to look elsewhere.
The answer was found from space, and not even too far from mother Earth. The asteroid belt between
Mars and Jupiter provided an excellent solution to the problem. There are thousands upon thousands
of asteroids in the field and initial analysis shows that most of them are very mineral rich in nature.
Because of the allready excellent base of space technology, the devisement of a project to mine some
of those minerals wasnt too difficult. The basic plan involved first setting up a space station of sufficient
size somewhere between the orbit of Mars and the asteroid field but out of any regular orbit around the
planet, sitting still in space. After this phase was completed, the station would be used to construct
several space mining vechiles and a mobile ore processing station which would transport the purified
mineral to the station where from it could be shipped back to earth.
Today, the subject is the prime news of the nation and the news network Clairmont Daily News made
a special documentary of the case and interviewed one of the key personnel in the project.
*Fade in with a pan of the CDN logo and background music playing. The beginning image quickly
fades out to reveal a stage with two seats and a table between them with a young blonde woman
sitting in the right chair and a middle-aged, bearded man sitting in the left one.*
"Good evening, i am Lisa Hamilton and today we have a very exciting subject to discuss. I have
here Professor Eric Danant from Bureau Of Space. Good evening professor, good to have you here"
The blonde woman began.
"Good evening Lisa, its good to be here."
"So Professor, would you mind to begin by telling our viewers what is our subject of the day."
"I wouldnt mind at all Lisa. As you know, space is a vast source of resources. There are resources
in planets, in nebulae and in smaller objects just floating there. Compared to the resources here on
earth, and the resources within our national borders, the sources up there are unthinkable." The
professor answered and explained enthusiastically.
"Go on professor."
"Well, since we allready have quite good level of space technology, we decided to try and aquire
some of those vast amounts of resources and the best and easiest source was the asteroid field
between Mars and Jupiter." The professor continued and went on after a few seconds.
"The project we are discussing about today will produce a large space station between the orbit
of Mars and the asteroid belt. That would be the first phase. The station would be built with a
small construction yard to begin with so it could be used as a space based rudimentary shipyard.
The first things to be produced would be 4 space mining vechiles and a single mobile ore processing
station. The ships would be deployed to the asteroid field with the ore processor remaining outside
the field and the miners breaking up mineral rich asteroids and collecting them to their internal
storages and then transferring those storages to the ore processor where the ore would be turned
to the pure form of the mineral. When the processors storage would be full, it would return to the
station and the minerals would be prepared for transportation back to earth."
"The project does indeed sound very exciting but it also sounds very expensive and difficult. The
real question here is, can Clairmont afford it and do we have the technology for it?" Lisa asked
with a analyzing tone.
"Good questions Lisa. The answers are yes and yes. First, the Bureau Of Space has allways
received a large portion of the national budget, altough that alone would not be enough to make
this project happen, a lot of more funds have been diverted to this project along with much of the
profits made during the last 5 years in arms sales. The tech question is a more difficult one. We
did not really have a long-range inter-solar-system transport which could be used for this kind of
project. The dropships dont have the range and they dont have the cargo space. So we needed
two new types of craft. The first one a heavy transport shuttle that could traverse from the station
to earth and one which had several times the cargo space volume of even the Kalith dropship.
Based on that idea we produced the Basilisk Inter-Solar-System Heavy Transport. The second
ship we needed was a larger one, capable of transporting large shipments between the station
and earth and traverse even as far as Pluto in practical times if necessary. The answer to that
was the Fairweather Inter-Solar-System Freighter. With those problems behind us, there were
no more problems hindering the project. We have the necessary tech base for constructing the
mining related ships and the space station."
Lisa was silent for a few seconds, tapping the papers on her lap with her pen slightly and then
spoke again.
"That is good to hear professor. What is the current timetable for the project?"
"At the moment the plan is to have the station completed by the 100th aniversary of our nation.
Thats three years from now and we have faith that we may succeed in that goal. We allready
have two of the Basilisk ISSHT's completed and the first of the Fairweather Freighters is about
30% completed with completion in another 5 to 6 months. At the same time we are producing
the components for the station and when the transportation capabilities ,that we need for the
construction phase of the project, are ready. The station should be completed in 20 to 21
months. The biggest problem with space is propulsion, and with the old style shuttles and
delivery capabilities this project would have been impossible. Now the small ships that cant
mount an impeller drive are using an advanced form of ion propulsion that allows us to cross
the distance between the construction site and earth, even when the distance is the greatest,
in 52 hours at most."
"With this information, i have much faith that the project will succeed and be very fruitfull."
Lisa said with a smile.
"But now it appears that our time is coming to an end. Thank you for visiting us professor
and i wish the best of luck for you in this project."
Thank you Lisa, the pleasure was all mine in talking here today."
*The camera pans back and the image begins to fade out*
As said, the goal is to build a space station for mining purposes. But, the plan is also to
use it as a commercial station for shipping between the inner planets and the outer solar
system. The station will be a freeport for merchant vessels and overally trade taking place
but the main purpose will be to act as a bridgehead for future steps forward to space
exploration and projects in space. I am also welcoming any foreign dignitaries who wish
to attend to the opening ceremony of the station, anyone who wishes to be there, tell me
and i will contact you by telegram when the time comes.