NationStates Jolt Archive

In recent news today, NAS chairman Luther Stembridge announced a new focus on the space program.


People of the Non Aligned States, too long have we been reliant on the old ways of chemical propulsion to leave our world. Too long do we follow ways which are both expensive and ruinous to our environment. Our best scientists have labored for years on end, seeking a solution. And in conjunction with the Pheonix Militia, we have found a solution.

The solution my people, is an implement of war, turned to peace. A mass driver, far larger than anything we have ever built, will be constructed. We will build this road to the stars in our very own lands, a new addition to our space center. It will consume only electricity. It will produce no pollution. This, people of NAS, is the answer we have been waiting for.

I ask for your patience my people. This task will be long and arduous for the mass driver will take many years to complete. But once it is done, we will truly take to the stars.

"Starbridge" Mass Driver
The Starbridge Mass Driver is the final evolution of NAS research into superconducters and high density metals. With an extremely low electrical resistance factor, the system is designed to draw power from a Fast Breeder Reactor nuclear power plant.

Using a linear electric motor and power conversion devices to achieve its hypersonic muzzle speeds of 16km/s, the mass driver is planned to be approximately 4 kilometers in length and is capable of firing loads of up to 12 tons per launch.

The project is expected to take 7 years to complete. The total cost of the project is classified.

OOC: I will rp the rest later. Maybe even a launch. Right now, I'm tired.

The construction of the mass driver is a complicated affair. Comprised of 4 sections, the first two hold the primary acceleration are and is set at a true horizontol angle.

Designated as the first stage launch area, this section is heavily reinforced to withstand the shocks of accelerating a mass from 0 to 5km/s. Once the top speed of 5km/s is reached, the STO vehicle is tracked until it reaches the 2nd stage.

The 2nd stage itself is a rising rail, its core components less well reinforced than the 1st stage, but is comprised of the superconductors neccessary to accelerate the vehicle to the maximum speed of 16km/s. This stage has a gradually increasing incline, finally ending at a 90 degree vertical angle. For safety reasons, the final stage of the launch rail will extend past the shoreline for the last 1600 meters.

Time to completion: 6 years 3 months.

OOC: The rest of the rp will probably be on a personal perspective i.e. construction/launch crew etc.

A big fat target. Thats what he thought it was when he looked at the immense mass driver spanning off into the distance. Chief engineer Hugh Spenser had spent far too much time on military projects for him to think of anything else in terms of protective capabilities, military performance and value.

In a way, he was right. The mass driver facility didn't really have much in the way of defensive weapons seeing that it was sitting in the NAS Space Center. In fact, the whole facility would be woefully equipped to deal with an invasion of any sort save for the airbase located within its premises.

At least the existing security kept out gawkers, spies and terrorist intent on putting their noses where it didn't belong.

The mass driver project was proceeding smoothly despite a few setbacks. The primary problem was the fact that the superconducting rails weren't holding up too well against the heat of day. They were meant to withstand flash temperatures and friction but not constant heat which tended to make them expand, a disastrous thing for any launch.

The designers had decided to overcome the problem by running a liquid cooling system on the outer edge of the rails. And it worked, although it did add a few million to the budget.

But after several years and several setbacks, the mass driver itself was nearing completion. The specially built control center and tracking station were already running tests and simulation run and the launch facility itself was only a month or two from completion. The nuclear powerplant off in the distance, its protective egg shaped dome distinct, was running on minimal power. The endurance tests had been completed last year and it was now supplying the entire facility with its excess energy. Energy that would be called upon when launching.

Then it would be time to see if it worked as promised.

3 more days. The big day. The day of the actual launch. That was what went through Hugh's mind as he entered the control room, the constant chatter of the command staff raising a hubbub of noise. Finally. For seven years he had labored on this project, nurtured it, watched it grow. And in three days he would watch it's debut. Test shells had been fired at low altitudes, proving that the manned flight scheduled for the debut would most likely be a success. My baby's all grown up.

The launch vehicle, a modified American shuttle on a launch sled was in the final preparation stages. If all went well, it would be in space in 72 hours without having spent a drop of fuel.

Invitations were already being prepared, inviting the world's leaders to witness the new road to space. He could already imagine the shuttle speeding down the facility, its hypersonic shockwaves easily heard for miles around as it climbed into that glorious blue sky.

It would be a beautiful sight.