NationStates Jolt Archive


SSA Gains Permission to Place Nuclear Reactors in Orbit

Shildonia
30-12-2004, 03:51
“All rise”, said the Usher. The Court was filled with the sounds of movement as everyone in the Court stood to show their respect for the three Judges, who entered the room in their ceremonial blue robes. They took their seats and the Chief of the Bench told the assembled crowd to sit down. As is traditional, he began his judgement with a summary of the facts.

“Five years ago, this court was asked by the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World to pass an injunction preventing the Shildonian Space Agency from placing in space a series of nuclear reactors as part of Project Hermes. These reactors would be used to power a fleet of interplanetary tugs to be used for the construction of manned outposts; initially on the surfaces of the Earth’s Moon, but with the possibility of building further manned outposts on the surface of Mars and Near Earth Asteroids”

“The reason for this request was that the Shildonian Branch of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World feared that any accident during the launch of these reactors would spread radioactive contaminants across wide sections of the Earth, posing a threat to both the People’s Republic, and other nations.”

“It was held by my learned colleagues that the SSA should be prevented from launching these reactors until the reliability of the Hercules-class Semi-Reusable Extremely Heavy Lift Vehicle could be proven. To this end, they ordered that the injunction be reviewed after 200 launches, which they felt would be sufficient to gauge the reliability of the Hercules-Class. Six weeks ago, this number of launches was reached, and so the review of the injunction was begun. After hearing evidence from both parties, and after conducting our own investigations we have reached a unanimous conclusion”

“We found that during these 200 launches, only two launches suffered failure which caused the loss of the vehicle. The first of these occurred during SREHLV-53, when an explosion occurred 104 seconds into the flight. The cause of this failure was found to have been an explosion of a fuel tank in one of the satellites, which caused the External Fuel Tank to develop a leak, which led the Mission Director to order the self-destruct of the Hercules so as to avoid destruction of property and loss of life. The subsequent report into this accident found that the accident could not be attributed to the Hercules system, a conclusion that the Applicant concurred with.”

“The second failure occurred during SREHLV-103, when the Hercules was struck by lightening 90 seconds into the flight, leading to an explosion in the starboard Solid Booster Rocket. The Hercules then began to go out of control, and again the Launch Director initiated the self-destruct procedures. The subsequent investigation found that engineers had concerns about launching the Hercules in adverse weather, but that the company that had chartered the launch dismissed these concerns as being “overcautious” and opted to proceed with the launch. The Applicant claimed that this demonstrated a reckless disregard for safety in the SSA, and that the injunction should therefore be extended indefinitely. The Defendant pointed out that it was a third party that overruled the engineers and proceeded with the launch, and that since that accident procedures had been put in place to prevent engineers from being overruled in this way, and that thunderstorms were now added to the list of weather conditions during which launches were prohibited. We are satisfied that these safety procedures will prevent a reoccurrence of the accident.”

“In making our judgement, we also considered the potential implications of prohibiting exploration of the Solar System. During our investigations we heard evidence that the lunar surface contains resources of vital strategic importance, such as large supplies of oxygen, which could be used to fuel further exploration. We also heard evidence about the possible uses of Helium-3, which could provide a cheap, clean and safe source of electricity. We also considered the possible effects to national security of losing technical leadership to possible enemies, which we consider to be a matter of gravest concern.”

“In deciding this case, we found the need to balance the risk to the environment should one of these reactors be involved in an accident against the potentially vast wealth that may be found, and the untold benefits to national security of securing what is possibly the ultimate high ground.”

“It is therefore the decision of this court that the injunction against the Shildonian Space Agency be lifted. We wish them the best of luck in their endeavours.”
Izistan
30-12-2004, 04:05
The ISA(Izistan Space Agency) wishes the SSA the best of luck in its future endeavors. We also have lunar ambitions that have matured into a operation that occur very soon and we are also currenty waiting for our Mars program to be approved by Parliament.

-David C. Ross, head of ISA.

OOC: Perhaps we shall meet on the Moon. Its good to know that others are considering the idea of modern tech space exploration on NS.
DemonLordEnigma
30-12-2004, 04:13
~Electronic Communication to Shildonian Space Agency~
Please watch where you place items to make sure they are not in common travel lanes. My pilots are developing a bad habit of shooting down satellites that get in their way and it gets difficult to convince them that such is a bad idea.
-Dictator Enigma
~End Communication~
Shildonia
01-01-2005, 05:53
Six Weeks later
Heignton Space Port

It may have been the fact that the launch window for the first flight to assemble the first Interplanetary Tug occurred early in the morning, or maybe it was because they knew they were beat, but the protest outside the gates of the Heignton Space Port was quite small, with less than a hundred die hard members of the Campaign for a Nuclear Free World present.
Shortly before 5AM local time, the powerful Hercules climbed into the sky atop a column of flaming exhausts. Just over three quarters of an hour later the Orbital Insertion Engines were fired to circularise the orbit, right in the plane of the ecliptic. Thirty minutes later, the command was transmitted to extend the trusses that would provide the framework of the first Interplanetary Tug, now formally named the IT-01 ‘Discovery’, in honour of the ship used by Captain Scott on his expedition to the South Pole. It was a small step towards a giant leap.
Shildonia
06-01-2005, 04:28
18 Months Later
RHLS Endurance, 300km above the Earth

Flt Lt David Reese was waiting for the Endurance to pass back into daylight so he could continue attaching the panel containing the last fifty engines to the Discovery. Floating about half a metre below him was his friend and colleague Sqdrn Ldr James Gardiner.
Finally they came into sunlight, and right on schedule Mission Control came on the radio giving them permission to proceed with the installation procedures. There was a slight jerking motion as the robotic arm they were getting a lift from moved them into a better position. The two SFC officers detached themselves from the arm and jetted over to attach the engine panel. Once fitted, the Discovery would be almost complete, requiring only the tank containing its xenon fuel, which was currently atop a Black Prince rocket back at Heignton waiting for the launch window to open.
Three hours later, engines were fitted and the two astronauts returned to the Endurance, just in time to watch the Black Prince launch on SSA-TV. The six-man crew of the Endurance now had two days of reduced duties before they needed to rendezvous with the fuel tank.
After two days of giving talks to schoolchildren, and anyone else who watched SSA-TV, the time came to rendezvous with the fuel tank. A small guidance pod, similar to the one used to bring modules to the Shildonian Space Station would bring the tank to within 200 metres of the Discovery, with the Endurance’s robotic arm being used to position the tank for the actual docking procedure. The fuel tank was one of only two components aboard the interplanetary tug that was not reused, the other being the Hercules cargo pod that would be contain the cargo. Both would be jettisoned into the atmosphere during the overhauls between flights and replaced by new components carrying the new fuel and cargo.
The Discovery was now almost ready for her maiden voyage. A Hercules flight was scheduled for two weeks time carrying the first eight satellites for the Lunar Positioning System (LPS), which would facilitate easy navigation on the lunar surface, as well as a pair of unmanned Sample Collection Rovers, which would be landed near the South Pole and used to collect samples while driving towards the planned site for the first manned landing, where they could be collected and returned to Earth for analysis. The Hercules would dock with Discovery and then be carried on a six-month voyage to the Moon.
By the time she returned to Low Earth Orbit in just over a year’s time, Discovery’s sister ship, the second Interplanetary Tug would be almost ready for deployment.