NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Before I begin, I've decided to do a military colonization of the moon using ONLY modern technology. This means as of this posting, if it doesn't exist, it's not part of this RP. I understand that this will be a very hard thing to do, but I believe it might be something fun, and different.
Also, I will be ignoring FT and PMT stuff, It doesn't fit in with the way I want this RP to go.
I am doing this with the assumption that this type of space exploration has died off just like it has in RL, IE, there is no one currently on the moon, just flying around with satalites and research missions in orbit. For now this is a peaceful RP, despite being the devlopment of a military installation, so I will also be ignoring blatant attacks.

Anyone interested in joining may TG me with how they want to join, what they believe they can offer, and anything else they may want to tell me regarding it, and I will put them under consideration.
I would like to see this actually work out.

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IC: 8th Ajaru, 2:52am Uruk Time

General Lugual Ban-eri looked down at his watch, it was nearly three in the morning. "Ugh." he said to himself as he put his binoculars down, "I really have to stop doing this, I'm going to kill myself from sleep deprivation." He closed his eyes a moment, relaxing in his lawn chair as he looked up into the clear night sky, the bright full moon above him. One last deep breath of the fresh and cool night air was all he wanted before he went inside to bed.
He was hit with inspiration these past two days, but for now there was nothing he could do. So he got up, taking his folding chair and binoculars into the house with him. Tommorow he would talk to his subordinates and see if they really could pull it off.

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Secret IC: 15th Ajaru, 3:17pm Uruk Time

"Wait, you want to do what?"Feild Marshal Peshtur Namtar said, looking quite wide eyed at the man sitting three seets down from her.
General Ban-eri swallowed softly and restated himself, "We believe we can establish a base of opperations on the Moon." Then he quickly shut his mouth, waiting for a reaction from the young dictator.
Peshtur sat back in her chair, looking over the group of people infront of her. Today was the weekly meeting of all the heads of Civil and Military departments of the government. After a moment of silence where no one piped up, she asked more calmly then before, "Why?
Ban-eri was relieved, he had a chance to pitch this idea now, all he had to do was convince her. "A base of opperations located on the surface of the moon would allow us greater research oppertunities, as well as a lower gravity area for construction and deployment of future deep space missions. The oppertunities for a permenant installation on the moon are endless, scientificly speaking. The Fleet Infantry battalion could also be expanded to include a permenant, or at least semi-permanent presence of our armed forces in the extra-terrestrial environment. My officers and I think this could give us a major advantage in defending the nation from attack, or assisting our allies in need." He finished, waiting now. That was all he had, and hoped it would be enough.
She looked at him, then around, thinking it over, until Brigadier Rommel, cheif of the Diplomatic department, spoke up. "We could offer to allow join opperations with our allies in such an installation. With our allies involved, we could create stronger ties, and open prospects for trade with those who don't have much of a space program yet."
She looked at him, and then to Ban-eri, and finally spoke. "How much, and when can we begin?"

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News Release: 3rd Abu

Scientific Journal of Sumer
Page 143: Fly me to the moon.

Two days ago the Public Relations department of Fleet, the Armed Forces branch responsible for Space exploration and devlopment, announced their plans for devlopment of a permanant structure on the moon. Currently no details pertaining to the project, simply known as "Project Deluge" are avalible to the general public. Such a project will be a great leap forward in the scientific community of Sumer, and in the international scientific community.

OOC: Nice, every thing I try to stay, dies because no one cares. Not even a comment? Oh well, on with my RP I guess.

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IC: 7th Simanu: Fleet Technological Devlopment Centre outside of Aran.

Eight months of work and they still hadn't launched a mission yet. The engineers working on Project Deluge were becomming weary of the constant working and no payoff. The problem wasn't that the project would take a long time, no one doubted that. But instead, the engineers were bothered by the Dictator insisting the project be completed in a more condensed way. Where normally modules would be built, and transported to the lunar surface, and assembled piece by piece over a few years., the construction of this installation would be conducted on the moon, and continously.

Which is where the Technological Devlopment Centre came in. The three primary divisions of the Centre were divided up into specific tasks to speed the process. Fleet was putting vast ammounts of funding and time into this project.
Division One was working on the most important part of the whole project, modifying several of the current Shuttle crafts, six total of the existing eighteen, to accomodate the project. The Shuttles were not designed for going such long distances, just into orbit, and orbiting for any desired ammount of time. This posed a huge problem. Secondly, Division One had to modify the shuttles to accecpt more cargo, which they did by removing everything that was not absolutely nessecary for the trip, including all but three crew. Other equipment needed for the project were also being modified and further devloped by Division One, including all construction equipment that would be required.
Division Two was working on the systems that the installation would need to opperate. This program would take the longest, but off the shelf type parts for the current Fleet ships were being used wherever possible.
Finally, Division Three was working on the construction of the instllation itself. The archtectual design had been finalised within a month of the project starting, and called for a mostly underground complex. To maximize strength and minimize cost the designers decided to use a special composite material devloped from Tank and Battleship armour currently in use with the armed forces. The walls, ceeling, floors, and all sctuctural componants of the installation would be made up of synthetic fibre plates coated in a special ceramic material, and then sandwiched between two alluminum plates. This would then be coated in another special ceramic compound, and finally sandwiched between two titanium plates, and then alminated in the Ceramic Compound used in on the outer layer of tank armour in Sumer. The whole process would result in plates that were approxemtly 3cm thick, and 1 square meter in size, which weigned signiffigantly less then any steel, alluminum, or even titanium plate of equivilant strength.

The installation itself being designed to accomodate over 1200 people and required stores as well as two specially designed docking bays for the Shuttle craft which will also replenish the station. Most of the installation will be burried beneath the lunar surface, using the fine lunar soil for insulation.

ooc: Nice idea DL...i`m kind`off sorry i didnt think of it when i was still MT...looking forward to see what kind of military presence can be made with current technology

ooc: Nice idea DL...i`m kind`off sorry i didnt think of it when i was still MT...looking forward to see what kind of military presence can be made with current technology

OOC: Thanks, it's different, that's for sure.
I'm looking forward to what can be done as well, and all figures I stick in, like that 1200 personell thing, are subject to change. I'm trying to crunch numbers on supplys, and with 1200 people I will require 300,000L of warer every 28 days.
So, we'll see where this goes.

OOC: Thanks, it's different, that's for sure.
I'm looking forward to what can be done as well, and all figures I stick in, like that 1200 personell thing, are subject to change. I'm trying to crunch numbers on supplys, and with 1200 people I will require 300,000L of warer every 28 days.
So, we'll see where this goes.

ooc: hmm...quite a quantity of water....not to mention food for 1200 people....air for all of them...tools and weapons...and the quantity of material needed to house 1200 people...erm...i think the population numbers might need toned down for the first phase...and expand the complex after first phase its finished...or something :)...seems a titanic task for a MT nation, even with all the funding available

ooc: hmm...quite a quantity of water....not to mention food for 1200 people....air for all of them...tools and weapons...and the quantity of material needed to house 1200 people...erm...i think the population numbers might need toned down for the first phase...and expand the complex after first phase its finished...or something :)...seems a titanic task for a MT nation, even with all the funding available

OOC: I'm probably going to tone it down to abour 160. This would include a platoon of Fleet Infantry (54 soldiers), maintenence, research, command, and communications personell. This would mean I would only 35,000L per 28 day cycle, and that's asuming each person needs 7L of water a day.
Of course, Water and Air Recycling systems will be put in place, I don't think I could do it otherwise. I'm even toying with a greenhouse as part of the complex.

OOC: I'm probably going to tone it down to abour 160. This would include a platoon of Fleet Infantry (54 soldiers), maintenence, research, command, and communications personell. This would mean I would only 35,000L per 28 day cycle, and that's asuming each person needs 7L of water a day.
Of course, Water and Air Recycling systems will be put in place, I don't think I could do it otherwise. I'm even toying with a greenhouse as part of the complex.

ooc: a human needs 2 litres of water/day minimum i think....i`m wondering about the power....what would the station use?...nuclear would be hard i imagine, especially with the water needed to cool it....something else..you would need fuel...that also needs brought...if you`re not producing it locally

ooc: a human needs 2 litres of water/day minimum i think....i`m wondering about the power....what would the station use?...nuclear would be hard i imagine, especially with the water needed to cool it....something else..you would need fuel...that also needs brought...if you`re not producing it locally

OOC: Solar power. It would be stationed on the sunny side of the moon, which if I remember correctly is always sunny, so there would be constant power.
I'll have to look that stuff up, or at least what they do on say, the space shuttle. I want to over estimate the ammount of supplies by as much as possible because if something goes wrong, it will take 8 days for a rescue ship to get there. And that's implimenting a new "scramble" system for shuttle launch, by keeping one nearly ready for launch at all times.
So far the idea is nothing more then a glorified, very distant infantry barracks. But if it works, it's got potential to stuff I have planned in the future.
Now the hard part, which I'll get into the RP with after I get some sleep, is going to be construction. Digging a 15m deep hole large enough to fir 3 Typhoon class submarines in on the moon is no easy feat, and then assembling the structure, and all internal componants, testing, supplying, and of course, re-burrying the struture.
On the plus side, the facility will be 10m beneath the surface of the moon, which should protect it from all but really big asteroids, and make it relativly safe.

OOC: Arakaria, sorry but this topic is closed to my nation, and is for my devlopment of this program. Other, purely MT nations may join by invite, but I have yet to invite any.
I am sorry but I have to ask you to remove your post.

To anyone else following this. I'm sure the use of the Sumerian calander has confused you to time of year, or something like that. So, since this will take place over quite some time rather quickly in normal time, I havn't put years down. Instead I've been basing it off of months on the Sumerian Calander. For anyone wondering, here is a chart of the Sumerian calander. The year begins on the first new moon after the spring equinox. The day after this new moon is the first day of Nissannu, and every month is 28 days.

And, because I'm actually not big on that stuff, I'm skipping through stuff that I don't know about. I can always RP it if I have to for the sake of not godmoding, but I would much rather just reflect upon it durring my different installments because that's easier to me.

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IC: 26th Abu: In lunar orbit.

It had to be ludicrous, there was no other word for it. Twenty-two months after initial conception they had finally launched a crewed mission. Nothing fancy was abard the modified Shuttle which was slowly pulling into lunar orbit now, after a greuling eight days in earth orbit or transit. They carried extra fuel, and a small two person lander in the cargo bay. The plan was to bring the lander down into Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquillity) to review the primary site chosen. The most crucial part of the mission would follow once the lander made it safely. If the lander touched down and found the spot ideal, the shuttle would soon follow. Millions of dinnars of modifications, and billions of technology and assests would hang in the ballance as they tested, for the first time, the shuttles newly designed lunar landing capabilities. Most importantly, if anything went wrong, lives would be lost in what could become the most tragic disaster in the history of Fleet, and quite possibly, in space exploration itself.

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1st Elulu: Landing.

The shuttle had been in orbit for a few days now, waiting for the right time to make it's only attempt at landing. Back on Earth, the people waited, watching this very public event. The first Sumerian to set foot on the lunar surface was no small event to the people.
Thousands of years of history, culture, and religion revolved around the moon. People watched through there telescopes, hoping to see something. They watched their Televisions as the event was broadcast live into every home, buisness and school in Sumer. Temples all over the nation made, and recieved prayers and sacrafices to Nanna, the moon god. The temple to Nanna in Uruk, the capital city, was even visited by the Dictator herself. The nation waited, pushing every good thought, every bit of luck they could to the long shuttle, hundreds of thousands of kilimeters from home, and the crew of the shuttle knew this. They too said their prayers, hoping nothing would go wrong, before they began their decent.

The lander went first. An agonizing sixteen minutes passed as the lander slowly decended to the surface. The crew of the shuttle watched the lander descend and a trio of cameras onboard broadcast the images live to Earth. The nation held it's breath as the landing pads touched down into the soft, fine dust of lunar soil. A good two hours passed, nothing happening outside the lander, not a soul leaving. The crew went through their checklist, making sure every system had worked, that their suits were prepared, and that they were ready. Slowly, after removing the air from the cramped lander cabin, the two occupants opened the hatch and climbed onto the small platform outside. Both crew would be on the platform before they, together, stepped onto the surface. This was done intentionally, and the two took their time doing it. Both were experianced officers of Fleet, and both had logged plenty of time in orbit as well as in spacewalks outside of their respective shuttles. Together they stepped off the platform, their feet touching the same fine soil. Sumer had finally reached the moon.
The two crew wen about their assigned tasks, planting the Sumerian flag near the lander, and postsioning several automated communications and tracking insurments nearby for the missions that would follow. They activated the beacon on the lander, and then waited. The shuttle would come down on it's next pass.
Slowly the shttle descended, careful not to over acceclerate in the manuvers it now undertook, careful not to smash into the surface of the object it orbited, the surface of the moon. It took longer then the lander had, nearly twice as long, but slowly the shuttle descended. Softly the shuttle's landing skids touched the surface, and softly the manuvering rockets on the shuttle fired, bringing it to a complete and peaceful stop. It had landed.
The shuttle would remain there for the next five days as it's crew worked. This mission had passed it's most major hurtles sucessfully, and now only surveying work was left. They crew embarked, spending the next five days marking our the locations to be excavated, locations for possible devlopment, and the locations of future landing pads.

All of this was done in private. The event itself was over, Sumer had landed on the moon, and everyone had seen it. The nation celebrated while the men and women worked. And two of these men and women went into history, to be remembered forever with the greatest historical names of the nation. The first Sumerians to walk on the moon. Captian Shulgi Meskalamdug and Captian Puabi Ninbanda.

There's only sunlight for 14 (Earth) days of the Lunar day. Unless you go to one Poles, where there are a few mountains high enough to be in perpetual sunlight. You'll also find a some craters deep enough to be in perpetual darkness, some of which may or may not contain ice.
I tried doing something similar to this last year, but I pretty much gave up due to lack of interest, and because my internet sorta died (never use a wireless internet connection). Now that there's the possibility of some competition though, I might start it up again. I'll send you a telegram to let you know what I used, and if we're compatible we can have a bit of a space race.

There's only sunlight for 14 (Earth) days of the Lunar day. Unless you go to one Poles, where there are a few mountains high enough to be in perpetual sunlight. You'll also find a some craters deep enough to be in perpetual darkness, some of which may or may not contain ice.
I tried doing something similar to this last year, but I pretty much gave up due to lack of interest, and because my internet sorta died (never use a wireless internet connection). Now that there's the possibility of some competition though, I might start it up again. I'll send you a telegram to let you know what I used, and if we're compatible we can have a bit of a space race.

OOC: Been on wireless for about a year now, very few problems to me. But I have wires as backup.
I will probably, in the case of darkness then, use a small nuclear reactor. A closed water system using the coldness of space itself to cool it down would be useful, but a major logistical problem (Something I figured would be very prevelant here). After all, I'm using Space Shuttles for transport, and trying to do this with only MT (No easy feat.)
I guess a little compitition would be nice, but I'd rather not turn into a slugfest on the moon between our forces, lol.

The Roman Republic would like to offer our services. We will provide money to mantain the colony and feed the people their. We will offer $2000 USD per month for 50 years. We would like to request if the Roman Space Program would like to participate in the project and to further our space research.

[OOC: Novikov is currently left with a surplus military budget of over 500 billion USD - thank you arms limitation treaty. So I'd like to join in if at all possible. Not only could I contribute funds and a science team, but I would like to revitalize the Novikovian Space program and send a few of my own men along with your team for the initial landings. I know we have a past history of relations, so I hope you will accept this offer. If you do, I'll post an actual IC response.]

IC: Response to Roman Republic

We would be willing to allow the participation of your scientists in the facility once it is completed. And your offer to financially assist the program is greatly appreciated.
Once the facility has been completed your scientists may join the ranks within the facility. Will you be providing your own transport, or will your people be joining ours durring our supply and transit launches?

- Commanding Officer of the Fleet,
General Lugual Ban-eri

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OOC: Novikov, you know you're welecome. TG me and we can discuss it further.
I'll be beginning the construction RP sometime later doday (It's like 3am here). I plan on that taking up a fir bit of time before I can actually get crews in there. And of course, I will have to spend some time bringing the base supplies up to full level.

To Dostanuot Loj:

Good. I will use my own transport and I will help your people with supply missions.

OOC: Dostanuot Loj, you have a TG

OOC: Checked, responded.
I'll be comming up with a required yearly, and a consturction price/budget shortly. Any excess funds that come into the program will be used for expansion and upgrades.
Also, for anyone who wanted to get in on this, or is getting in on it, I am using this project as a start to a ballistic missile defence system. I hould start in on that next week sometime, incase you're interested in that as well.

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IC: 9th Sabatu: Lunar Surface.

Five months of supply runs ad finally brought them this far. Placed around the area where the seond landing pad was to be built were containers of supplies, a few pieces of very odd looking digging equipment, and a lone shuttle. Today the first work crew was to begin digging. A total of seventeen people were on this mission, three shifts of four workers, the shuttle crew itself, and maintenence workers for the equipment. They were alone on the surface now, but not for long. Supply missions would continue ariving every fourteen days for the next few months, dumping more containers of supplies down, and soon the construction material itself.
The bay of this particular shuttle, and it's sister shuttle back on Earth, had been converted to hold groups of people, over thirty people could be transported and supplied for the five day journy to the lunar surface.

Outside in the cold vacume, were four odd vehicles. Two small dumptruck like vehicles, and two small excavators, neither one even as large as a small car, sat on solid metal wheels and light metal tracks. These small pieces of equipment would take fifteen months of constant use to dig the three-hundred thousand cubic meter hole required for the facility. Three groups of crews were going to be working twenty eight day shifts for the next fifteen months. The crews were a mixed bunch, Engineers from Central Logistics, Private and Governmental construction workers who had volunteered, and several foreign workers who had been accecpted into the program. All workers had undergone months of training with their equipment and eachother. This was the most high risk construction effort ever taken, and the most expensive.