NationStates Jolt Archive

Phoenixius Times

Today, after weeks of intense speculation, the reason for the myriad of launches from the Port Roc space facility have finally been unveiled. Contrary to poular belief, the High Council (if they are to be believed) have not been launching nuclear weapons into space. Nor has waste been sent, or top secret alien technology being tested. It is fact something much more mundane, and yet terribly exciting at the same time.

Each launch has sent another probe into orbit, whereupon it has begun its travels to various places in our solar system. Listed destinations for these probes include the Moon, Mars and several asteroids. More from the official release:

The recent launches are part of a program to plot the moon, Mars and several asteroids, plus other locations once thier viability has been processed. Once plotted, each location shall become host to prototype remote mining facilities. These shall attempt to mine various useful materials from the crust of the planets and asteroids. This will decrease our dependance to earthly sources, and allow for better conservationalism. At the moment, this is in a very early stage and the project may not take off. However we are very optimistic about it. So much so that we have authorised Project: Excalibur, a revolutionary new spaceship in the design stages at the moment.

As we can see, the potential for this, if it works, would be phenominal. Also, note the reference to a new space craft of some kind? No-one is sure whether it refers to a new shuttle, or something different again. One thing to be sure about though, is that the future of space travel for Phoenixius is looking very rosy indeed.


OOC: You may reply to this in any way you feel like. This is MT, so no FT nations offering help etc, as to me, you don't exist - sorry. Project: Excalibur will have more details released soon.

OOC: Interesting use of words: Celestial Harvet. For some reason I am reminded of a manga...something like Ceres or other. Know anything about that Phoenixius?

OOC: Nah, never heard of it. Basically I though of 'Harvest Moon', and was going to call it Moon Harvest, but this incorporates more than just the moon. Celestial sounded good, and encompassed what I wanted to say.

Phoenixius Times

Further information regarding the probes has been released today. It seems as though the probes consist of two parts; one an orbiter, the other a lander. With the probes around the planets, the lander will detatch from the orbiter, and begin to land. Once landed, it will begin to test the rocks, and beam the information gathered up to the orbiter. The orbiter meanwhile will be scanning the planets surface for likely spots of mineral wealth, and will beam the information obtained by itself and the lander back to the PSA.

The asteroid probes are similar, but the orbiter will negotiate the asteroid belt scanning likely looking asteroids other than the inital one. These orbiters are more heavily protected, to save it from the micro-meteors out there. The lander will follow the same protocall as the planet landers.

The information recieved will be analysed by experts at the PSA, and viability for mining will be tested.

In related news, the PSA has begun preparations for construction at one of the Lestrange points between Earth and the Moon. This may be part of Project: Excalibur, but no official word has been given as of yet.


PSA Control Centre

"We have moon probe transformation in 10 seconds."

T minus 10 seconds to seperation
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1
Seperation

"We have seperation! Systems normal ... orbiter path correction initialising ... lander orientation initialising ... a textbook seperation people."

"Lander will be on the surface in a few minutes."

...

"Lander is down! Beginning startup routine ... lander is operational ... test cycle reports all well. Project: Celestial Harvest is off to a good start people."

Phoenixius Times

After the successful landing of the moon probe, Project: Celestial Harvest seems to be going well. In a few years the Martian probe should be in position, and a few years after that, the asteroid probes. Its still early days to see whether the project will reap any rewards, but one thing is for sure - Phoenixius will have a presence in space for a few more years yet.

Following on from our hints in previous articles, it has been released by the PSA that Project: Excalibur is a manned spacecraft. This will be built, and is in fact under construction right now, at L1. The ship proposed is bigger than anything else currently owned by Phoenixius in space - its larger than a space station. It is projected to take around a decade for its construction to finish, by which time the probes should have found something interesting.

Astronauts are being trained in preparation for the completion of the spaceship, and there are experts from many different fields, from biology to engineering, physics to psycology.

Phoenixius Times

After months of searching, the moon probe from Project: Celestial Harvest has discovered some minor metal deposits. Though not enough to initiate mining, its being used as proof that the project itself is working, and that the possibilities are amazing. The Martian probe is nearing Mars, and should begin its landing procedures within the next few months.

Meanwhile, there hasn't been any more news about Project: Excalibur. Though launches are now common at Port Roc, we can only assume that they are destined for L1, as no concrete evidence has been shown yet.


OOC: If anyone wishes to join in this, they are more than welcome. Basically I'm trying to make myself a much more space orientated nation, with the possibility of going slightly FT (al la Stargate), and this seems like a good jumping off point. However thats in the distant future, but if your nation's leader wishes to read the newspaper, and then call to find out what its about, feel free.

Phoenixius Times

Details about Project: Excalibur have now been released by the PSA. Listed below is the information given to us:

MTX-18 Excalibur Spaceship
http://www.kidsastronomy.com/images/future-space-craft.jpg
With an increasing budget for various off-the-wall ideas, scientists and engineers in the space department of MierTech put forward the idea of a non-atmospheric spacecraft that could act as a spacestation. Miertech bosses were intrigued and asked for a rough design plan to be drawn up. As it so happened, they had already drawn up a really rough idea, and they tidied it up for presentation to the board. The board of directors liked it so much they passed it on to the Phoenixius government to see if they wished to utilise it for Phoenixius. The plans were accepted, and the first Phoenixius spaceship to be designed was born.

With the bridge and engines joined along a central axis, the living compartments and other such areas were incorporated into a central tube that span around the axis between the bridge and engines. Cargo is held in the centre of the living tube, where there is almost 0g. At the external side of the living tube, there is approximately 0.9g.

There is room for around 50 people, though 30 is standard operating capacity. Sleeping quarters are arranged along on end of the living tube, with the central portion given over to hydroponics, mess hall, bathrooms, and other essential living areas. The last portion of the living tube is taken by laboratories and testing areas, in order to get some benefit from the ship.

The bridge is detatchable from the rest of the ship, though it has limited propulsion - its mainly a lifeboat, as opposed to a shuttle. It, unlike the rest of the ship, is able to enter the atmosphere, though it will be unable to return without external help. There is a modified version of APS on board that holds a variety of literature, music, films, TV shows, scientific documents and various other recreational and scientific documents and programs. The APS is also able to control the ship in case of accidents among the crew, or high-risk manouvers are required.

Power for the spaceship will be supplied by two methods. The first is a smallish nuclear reactor that can supply a continous amount of power, even when the ship is in the shadow of a planet. This will also be used to power up the ion drive. The other power source would be solar panels. These will be deployable from the engine section, and a few will deploy parallel to the spinning living section.

The engines will be two part: the first part is a conventional rocket propulsion, using fuel on board to begin acceleration, and deceleration. The second engine will be an ion drive. Though much weaker in power, it can keep accelerating the ship, after the rocket engine is stopped. This will allow for quicker travel.

Designed by: Phoenixius
Crew: 30-50
Length: 700m
Diameter: 100m
Width of engines: 200m

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Phoenixius Times

After many years of construction, the Excalibur space craft has finally been finished, and the first resident astronauts are on route to meet up with it. The ship is expected to be fully functional in a few weeks time once the crew have finished the various tests that have to be run.

In related news, the Martian probe has discovered a patch of minerals that is in sufficent quantity to warrant a mining operation that would be profitable. The first mining sites will be set up in a few more years once more satellites and drones have been sent. It is also looking likely that the first mission for the newly finished Excalibur will be to travel to Mars and oversee the mining operation.

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