NationStates Jolt Archive

"Ex Luna, Scientia"

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After years of planning and preperations, the first Norwegian manned mission to the Moon, our closest celestial neighbor was ready. Prime Minister Rothsky was proud. This mission had been planned for ages, and now it was finally turning into a reality. The latest reports from NRO, or the Nasjonal Romfartsorganisasjon indicated that they could be ready to attempt a launch of the parts for the spacecraft to the space station "Romsdal" in three weeks at the earliest.

The plans were relatively simple. The vessel which would take the crew of five to the Moon was a relatively large spacecraft which was being finalized as they spoke, and would carry the crew to the Moon. There, it would release the lunar module, which crewed three, to the moon while the remaining two remained in lunar orbit aboard the spacecraft. The astronauts had all been picked out, and made up five complete crews of five each. A total of twenty-five astronauts had been training for the Moon, and would hopefully later be able to establish the first permanent lunar colony. However, they would have to land on the Moon first.

The spacecraft was a larger version of the X-33 'Venture Star', and could carry the crew, a lunar module and the necessary fuel, supplies and equipment for the two-day trip to the Moon, a week of orbiting and the two-day return trip. The entire project had cost $620 billion so far, but they were almost done now. It was time to go public soon...

Reichskanzler Heydrich Kübler sends his official congratulations to the Empire of Norway on their recent accomplishment.

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OOC: You might want to mention the price of this in the Bjornoyan International Stock Exchange.

OOC: Could have sworn you already went to the moon. Maybe I'm just insane...

IC:

Official Response-Elephanti Space Department

We would like to congratulate the Norwegian Space Program on this mission. Elephantum has not gone to Luna in quite some time, due to our preoccupation with the Venus Program.


Semi-Secret IC:
Elephanti Space Command, Amman, Jordan
"Norways going on a manned mission to Luna!" An excited scientist ran into the office of Thenmuli Rajaratnam, Head of the Elephanti Space Program, and non-voting member of the Council of Sultans (ooc:that's how important our space program is).

"When do they expect to launch?"
"As soon as three weeks from today."
Rajaratnam frowned. "First the Carthaginians build the K-H colony, then the Norwegians launch toward Luna. Elephantum should look to the broad horizons as well. Summon the heads of the Budgeting, Mars, Venus, and Luna department, we need a meeting now."

The meeting began after the head of the Mars department arrived, his golf game in Chetput interrupted.
"Alright, now that we are all here, how is the MMLS Program coming?" Asked Rajaratnam.

"The Martian Manned Landing and Settlement Program is proceeding at full speed. We expect the habitation modules to be ready by the end of January, although crew training will take up to two years beyond that. But surely that is not why you called us here." Said the head of the Mars department, a short, round Indian man.

"Oh, but it is. You see, the Norwegians just announced that..."

Several hours later, the meeting came to a conclusion. The manned Luna program would be cancelled until further notice, and much of the budget freed would be sent to the Martian program. The Venus department would recieve a small budget cut, and the Elephanti Space Museum and Planetarium of Manama would recieve the money needed to add on new exhibits about both programs. The ESM+Ps of Madras and Amman would recieve similar treatments after the Mars mission was launched.


(OOC: Carthage and Norway can split the moon, but I'm colonizing the rest of the solar system. Unfortunately my programs need more time [venus will be habitable in around 3005, and it will take at least 2 years to get the Mars program up])

OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION

COMMONWEALTH OF HIRGIZSTAN

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, CAPE VERDE

The Government of the COH would like to congratulate warmly the allied Norwegian Government. We wish them the best of luck in their endevours into space.

COH

At the launch base near Tennant Creek in Northern Territory, Australia, the single spacecraft stood ready on the launch pad. The craft, a X-33C stood ready to take the astronauts up into space to the Space Station "Romsdal", which was orbiting in a geo-stationary orbit above Norway. Five brave souls were strapped to the seats aboard the X-33, ready for lift-off. Two of them, oberst Egil Olsen and oberstløytnant Bjarne Heige were the crew of the "Tor", the spacecraft that would take them the 375,000 kilometer journey to the Moon and back, and the ones who would stay up in orbit, while the other three, Doctor Sandra Asp of the University of Oslos astrophysical faculty, Doctor Mads Stoltenberg of the Gramstad Foundation, a large and important scientific organzation in Norway, and last but not least major Torstein Melhus, the pilot of the "Heimdal", the lunar lander. The five men and women had been trained for several years for this mission, and they were as ready as they ever would be. It was T minus five minutes till lift-off.

In the mission control room in a large and brand new building at Værnes AFB outside Trondheim, the thirty men and women responsible for the mission sat and waited. Everything had been checked out from visual inspection to the diagnostic of the 16 onboard computers on the "Tor" and the 5 on the "Heimdal" a few hours earlier, and the crew was ready for launch in a X-33. The Mission Director, Mikkel Reim stood up and took a deep breath. It was time.

"Alright, I want a go-no go for launch. CAPCOM."

"Go flight," the man at the communications display said after quickly checking the readouts. Everything was in the green.

"EECOM."

"We're go, Mikkel."

"Booster."

"Everything's in the green. Go flight," the man responsible for the assisting booster rockets attached to the X-33 said. The massive fuel tank strapped to the spacecrafts belly held 200,000 kilograms of liquid fuel, enough to get the spacecraft off the ground and into orbit.

"Retro."

"Go flight." Retro was the officer responsible for getting the craft safely back down to Earth.

"Guido."

"Go." Guido was responsible for monitoring the guidance systems on both the "Tor" and the "Heimdal", and to find out how to fix them in case that became necessary, something everyone hoped it wouldn't be.

"FIDO."

"We're a go," the Flight Dynamics Officer said, smiling. She was responsible for monitoring the powered spacecraft manouvers, and responsible for making sure that they could lift off and manouver when they got into space.

"FAO."

"Go." The Flight Activities Officer responsible for the flight plan said.

"TELCOM."

"Ready when you are." The telecommunications officer was responsible for making sure that the ground control in Trondheim could communicate with the spacecraft.

"GNC."

"Go flight."

"Surgeon."

"Everything looks good, we're a go." the doctor responsible for monitoring the health of the astronauts said.

Everything was in order. Reim grinned and walked back to his own console and picked up the radio comm to the Mission Officer in Trondheim, Lars Bang.

"Tennant Launch Control, this is Trondheim Mission Control. We are go for launch."

"Understand. T minus one minute from Tennant Creek," the answer from Australia came after the three second delay. "We are standing by."

The next fourty seconds passed quietly by, and people standing at the perimeter twenty kilometers away from the launch pad looked on it with anticipation. Then a powerful voice sounded over the loudspeakers throughout the facility.

"T minus fifteen seconds.

"Fourteen.

"Thirteen.

"Twelve.

"Eleven.

"Ten.

"Nine. Main booster start.

"Seven.

"Six.

"Five. Booster ignition.

"Three.

"Two.

"One.

"Liftoff!"

On que, the boosters lit up and started building the thrust needed to lift the 73,850 kilogram spacecraft and 200,000 kilogram booster off the ground and into orbit. It was a spectacle of flames and smoke, but after a good six seconds of burning, the spacecraft started lifting off. Slowly at first, but faster and faster as the thrust increased. At T plus fifteen seconds, The X-33 cleared the tower and moved upwards and upwards, faster and faster. At 93,000 feet, the two auxilary boosters were empty and was dropped. They would land in the Pacific Ocean and be collected by the Norwegian Navy for future reuse.

Once the X-33 had cleared the launch tower, control of the mission had been passed over to Trondheim, where the people got all the flight data from the X-33s navigational computers. Everything was in perfect order, just like it was supposed to be.

After seven minutes, the engines on the spacecraft stopped, 107 kilometers above the sealevel. They were in space, currently in a orbit of the planet Earth in a speed of 28,500 kilometers per second. They had dropped the fueltank three minutes prior, and the schedule now was to dock at the space station "Romsdal" and get the last supplies before heading to the Moon. However, they just had one thing to do before that, and that was a photo shoot from an orbiting and very classified KH-20H Decanter spy satellite to ensure that there had been no damage done to the heatshield during the launch. The crew on the "Romsdal" was after all going to have to use this spacecraft when they were to return.

The recon satellite met up with the X-33 fourty minutes later, and oberst Olsen manouvered the X-33 so the KH-20H could photograph the belly. The pictures were sent down to a classified location somewhere in Norway for checkout, and while they were checked, the X-33 travelled over to Norway, passing over Asia, Africa and Europe as they went along. Eventually, they docked at the space station "Romsdal" while looking at the spacecraft that would take them to the Moon. It had been in orbit for a month and was now finalized.

The X-79A 'Stjernevogn', a seriously beefed up version of the old X-33C spacecraft was standing by for the crew to arrive, docked at Space Station "Romsdal". In its cargo bay, the X-79A carried a single X-80A 'Månelander'. The two craft were dubbed "Tor" and "Heimdal" respectively, something which made perfect sense. "Tor" was the thunder god of ancient Norwegian mythology, and travelled above the skies, while Heimdal was the gatekeeper to the other worlds according to the mythology. The "Tor" would take the crew over the skies to the Moon, while the "Heimdal" would open the door to a brand new world for the Norwegians. The Moon. Launch to the Moon was expected in 17 hours. 53 hours after that, humans would stand on the face of the Moon. This was one for the history books.

OOC For information on what EECOM, FIDO and all that other stuff stands for, check this site out: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1109954

The launch from the Space Station Romsdal had gone off without a hitch. All systems were fully operational, and the “Tor” flew quickly towards the Moon. The 33.65 meter long space craft moved quickly though the vaccume of space while the astronauts on board preformed various experiments to see how things behaved in space. Everything was being recorded by cameras and microphones, as well as the on-board computers of the “Tor”. The purpose of the many experiments were to have something to keep the scientists occupied with for a few years onwards, and what could be better than to see how a colony of ants would behave on the moon?

In the large cargobay of the “Tor”, a single strange object lay. The lunar lander “Heimdal” was the prime occupant of the cargobay, which remained sealed untill they reached lunar orbit. Also inside was the various equipment that would be sent down to the landing site later with plans for a lunar colony.

As the “Tor” reached the moon 52 hours and 46 minutes after they left the relative safety of the Earths orbit and the Space Station Romsdal, Prime Minister Thomas Rothsky prepared to adress the nation. In the office in the 28th floor of Oslos Government Plaza, the camera teams were ready to film. The networks had cleared a room for the speech at 20.00 PM local time, which had been announced since early that morning. As the time turned to eight, he looked up with a plesant smile on his face. At the que from the producer, the teleprompter started moving and he spoke.

[Translated from Norwegian]

“My fellow Norwegians.

As you all know, for the past few years we have strived to be the first nation from the northern hemisphere to land on the Moon, our closest neighbor in space. You know of the mission that is underway for us to reach that goal. I am happy to tell you that the spacecraft “Tor” and its brave crew has reached the Moon and is entering orbit as we speak. I am told by officials from the NRO that they will attempt a landing on the Moon within the next few hours.

I need not tell you that this mission is a historic one, and one which is certain to find its place in the history books. We are going to the moon in peace. The men and women who will man the landing craft are scientists, not warriors, and their mission is equally scientific and peaceful. The findings of the five brave men and women will alter our understanding of the universe and give us new insight into not only the history of space, but also of our own world.

I wish to take the chance to send the congratulations, blessings and prayers of the Norwegian people to the five brave men and women out there in space, and to wish them a good and prosperous voyage. The thoughts and prayers of the Norwegian people are with you on this historic of missions. Come back safely.

Ladies and gentlemen of the Kingdom. We have been blessed with the courage and curiosity which symbolize brave explorers, and now, five of our best and brightest are out there in space, exploring our closest neighbor in space. Please, remember them in your thoughts and prayers, and pray for a safe mission. Thank you, and good night.”

The screen cut to a group of singers singing the national anthem, then it returned to the normal programming. All of Norway stood still as the news reports ticked in from the NRO. There were probably a lot of interested people out in space as well.

Over the moon, the “Tor” had entered orbit 200 kilometers above the lunar surface, and was about to open the cargobay doors. The three people who would go to the moon had geared up in their space suits and headed into the “Heimdal”, which would take them to the moon. When everything was in order, all sensors said that it was OK to start the moon decent and the people were ready, they contacted the Earth, or more specifically the NRO mission controll room outside Trondheim in Norway for permission.

“Trondheim controll, this is Tor. All systems are green, and we’re ready for landing the Heimdal. Request permission to carry out the mission, over.”

“Tor, this is Trondheim. We’re satisfied with the readouts down here so why not? You are go for lunar decent and landing. Good luck. Over.”

“Copy permission to land on the moon. Torstein told me to tell you that he’ll see you on the surface. Out.”

The mood in the cockpit of the Tor was good. The two colonels were in their seats, making sure everything was in order. Satisfied that it was, oberstløytnant Heige checked the video cameras of the cargobay. After checking with oberst Olsen, he opened the protective cargobay doors. The sun streamed into the bay, bathing the “Heimdal” in sunshine. Then major Torstein Melhus’ voice came on the radio com.

“This is major Torsteim Melhus, I’ll be your captain today, and wish to welcome you to this NRO flight one to the surface of the moon. The outside temperature is minus 243 degrees celsius, or zero kelvin as you scientists like to say, and we have a beautiful flying weather. The sun is shining, the weather is sweet and I’m getting to fly a two-hundred –and-seventy-nine million dollar vessel to somewhere no Norwegian has gone before! Weeee! Over.”

The listeners chuckled at the majors transmission, having partially expected it. Over the time they had spent preparing for the mission, the crew had learned that Melhus was a real joker, but also an exceptional pilot. That was why he had been picked to this mission.

As all checks had been completed, only one more thing was left to do. Oberst Olsen turned on the video feed link so that the planet could see what was going on. The images were immediately linked over to the major Norwegian news networks, who again sent the images on to foreign news channels so they too could see what was going on. The images of a strange silvery cone-shaped spacecraft which was mounted on what seemed to be golden fueltanks was sent out to the world. After a few seconds, the spacecraft released from the “Tor” and moved out from the cargobay. The cameras followed closely and got every second of the “Heimdal”s flight. By now, the viewers could see a large Norwegian flag painted on the golden lower parts of the spacecraft, and a large rocket engine. The entire thing wasn’t more than 7.32 meters long and 11.16 meters wide, but still large enough to fit a lot of scientific equipment, a lunar rover, three astronauts and a Norwegian flag. After a bit of floating 70 meters away from the “Tor”, the “Heimdal”s navigational boosters lit and tilted it to have the rocket engine face the direction they travelled in while starting to slowly move the vessel towards the surface. Then it fired, slowing the “Heimdal” down. By now, the images changed to the “Heimdal”s outside cameras, showing the entire thing from a birds eye view. Now came the most dangerous part: The decent!