NationStates Jolt Archive

Imperial Space Centre, Kenya, Roycelandian East Africa

"This is the initial boarding call for passengers flying today on Imperial Spaceways flight IS 1. Passengers should make their way to Gate 9, as boarding will commence presently."

***

"Starlight Control, this is Starlight One, requesting Launch Clearance."

"Starlight One, Launch Clearance Granted, T-2 minutes. Good Luck."

"Thanks, Starlight Control. Ignition on, switches on... Contact!"

With that, the booster rockets on the first commercial passenger-carrying spaceflight ignited with a brilliant burst of fire and billows of smoke.

"Starlight One, you are cleared for launch... Tally Ho!"

"Tally Ho, Starlight Control- Smoke us a kipper, we'll be back for breakfast!"

The space shuttle launched skywards on a pillar of fire and smoke, an awe-inspiring sight for the assembled photographers, newscrews, and observers.

"Starlight Control, launch successful... approaching orbit now. Stand by.... Starlight Control, we're leaving the Troposphere... My God! It's Beautiful!"

"Starlight One, what do you see? Starlight One?"

"It's full of stars! It's the most beautiful sight any one of us have ever seen!"

The monitors back at the space centre showed various views of the spacecraft, and the sight of the heavens in all their glory was indeed beautiful.

"Is everything OK, Starlight One?"

"Yes, all systems are normal... we're entering cruise mode on your mark... mark!"

A wild cheer broke out in the control room.

"Gentlemen, The Emperor!" called the Mission Controller as he raised a glass of champagne in toast.

"The Emperor!" replied those present, joining him in toast.

2,000 kilometres above them, the two dozen passengers and six crew of the Imperial Spaceways Star Clipper Starlight One had released their seatbelts and were floating in zero gravity, marvelling at the experience. Each of the passengers- who hailed from a number of Nations besides the Roycelandian Empire- had paid approximately $10,000,000 Imperial Wibbles for the privilege of being the first passengers on a commercial spaceflight, and were well glad they had.

Roycelandia had just taken another very large step in the Space Race.

Unioners are for the most part indifferent to Roycelandia's record-breaking spaceflight, although perhaps they shouldn't be. General dislike for Roycelandia in light of that nation's support for France and thoroughly troublesome presence in Goa dominates Hindustani public opinion, after all. Those involved in the INU's own small space program are more impressed by it, although the general belief is that the Soviets performed something a good deal more significant in their moon landing. Still, it is hoped that, in the exploration of space at least, the nations on earth might be convinced to collaborate and combine their energies rather than compete.

Design work on Hindustan's own rocket, based roughly on the aborted Walmingtonian Black Arrow, continues at a relaxed pace, the INU feeling no pressure when it comes to putting things in orbit.

Everyone, from the Quinntonian technicians that were helping out to the Quinntonian satellites and space station that were monitoring the progress of the craft, was jubilant. It was hailed as a major stepping point in the direction of space travel, and though the Soviets had finally joined Royce and USQ on the moon, the commercial move of people was seen as the next viable step.

NASA was said to be nearing a major announcement, but would be consulting with their Roycelandian counterparts first.

WWJD
Amen.

The People's Cosmonautical Co-operative states that the latest Roycelandian space flight, if it returns safely and with full success, is a reasonably advanced technical achievement and suggests that the possibility of such operations advancing human understanding of space and space travel is a potentially positive thing.

In general, though, the Commonwealth is not deeply impressed, having just recovered a three person team from the first ever multi-day stay on the moon, where they have established the so-far most advanced Luna facilities. Some raise concerns about the environmental impact of this sort of tourism, and almost all condemn the squandering of resources by the multi-millionaire passangers, who are decried almost universally as decadent and as thieves.

One comrade speaking in her local Soviet expressed hopes that the CPRD might shoot-down the next, "rocketload of degenerates" but her sentiments were not widely supported by her comrades.

Whatever your opinion of the significance and propriety of the newest Roycelandian industry there can be little doubting that the space race is once again on. And the Soviets intend to extend their lead.

Reports that Soviet surface-based targetting lasers, 'painted' Starlight One during its spaceflight are likely to add a scary dimension to the race. "There was no danger." Said a Consul for the PCC Soviet, "We've done it to our own Buran orbiters... we just wanted to see if we could do it to somebody else's."

The People's Cosmonautical Co-operative states that the latest Roycelandian space flight, if it returns safely and with full success, is a reasonably advanced technical achievement and suggests that the possibility of such operations advancing human understanding of space and space travel is a potentially positive thing.

In general, though, the Commonwealth is not deeply impressed, having just recovered a three person team from the first ever multi-day stay on the moon, where they have established the so-far most advanced Luna facilities. Some raise concerns about the environmental impact of this sort of tourism, and almost all condemn the squandering of resources by the multi-millionaire passangers, who are decried almost universally as decadent and as thieves.

One comrade speaking in her local Soviet expressed hopes that the CPRD might shoot-down the next, "rocketload of degenerates" but her sentiments were not widely supported by her comrades.

Whatever your opinion of the significance and propriety of the newest Roycelandian industry there can be little doubting that the space race is once again on. And the Soviets intend to extend their lead.

Reports that Soviet surface-based targetting lasers, 'painted' Starlight One during its spaceflight are likely to add a scary dimension to the race. "There was no danger." Said a Consul for the PCC Soviet, "We've done it to our own Buran orbiters... we just wanted to see if we could do it to somebody else's."


Um, I think we already stated that your multi-day moon stay was merely copying what Quinntonians and Roycelandians had already done, but thanx. In order to extend a lead, one must normally have one to extend.

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: No, we established that you suddenly decided that you'd already done something, without ever mentioning it before, and it wasn't indicated that you'd left people [on the moon] over a period of days. Aside from that, our rockets are bigger than yours and recoverable, unlike yours, and our orbiters have larger payloads and superior heat shielding and can be flown unpiloted, and our orbital anti-satellite weapons could take down your GPS without you being able to prove who'd done it. I don't say things just by flicking through a dictionary and sticking words together, you know, there are reasons behind said things.

OOC: No, we established that you suddenly decided that you'd already done something, without ever mentioning it before, and it wasn't indicated that you'd left people [on the moon] over a period of days. Aside from that, our rockets are bigger than yours and recoverable, unlike yours, and our orbiters have larger payloads and superior heat shielding and can be flown unpiloted, and our orbital anti-satellite weapons could take down your GPS without you being able to prove who'd done it. I don't say things just by flicking through a dictionary and sticking words together, you know, there are reasons behind said things.

OOC: Do they sell "GodMode" brand beer at that pub you work at? I should probably ask for it the next time I'm at the bottle shop. :-P

OOC: No, we established that you suddenly decided that you'd already done something, without ever mentioning it before, and it wasn't indicated that you'd left people [on the moon] over a period of days. Aside from that, our rockets are bigger than yours and recoverable, unlike yours, and our orbiters have larger payloads and superior heat shielding and can be flown unpiloted, and our orbital anti-satellite weapons could take down your GPS without you being able to prove who'd done it. I don't say things just by flicking through a dictionary and sticking words together, you know, there are reasons behind said things.

"WE" didn't decide anything. You did a lot of talking. I explianed my reasons, you ignored them, it was fun. And predictable.

I have never had an IC RP about the Quinntonian Space program, but perhaps you will remember when AMW was founded, I had a puppet called Quinntonian Space, when asked what its purpose was, originally I talked about it allowing me a venue for doing future tech. I soon saw how arbitrary and silly such things were, at least to me, and quit. But I had made several statements imbedded in other RPs and discussion threads on this and the invision site that referenced the fact that the USQ had never for a moment lost its ability to land on the moon, and had landed AT LEAST one mission there a year since that time. Most years, there were more. This included references to space stations at different times and so on. We have been landing on the moon for 37 years and Royce has been cooperating heavily with us.

I even had a discussion at one point, I think with you mainly, where we discussed the militarization of space and claims against the Moon and even Antarctica. We all decided that we would follow RL convention and stay out of it. None of us would claim anything in space or weaponise it. I think Spyr, LRR and Dra-pol were involved, but that was a couple of years ago, so maybe I am just remembering all of us old fogies.

But, I think it was in that discussion that I mentioned all of these things, again. I am all for starting a space race, I think it would be good RP, but the starting points are not as you arbitrarily decided to make them.

WWJD
Amen.

OOC: Guys, relax. It's not worth bitching over.

The remnants of the manned space flight division that was once the backbone of the Sinoese space programme look on enviously at the successes enjoyed by the Roycelandian tourism programme. Human life support systems were lagging in China, having chosen to develop radio controlled humanoid robots to do the majority of the repair work in orbit for low earth orbit satellites.

A few hours after the reported successes, the Chinese Space Agency announces that it would send someone's ashes to the sun for cremation for a measly sum of $1 million dollars.

(We've never had any other mentioned of space-based satellite killers before. If you build something like that, it's good form to RP it out. A lunar-base is less controversial thought so it may or may not be subject to the same scrutiny.)

OOC: One of these days you'll make me cry. Right...

Royce, first of all, if you're implying that the ISC's spacecraft are godmodded you'd best go and complain to the USSR's successor states, from which we acquired them and the means to replicate them. So if that's what you were doing I trust that you'll forget any negative opinion of me or my RPing that may or may not have been associated with the implication? Cheers, and sorry if I misunderstood the comment.

Q., right, but landing on the moon and establishing permanent stay-over Luna stations aren't the same thing, are they? I don't contend the fact that your space programme has continued, or even that your Luna programme may not have ended. All that bothered me was that I was first to RP establishment of a base on the moon and you and Royce jumped in to say that it had already been done, and it rather came across as an overly-keen attempt to shoot me down even though I couldn't have known about something that wasn't even RP'd. You wouldn't have liked it if I'd done something like that. You're going to have to stop snipping at me. I haven't decided anything for anyone else, just gone with available information.

China, I have RP'd the Luna base thing, just recently, and it may well be partly behind the Roycelandian move, so scrutinise away. I think it's in my factbook thread, but I'd have to check. As to orbital weapons, they have been mentioned in the past. I'd struggle to give exact references as I think that it has been some time since I mentioned them, but I believe that we actually used them in the Bonstock conflict. The Soviets weren't heavily involved in that, so we contributed by knocking-out Bonstockian satellites with parasites lanched from 'mothership' satellites. Nations of the world nowadays would be well advised to perform checks, if possible, on their own satellites in light of what happened to Bonstock's orbital eyes, because they just might be covered in explosive and EM mines and/or bugs. I have a feeling that I actually got the idea from the PRC! (If anyone ever wants to kick up a diplomatic incident, especially if they're considered hostile to the world revolution, feel free to RP the discovery of such a parasite, by the way.)

OOC: Roycelandia does have orbital weapons- we've got some experimental railguns mounted on satellites, but nothing that I'd ever employ IC. More of "We have the technology, but not the inclination to use it"- just like Chemical/Biological weapons.

And BG, the comment wasn't intended as a personal attack, just a wry comment on how everything in the Soviet Commonwealth is bigger and better than anywhere else on the planet.

"In Soviet India, Car Drives You!" :P

Thank you, I'm here all week- Try the veal! :D

OOC-I guess the objection there would be on the question of what constitutes a base. Both the USQ and the Roiks would have stayed up there for multiples of days, perhaps even a joint exercise or two lasting several weeks. If outlasting us is where you want to make a lead, which would be fine. But I am not sure now, if that is what you are saying.

There would be bases built there already, some of which contain emergency supplies or experiments, and they would be currently unmanned, but probably checked on every time there is a mission up there. And, several times, people would move into there to stay for a period while in the neighbourhood, so to speak. In that way, there are permanent bases already. However, there are currently no permanent settlements, as the projected costs of something like that would strain the combined space programs of the world even if there were only a few people. This is a lot more than having people in an orbital station.

So, when the Soviets arrive on the Moon and set up another base, much like the ones that we already have, and then claim that the space race has finally turned in their favour, excuse us if we would be sceptical.

Everything that is stated has been a fairly logical inference based upon the progression of events with the presuppositions stated above. These are all plans that NASA had prior to losing Moon-capability. I just assumed then, that NASA and the Roiks would have continued with it, and not spent a lot of time worrying about it.

WWJD
Amen.

Railguns and orbital weapons! Was this ever RPed, even in a secret IC setting? Technologically, this is possible but something this big should really be RPed out. I think we should be clear on something inside AMW everyone - if your nation does not have it in RL, then you don't have it in AMW unless you RP it.

OOC: I'd have to do a search, but I'm pretty sure I've mentioned the Jupiter Project in RP before. It's purely a colour-addition, though- I've got no intention of actually deployong an orbiting railgun. That would be... "Unsporting", if you will.

OOC: Guys, relax. It's not worth bitching over.

Amen

OOC: My only problem with it, Q, was that while nobody had RP'd the establishment of Luna bases before I did, you posted after the fact in a way that read like it was supposed to make the Soviets look silly because I didn't know something that hadn't been written. But, if you have such facilities, all right, we'll accept that into AMW history and I'll just assume that the Soviet facilities are a step on from what I'd initially imagined (because we didn't wait this long just to do something that's already been done, if you see my meaning). The recent Soviet Luna mission will be assumed to have prepared more serious facilities for a follow-up visit of great ambition.

Royce, well, all right, so long as it is in good humour, then. Quite justified. The Soviets are into their grand public works, partly because they are trying to show the world that equality and economic democracy can compete with the 'best', and partly because the society in general is pretty inspired and enthusiastic (as much of it as is not stoned). Some are actively aware of the need to use current enthusiasm to complete projects that will generate their own enthusiasm, so that we don't lose our revolutionary momentum. And it's just coincidence that, in this case, the systems and plans we obtained from Russia are as big as they are... probably for similar reasons and their intended purpose of one-upping the US (and Royce, in our world).

To China, yeah, if any spacey weapons are going to be used we should all agree/understand in advance. For the record ours aren't that radical, just practical, I think. Mini-satellite parasites and ground-based anti-satellite missiles. We use lasers but only for targetting et cetera, at the moment, not as weapons in and of themselves, and I don't think that I've ever talked about orbital-based anti-surface weapons, so we've nothing like that.