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The best time of the day has arrived.

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You are Princess Lydia Tannhäuser Von Cygnus Gates the third, duchess of Tannhäuser and executive director of the Royal Rocketry Corps of Midland. Right now a large flying boat, The You are Princess Lydia Tannhäuser Von Cygnus Gates the third, duchess of Tannhäuser and executive director of the Royal Rocketry Corps of Midland., is splashing down in the lagoon. Onboard it is your best friend Amelia, as well as several important members of the press, eager to see just what you and your organization is up to.

Since you arrived on this island you have built a launch site suitable for sending large payloads into orbit, and started construction on a series of rockets that should eventually be able to put a man into orbit. While you can hardly wait to show them, all you have right now is an unfinished prototype of the first stage, with no upper stage or payload yet assembled.

You have 30 RnD points to spend and 2 luck points, your current inventory consists of a Single Mk4a Archangel rocket.
>Type: Lower stage Mass6/6 Reliability 9/13

>Wiki with archives and info: http://emlia.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WhatGoesUp.SpacePrincessQuest
>Rules: http://emlia.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php?n=WhatGoesUp.WhatGoesUp

All posts must use the royal we. Any suggestion unfitting a princess will be ignored

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Maybe somebody else can get me up to speed on how we've been rationing our points? It looks like the first stage is getting there but still needs work. I suppose we should keep improving it.

How is the island? Are the facilities up to par? Is the governor doing his job? I know we needed his vote but that guy didn't strike me as terribly reliable.

>>24098882
We should hold a tour of the existing facilities, and the locations where we plan to expand.
As for research, i dunno.
also
>Right now a large flying boat, The You are Princess Lydia Tannhäuser Von Cygnus Gates the third, duchess of Tannhäuser and executive director of the Royal Rocketry Corps of Midland.
I like this flying boat.

>>24098882
We shall conduct a tour of the new Tannhäuser Launch and Command Facility. We shall display for them our new Archangel series of rockets, with which we will send ever greater payloads into space.

Research:
10RP to Mk4a 14/18
10RP to Mk4b 15/20
3RP to Camera Module 10/14
3RP to Guidance Module 9/11
3RP to Manuevering Thrusters 3/6
1RP to construct a Mk3

The Mk3 will be used to test the Guidance Module once it is ready, and the military will want to see this as a potential weapon.

>>24098882
We shall speak to Mr. Radio about our new lifter and our near term goals of getting photography equipment up.

>>24099001
We should push more towards the camera module for now. Our near term goal it to put up a camera. Lets pull 7 from mk4b and put it into the Camera.

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>>24099232
Without the Mk4b, we can't put the camera into orbit and then retrieve the plates. If we can't retrieve the film, then there's no point in putting the camera up there.
Are you unaware of the rules?

>>24098999
Oh dear, Copy-paste error, my apologies. The Flying boat is named the "Maiale Volante".

>>24098978
The island is a coral Atoll surrounding an extinct underwater volcano. On the largest island you have constructed a large mansion, a launch pad, airfield, docks, and a small town housing the enlisted members of the RRC and various civilian tradesmen. The mansion has been equipped with a large radio-dish and observatory.

Lord Governor Savard has been doing a good job, but then again he hasn't had much of a challenge so far.

>>24099001
>>24099232
Although the Archangel has a capacity of mass 6, an upper stage is necessary to put objects larger than simplest of probes into orbit. With it's upper stage, the capacity is only 3. This is enough for a radio satellite, or a test capsule to see if a live animal can survive in the void inside of a protective shell, and return back to earth. A camera is a nice goal, but poses several technical chalenges best left for later launches. Once you get the Archangel into orbit, the design can be re-used as the upper stage for a larger rocket with a payload of 6.

A live animal test would require a Mass 1 test capsule, a control unit, and an RCS unit.
A radio satellite would require a radio-light, a control unit, and possibly photovoltaic cells if you want it to last longer than a few days.

>>24099338
We should promise different members of the press different interviewes. I know in our world we have magazines like popular mechanics and time magazine. Are there the equivalent here too? Also mister Raido needs a special interview with Sir Harkin about flying safely.

>>24099257
>>24099232

Could we just... launch with a first stage rocket, like a control unit, with a capsule and a camera?

We could launch it sub orbital! And have it go up, take some pictures, and then land!

>>24099439
>land
You mean crash.

>>24099439
>with a capsule and a camera
We don't have a capsule, so there's no way for the thing to land.

>>24098882

pretty *-*

>>24098744

seconded!

>>24099439

That's actually a good idea - a test of the capsule would be good, and even though it doesn't hit orbit, it'd make for an incredibly impressive picture. In fact, if all you want is a still picture, you can hit low-orbital ALTITUDE without the VELOCITY needed to actually orbit, and the picture would look the same.

It's something we can do cheaply-ish, it'll be excellent press, and testing the camera this way isn't a bad idea!

>>24099481

Nothing prevents you from building one. The points for this turn have still not been spent because of a lack of consensus. You could do this like, Right now, if you want to risk it. Build a mass 1 capsule, put 10 points into it, then the rest of the points into the Mk4b, camera, and guidance unit.
It would be risky, but it's not like we have bad luck launching things when the press is watching!

>>24099420

Currently on this island are representatives from,
>The Journal of the Royal Astrological society.
>The Suthland community messenger
>Western Skies
>Hafenstad Today
>The Firthbery times
>The Merikan Hearlad
>The Westrin Post.

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>>24099674

My vote is picture related. :D

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>>24099674
>it's not like we have bad luck launching things when the press is watching
Yeah, funny thing about that.

Rolled 2

>>24099674
>Hafenstad Today
>The Firthbery times
>The Merikan Hearlad
>The Westrin Post.
these 4 I assume are just newspapers right so we can give these 4 a standard tour but also show off the rest of the colony for possible tourism.

>Western Skies
This one could get a special interview from Sir Harken about space travel and the rigors that will be required for training Void Knights.

>The Suthland community messenger
request clarification on this one.

>The Journal of the Royal Astrological society.
This one we can have a dual interview consisting of both our Professor and General talking about the history of rocketry and its possible future.

>>24099758
That's not a quantifiable vote. How should the points be spent, and what shall you show the members of the press? The Colonel cannot keep them distracted for much longer

>>24099844
First we shall provide them a tour of the main island and facilities. Then we shall display our prototype Mk4a.

Then we shall provide more in-depth interviews.

>>24099844

Let's see...

Launching a Mk4A with an ad-hoc Size 2 capsule could be nice, but it wouldn't do much for us otherwise -- it would make researching a Size 3 capsule easier, though.

I'd work on the MK4A a little more, say to 12/16.

Inventing a Size 2 capsule would cost six, but getting it to a launchable state this turn is too risky, since it has to survive both reentry and landing. Guess we can't show off to the press...


We should be unfailingly polite to the Astrologers, of course.

>>24099932

I do think that a suborbital test of the possibly-orbital capsule is warranted, and that one might as well carry the camera. A picture from a suborbital flight that goes high enough looks exactly like a picture from an orbital flight that happens to fly above the launch pad. Either way it's impressive and it is a nice middle ground between a beep-beep-beep and a person in space, as far as keeping the people interested goes.

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>>24099674

I like to think we're past the whole, "blowing up months of progress in front of guests" phase of our life. Voting no.

Let's take the long view on this one.

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gonna call it now

inb4

>>24099960

Yeah, good point.

If we want to keep up our brashness though, we could announce a SELECTION TOURNAMENT for the FIRST PERSON IN SPACE, with at least some details to follow.

Of course the tournment should happen back home, for maximum visibility.

To the foreign press we can either disclose Jakisan's letter or not... I'd prefer to let Amelia leak it, she'd appreciate getting the gossip before everyone else, and it'll make the rounds just as fast.

>>24100016
Harker wanted to be the first person in space, and I think we should oblige him. Besides, I think we told him he'd be the first person when we brought him aboard.

>>24099843
The Suthland community messenger is a popular newspaper from the south. It covers a wide verity of topics and has a focus on social action and community. Those southerners are really big on Community and Equality and all that, they don't even have a noble class and each state gets a new leader every 5 years with a popular vote, Imagine that!

>>24099932
GM says, capsules can be a minimum size 1 to represent a capsule that can only Cary a small animal or camera.

>>24100016
Letter's already been leaked. And Amelia is on the island now, she arrived with the press.

Rolled 62

>>24100077

The Suthland community messenger will get an exclusive inter view from many of the enlisted(provided we screen what they use first, classified material after all maybe) on the living conditions of the colony and how exciting it is to be moving science and the world in a forward direction.

>>24100077
If the letter has already been leaked, lets show the press a rough tour of our facility and the new Arcangel rocket, before announcing the Royal Tournament to find the Kingdom's first Void Knight!

Nobles only of course, and a small 'donation' from any paticipating family would be greatly appreciated.

>>24100122
So you're completely sidelining Harker?

>>24100057

Harker almost caused an international incident. He's good enough to make the candidates list for sure, but he gets in line with everyone else, helping design the trials is enough of an advantage.

>>24100077

In that case, 3+10 gets us a 6/11 capsule that JUST might be able to take pictures next turn! I'd still wait for a bigger capsule though, that gives us a platform to do serious experiments in.

If the letter has been leaked then it behooves us to give an official answer.

"We hope that this friendly competition between our great nations will reassure the world of our good intentions. The more we can learn from each other the less incentive we have to blow each other up!"

>>24100122

We should also ask Father if, should for whatever reason a cadet of a noble family be selected, they might be knighted for the occasion, surely being the first person in space would warrant it?

That should expand the field nicely.

>>24100139

I wouldn't. He gets to toss his hat in, AND he gets to help design the trails so he has an advantage.

>>24100139
He's a noble, he can compete as well, if he wants.

>>24100153
Yup, I support both the potential for knighting and the proposal that Harker can design the trials. (With our input of course)

>>24100077
After we provide a tour of the facility and show off the Mk4a Rocket prototype, we shall take questions from the assembled journalists.
We shall acknowledge Merika's new rocket program.
"We wish Ms. Jakisan the best of luck, and hope that this friendly competition promotes the advancement of science for all peoples of the world."

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>>24100139

Harker is determinately a good enough pilot, but he's also barking mad with more than a bit of a death wish. Not exactly my first choice for somebody to pilot a massive tube full of kerosene and oxygen. Doesn't mean we can't make use of him though. How many people could a capsule hold hypothetically? Maybe we could pair him up with somebody that isn't completely bipolar.

>>24100303

A two-person capsule just needs to be 1 bigger, the main issue is air tanks and so on, they'll need to be doubled. It does mean redundancy in case of injury, and a specialist pilot and engineer instead of one person to do everything.

Harker is a dapper gentleman and eh flies fast and doesn't afraid of anything, but is not essential.

>>24100303
From the Capsule section, a single astronaut would Mass 1 (including Life Support for 1 turn). So the Capsule would need to be at least Mass 4 to have 2 people (since it needs an RCS to de-orbit, and the Capsule itself is Mass 1).

>The Journal of the Royal Astrological society.
"Announcing a tournament for purpose of selecting of Astroknight's for manned orbital flight."

>The Suthland community messenger
"Midland princess anatoa ujumbe wa amani kwa ulimwengu"

>Western Skies
"Flying on the other side of the sky, Sir Harker on overcoming the many challenges of high altitude flight."

>Hafenstad Today
"Inside the Royal Rocket corps"

>The Firthbery times
"The sea and the skies, Princess Lidia's island estate."

>The Merikan Hearlad
"Midland vorstin bied 'n boodskap van vrede vir die wêreld"

>The Westrin Post.
"Beyond jet propulsion. RRC alchemists on the development of the largest rocket ever built."

>>24100424

It could also have a Thruster and 1 fuel (we'll need to develop a thruster eventually) but that's 1 more mass for the lower stages to carry.

This is now officially a race, let's not squander our lead.

>>24100435

Woo hoo! Awesomesauce.

We want to be nice to the Astrologers, although if Minerva feels like snarking, she's certainly entitled to. We can play good cop.

The tournment should be a very formal affair, to show that we are continuing tradition rather than breaking with it. It may even have actual jousting in it as a way to gauge reflexes. How's that sound?

>>24100435
Yay I helped. We should celebrate the successful news after the press leaves. Hopefully the newspaper from those other countries had nice things to say.

>>24100492

>"Midland princess anatoa ujumbe wa amani kwa ulimwengu"
"Midland princess wastes money on vanity project while her people must eat stray birds"

>"Midland vorstin bied 'n boodskap van vrede vir die wêreld"
"Midland scum promises reign of terror through rods from the gods"

>>24100517
Haha peasants they just mad that they can't into space( but really mean things to say, its ok when we save the world we'll remember to show them these articles, now if you don't mind there is something in my eye)

>>24100557
The Professora tells you that's not what they say at all.

>>24100576
>>24100557

(I was being silly) What do they say, in seriousness?

>>24100589
You jerk( its ok that made me laugh. Imagining sir Harkin telling us what that said)

>>24100589
"Midland princess offers a message of peace to the world" in Swahili and Afrikaans. Or rather, Suthish and Bastard Nordic. The languages you speak are Alglish, Romantic, and Archaic. (English, Italian, and Latin)

And Minerva smacks Sir Harker on the back of his helmet with the newspaper.

>>24100634
Thank you god mother. Also contact mister RAIDO and thank him for coming to our little island and putting us back on the spotlight.

So what's the plan fellow rocketeers? I'm interested in getting at least a suborbital camera shot, because it's something that people can connect with and makes a nice intermediate between satellite and Void Knight.

>>24100453
If by jousting you mean mock air battles, yes indeed.

>>24100663
"No I have to thank you for inviting me here your highness. But if you insist, could you give the listeners back home a hint at when and what you are going to launch yet? Surely this new rocket must be carrying something impressive."

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>>24100634

This advisor seriously hopes this headline doesn't come back to bite us in the collective bottom after we have climbed the stars on the jackbooted (and Air Force emblazoned) heels of progress.

The moral dilemna of opening space with military collaboration, if not the military dollar, is enough to give one pause. A momentary pause, of course, there is serious science to be done.

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>>24100701

Fuck it. You're the rocket dude(ette?), if you think we can launch with a modicum of reliability I'll support it. Let's just manage expectations among the press so we don't have a repeat of the party.

>>24100746

I'd have some of that, some swimming (to test endurance) and a formal reception immediately afterwards (during which a few servants will be told to take note, to test composure after an adrenaline rush).

>>24100701

This humble advisor expresses support for the suborbital shot as well. It is a far less hasty step and the embarassment of a failure, while severe, would perhaps be not as severe as a full-on launch.

>>24100793

On top of that, a sufficiently high suborbital shot gets good pictures. We should point out that we are preparing to send someone into space, but it would be wrong to send our proudest warriors out there without adequate preparation, we are not barbarians! Besides, finding the perfect candidate will take as long as constructing the perfect rocket.

How will you spend the points? Will you build the capsule or not? It can be used to return film or carry a test animal. And will give a bonus to creating a larger capsule.

>>24100900

My vote is yes; both are necessary anyway. We can do the capsule for 2, get it to 6/10 for 10, and the rest can be spent for the Mk4.

What critter should we send up? I'd do either a bird or small mammal, my preference is bird because it's more likely to live through it.

Or we could send up a fish in a bowl. That's actually not a stupid thing to do, as the water will dampen some acceleration.

Does this world have any author equivalent to Griffith or Verne?

>>24100930

Derp, I meant 4

>>24100775

Agreed with this. I don't think we can launch this turn, but next is a definite yes.

>>24100960
Inventing and building Small capsule for 4
>Type: Capsule , Mass 1, Capacity: 0, Reliability 6/10

16 points remain.

>>24100990

Let's do science to the camera module - it has to work well, no point in sending a rocket up if the lens cap stays on (This happened to a Soviet Venus probe IIRC). Besides the "Definitive map of the world" project is something with both civilian and military use. And then we can launch it next turn! I wonder if it'll make it into next semester's science textbooks?

>>24101043
How much science? And what about the Mk4 and guidance unit?

>>24101043

This advisor is still a little shaky on the rules, but an improvement from 6/10 to 9/10 reliability would be 3 points? (and future camera modules may be built at 1 point cost at the same reliability?)

That would leave us some points to possibly improve upon the reliability of the sub-orbital stage that is carrying the capsule into the clouds. While it has been some time since the last fizzle with the press, another failure now might bring some best-forgotten memories to light.

>>24101127
Yes, improving a rocket part improves all future instances of that part.

If you are building a new part, and you have an existing part of the same type that is no less than half it's size (round down) you also get a small bonus to it's starting reliability.

>>24101127

Yes on the rules. A thing that masses 2 costs 2 per point to improve, etc.

Right now we've just started work on the capsule, so it can only get so good in one turn. The "so good" is 5/5

Agreed on not needing to rush - we are ahead.

>>24101164

Yep. Instead of starting at 1/5 it starts at 5/10 to represent not having to reinvent the wheel. However the smaller part must have flown successfully.

We have to wonder what Jakisan will do next... (Jakisan Kenaway, I keep wanting to write Janeway)

>>24101127

Upon review, this advisor has found it rather difficult to find R&D costs for improving the reliability of specific payloads, but assumes they are the same as other components, 1 point per mass to a maximum of 5/5 per R&D turn. (the heavy use of "thing" is actually somewhat confusing).

>>24101186
>>24101195

Aha, this advisor begins to understand. Perhaps a little editing of more specific terms may help the ruleset's overall readability?

In any case, this advisor would suggest maximal improvement to the thruster stage. The remaining points can go towards the camera development. It will be a great humiliation if the camera fails to capture a suitable image, but far greater humiliation awaits if we are unable to bring the payload into orbit at all.

>>24101230

True, but suborbital pictures look as good as orbital pictures, give us almost as much scientific information, and are easier to get -- if nothing else, they'll come down eventually.

>>24101195

Sorry about that. I was trying to use small words as per http://xkcd.com/1133/

>>24101230
Remember, Improving the Mk4b costs 3 points per rank.

Spent 15 points to improve Mk4b to 10/20? Y/N?

>>24101312

I like that because of the 20 number. At the worst, barring supreme bad luck, the rocket fizzles and we can just try again quickly.

Plus, this can become a "workhorse" launcher for communication satellites.

>>24101363
Alright, a single point remains.

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>>24101363
>>Barring extremely bad luck.

>>24101437

More to the camera maybe? Alternatively, work on the radio-reactive battery a little more. If it gets to where it can power, say, a nautical buoy (even if it'd never be cost effective) it can present the technology in a more positive light.

>utterly ndnessb

>>24101489
You have not developed the Radio-thermal core yet. Doing so would be 3 points.

>>24101489

Whoops, I derped. I change my vote to working on the camera some more, just in case.

On that note, maybe it'll become necessary to retrieve dropped film canisters, is Harker up to that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_(satellite)

>>24101516

More to camera then. Let's make sure it works.

>>24101533
Improving camera module. 10/12 no points remain.

Well it's getting late now, but before I go to bed, how do you reply to Mr Radio's question?

>>24100768
I dont even. What.

If I recall correctly all of the pilots for the Apollo, Gemini, and Mercury programs were form the Air Force.

So if we're gonna climb to the stars on "jackboots" Hell fucking yeah we're getting up there.

>>24100746

"A worthy and fortunate knight will see the world as the gods do, very soon. But we should make sure there's something for the rest of us to look at, no? We have enjoyed stargazing through all of history, now it's about time it went the other way."


>>24101636

Not quite. There was a big tiff between the USAF and newly formed NASA about very few USAF trained astronauts getting to fly on NASA mission when all was said and done.

>>24101671

Basically while it's true that the first group of astronauts were all military, there was a lot less overlap than the US military wanted after that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_13

Then this other thing happened, which was kinda cool.

>>24101600

This advisor counsels caution in tipping our hand too readily and inflaming the ever-present passions of the press. A subtle hint perhaps to appease them, such as: "We have let the people of Midland hear sound from space; the next step is of course to entertain the sense of sight," strikes this advisor as a fitting first draft, though it is one that is plenty open to revision from wiser (and perhaps less sleepy) heads that this one.

>>24101893

FWIW I like yours better than mine ^^

"You heard it hear folks, our princess promises pictures from space! This is Mister Radio signing off!"

Alright, time for bed. No game tomorrow because I have work, and I will start late the day after because class.

>>24102055

As usual, thank you!