Lmfao I really needed that today. I'm not kidding it's been a rough day when it comes to my recovery and you have me in stitches haha. Wish I could hug you lol. Okay I just have to figure out how to ,work that one in lol. If I can I will. Really I'm literally laughing my head off lol.
Why the Chinese play cricket (an Imperial Federation timeline)
- Thread starter Miss Construction
- Start date
"So, Mr. Bönd, you have uncovered her majesty's best kept secret, the clandestine jewel of The Empire. If only you had been faster, for now you shall watch helplessly as I launch your pathetic Emperor Wilhelm directly into the sun!"
I hate to come in and be the debbie downer here, but how practical is building a launch site in a caldera atop a mountain? I've watched videos of NASA moving their rockets around and they seem to have a hard enough time building something to crawl them along the perfectly flat ground of Cape Canaveral, never mind god knows how far up who knows what gradient to the top of the fourth highest mountain in the world (by prominence).
I really hope there is a practical solution, because I'll be damned if this isn't the coolest thing I've ever heard of in a TL.
Also, I think this might be my first comment here? So, hi! Glad to hear you're on the way up MC, I was so happy to a proper Imperial Federation TL.
I really hope there is a practical solution, because I'll be damned if this isn't the coolest thing I've ever heard of in a TL.
Also, I think this might be my first comment here? So, hi! Glad to hear you're on the way up MC, I was so happy to a proper Imperial Federation TL.
Oh not at all. Especially Kilimanjaro, since it's 6,000 kms above sea level. Launch sites need good port and rail connections to transport the very heavy vehicles, payloads and infrastructure needed to conduct a space program, and a mountain launch site where most of your pad workers probably won't even be able to breathe without an oxygen tank would throw a major spanner in the works.
You could make an argument based off of secrecy, and there certainly have been and are secret satellite launch sites, but these are mostly situated in Deserts (White Sands, Jiquan, Baikonur) of which Kenya has no shortage anyway.
6000 Kms? if its that tall you wouldn't need to launch to space, you'd already be there.
OMG stop it you'll kill me from laughter lol
(Kidding, keep it up really need it lol)
Trust me I'm well aware of the massive difficulty in pulling this one off. Well beyond even hooking up TLL sensitive parts to truck battery to shift the timeline in the direction I want. But as you say, OMG it's the coolest thing ever to dump in a TL.
And thank you, I'm getting there, going to be a long slog but I'll get there. And welcome, constructive criticism like you just gave is very much appreciated.
OMG don't need to tell me the problems, probably insurmountable. But OMG I SO SO want this lol.
Okay so for some utterly incomprehensible reason I've been looking into the feasibility of this. First issue is Mt Kilimanjaro is surrounded by lush equatorial forests inhabited by elephants, buffalo, various primates and best of all leopards, ideal Bond villain stuff.
Unfortunately the region is also inhabited by humans of the Chugga tribe. Luckily this easily overcome by either simply forcibly removing them (something the Empire is an old hand at) or even better just leaving them there and not worrying about if a rocket falls on them (again behaviour not entirely unheard of by the Empire). Plus gives you on call "natives" for whatever purpose is required.
Okay having solved the "what happens if the rocket runs amuck " issue, we move on to the technical feasibility of actually getting the rocket up there. A Titan-Gemini two man spacecraft has a launch weight of 150,000kg. Obviously simply dragging it up there is not going to work. So the question is what will?
The answer of course is heavy lift helicopters moving rocket components to the crater for assembly in situ. Naturally these helicopters should be painted black sporting some suitable nefarious corporate logo to hide government involvement.
Right what we need is a heavy lift helicopter capable of lifting say 5,000kg to 6,000m. This is actually entirely possible which 1960s technology, with only 30-40 flights required to get the rocket up there. So I'd say the project is technically feasible. Insane but feasible. However it is a Bond villain lair we're talking about here so insane goes with the package.
We also have the fact that the rocket is being launched at an altitude of 6,000m just 3° off the equator. This should allow either the launch vehicle weight to be reduced or payload increased. I'll go with more payload for better Bond villain evil plans.
So we have the scene. The black heavy lift helicopter flies into the crater at night, a massive iris valve type camouflaged door opens to reveal a helipad. The Helicopter lands and is lowered by lift into the secret underground
So OMG it IS possible. Insane but possible. Now just need to figure out how to crowbar it into the TL lol.
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Rather then do either, recruit them as your super loyal and deadly guards to protect the area. There bound to be plenty of jobs at this base, and why risk leaks with outsiders when you have a local workforce who would be happy with basic riches and luxuries.
They can be the rocket bases Gurkhas, cleaners, chefs, maintenance staff, basicly everything other than the specialists, astronauts or rocket scientists.
I think that falls under the "whatever purpose is required" heading lol. But yes of course that goes without saying. You need your "native" elite guards, special highly trained and dedicated ruthless henchmen or women, cannon fodder and general flunkies. We also need generous quantities of sub machine guns, probably of the Madsen M1950 type.
I'm just still getting over the shock of it can actually be done. I can't think of a single reason of why it would be done, but it can be lol.
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Imo, traditional launch site is not very fissible there, but some alternative launch system could work. Somethings like SpinLaunch irl? Basically spinning things really fast in the vacum and launching it into orbit.
Its much cheaper even if it limits payload size. But big ass mountain near equator? Would be helpful in making this work, via reduced energy needs for such space launch.
And it could be something that Federation would want to keep to themselves, its not exactly rocket science so could be copied.
Reliable and cheap way of throwing satelites into space? They would be all over it.
Its much cheaper even if it limits payload size. But big ass mountain near equator? Would be helpful in making this work, via reduced energy needs for such space launch.
And it could be something that Federation would want to keep to themselves, its not exactly rocket science so could be copied.
Reliable and cheap way of throwing satelites into space? They would be all over it.
Someone suggests it citing the advantages of launching from altitude, some progress on implementing the idea is made before some buzzkill eventually orders a report which inevitably brings up all the sundry problems with the idea.
Lmfao, this one might actually work. But right, enough Bond villainous discussion. Let's get out of the 1910s before worrying about the 1960s. However this is VERY DEFINITELY penciled in to the timeline if I ever get that far.
The Third Iteration had an airship dogfight
Several subsequent posts about this.