At the start of the year, the scientific community is humming. Designs have recently been completed for the first conventional engine, and researchers expect to have a finalized design in a matter of days. Meanwhile, research has commenced on cryogenic transportation, the first grav sensors, and expansions in both shipyard operations, mining production, and planetary construction rates.
In the meantime, conventional industry on the planet continues to transition over to newer and better designs. [ooc](Author's Note: To simulate this having gone on for awhile, I have automatically adjusted industry and redistributed 5,000 of the 8,000 original conventional industry - 2k to construction, 1k to mines, 1k to refineries, and 500 to ordinance and fighter factories)[/ooc]
On January 6, the finalized design of the Bishop-Flynn 5 EP Conventional Engine is sent to ship designers at Franklin Naval Shipbuilding. They immediately begin designing the first geological survey vessel, the Patroclus.
Patroclus-class Geological Survey Vessel
Size: 4,650 tons
Crew Compliment: 90
Top Speed: 161 km/sec
Range: 5. 2 billion km
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months
Maintenance Life: 1. 31 years
Fuel Capacity: 100k liters
Bishop-Flynn 5 EP Conventional Engine (3)
Geological Survey Sensors (1)
Clearly it is not the most efficient design, but mankind has much to learn about space travel and this vessel will serve both to survey other bodies in the atmosphere and to provide valuable data on space travel back to scientists in an effort to improve technology.
Administrator Faulkner has made it clear that her first objective is to establish extra-planetary colonies in the solar system within the next 15 years. The Patroclus-class will serve as the vanguard for this objective. Unfortunately, the Franklin shipyards are only capable of handling ships up to 1,000 tons, so an immediate expansion is ordered to bring them to 6,000 tons. It will take them almost five years to complete this task, but that will give the scientists time to continue to research improvements that may speed things up.
It is early April when a team of scientists, led by Brooke Quinn, make a breakthrough in the realm of cryogenic transportation. Previously it had been the stuff of science fiction, but Trans-Newtonian materials have opened up a door to turn fiction into reality. It also moves the UEA one step closer to achieving Faulkner's 15-year goal.
For much of the next five years things work at a steady pace. Jamie Horton's team continues to make breakthroughs in improvements in engine tech, while Abigail Lees and her team produce valuable refinements and new technologies in the field of Construction and Production.
In early January, 2118, Horton's team finishes research into a new type of engine - Nuclear Thermal engines. These engines are more powerful and take up far less space than their conventional counterparts. Research is immediately ordered into two variants - a 5 EP that is 1/25th the size of the original 5 EP conventionals, and a 25 EP that is 1/5 the size of the originals. As Franklin's shipyard is not expected to be ready until the end of the year, the research should help determine which engine is the best for use in the Patroclus.
The data is provided the following month. Using the same number of 5 EP Nuclear Thermal engines drastically reduces the size of the Patroclus to a mere 700 tons, while increasing her speed by a factor of 10! Using 3 of the 25 EP engines, the speed approaches 2,800 km/sec while the size is only 1,350 tons. This creates a major dilemma with the ship designers, because the increase in speed means that the deployment time could be reduced. After careful consideration, the revised Patroclus is presented:
Patroclus-class Geological Survey Vessel (2118 revision)
Size: 2,000 tons
Crew Compliment: 50
Top Speed: 1,875 km/s
Range: 41. 4 billion km
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months
Maintenance Life: 8. 89 years
Fuel Capacity: 350k liters
Wade Engineering 25 EP Nuclear Thermal Engine (3)
Geological Survey Sensors (2)
The most notable differences between the old and the new are the addition of additional fuel capacity and a second geological survey sensor. The ship's speed is over ten times what it was originally. The downside is that it will now take the shipyards one year to produce a Patroclus, down from just over six months. It is a minor trade-off, considering that the revised design will be able to accomplish more in a shorter amount of time. To further aid in the construction efforts, the design is locked down and the key parts are manufactured away from the shipyard. This will help reduce the time the ship is under construction for.
In early 2119 Franklin Naval Shipbuilding announces the completion of their expansion and begins laying down the keel of the Patroclus. Thanks to the foresight shown the previous year, there is a sufficient stockpile of the major components, particularly the geological sensors (which take forever to make), so that the ship will be completed in only four months as opposed to a year.
After almost five years of waiting and working, humanity is about to return to space and truly explore the solar system for the first time. . .
