The Federation Tribune - January 2004
Clare Bradley
clarerose at yahoo.com
Fri Feb 6 23:41:22 CET 2004
==== The Federation Tribune ====
==== January 2004 ====
Got a question? Visit the Newspaper FAQ!
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Academy Status Report by Rob Verlinden
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Current Stardate 2386.9.14
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Lost Cadets (4):
Cadet Giskard Reventlov, played by Giskard Reventlov
Cadet Astri, played by Darla Shaw
Cadet Bryan Lewis, played by Paul Clark
Cadet Ballis Maxwell, played by Dean Inglis
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New Signups (7):
4 useless, leaves 3
Individual Cadets (7):
Cadet Ben Pierce, played by Dan Winters (Clare)
Cadet Kate Armstrong, played by Jemimah Hawley (John)
Cadet Da´nel Stephensen, played by Martin Gonzales (Marvin)
Cadet Sean Dempsey, played by Sean Dempsey (Wes)
Cadet Jed Natale, played by Jed Natale (Adrian)
Cadet Thomas Collet, played by Thomas Collet (Mike)
Cadet Pez Xava, played by Aaron Gulliver (David)
List Training (0):
Graduations (3):
Cadet Kicent K'meric Qusiar, played by Eric Hess => ACEO Calhoun
Cadet R'von, played by Glenn Parker => ASTC Pandora
Cadet Ayette Tingle, played by Astrid Henricsson => HN Pandora
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End of Status Report
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Pandora Station Status Report December 2003 by Rob Versteegt
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Remnants of the past
Stardate: 2391.03.06/2391.03.12
Locations: USS Solstice, and the planet Tollaxana
On the planet Tollaxana, the away team, consisting of Captain
Janssens, Commander Essar, Ensigns Ja'al, Jalando, Murdock and
Russet, and some security crewmen, went down the cave, using the
Tollaxan's elevator. After a ride of about 10 minutes, the party
arrived at where they should...
Some lights suddenly went on, and revealed... some 1500 stasis pods.
All filled with Tollaxans. The team decided that they wouldn't open
those pods, until they knew exactly how, and why these Tollaxans were
here in stasis. But not all went as planned. Suddenly, the first
stasis pod in the row started to open... revealing an elder Tollaxan.
Captain Janssens saw that this Tollaxan was having trouble breathing.
So, after some quick thinking, he contacted the Solstice, and let the
Tollaxan being beamed to sickbay. After that, the Captain himself
beamed back to the Solstice... to see how the Tollaxan was doing...
and maybe to get some information of course...
After the Captain had beamed away, the rest of the away team went on,
to search for some answers in the cave. But all they found was more
mysteries. The 2 science officers found a few murals, displaying an
alien race... and one of those murals seemed to be very important:
several of those lights were pointed at it. It also seemed to be
slandered... it had some sort of paint all over it.
On the Solstice, Doctors Truesdale and Vok, and XGO Underhill had
taken crewman Robertson, who had lost his memory, out on a tour
through the ship. When they came back to sickbay, they found an alien
lying on a biobed: the elderly Tollaxan. He seemed to be having
trouble breathing. So Doctors Truesdale and Underhill went to work,
and successfully made the Tollaxan breath better. Captain Janssens
came to look up on the Tollaxan, who called himself Zertok Li-En.
Zertok told the Captain that there were about 10.000 Tollaxans, still
in stasis, back on the planet. Luckily, they wouldn't need any
medical help, when they would awaken.
The little sickbay was getting even more crowded, when the new Head
Nurse, Doctor Tingle, reported for duty. At this time, Captain
Janssens and Mr. Li-En went to the messhall... Mr. Li-En seemed to be
hungry...
The away team, meanwhile, decided it would be better to return to the
Solstice. No other Tollaxans were waking up, and all the information
that could be collected, was collected. So after another ride with
the elevator, and some walking, the away team arrived at the
shuttlecraft, in which they went back to the Solstice. When they
finally arrived there, ensign Jalando went to study their findings,
and Commander Essar and Ensign Ja'al walked to the messhall, where
they would find Mr. Li-En.
But Commander Essar was called away, because of a priority one
message from starfleet. And when Ja'al finally arrived in the
messhall, and started speaking with Li-En, Captain Janssens was
called away by commander Essar. Apparently, the two had something
important to talk about. Which didn't disturb Ja'al... Mr. Li-En had
a lot to tell. Apparently, the Tollaxans had encountered an alien
race, the Naimlessians, who at first, acted friendly: sharing
technologies, etc. But when their true intentions were made clear,
the Tollaxans were powerless to stop them. The Naimlessians wanted a
very valuable mineral from Tollaxana, so they started a war... When
that war was finally over, the Naimlessians retreated, and poisoned
the Tollaxan's atmosphere... forcing the Tollaxans to go into stasis.
Meanwhile, in the Captain's ready room, Commander Essar told Captain
Janssens that he would leave soon: his new ship, the USS Atlantis,
was waiting for him. Knowing that he would loose his First Officer
sooner then was planned, Captain Janssens told Essar he could take
the transwarpshuttle, so that the Atlantis wouldn't depart without
it's captain...
Again, back in sickbay, while Dr. Vok was talking with Mr. Holmes
about the Captain and the Tollaxans, Mr. Robertson escaped sickbay,
and ran towards the messhall... luckily, he was found by Dr.
Truesdale... who will do anything to get Mr. Robertson back to
sickbay.
Luckily, Ms. Truesdale was able to bring Mr. Robertson back to
sickbay. Doctor Vok called Mr. Murdock, who was going to talk to
Robertson, in private. This was done because both Vok and Truesdale
thought this could restore some of Robertson's memory.
While those 2 were talking to each other, Truesdale, Vok, Tingle and
Underhill decided to try and learn everything they could about Elkor.
It was still unclear for them, who this Elkor was, and why only the
Captain could see him. The answer was given to them by Ja'al, who had
talked to the Tollaxan Li-En. Ja'al told the 2 Doctors, the Head
nurse and the XGO that Elkor was actually a computer program, which
was transmitted on the same frequency as the Captain's
brainfrequency. That's why only the captain could see him. This also
meant that if either the Tollaxans stopped transmitting on that
frequency, or if the Captain would be far enough away from the
planet, this Elkor wouldn't be bothering him anymore.
Captain Janssens had talked to starfleet about the situation the
Tollaxans were in now. He knew the Solstice wasn't able to carry
10.000 or more passengers... or even making sure they are all in good
health. So Starfleet agreed to send ships, to assist the Solstice,
and the Tollaxans.
About a week later, most of the Tollaxans were now out of stasis,
despite the Bauglirium, a rare mineral, which absorbed most of the
solar energy. The starfleet ships had helped the Tollaxans with their
awakening, and with their adjustment to their planet...
The Solstice had now left Tollaxana. Their work was done... After
saying farewell, the Solstice went to warp, back to Pandora
station...
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USS Atlantis Status Report by Merijn Donders
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=== Mission Summary, by Merijn Donders ===
2391.03.17
The last place the crew of the Atlantis would want to be, is the
place they are now... in orbit of Draysius Prime. None aboard had any
faith left in any success of this so-called diplomatic mission.
Ambassador Von Klinkerhoffen, her attaché Demetrius and Commander
Gerard had beamed down to the surface for a meeting with the Draysian
diplomats. Though, seeing how they handled their disputes with other
races, they started to wonder if there actually were any friendly
feelings beneath their stubborn and arrogant appearance.
2391.03.18
Waking up in the middle of the night is never a joyous occasion,
especially if the reason in murder. CPO Bodriz discovered a young
crewman, strangled to death on C deck. The STC, James Raynor, was at
the scene rapidly and shortly after informed the CO, who in his turn
called the CEO to the spot. Now the trio stand amidst a difficult
situation, with the Draysian government and the hostile stowaway on
one side and the tired, confused crew of the USS Atlantis on the
other side. The investigation is now well on the way, lead by the
STC, and the CEO is checking the sections for probable sabotage.
Little do they know of the threat lurking behind the second moon of
Draysius prime. A small fleet waiting for their chance to engage the
Atlantis, with a short-fused and ill-tempered high commander in
charge.
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STATUS REPORT: USS Odyssey by Dennis Church
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Stardate 2391.03.02
With a bold plan involving a distraction on the bridge, a team
working in the science lab, and a mind meld with one of the affected
klingons, the crew of the Odyssey managed to overcome the
brainwashing affects of the probe and save the Klingon ship that
initially sent the distress call from the same effects.
The crew is now celebrating the Captain’s birthday, though it is a
rather somber celebration considering all that has happened.
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PR status report: December 2003 by Rob Versteegt
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Maybe it was because of the holidays... or maybe people weren't
looking for a new challenge on the end of a year. But whatever the
reason: there were only 9 signups in December. 2 of them found us
through startrek.com messageboards, 4 through google or another
search engine, 1 through PbeM.com, 1 by e-mail, and one because of a
friend in FF. (THANKS! ;-) )
And what has PR been up to last month?
- Flooded (okay, not the right word, but you know what I mean <G>)
the startrek.com message boards, pbem.com, pbem-portal.com etc with
christmas-song-ad's.
- Started the 'come be a doctor with FF' campaign: we are also
working at a 'come be an OPS officer with FF' campaign...
- Wished everyone at the startrek.com message boards and pbem.com a
merry christmas and a happy new year... posted the link to the
christmas card.
- Posted a link to our website at several websites.
- Etc etc etc.
As PR Chief, I also got one request to make to everyone in FF... If
you have a website, please add a link to FF to the page... Every
little bit helps! ;-) You can also put FF banners on your site. You
can get those from this adress: http://banners.frontierfleet.net.
Rob Versteegt
PR-Chief FrontierFleet
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USS Valkryie Status Report by Clare Bradley
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Current Stardate: Stardate 2391.03.15
While patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone, the USS Valkyrie
discovered a Borg Icosahedron vessel. Clearly damaged, and apparently
lacking a cohesive collective, several independent drones of various
races sent out distress signals. When the Valkyrie caught up to the
vessel near an uninhabited moon, a Romulan science vessel soon
decloaked, and began attacking the icosahedron. The Valkyrie was not
quick enough in it's attempt to end the battle. In a final attempt to
destroy their enemy, the Romulan vessel rammed the icosahedron. The
two vessels, locked together from the collision, began to plummet
towards the surface of the moon. As the icosahedron entered the
atmosphere, the Valkyrie received a transmission from Ender Durron,
the ship's former Chief of Security, who had been assimilated two
months earlier.
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USS CALHOUN / DELTA ONE STATUS REPORT by Adrian Rodd
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STARDATES
2390.05.09
2391.03.24
2392.02.28
2402.04.02
The crews of the different timezones begin trying to cooperate to
solve their common temporal puzzle, but each also has its own issues
to attend to, as energy parasites plague the ship in the early
twenty-fifth century, and aliens in 2392 are persuaded the crew are
gods. . . And members of the crew have to deal with the emotions
brought about by a glimpse into the future and hints as to their
own fate. . .
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The Alpha Centauri Mystery - Part 8 by Ben Versteegt
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Summary:
It seems the Alpha Quadrant is in danger - again. The Dominion war is
just over, and now another danger comes looking around the corner:
some mysterious samples with radiation which can be used as an
enormous power source. Ensign Sandra Burke has fled the Starfleet
base on Alpha Centauri, which was destroyed by Romulans who were
after the samples Sandra has with her.
A Cardassian was also after those samples, but has been captured by
Sandra and Zaag, a Ferengi bartender who has come with Sandra to the
Excelsior class USS Aquinas, captained by "Uncle Pete" Ayer, a
Starfleet Captain who knows Sandra very well. Now, they are chased by
another Starfleet vessel, a Prometheus class, which has them
outgunned and outclassed. The Aquinas gets fired upon by this vessel,
and is forced to drop out of warp. During the following fight, the
Aquinas is almost destroyed. The damage is extensive.
Captain Ayer decides to eject the warp core, together with some
anti-matter containment pods. He plans on detonating the core to stop
the Prometheus class vessel. The problem is that the Aquinas herself
will most likely be destroyed by the explosion. Yet Captain Ayer
figures they will either die in battle, or from the explosion caused
by detonating the warp core. With pain in his heart, he gives the
order to detonate the core.
And now the continuation:
Lieutenant Watters looked up, horrified and amazed. He didn't expect
this order from the Captain. "We're going to die..." he murmured
under his breath. His head slowly moved down, and his eyes finally
rested on his console. One light on the console was lit up more than
the others. He only had to tap on it to initiate the warp core
detonation. His hand slowly moved towards the spec of light. He knew
full well that it was he who had to bring the crew of the Aquinas to
their deaths. He had to detonate the core, and he would die shortly
after. He just knew it.
Yet he tapped the light.
"Detonating warp core, sir." he said with a lump in his throat.
"Shockwave approaching, Captain," a young Ops officer reported.
"Sandra, full thrusters. Get us as far away from the shockwave as
possible." Ayer said softly. There were tears in his voice. "Bridge
to Zjavick. We need all the power you can give us to shields,
thrusters and structural integrity. Now."
"Aye," Zjavick replied briskly over the comm. He had work to do.
"Five seconds to shockwave impact!" the Ops ensign shouted.
"Let's hope that shockwave does as much damage to our pursuers as it
does to us," Ayer said, and then in a louder voice, "All hands, brace
for impact!"
Sandra looked at Zaag, then at Ayer for one last time. She nodded to
the Captain as a final goodbye. He nodded back, and sat in his chair.
Grabbing hold of the armrests, he waited for a few seconds; waiting
for his own destruction.
"Sandra..." she turned around to see Zaag, looking at her. There was
pain in his eyes. It was the pain of a man who knew he was not only
going to lose his own life, but also the life of the one he loved.
Sandra smiled faintly. It was all she could do to respond to Zaag,
before the shockwave hit them.
The shields initially took most of the damage, and the Aquinas was
hurled forward uncontrollably, riding on the shockwave like a
surfboard on a wave. But after only a few moments the shields failed
again. The shockwave made contact with the hull again. The warp
engines were pulverized on impact. Explosions were seen all over the
ship, parts of the hull spontaneously breached and were vaporized by
the power of the shockwave, and various systems overloaded.
On the Bridge, nobody could say a thing. The ride had been hectic at
first, and it was difficult to stay seated, but with the shields
gone, things got even worse. The ship shook violently, and the crew
now had no way of staying in their chairs anymore. Explosions lighted
the Bridge, now that the lighting grid was destroyed. The force of
the explosions hurled crewmembers across the Bridge. Some died
instantly as they collided with the ground, head first. Others fell
to their deaths as the turbolift they were in malfunctioned because
of the sheer force of the shockwave, and fell down.
Captain Ayer tried to stay in his chair for as long as he could. This
ship was his, and he refused to die in any place other than the
center seat. It was the place from where he commanded the ship. But
he couldn't stay seated. The force of the shockwave, the shaking of
the ship and the countless explosions forced him out of his chair. He
fell forward on the ground, but landed on his hands to break the
fall.
Fire was now lighting up the Bridge. The science stations at the back
were already consumed by it. Another shock went through the ship.
Ayer looked back when he heard a console explode behind him, but he
couldn't see where it was coming from, since he was still laying on
the ground. Not more than a moment later the Vulcan FO fell down on
the ground too, right next to the Captain. She was dead. It was a
horrible sight; she had all kinds of burns, and the floor right next
to her head became green with the blood of the Vulcan.
Ayer couldn't breathe. The only thing he could do was looking at the
face of his dead FO.
The voice of Lieutenant Watters brought his attention back to the
matter at hand. "Sir," the STC shouted, while looking at his console
that was barely working. "The gravimetric sheer of the shockwave is
decreasing! It won't be long before..." he got interrupted by yet
another explosion. "...before the shockwave releases us!"
Ayer struggled to get up and keep his balance. He realized that this
ordeal was almost over. However, he sensed a 'but'. "But?" he asked
simply.
The ship was still shaking around them, and Watters too had problems
keeping his balance. "Structural integrity is gone, sir." he said.
"So are shields, weapons, engines, and our hull integrity at some
points is almost down to zero!"
Ayer was about to reply, but another heavy shock sent him to the
ground again. The eerie sound of metal scraping against metal was
heard throughout the ship. The Captain knew what that meant. "The
ship is being torn apart!"
He was right. Another shock indicated a change in the ship's mass; a
large piece of the ship had broken off. At that particular moment,
Ayer began to realize he had lost the Aquinas. His ship was gone. It
wasn't a ship anymore, just a few pieces of debris, now.
"Sir... the shockwave..." Watters sounded pleased for some reason,
even though the ship had just been broken in two. "It has
dissipated."
The Captain breath a sigh of relief. "Thank God. Sandra, see if you
can get us to a full stop. We might..." he stopped mid-sentence as he
turned to look at the CONN position. "Sandra?"
There was no-one there. The CONN position was empty. There was no
dead body, either. Not of Sandra, anyway. "Where is she?" Ayer asked,
almost panicking. "Where did she go?"
"Sandra?" another voice said. It was the voice of Zaag. He had just
regained consciousness after having been unconscious due to a fierce
blow to the head. "Sandra?" the Ferengi asked again. "Captain, where
is Sandra?"
"I wish I knew." Ayer said softly. He walked to the helm. "I'm
engaging emergency thrusters. Those that haven't been destroyed,
anyway. That should slow us down a little." He sighed. "Coming to a
dead stop."
"It's a *dead* stop, all right." Watters said under his breath. There
were a lot of crewmembers laying on the ground. Most of them were
dead.
"Where is Sandra, Captain?" Zaag said forcefully.
"I don't know, Mr. Zaag. I'm sure she was here a minute ago...
wait..." It hit him. "Where are the samples?"
A silence filled the Bridge. Finally, it was Watters who spoke. "Ms.
Burke was carrying the samples, sir..."
"And now she's gone. And so are the samples," Ayer stated. "What a
coincidence. Mr. Watters, tricorder." he held up his hand. Watters
found a tricorder that still worked and tossed it to the Captain. He
opened it and started to scan the CONN position. It was a bit of odd
to see, actually. The Bridge was practically falling apart around
them, while the Captain was just... scanning.
Watters didn't have time to say anything about it. He grabbed a fire
extinguisher and emptied it on the flames. There were still some
half-burning consoles, but the worst flames had been extinguished.
Only now did he ask, "Captain, what are you scanning for?"
"I'm searching for... ah, got it." The Captain walked towards
Watters, and so did Zaag. He was curious too. Ayer showed them the
readings. "I've scanned for a residual transporter signature, and I
found it. There's no doubt about it; she was beamed off the ship.
Presumably to the Prometheus class vessel."
"And they took the samples with them," Watters added.
"Forget the samples!" Zaag interrupted. "We have to get Sandra back!"
"Perhaps you haven't noticed, Mr. Zaag," the Captain said seemingly
calm, "we are not exactly in a shape to mount a rescue." It was an
understatement. The ship was in ruins. Ayer sighed and turned to
Watters. "Is the enemy ship still here?"
"Short range sensors are hardly functioning..." the STC replied. "I
don't see them on sensors, but I can't rule out that they are still
here. And before you ask, sir, I don't know what damage they
sustained. And besides, I don't think it's their damage we should be
concerned about."
"Fine then," Ayer said with a nod and a faint smile. "Can you give me
a status report of the Aquinas?"
"Most of the readings are somewhat garbled, Captain," Watters
replied. "The emergency Bridge reactor is feeding power to these
consoles, but it's barely enough."
"Just tell me what you can."
"Aye sir." he paused as he tapped some controls. When the list of
damaged systems came up, he sighed. It was quite extensive. "Shield
emitters are destroyed, sir. I'm reading numerous hull breaches on
nearly all decks, and..." he paused when he saw what else had been
destroyed. "The..." he cleared his throat. "The Engineering section
of the ship has taken most of the damage, as was the plan, sir. But a
piece of that section has been ripped of the ship. The whole aft
section, actually..."
Ayer felt as if he had been broken, together with the ship, but he
didn't let it show. He was the Captain, and had to be an example for
the crew. For what was left of it, really. There were many dead
bodies on the Bridge alone. Amongst them were the FO and the CONN
officer. Ayer had always seen them as part of him family.
"How many casualties?" he asked with a lump in his throat.
Watters shook his head slightly. "Unknown, sir. But I'm guessing
there are a lot of dead or injured people on this ship... Which is
obvious of course." he added with a sigh.
"Let's start with the Bridge then." Ayer replied with distaste for
what he had to do now. Identifying the dead was not his favourite
activity.
"You can't just leave Sandra behind!" Zaag shouted. "We have to save
her! We have to do something!"
"Didn't you hear a thing of what I said?" the Captain shot back.
"We're crippled! We're a hulk in space. This isn't a ship anymore,
it's a junkyard now, full of scrap metal! What do you suggest we *do*
in our condition, Mr. Zaag, hmm?"
"I... I don't know, Captain." Zaag looked down at his feet and the
scorched ground. "It's just... I don't want to lose Sandra."
Ayer took a step forward and placed his hand on the shoulder of the
Ferengi. "Neither do I, Mr. Zaag. And we will find Sandra, I promise
you. We will rescue her." His face darkened. "We have to."
To be continued...
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MAN to live on the Moon! by Martin Miller
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A BREATH-TAKING bid to colonise the moon and set foot on Mars is to
be announced by President George W Bush.
America wants to build a permanent base on the lunar surface and
launch the first manned mission to Mars.
A task force led by Vice President Dick Cheney has been considering
options for a space mission since summer. The last trip to the moon
was in December 1972.
Three senior officials said Mr Bush wanted to aggressively
reinvigorate the US space programme, which has been demoralised by a
series of setbacks, including the Columbia space shuttle disaster
last February that killed seven astronauts.
The officials said the President's announcement would come next week.
Mr Bush has been expected to propose a bold new space mission in an
effort to rally Americans around a unifying theme as he campaigns for
re-election.
This week, NASA landed a six-wheeled robot on Mars to study the
planet. However, the Spirit rover is stuck because the air bags which
cushioned its landing are obstructing its movement.
No one, least of all members of Congress, knows how NASA would pay
for lunar camps or Mars expeditions.
The President's father, George Bush, pushed such an ambitious idea on
the 20th anniversary of the first manned moon landing, when he was in
office - but the estimated price tag was as much as $500 billion
(£278 billion).
The moon is just a three-day trip, while Mars is at least six months
away. The lunar surface, therefore, could be a safe place to store
Martian equipment.
Observatories also could be built on the moon, and mining camps could
be set up to gather helium-3 for conversion into fuel for use back on
Earth.
Former US Senator John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth,
said the US first needs to complete the international space station
and provide the taxi service to accommodate a crew of six or seven.
The station currently houses two.
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MAN to land on Mars by Martin Miller
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If Nasa returns astronauts to the moon and then takes aim at Mars,
the US space agency will have to go back to the drawing board to get
the job done.
The rockets, equipment and engineers that put American footprints on
lunar soil have long been lost, junked or retired.
For the seven moon-landing missions from 1969 to 1972, Nasa built
craft designed specifically for single landings and short stays. The
command ship accommodated three astronauts and the lunar lander only
two. The reserves of power and propulsion were tightly budgeted, a
problem that almost cost the lives of the astronauts on the only
failed landing mission, Apollo 13.
Apollo was drilled into space with the giant Saturn V rocket, the
most powerful launcher ever built by the United States. After the
Apollo programme ended, the equipment, tools and plans for building
the rocket were lost. A new lunar and Mars effort could require even
larger lift rockets, depending on the mission scheme selected.
For an extended lunar expedition, which sources said is what
President George Bush has in mind, the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration would need to design and build a large mother ship,
able to transport a number of crew members and a large inventory of
supplies and equipment. If the mission design follows the Apollo
plan, the agency also would have to build a landing craft
able to ferry crew and supplies between the moon's surface and a
command ship in lunar orbit.
A colony on the moon almost certainly would require an atomic reactor
for power. Some small reactors were used on six Apollo missions, but
they were designed to produce just enough electrical power to operate
scientific instruments left on the surface.
For Mars, everything required by a moon voyage would have to be
multiplied, perhaps many fold. Some who have studied Mars exploration
say a manned expedition would last at least three years, with a long
voyage out and back, and just a limited stay.
All fuel, water and other supplies would have to be carried along or
sent ahead on robot craft. The crew size would have to be expanded to
allow for sickness or death that is likely for such a risky
expedition.
Over the years, Nasa has conducted a number of basic studies aimed at
achieving the moon and Mars.
The Apollo missions depended on the powerful three-stage Saturn V
rocket that vaulted the craft into Earth orbit and then restarted to
drill it toward the moon.
After leaving Earth orbit, the third stage of the Saturn V was
discarded and the momentum of the rocket firing carried the craft
outward until it slipped into the grip of lunar orbit.
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Where No Man Has Gone Before
Introduction & Part 1: The 1960s by Bram Peeters
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Introduction
============
The Soviet Union, later Russia, the United States, Europe, and Japan
have been sending dozens of spacecraft to study one of Earth's
closest neighbors in space since 1960. None of these space missions
were manned, although president Bush announced plans for manned
missions to Mars in January 2004 (but for now, putting people on Mars
is still Science Fiction). As the name of this article implies, it's
not about manned missions to Mars. Each month there will be an
article focusing on one, or a few, unmanned missions to Mars. Those
missions that actually made it to the red planet will be described in
more details of course ;-)
Part 1: The 1960s
=================
In the 1960s the first spacecraft were launched towards Mars. These
probes had to fly past the planet or to enter orbit around Mars to
take close-up photographs of the planet.
The Marsnik program
===================
The Soviet Union's first attempt of interplanetary exploration was
the Marsnik program, but both the Marsnik 1 (also known as Mars 1960A
and Korabl 4, Launch Date: 10 October 1960), and the Marsnik 2 (Mars
1960B/Korabl 5, 14 October 1960) never reached Earth orbit after
launch because the launcher didn't develop enough thrust. The
spacecraft reached an altitude of 120 km before reentry.
The objectives of the mission were to investigate interplanetary
space between Earth and Mars, to study Mars and return surface images
from a flyby trajectory, and to study the effects of extended space
flight on onboard instruments and provide radio communications from
long distances.
Sputnik 22, Mars 1 & Sputnik 24
===============================
Sputnik 22 (also known as Mars 1962A and Korabl 11, 24 October 1962)
was an attempted Mars flyby mission, presumably similar to the Mars 1
mission launched 8 days later. The Sputnik 22 broke into many pieces,
some of which remained in Earth orbit for a few days. This occurred
during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the debris was detected by the
U.S. Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar in Alaska and was
for a while feared to be the start of a Soviet nuclear ICBM
attack.
Mars 1 (also referenced as Sputnik 23, 1 November 1962) was an
automatic interplanetary station launched in the direction of Mars,
the first of the Soviet Mars probe program, with the intent of flying
by the planet at a distance of about 11,000 km. It was designed to
image the surface and send back data on cosmic radiation,
micrometeoroid impacts and Mars' magnetic field, radiation
environment, atmospheric structure, and possible organic compounds.
After leaving Earth orbit, the spacecraft and the booster fourth
stage separated and the solar panels were deployed. Early telemetry
indicated that there was a leak in one of the gas valves in the
orientation system so the spacecraft was transferred to
gyroscopic stabilization. Sixty-one radio transmissions were held,
initially at two day intervals and later at 5 days in which a large
amount of interplanetary data were collected. The probe recorded one
micrometeorite strike every two minutes at altitudes ranging from
6000 to 40,000 km due to the Taurids meteor shower and also recorded
similar densities at distances from 20 to 40 million km. Magnetic
field intensities of 3-4 gammas with peaks as high as 6-9 gammas were
measured in interplanetary space and the solar wind was detected.
Measurements of cosmic rays showed that their intensity had almost
doubled since 1959. The radiation zones around the Earth were
detected and their magnitude confirmed. On 21 March 1963, when the
spacecraft was at a distance of 106,760,000 km from Earth on its way
to Mars communications ceased, probably due to failure of the
spacecraft orientation system. Mars 1 closest approach to Mars
occurred on June 19, 1963 at a distance of approximately 193,000 km,
after which the spacecraft entered a heliocentric orbit.
Sputnik 24 (Mars 1962B/Korabl 13, 4 November 1962) was an attempted
Mars lander mission. The booster/spacecraft complex broke up during
the burn to transfer to Mars trajectory after it had reached Earth
orbit successfully. Five large pieces were tracked by the U.S.
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System. The geocentric orbit of the
presumed booster decayed on 25 December 1962 and the Mars spacecraft
orbit decayed and it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on January 19,
1963.
The Mariner program: Mariner 3 & 4
==================================
In 1964 NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory made two attempts at
reaching Mars as well. Mariner 3 and Mariner 4 were identical
spacecraft designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars. Mariner 3
was launched on 5 November 1964, but the shroud encasing the
spacecraft atop its rocket failed to open properly. Mariner 3
failed to reach Mars. Three weeks later, on 28 November 1964, Mariner
4 was launched successfully on an eight-month voyage to the red
planet.
Mariner 4 flew past Mars on 14 July 1965, providing the first
close-up photographs of another planet. The pictures, played back
from a small tape recorder over a long period, showed lunar-type
impact craters. Some of them seemed touched with frost in the chill
Martian evening.
The Mariner program: Mariner 6 & 7
==================================
NASA continued the Mariner program with another pair of Mars flyby
probes at the next launch window. In 1969, Mariner 6 and Mariner 7
completed the first dual mission to Mars, flying by over the equator
and south polar regions and analyzing the Martian atmosphere and
surface with remote sensors, as well as recording and relaying
hundreds of pictures. By chance, both flew over cratered regions
and missed both the giant northern volcanoes and the equatorial grand
canyon that was discovered later. Their approach pictures did,
however, show that the dark features on the surface long seen from
Earth were not canals, as once decades before.
Next time
=========
The 1970s: Mariner 8 & 9, Cosmos 419, Mars 2 - 7.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Ten Posters in December by Clare Bradley
-------------------------------------------------------------------
#10. Chantal Sellers, 15 posts.
(ODY: 14, ATL: 1)
#9. Adrian Rodd, 15 posts.
(CAL: 15)
#8. Laura Elliott, 15 posts.
(CAL: 15)
#7. Jed Cohen, 15 posts.
(CAL: 10, VALK: 5)
#6. Merijn Donders, 22 posts.
(ATL: 21, PS: 1)
#5. Bram Peeters, 23 posts.
(PS: 13, ODY: 6, CAL: 3 ATL: 1)
#4. Martin Miller, 29 posts.
(ODY: 11, CAL: 11, ATL: 5, VALK: 2)
#3. Ben Versteegt, 30 posts.
(ODY: 27, CAL: 3)
#2. David Susman, 35 posts.
(ODY: 16, ATL: 10, PS: 9)
AND THE NUMBER ONE POSTER OF DECEMBER IS....
#1. Rob Versteegt, 59 posts!!!!
(PS: 23, ODY: 16, CAL: 11, ATL: 9)
Top Three Posters of Pandora Station:
3. David Susman, 9 posts.
2. Bram Peeters, 13 posts.
1. Rob Versteegt, 23 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Odyssey:
3. Rob Versteegt, 16 posts.
2. David Susman, 16 posts
1. Ben Versteegt, 17 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Calhoun:
3. Rob Versteegt, 11 posts.
3. Martin Miller, 11 posts.
2. Laura Elliot, 15 posts.
1. Adrian Rodd, 15 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Atlantis:
3. David Susman, 10 posts.
2. Vincent Raposa, 13 posts.
1. Merijn Donders, 21 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Valkyrie:
Dreamer Jopnes, 5 posts.
Linia Saddington, 5 posts.
Jed Cohen, 5 posts.
Dutystation Rankings:
USS Calhoun: 112 posts.
USS Odyssey: 110 posts.
Pandora Station, 62 posts.
USS Valkyrie, 49 posts.
Fleet total: 333 posts.
Fleetwide Rankings:
1. Rob Versteegt, 59. (PS: 23, ODY: 16, CAL: 11, ATL: 9)
2. David Susman, 35. (ODY: 16, ATL: 10, PS: 9)
3. Ben Versteegt, 30. (ODY: 27, CAL: 3)
4. Martin Miller, 29. (ODY: 11, CAL: 11, ATL: 5, VALK: 2)
5. Bram Peeters, 23. (PS: 13, ODY: 6, CAL: 3 ATL: 1)
6. Merijn Donders, 22. (ATL: 21, PS: 1)
7. Jed Cohen, 15. (CAL: 10, VALK: 5)
8. Laura Elliott, 15. (CAL: 15)
9. Adrian Rodd, 15. (CAL: 15)
10. Chantal Sellers, 15. (ODY: 14, ATL: 1)
11. Vincent Raposa, 13. (ATL: 13)
12. Brandon Allard, 10. (CAL: 6, VALK: 4)
13. Aaron DeLay, 10. (CAL: 10)
14. Dennis Church, 9. (ODY: 7, PS: 2)
15. Kelley MacKinnon, 9. (CAL: 9)
16. Rob Verlinden, 9. (ODY: 8, CAL: 1)
17. Sussie Andersson, 8. (PS: 8)
18. Jamie Davison, 8. (CAL: 3, VALK: 3, ATL: 2)
19. Jake Hanlon, 7. (CAL: 7)
20. Dave Church, 6. (ODY: 6)
21. Tom Shilakes, 6. (VALK: 4, ODY: 2)
22. Cody Ferro, 5. (CAL: 5)
23. Dreamer Jopnes, 5. (VALK: 5)
24. Linia Saddington, 5. (VALK: 5)
25. Clare Bradley, 4. (VALK: 3, CAL: 1)
26. Wes Buchanan, 4. (PS: 4)
27. Mark Cornelisson, 4. (VALK: 4)
28. Rob Donaldson, 4. (ATL: 4)
29. Mike Sheinin, 4. (ATL: 4)
30. Eric Hess, 3. (CAL: 3)
31. Ann Montague, 3. (VALK: 3)
32. John Wenerowicz, 3. (VALK: 3)
33. Astrid Henricsson, 2. (PS: 2)
34. Shannon O'Dain, 2. (ODY: 2)
35. Mark van der Laan, 2. (VALK: 2)
36. Ian Beacock, 1. (VALK: 1)
37. Katy Crockett, 1. (ATL: 1)
38. Colleen Desilu, 1. (VALK: 1)
39. John McGinty, 1. (VALK: 1)
40. Glenn Parker, 1. (PS: 1)
41. Robert Reed, 1. (ATL: 1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Ten Posters in 2003 by Clare Bradley
-------------------------------------------------------------------
#10. Michael Smith, 156 posts.
(PS: 148, ODY: 4, ATL: 4)
#9. Rob Versteegt, 172 posts.
(PS: 92, ATL: 35, ODY: 34, CAL: 11)
#8. Laura Elliot, 183 posts.
(CAL: 183)
#7. Vincent Raposa, 201 posts.
(PS: 113, ATL: 70, ODY: 18)
#6. Werner Kay, 211 posts.
(CAL: 193, ODY: 18)
#5. Merijn Donders, 216 posts.
(PS: 132, ATL: 84)
#4. Bram Peeters, 221 posts.
(PS: 154, ODY: 52, ATL: 12, CAL: 3)
#3. Kelley MacKinnon, 302 posts.
(CAL: 249, PS: 53)
#2. David Susman, 343 posts.
(ODY: 166, PS: 106, ATL: 71)
AND THE NUMBER ONE POSTER IN 2003 IS....
#1. Adrian Rodd, 367 posts!!
(CAL: 282, PS: 32, ODY: 31, VALK: 12, ATL: 10)
(note: Adrian is also the only player to have posted on all 5
dutystations!)
Top Three Posters of the USS Atlantis:
3. Vincent Raposa, 70 posts.
2. David Susman, 71 posts.
1. Merijn Donders, 84 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Calhoun:
3. Werner Kay, 193 posts.
2. Kelley MacKinnon, 249 posts.
1. Adrian Rodd, 282 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Odyssey:
3. Ben Versteegt, 100 posts.
2. Dennis Church, 115 posts.
1. David Susman, 166 posts.
Top Three Posters of the USS Valkyrie:
3. Mark van der Laan, 52 posts.
2. Martin Miller, 54 posts.
1. Clare Bradley, 70 posts.
Top Three Posters of Pandora Station:
3. Vincent Raposa, 113 posts.
2. Merijn Donders, 132 posts.
1. Bram Peeters, 154 posts.
DutyStation Rankings:
USS Atlantis: 387 posts.
USS Valkyrie: 544 posts.
USS Odyssey: 1018 posts.
Pandora Station: 1153 posts.
USS Calhoun: 1471 posts.
Fleet total: 4573 posts.
Fleetwide Rankings:
1. Adrian Rodd, 367. (CAL: 282, PS: 32, ODY: 31, VALK: 12, ATL: 10)
2. David Susman, 343. (ODY: 166, PS: 106, ATL: 71)
3. Kelley MacKinnon, 302. (CAL: 249, PS: 53)
4. Bram Peeters, 221. (PS: 154, ODY: 52, ATL: 12, CAL: 3)
5. Merijn Donders, 216. (PS: 132, ATL: 84)
6. Werner Kay, 211. (CAL: 193, ODY: 18)
7. Vincent Raposa, 201. (PS: 113, ATL: 70, ODY: 18)
8. Laura Elliot, 183. (CAL: 183)
9. Rob Versteegt, 172. (PS: 92, ATL: 35, ODY: 34, CAL: 11)
10. Michael Smith, 156. (PS: 148, ODY: 4, ATL: 4)
11. Martin Miller, 149. (VALK: 54, ODY: 76, CAL: 11, ATL: 8)
12. Dennis Church, 121. (ODY: 115, PS: 6)
13. Aaron DeLay, 117. (CAL: 109, ATL: 8)
14. Cody Ferro, 112. (CAL: 108, PS :4)
15. Ben Versteegt, 103. (ODY: 100, CAL: 3)
16. Katy Crockett, 97. (PS: 92, ODY: 4, ATL: 1)
17. Rob Verlinden, 88. (ODY: 88)
18. Tom Shilakes, 85. (ODY: 44, VALK: 41)
19. Wes Buchanan, 78. (PS: 78)
20. Clare Bradley, 71. (VALK: 70, CAL: 1)
21. Sandy Alexander, 66. (CAL: 66)
22. Simon Osborn, 63. (CAL: 63)
23. Chantal Marie Sellers, 57. (ODY: 55, ATL: 2)
24. Mark van der Laan, 52. (VALK: 52)
25. Guido Dorssers, 51. (ODY: 45, VALK: 6)
26. John Wenerowicz, 50. (VALK: 46, PS: 4)
27. Scott LeGros, 49. (CAL: 49)
28. Grant Lile, 49. (PS: 14, ATL: 35)
29. Dreamer Jopnes, 46. (VALK: 46)
30. Jed Cohen, 43. (VALK: 33, CAL: 10)
31. Brandon Allard, 42. (VALK: 36, CAL: 6)
32. David Church, 42. (ODY: 42)
33. Jonas Ljungberg, 41. (PS: 28, VALK: 9, CAL: 4)
34. John IB, 40. (PS: 37, ATL: 3)
35. Lauren Ragle, 39. (ODY: 39)
36. Jake Hanlon, 35. (CAL: 35)
37. Linia Saddington, 29. (VALK: 29)
38. Jonathan Hardy, 28. (ODY: 28)
39. Claire Walsh, 21. (CAL: 21)
40. Bryan Jennings, 20. (CAL: 20)
41. Jared Quigg, 20. (VALK: 20)
42. Rob Donaldson, 19. (ATL: 19)
43. Michelle Collette, 16. (PS: 16)
44. Jamie Davison, 15. (VALK: 10, CAL: 3, ATL: 2)
45. Lucas Rowles, 15. (ODY: 6, VALK: 5, PS: 1, ATL: 3)
46. Mike Sheinin, 15. (ATL: 15)
47. Kealy Doyle, 13. (ODY: 13)
48. Ryan Simmons, 13. (VALK: 13)
49. Thomas Lees, 12. (ODY: 12)
50. Ivan Tsoi, 12. (CAL: 12)
51. Shannon O'Dain, 11. (ODY: 11)
52. Henry Ward, 11. (ODY: 11)
53. Mark Cornelissen, 10. (VALK: 10)
54. John Halligan, 10. (PS: 10)
55. Ann Montague, 10. (VALK: 10)
56. Sussie Andersson, 9. (PS: 9)
57. Debbie Yanuzzi, 8. (VALK: 8)
58. Alastair Morris, 8. (PS: 8)
59. Joshua Harris, 7. (ODY: 7)
60. Vedran Marinic, 6. (ODY: 6)
61. John McGinty, 6. (VALK: 6)
62. Lucas Gallagher, 5. (PS: 5)
63. Joshua Simants, 5. (CAL: 5)
64. Philip Billington, 4. (PS: 4)
65. Colleen Desilu, 4. (VALK: 4)
66. Andrei Ushakov, 4. (VALK: 4)
67. Robert Reed, 3. (ATL: 3)
68. Eric Hess, 3. (CAL: 3)
69. Brett Knuth, 3. (VALK: 3)
70. David Wilson, 3. (PS: 3)
71. Gary Bullivant, 2. (PS: 2)
72. Walter Flaat, 2. (PS: 2)
73. Pip Kinner, 2. (VALK: 2)
74. Astrid Henricsson, 2. (PS: 2)
75. Angie Low, 2. (PS: 2)
76. Bobby Demosthenis, 1. (ATL: 1)
77. Lee Reich, 1. (ATL: 1)
78. Ian Beacock, 1. (VALK: 1)
79. Alex Brown, 1. (PS: 1)
80. Matt Burton, 1. (PS: 1)
81. John Coughlan, 1. (VALK: 1)
82. Desmond Grier, 1. (PS: 1)
83. Khairull'Anuar Jamlus, 1. (CAL: 1)
84. Tonette dela Luna, 1. (CAL: 1)
85. Glenn Parker, 1. (PS: 1)
86. Marvin Sijbinga, 1. (ODY: 1)
=====
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