Star Trek: First Steps: Transmissions

Started by Telex Ferra, April 26, 2013, 07:39:04 PM

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Telex Ferra

In this thread, you'll find some in-universe news reports, logs etc. to deepen your enjoyment of the SRP. No reading in here is mandatory, but recommended for anyone looking for the best experience. Feel free to post OOC replies in this thread.

If you'd like a story to appear in here about your character or any part of your background, please PM it to me and I'll put it up with the next transmission. Be creative! This is a great way to flesh out your character in a way that isn't really possible in an RP.

---------------------------------TRANSMISSION 01: ---------------------------------

SS Ironboy Travels From Kennedy Space Center to Beijing
American Space Journal, January 3rd, 2026.

At 8:01 AM this morning, representatives from the People Republic of China and several NASA astronauts participated in the first flight test of the SS Ironboy, the SS Ironman's short-range shuttlecraft, since the addition of its secondary engines and its state-of-the-art navigation computer.

The testing crew aboard the SS Ironboy left visual range of Kennedy Space Center at 8:03 AM and safely arrived in Beijing at 8:35 PM local time, only 34 minutes after taking off from Florida. According to Colonel Sergei Dmitrikov, the trip from Florida to China was the smoothest flight he had ever taken in 15 years in the United States Air Force. According to the official test results released to the press early this afternoon, the Ironboy passed all tests as expected, and actually arrived in Beijing 90 seconds earlier than expected, showing an unexpected improvement in either the shuttle's navigation computer or the new, secondary engines.

The Ironboy has been used by NASA pretty regularly in conjunction with its partners on the Ironman project to shuttle people and materials up to the International Space Station and to the now complete SS Ironman. (Please see page 47 for times of day when you can see the ship from your location!) Now, however, the Ironboy will remain grounded in Beijing while the People's Liberation Army outfits it with a prototype thermal shield and an advanced sensor package. As part of the Ironman's mission, the crew must survey Proxima Centauri at close range; while the Ironman cannot safely close to an optimal distance, the soon-to-be-added heat shield will allow the crew of the Ironman to take the Ironboy shuttle to conduct the survey.

While the Ironboy is in Beijing, it is directly under the command of Senior Colonel He Jianyu (PLA) whom you may know as the future commander of the Ironman mission. Senior Colonel He was granted an honorific commission as a Commodore in the United States Navy as per the terms of the Ironman charter, though she has no authority until she assumes command of the Ironman mission.

According to the NASA press release, people and materials will be ferried to the International Space Station and the Ironman via the Atlantis, Discovery, Endeavor, and Ares shuttlecrafts.

This article has been revised to reflect the following changes: Commodore He was commissioned as a Commodore in the United States Navy, not in the Air Force.