#robotic lander

A world without communication is indeed a crippled world.     

- Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Above-Left: 1st-gen comsat, the third of 10 deployed.

Above-Right: Original Prototype Concept, cir.(1962)

In accordance with the recent discovery that radio communications will be much more important than previously expected, our New & Experimental Research and Development team has begun collaborating to develop a series of Communications-focused satellites, which should in theory help us maintain steady signal strength for any probes in orbit, wherever they may be. The teams first design, lovingly nicknamed “Telestar”, was slated to be part of the codenamed Vigil Relay Network, planned to be a series of relays in orbit, bouncing signals off one another as part of a massive web of communication. These simplistic satellites, with only rudimentary trans-recievers and power networks, are designed to be launched in vast numbers and easily replaced, should they break down. However, the team is quickly looking for more hardy and long-lasting designs, able to operate for years if needed.

Above-Left: Liftoff of Q7 rocket carrying cluster of Mk1 Virgilis comsats.

Above-Right: View from parent spacecraft as comsat cluster is being deployed.

In other news, while the team has been slowly building our communications network, we have also taken the first tentative steps towards the Hunt for Santa: the first polar lander probe.

Above: The NoPE lander.

The NOrth Pole Explorer, or “NoPE”, lander is a rather simplistic design. Utilizing an experimental set of retractable landing legs for stability, its goal is to be carried down from a suborbital trajectory over the North Pole, touch down, and then record observations of the surrounding area, hopefully finding any sign of activity. Amongst the newest features part of NoPE’s arsenal are radially-mounted cameras and parachutes, as well as a new materials study bay, carrying various compounds and components to see how they respond to temperature extremes.

NoPE’s journey began atop our latest iteration of launch vehicle, the Q-8. As its booster-mounted cameras recorded, Q8’s twin Solid-Rocket Boosters aided in carrying it upwards into a northbound trajectory, being jettisoned over the gulf coast roughly 1 minute after launch. The rocket carried its payload upwards, utilizing both its main launch stage as well as its upper orbital booster stage to carry NoPE over the North Pole.

As recorded by the onboard cameras, NoPE successfully reached the North Pole, and was able to safely land on the icy surface! For the first time, we were able to witness the land where Santa may be hiding his elusive workshop!!!

Unfortunately... NoPE didn’t see anything.

While the simple images and recordings NoPE recorded prove that it did indeed land (note the silhouette of the landing legs in the final picture), there was no real sign of the elusive workshop, or of much else for that matter. The control team did try to coax more data from NoPE’s sensors, but once more, the lack of decent signal strength limited what information could be gleaned from this first tentative landing.

While we continue to reinforce the VRN in hopes of recieving more of NoPE’s data, our researchers have begun trying to forge explanations regarding this most recent discovery. Some suspect that perhaps Santa’s workshop is not directly at the North Pole, and that he may be hiding in a slightly lower latitude. Others think that perhaps NoPE’s sensors may be faulty, and a second mission may need to be sent to be sure. There are even some radical thinkers that have begun to spread rumors that, just maybe, Santa is actually from another planet, and the supposed North Pole site is not a workshop, but in fact the landing site where his spaceship first touched down on our world; these thinkers also believe that Santa, having somehow heard of our plans, has relocated himself to another celestial body until our search has concluded.

Needless to say, further data is needed before a decision can be made.