Quote:Rewrite to try & remove the disjointedness:
I think we're all agreed on this one. Maybe.
The Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau
The Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau (TSAB) is the American Department of Defense agency responsible for researching and reverse-engineering handwavium technology. After a series of concerted infighting between the US Air Force, US Navy and NASA, TSAB is also the agency responsible for maintaining the official American presence in Fenspace, including the former civilian manned space program.
TSAB's standard operating procedure is to obtain wavetech devices, analyise their working properties, then duplicate the process with hardtech. Their success rate with acquisition and analysis is better than their success with duplication, but TSAB has made several advances, most notably the air recyclers used by Rockhounds, Inc. in their later model space habitats.
In Fenspace, the (relatively few) fen who approve of TSAB call them NASFans, while others call them IPX or simply those damned vultures. The majority of (sober) fen simply use the acronym, like many another government agency before them.
TSAB owns and operates Benjamin Franklin Station at the Earth-Luna L4 point. Franklin Station's commander, Air Force Col. Stephen Caldwell, is the ranking American military officer in the greater solar system. The station's public face is operations director Maj. Amy McConnell.
Criticism
TSAB has come under fire multiple times during its short existence. Supporters of the mundane American space program have accused that TSAB management "destroyed" NASA by denying the agency handwavium or other technical support. Critics within the Defense Department have claimed that TSAB, despite being directly under Joint Chiefs control, has deliberately shut out the other service branches in favor of the USAF. The Navy took matters into their own hands with an abortive handwavium space program using decommissioned Seawolf submarines in 2011-2012.
(Last para doesn't ring right, suggestions welcome.)
Quote:Technical note: Pathfinder is even less of a shuttle than Pegasus, if such a thing is possible. Pathfinder is basically a full-scale diecast toy of a Shuttle. I don't really see the wave managing to do much to it. Maybe you could get it to fly, but I doubt it.
Just so we're all on the same page, here's what I have at the moment. I'm not wedded to anything in this description, so kibitz away...
Here's the rough timeline as I saw it working on the Graces writeup (YMMV):
2010: STS-132/3, final assembly of ISS & last hardtech Shuttle mission.
2011: The OKC fenkinder cabal gets Pegasus handwashed & flying.
2012: Fen conspiracy slips the KSC ground crews enough handwavium to get the Shuttles flying again.
2012: Soviet Air Force buys/begs/borrows/steals plans for Block II Shuttles from Boeing.
2013-14: The Graces are launched as they come out of the waving process & get vetted on the ground.
2014: Hephaestus & Soviet Air Force go in on joint licensing of Block II Shuttle production lines, begin turning out "modernized" mushytech Shuttles for general sale. The first two are Challenger-A and Columbia-A(*).
(*) "Noah, you're a good man and a good friend. But you have to understand something. You may be the richest bastard in Fenspace, but I'm the *biggest* bastard. If you insist on buying Columbia, I'll fight you for her. And I'll *win.*" --MGen Mal Fnord, regarding the lulzworthy Great Shuttle Bid War of 2014.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery
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