Spying on the neighbors
Apr. 9th, 2025 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_sky_callsThe Amerikanskis are building a munbase. It doesn’t take a KGB spy or high power observation satellites to discern this as the Amerikanskis announce it all over their televisions. And while a great deal of information has been revealed about the base, including where it is to be located (at the southern rim of the Northwest Crater), no mention has been made about it being built near to the anomaly the Glavnoye razvedyvatel'noye upravleniye have codenamed Kvartira.
The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Mun, Minmus, and Other Celestial Bodies had both the Soviets and Amerikanskis agree that neither side could claim any celestial body as their own, but the discovery of alien artifacts changed the interpretation of that treaty. It was assumed by the Soviets that, if their cosmonauts approached too closely, the Americanski would become protective of their secrets and perhaps take retaliatory action. Conversely, the Soviets would not welcome an Amerikanski astronaut just walking up to one of their bases next to an alien monolith or crashed saucer. From that came an unspoken gentleman’s agreement.
Using the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a concept of “territorial waters” was applied to the various landing sites on the Mun, Minmus and (once that happened) other celestial bodies in which a sphere of influence 3 km in radius around each landing site or permanent construction was assumed to be generally sovereign and the other party would not enter into that sphere excepting emergencies and accidental border transits.
So, much like the Soviet (and, honestly, Amerikanski) habit of repeatedly drawing that line with border flights, fishing trawlers, and other exertions of freedom of navigation, it was decided that a permanent observation platform would be established within sight of the Kvartira but just outside the 3 km sphere of influence. This platform would be a Zenit spy satellite mounted on Munokhod wheels. . .
. . . that exploded before reaching orbit.
It was entirely a staging issue.
A second, more “stock” Munokhod rover had a new Soyuzkarta KFA-1000 high resolution digital camera mounted on an extending boom and was rolled out to the launchpad as quickly as possible to replace the lost rover but not before the Amerikanskis had begun their base construction. This launch was successful and, a day later, the rover was landed on the Mun somewhat south and west of the Amerikanski base. It rolled to the edge of a crater and took up position behind a rock approximately 3 km away from the base.
From that vantage, the Kvartira could be clearly seen; a large, slightly trapezoidal platform on which an oversized representation of a lander craft is depicted in apparently the same stone as the base. Slightly nearer was the lander module from the Amerikanski’s fist landing at the site.Beyond that, the base itself.
Soviet cosmonautics are built on their sides and then raised into position for launch. As such, the general concept of station and base modules are also cylinders set on their sides, with the local “floor” being one side of the cylinder’s curve. So, when Kermangrad was built, the modules are vertical when in flight but then are laid over on their sides and, with their own wheels under power, roll into place to connect to other modules.
The Amerikanskis build their rockets in their massive Vehicle Assembly Building. Their stations and base modules are cylinders set on end and so their “floor” is one of the flat ends of the cylinder. Their munbase modules are landed that way with a propultion module connected to the top. Once landed, the propulsion module is detached and flies off to crash somewhere. A pair of utility rovers roll up to the module, attach themselves to either side, and roll the new module into place to connect to other modules.
Construction happened quickly with one module rolling out to the Amerikanski launchpad even as the previous module was being attached to the rest of the base on the Mun. A solar panel array was the third module placed and it was set between the base and the Soviet observation munokhod, apparently to block the view.
The solar panels were also placed in such a way as to block the view between the Amerikanski base and the Kvartira. As news of the alien artifact hadn’t reached public media yet, the Amerikanskis were obviously doing the same thing the Soviets were doing in making sure that their own cameras might not inadvertently reveal the presence of those artifacts while, at the same time, allowing “normal” operations in and around respective bases to seem, well, normal.
Even so, the Amerikanskis knew the munokhod was there. The Soviets knew that the Amerikanskis knew the munokhod was there. What might be hidden behind solar panels on the regolith can be seen by the various observation satellites in orbit.
The question on everyone’s mind was who would reveal the secrets first. Would the Amerikanskis come right out and say “We have alien stuff”? Would they point to the Soviets and say “They have alien stuff?” Would some third party announce “They have alien stuff?” And then, once the reveals start happening, what then? Respond with “No, we don’t?” Respond with “But they have stuff, too?” Respond with “Oh, yea. We knew all about that. No big deal?”
Until someone blinks or spills beans, the dance of secrecy continues.
The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Mun, Minmus, and Other Celestial Bodies had both the Soviets and Amerikanskis agree that neither side could claim any celestial body as their own, but the discovery of alien artifacts changed the interpretation of that treaty. It was assumed by the Soviets that, if their cosmonauts approached too closely, the Americanski would become protective of their secrets and perhaps take retaliatory action. Conversely, the Soviets would not welcome an Amerikanski astronaut just walking up to one of their bases next to an alien monolith or crashed saucer. From that came an unspoken gentleman’s agreement.
Using the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, a concept of “territorial waters” was applied to the various landing sites on the Mun, Minmus and (once that happened) other celestial bodies in which a sphere of influence 3 km in radius around each landing site or permanent construction was assumed to be generally sovereign and the other party would not enter into that sphere excepting emergencies and accidental border transits.
So, much like the Soviet (and, honestly, Amerikanski) habit of repeatedly drawing that line with border flights, fishing trawlers, and other exertions of freedom of navigation, it was decided that a permanent observation platform would be established within sight of the Kvartira but just outside the 3 km sphere of influence. This platform would be a Zenit spy satellite mounted on Munokhod wheels. . .
. . . that exploded before reaching orbit.
It was entirely a staging issue.
A second, more “stock” Munokhod rover had a new Soyuzkarta KFA-1000 high resolution digital camera mounted on an extending boom and was rolled out to the launchpad as quickly as possible to replace the lost rover but not before the Amerikanskis had begun their base construction. This launch was successful and, a day later, the rover was landed on the Mun somewhat south and west of the Amerikanski base. It rolled to the edge of a crater and took up position behind a rock approximately 3 km away from the base.
From that vantage, the Kvartira could be clearly seen; a large, slightly trapezoidal platform on which an oversized representation of a lander craft is depicted in apparently the same stone as the base. Slightly nearer was the lander module from the Amerikanski’s fist landing at the site.Beyond that, the base itself.
Soviet cosmonautics are built on their sides and then raised into position for launch. As such, the general concept of station and base modules are also cylinders set on their sides, with the local “floor” being one side of the cylinder’s curve. So, when Kermangrad was built, the modules are vertical when in flight but then are laid over on their sides and, with their own wheels under power, roll into place to connect to other modules.
The Amerikanskis build their rockets in their massive Vehicle Assembly Building. Their stations and base modules are cylinders set on end and so their “floor” is one of the flat ends of the cylinder. Their munbase modules are landed that way with a propultion module connected to the top. Once landed, the propulsion module is detached and flies off to crash somewhere. A pair of utility rovers roll up to the module, attach themselves to either side, and roll the new module into place to connect to other modules.
Construction happened quickly with one module rolling out to the Amerikanski launchpad even as the previous module was being attached to the rest of the base on the Mun. A solar panel array was the third module placed and it was set between the base and the Soviet observation munokhod, apparently to block the view.
The solar panels were also placed in such a way as to block the view between the Amerikanski base and the Kvartira. As news of the alien artifact hadn’t reached public media yet, the Amerikanskis were obviously doing the same thing the Soviets were doing in making sure that their own cameras might not inadvertently reveal the presence of those artifacts while, at the same time, allowing “normal” operations in and around respective bases to seem, well, normal.
Even so, the Amerikanskis knew the munokhod was there. The Soviets knew that the Amerikanskis knew the munokhod was there. What might be hidden behind solar panels on the regolith can be seen by the various observation satellites in orbit.
The question on everyone’s mind was who would reveal the secrets first. Would the Amerikanskis come right out and say “We have alien stuff”? Would they point to the Soviets and say “They have alien stuff?” Would some third party announce “They have alien stuff?” And then, once the reveals start happening, what then? Respond with “No, we don’t?” Respond with “But they have stuff, too?” Respond with “Oh, yea. We knew all about that. No big deal?”
Until someone blinks or spills beans, the dance of secrecy continues.
