Otaran Congressional Space Command

Otaran Congressional Space Command

Emblem
Agency overview
Formed	May 27, 1959 (1959-05-27)
Jurisdiction	Otaran Congress
Headquarters	Kiribaya, Otara
Motto	Outward, for eternity
Employees	35,059 (civilian) 6,014 (military)
Annual budget	$45.7 billion
Minister responsible	Loto Tupuola, Minister of Defence
Agency executives	John Stahl, administrator Aleki Kahale, deputy administrator Sione Iosua, chief financial officer
Parent department	Ministry of Defence
Website	www.OCSC.ocg

The Otaran Congressional Space Command is a jointly independent and congressional defence agency consisting of a civilian space program and aerospace/aeronautical research program and the Otaran Congressional Military's space force, responsible for expanding and maintaining Otaran interests in space. The organization was established in 1959 with the overarching objective of achieving Otara's objectives for space, both civilian and military. In co-operation with Otaran private space companies Iris and Lukan, as well as prevalent aerospace companies such as Kankaite Aerospace and Lakoa, the OCSC has been responsible for leading the majority of Otara's space exploration efforts. OCSC is responsible for the development, maintenance, and execution of all governmental space initiatives in Otara, both civilian and military.

Mission and functions

The Otaran Congressional Space Command, as a whole, is responsible for the following:

• aerospace and aeronautics research and development
• space exploration
• space technology research and development
• manned and unmanned spaceflight
• space superiority
• space domain awareness (military, civilian, commercial)
• offensive and defensive space control
• command and control of spaceflights and satellites, both civilian and military
• space support to military and civilian operations
• missile early warning and defense

Spaceflight programs

Crewed programs

OHX Program (1959-1963)

The OHX Program was centered around the development of the technology necessary to put a man in orbit and return them safely. Otaran astonauts would mount rudimentary spacecraft known as ballistic capsules. On board a ballistic capsule arried into orbit by an early Messalina II launch vehicle, Leku Tanielu would become the first Otaran in space on December 28, 1961. The launch procedure for this mission required both the use of electronic and human computers, working in tandem, with human computers (Phillip Dowd, Meilani Rameka, Shinji Hirota) cross-checking trajectory equations being run by electronic computers. Through this method, the OHX program brought four Otaran astronauts into orbit before it's termination in 1963.

Kaite Program (1960-1966)

The Kaite Program, developing off of the OHX Program, placed a focus on enhancing the capabilities and practicality of ballistic capsules initially launched under the OHX designation. This led to the development of the Kaite spacecraft, which included multiple features which placed it several steps ahead of the OHX capsules. The Kaite spacecraft was separated into separate modules, including the Adapter module, housing the majority of the craft's critical systems, and the Reentry module, carrying the astronaut. Most notably, it was the first spacecraft to include in flight radar, artificial horizon, and an onboard computer system.

Using the newly created capsules, the Kaite Program placed a focus on researching and enhancing astronaut and spacecraft capability. The program served to adapt Otaran spacecraft for long-duration flights, as well as developing EVA techniques, space rendezvous, docking, and landing techniques that would prove extremely critical for the future of Otaran manned spaceflight. Techniques and methods learnt in this program would translate into every future manned program in some form, primarily in the early stages of the Oaho program.

Oaho Program (1960-1982)

The Oaho Program was one of the most expensive programs ever undertaken by the OCSC. It focused around the development of the largest launch vehicles and spacecraft at the time. The O3 and O3L families of rockets were far larger than any of the launch vehicles that preceded them, and they were necessary to develop in order to launch the Oaho spacecraft into orbit and beyond. The Oaho spacecraft consisted of a command module and service module, in later iterations including a lunar module. The command module housed the astronauts from the launch sequence to the return sequence, and featured an ablative heat shield, a reaction control system, and advanced steering controls such as atmospheric and altitude control. Similar to the Kaite adapter module, the service module included the critical systems necessary to support the command module, including fuel cell power generation with advanced liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen reactants, a reaction control system with propellants, and an antenna for long distance communications from lunar orbit. A Block II variation of the Oaho spacecraft would add on a lunar module, designed to land and stay on the moon using docking equipment innovated from the Kaite experiments.

The Oaho Program would land a total of 18 Otaran astronauts on the moon, the first of them being Ioane Kahuila, who landed on the moon in February 12, 1969. Moon landing missions were carried out in 1969, 1971, 1974, 1979, 1980, and 1982. Astronauts executed a variety of experiments while on the surface of the moon, collecting samples and conducting studies on soil mechanics, meteoroids, seismology, heat flow, lunar ranging, magnetic fields, and solar wind. Additionally, the last two landings were noted to include studies related to the feasibility of long-term sustained living both on the moon and in space, which would form the foundations for the Yuru and Kalei programs, launched decades later.