Russo-American expedition to Neptune

*The information presented in this article is **true for my alternate history**, but either completely false, or only partly true for real life.*

Following the dissolution of the USSR, Russia teamed up with United States to fly to Neptune. The expedition project consisted of 2 national spaceflight program:

* Arion Program - the American program
* Neptun Program - the Russian program

And an international effort, mostly to design and construct the scientific instruments for the ship.

## Objective:

The objective of the expedition was to collect scientific data about Neptune and its moons. And to learn about the formation of the system, about its history, and about its geology. Potentially also to discover more moons that have not been detected yet.

Manned landings on two of the Neptune's moons - Triton, and Nereid - were carried out. While 4 secondary probes as well as 10 commercial smallsats peered deeper into other places.

## Habitation:

### Food:

There was food and water stored in the NLSTS at launch, it was just convenient.

A lot of research was put into developing better tasting, and more calorie-dense foods for the astronauts to enjoy on their lifelong voyage. The average day's worth of food plus packaging weighed around 2 kg, but varied food to food.

The food also needed to be shelf-stable. A lot of it was vacuum-sealed, but not all (notably the shorter lasting "fresh" foods that were packed for the first few months of the voyage).

### **Water:**

The water was mostly recycled from the 35 ton reservouir, which was stored in the walls of the hab, doubling as shielding.

### **Crew comfort:**

The astronauts had to have something to do, to not go crazy.

They had a programmable entertainment system.

They had a speedy connection to the ground (much better than what was available on Coelus mission) as well.

They also communicated with the Coelus mission. Although real-time voice communications were impossible due to signal delay, the crewmembers exchanged text messages between each other, eventually forming interplanetary friendships, and exchanging ideas. They understood each other more than anyone else. Afterall, they were the only ones adrift in deep interplanetary space at the time.

### **Aging:**

As the astronauts aged, their health deteriorated, and the effect of lifelong spaceflight were deemed to not be good.

Everyone knew there was a very real chance they wouldn't be able to return home safely.

### **Astronaut Training and Accident Mitigation:**

The astronauts were very highly trained, especially considering their age. And their training was not complete when they got up into space. They had 60 more years to learn and adapt. They themselves knew how to deal with a lot of circumstances, but also had the mission control to help them.

They also had quick reference handbooks, a set was originally developed for Coelus, and an updated set was onboard the NOM as well.

There was a 3D printer onboard, to help with fabrication of parts, should something go wrong. As well as a supply of materials. The printer could also be used for research, as well as combating boredom.

Dealing with the comms delay proved to be a big problem even on the Othrys mision. This required trained specialists to be able to deal with the problems on site.

## Scientific Payload:

The expedition carried a huge array of scientific equipment designed to collect data on as much properties of Neptune and its moon system as possible. It was invaluable, returning many tens of terabytes of data and over 2 metric tons of samples back to Earth.

#### Main Ship:

* Primary Imaging Telescope (PIT) - a 16 in telescope with very high focal length (visible light).
* Secondary Imaging Telescope (SIT) - a 16 in telescope (visible and near infrared).
* Tertiary Imaging Telescope (TIT) - an 8 in telescope (visible and near infrared).
* Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UVIT) - a 6-plus-8 inch telescope unit (ultraviolet).
* Long-Range Multispectral Observatory (LRMO) - an 8 in telescope with very high focal length, able to image in multiple spectra.
* Short-Range Multispectral Observatory (SRMO)
* Multiple Spectrograph (MS) - the weird-shaped device next to the LRMO.
* Micrometeorite Detector
* Radio Astronomy Tool (RAT)
* Solar wind detector
* Magnetic Field Sensor - a cluster of magnetometers.
* High-Energy Charged Particles Detector
* Low-Energy Charged Particles Detector
* Nuclear Reactor in Space Experiment - the nuclear reactor used to power the spacecraft was used in a couple of experiments.
* Nuclear Decay Experiment - the 2nd experiment involving the nuclear reactor module.
* Plasma Wave Antenna

#### Neptune Landing System:

* Reusable Rover
* Soil Sample Gathering Equipment - Scoops, grabbers, and more
* Subsurface Rock Collection Equipment (SRCE, pronounced "source") - A fancy coring drill
* Triton Atmosphere Measuring Suite (TAMS)

#### Neptune Landing System Transfer Stage:

* Radar Mapping Antenna (RMA)
* Magnetic Field Sensors
* Micrometeorite Detectors
* Background Radiation Antenna Array (BRAA)

#### Left on Triton:

* Long-Duration Radiation Experiment
* Long-Duration Plasma Experiment
* Long-Duration Micrometeorite Experiment
* Triton Atmospheric Instrument

#### Left on Nereid:

* Long-Duration Radiation Experiment
* Long-Duration Plasma Experiment
* Long-Duration Micrometeorite Experiment

#### Crew carried with them:

* Several Cameras
* 2 Telescopes
* *... more ...*

#### Additional spacecraft:

The mission carried additional spacecraft, those were:

* NAP - Neptune Atmospheric Probe
* PES - Proteus Explorer Spacecraft
* NIMES - Neptune Inner Moons Explorer Spacecraft
* NOMES - Neptune Outer Moons Explorer Spacecraft
* 10 Smallsats

## Sample Recovery:

The expedition recovered a total of 2,361 kg of rock samples (including both surface and subsurface), spread roughly equally between Triton and Nereid.

## Accidents:

During the first attempt at a return back to Earth, the automated flight control system detected a malfunction during engine startup, immediately shutting down the two RO-51s. After consulting the problem with Mission Control, they decided to perform a spacewalk to fix a valve that was stuck.

They had to enter the interstage via one of the access doors originally designed for ground personnel, because the engine startup sequence was terminated at T-31 seconds - before the separation signal.

## Abort Options:

The ship had enough Delta-V, as well as enough provisions for the crew to brake and return to Earth at any time, even just after departure, if a problem was found.

## Crew:

Both astronauts at the time of departure were 21 years old.

Cosmonauts were even younger, at 18 and 20.

US:

* Gerald Romeo (21)
* Savannah Styles (21)

Russia:

* Yussuf Umarov (18)
* Leonid Nikolaev (20)

## See Also:

Neptune Expedition Ship

Neptune Landing System