Report of the Science & Technology Committee to the Central Party Committee, Beijing:
Our analysts have been working on the proposal to use our significant edge in guided missile technology to remotely and safely survey astronomical bodies using sensor buoys delivered via a
Tiandehui-class ICBM. Our estimates are that at this time, this proposal is not feasible with the current state of sensor and reactor technologies. In order to gather enough geological data to survey even a smaller planet such as Mercury, a single buoy would be need to be as large or larger than the delivery vehicle. The resulting ordnance platform would be twice as large as the launch tubes on our
Jin-class vessels, and larger planets would require multiple sensor buoys acting in tandem.
The proposal should be revisited at some point in the future, after significant improvements in geological sensor capabilities, reactor strength, and/or missile drive strength. With improvements in all three areas, a feasible design may be achieved which could be of significant value in extra-Solar systems.
Director Pan Luoli (ooc: My Chinese name
)
OOC: Incidentally, the Chinese nomenclature for the planets is fascinating.
Mercury = shui xing = "Water star"
Venus = jin xing = "gold/metal star"
Earth = di qiu = "ball of dirt" OR da di = "big earth"
Mars = huo xing = "fire star"
Jupiter = mu xing = "wood star"
Saturn = tu xing = "earth star"
Uranus = tian wang xing = "Heaven-king-star"
Neptune = hai wang xing = "Sea-king-star"
Pluto = ming wang xing = "Darkness-king-star"