LINCOLN GOES INTO SPACE ACT
Section I — Title
This bill may be cited as the Lincoln Goes Into Space Act.
Section II — Lincoln contributes to science
In order to stimulate sciences, Lincoln will contribute to one scientific project and space exploration in general. 5 billion will be made available for one of the following three projects which will be subject to a vote through a referendum if the General Court passes the act.
1. The following proposals will be considered
PROPOSAL 1: Enceladus Orbilander
The Enceladus Orbilander would spend a year and a half orbiting Enceladus and sampling its water plumes, which stretch into space, before landing on the surface for a two-year mission to study materials for evidence of life. The mission, with an estimated cost of $4.9 billion, could launch in the late 2030s on a Space Launch System or Falcon Heavy with a landing in the early 2050s.
PROPOSAL 2: Uranus Orbiter and Probe
The Uranus Orbiter and Probe is an orbiter mission concept to study Uranus and its moons. The orbiter would also deploy an atmospheric probe to characterize Uranus's atmosphere. The current proposal targets a launch in 2031 using a Falcon Heavy expendable launch vehicle with a gravity assist at Jupiter allowing arrival at Uranus in 2044. The science phase would last 4.5 years and include multiple flybys of each of the major moons.
PROPOSAL 3: Io Volcano Observer
Io Volcano Observer (IVO) is a proposed low-cost, outer-planet mission to explore Jupiter's moon Io to understand tidal heating as a fundamental planetary process. The main science goals are to understand (A) how and where tidal heat is generated inside Io, (B) how tidal heat is transported to the surface, and (C) how Io is evolving. These results are expected to have direct implications for the thermal history of Europa and Ganymede as well as provide insights into other tidally heated worlds such as Titan and Enceladus. The IVO data may also improve our understanding of magma oceans and thus the early evolution of the Earth and Moon.
2. Excesses of budget will be put in the Lincoln Treasury again.
3. Citizens will be allowed to name the mission in case it passes. Within a time frame, names will be suggested, all the names will be collected and brought to a vote in which the winner after "winner takes it all" process will be decided.
4. In addition to the science equipment, there shall be several cultural artifacts traveling with the spacecraft, including a flag of Lincoln, about 1 oz of Abraham Lincoln's ashes, a textpaper with the constitution of Atlasia and Lincoln and an updated version of the Golden Record which was on the Voyager spacecrafts.
Section III - Citizens Decide
1. The choice of what project will be pursued will be brought in a vote to a referendum in the next regular elections.
2. The question asked to Lincoln citizens will be the following: "what space project do you want Lincoln to pursue?"
3. The options will be as following
A. Proposal 1
B. Proposal 2
C. Proposal 3
D. None of the above
4. Option D will be seen as a vote against this act.
5. The referendum will be done through the RCV process.
Occupying: Slot 2 of 10
Sponsor: Lakigigar
