Ocean of Storms: A Timeline of A Scientific America

First of all, this is one of the very best timelines I've read—keep up the good work.

I have a question regarding the Reagan/Bush succession: if I understood correctly, Reagan had to step down according to section 4 of the 25th Amendment, that is, the vice-president and the majority of the cabinet declared the President unable to fufill his powers and duties, and were supported by Congress. But that only makes Bush acting president.
It seems to me that in order for Bush to be sworn-in as the 40th President, Reagan must resign or be impeached.
 
I have a question regarding the Reagan/Bush succession: if I understood correctly, Reagan had to step down according to section 4 of the 25th Amendment, that is, the vice-president and the majority of the cabinet declared the President unable to fufill his powers and duties, and were supported by Congress. But that only makes Bush acting president.
It seems to me that in order for Bush to be sworn-in as the 40th President, Reagan must resign or be impeached.
In theory yeah, but we only used it once, under Nixon in RL, and a few temp times under surgery.

So there's a lotta stuff that's up in the air about it.
 
Sorry, Knightmare, but Section 4 of the 25th has never been invoked, under Nixon or any other President. When a President temporarily transfers power to the VP when he's about to go under anesthesia, that's Section 3.
 
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Sorry, Knightmare, but Section 4 of the 25th has never been invoked, under Nixon or any other President. When a President temporarily transfers power to the VP when he's about to go under anesthesia, that's Section 3.
Ah, I was going off the ammendment altogether.
 
But that only makes Bush acting president.
In a close reading of the amendment, I'd say you were correct. I'm not sure if there's been any particular legal delineation between "Acting President" and "President." At any rate, I would think that, if Congress declared him unable to discharge the duties of the office, Reagan would have been willing to quietly submit a formal resignation just to remove all issues regarding the situation.

It's an interesting Constitutional conundrum.
 
Whatever else Reagan was, and people see him as everything from saint to not far from a fiend out of hell and everything else between, he was a patriot I think that he would quietly submit a resignation to prevent controversy and keep the nation running smoothy. Section 4 keeps the VP as "Acting President."
 
Which could make things particularly weird if the President were permanently incapacitated but not dead.
Indeed it would.

It also allows a president to get the job back if he recovers. Congress and the cabinet can't unelect him--which also leads to the possibility of a deposed president taking the case to the Supreme Court.

It does mean that there's no VP, so the speaker of the house is next in line. Things get messy if someone croaks.
 
I agree: in the situation as described by BowOfOrion, Reagan would have had no choice but to resign.
And yes, Section 4 of the 25th is very tricky. I refer you to the excellent book by Brian C. Kalt, Unable (Oxford University Press, 2019).
 
The challenge comes if the president is incapacitated, unable or unwilling to resign. Even so, everything should work out. The USA has been without a VP multiple times.
 
Thank you for another well written update to a story I am very fond of.

This line is great "Lunney’s brow somehow found more of an angle." - you have a knack for finding exactly the right words to convey meaning and I'm still smiling at the image this created in my mind.
 
About the Olympus station, is it comparable in size to Skylab or smaller? Are there any IRL designs you think it could be based off?
 
One thing I can't get my mind off is that Apollo 17 ITTL landed at Tycho crater, which is pretty far south, way further south than the usual Apollo landing sites. Would it have been accessible if the CSM had to change inclinations, dock to Olympus, then get back to an inclination to rendezvous with the returning surface astronauts?
 
One thing I can't get my mind off is that Apollo 17 ITTL landed at Tycho crater, which is pretty far south, way further south than the usual Apollo landing sites. Would it have been accessible if the CSM had to change inclinations, dock to Olympus, then get back to an inclination to rendezvous with the returning surface astronauts?

Interestingly, Tycho was seriously considered for Apollo 17 in OTL.

Presumably NASA would not want a LLO station that might constrict its landing site selections. Perhaps Olympus could do the maneuvering?
 
Perhaps Olympus could do the maneuvering?
Olympus had no maneuvering system IITL, maybe some RCS thrusters for attitude control but nothing for major plane changes.

Tycho I think would require an Apollo 21-style mission where they shorten the surface stay to only 6 days and give the CMP enough supplies to last out that time without needing to dock with Olympus, which is in a 28 degree orbit.
 
Interesting that Tycho was too rocky for a lunar rover.

Well, at least the Surveyor 7 area was considered too rough. Obviously, Tycho is a very big place, and not all of it is that rocky. The problem is, as Portree notes, "In addition, the site had not been imaged from orbit at sufficiently high resolution." (I can't recall if Bowof Orion's timeline has an orbital mapping mission by this point.)

Tycho is, in summary, a challenging landing site for a first or second generation Apollo mission, just marginally within its capabilities (if stretched). But it's also of very high scientific interest. Perhaps sufficiently so that a mission could go there that dispenses with the use of Olympus.
 
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