We set out to explore the various biomes that exist in the area around KSC. Shores and Water have been scienced, now for Highlands
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we've got a delivery date for our new KerBalloons - five will be arriving next Tuesday & we hope to loft payloads later in the week
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catch up on new developments this past week in our Weekly Ops Summary - bit.ly/OpsSummary10-1…. have a great weekend everyone!
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still unloading the cargo ship that came in earlier today (photo from earlier too). Lots of supplies, and our new KerBalloon parts!
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Lead Scientist Cheranne is especially looking forward to getting out of the office to oversee the KerBalloon launches over the next few days
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balloons have been trucked over from the support village warehouse and now reside in the VAB for assembly to begin later today
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astronauts are off on an excursion aboard the MSV Tongjess to train in various water survival techniques, like using pants for flotation
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astronauts have returned. Everyone is wet but no one drowned. Tongjess will remain anchored offshore for KerBalloon launch/recovery this wk
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also finishing assembly today are two KerBalloon payloads for launch tmrw. Pretty much same design as our test flight, here's a closer look
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Flight Director Lanalye has the afternoon booked solid with drills for her team of controllers to get rdy for the KerBalloon & Mk2 launches
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MSV Tongjess has just cleared horizon & made contact, on its way back to KSC w/intact payload. Great job teams! Let's do it again tomorrow!
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launch crews have an adventure ahead of them these next few KerBalloon launches, taking our off-road rovers (we have 5) out into the wild
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we're a bit apprehensive of sending them X-country overnight, but the drivers say they are confident the trip is doable if traversed right
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the launch site is 48km away but overland route will be more like 50-55km. Within range for there-back but xtra fuel packed just in case
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we have intermittent contact w/launch team as they travel, up & down ridges through the Highlands. They are avg'ing 12m/s, taking it slow
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no word now from the launch team for 20min, must be over the horizon or too many tall ridges. Now we must wait & hope for AOS after launch
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L-5min for balloon launch, assuming all is going as scheduled in the Highlands to the north. AOS should come within 2-3 min after L-0 time
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TS has AOS and we see good data coming in from the KerBalloon probe! Spattering of clapping & cheers here at launch control, all is nominal
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altho we can't see a launch photo until crews return, here's a pre-launch photo from yesterday's Kerblantic ocean launch aboard the Tongjess
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Val used our telemetry data and some math to figure out where to point her telescope but was unable to resolve or track the probe with it
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she's also frustrated that clouds rolled in about an hour ago and blocked her from seeing Mun occult Jool just before sunrise
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balloon nearing max altitude - its rise was stalled for several minutes by a strong downdraft entering a large pressure differential @ ~13km
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we sent the command to deploy chute at 3.5km to reduce risk of signal loss, vertical speed indicates chute has deployed successfully
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we saw full chute deployment reflected in vertical speed prior to loss of signal. Now to await word from recovery (was launch) crew
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comm contact with the recovery crew, they are well on their way back - payload is intact & secure! Bring that sweet science on home, kerbs!
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happy to report a successful return of our 3 rovers w/all crew & payload. Scientists are buying them all drinks at the mess hall later
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another busy week here at KSC, let us recap & expand upon events. As always, everyone have a great weekend bit.ly/OpsSummary10-1…
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here's a photo from yesterday of the Highlands KerBalloon launch at sunrise. No problems getting set up in the dark, that's for sure
