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Preliminary Flight Report for Second Mk6 Launch
This week’s launch was a complete success, which is exactly how we wanted to kick off spaceflight operations again after our two month forced hiatus. Engineers are still studying the data retrieved from the payload but it looks like we are starting to find the edge of the radiation field, although the next two flights will make this conclusive – we’ll either completely miss the radiation or find a new area as we continue to launch further south.
The other highlight was the use of new airbrakes attached to the third stage fuel tank to help increase drag during the plummet through the lower atmosphere and slow the payload enough for the chute to deploy safely. They have been in development these past few months and Head of R&D Wernher von Kerman was unsure if they were yet ready for use. However we knew for a fact we would lose the payload without them so having them posed no additional risks – they rest within the slipstream of the slightly large probe core unit so their effect on the rocket during ascent was negligible. Despite the success, we are still wary – things could have worked out just right this time – every re-entry is a little different and this rocket also did not travel as high as the last one. We will be re-using them for the next flight, and have ordered several more in case the current ones begin to wear out.
Expect a more detailed report Monday or Tuesday as data is further analyzed to determine if we want to change anything for the flight profile of the next launch, scheduled for this coming Wednesday at 18:18 UTC
K2-X Engine Completes Full-System Testing
Hooked up to its fuel tank and system controller these past two weeks, the K2-X engine planned for use on the Ascension Mk1 underwent a series of tests in order to prove all the components work together properly. You can read more about the testing in this ops summary. The original plan after testing was to send the engine back to NovaPunch for further analysis and order a brand new one for the first Ascension Mk1 flight but if we want to stick to our original schedule of launching by May then we need to refurbish and use this engine – we won’t get a new one in time. The whole tank and engine assembly will be unmounted from the test stand next week and moved back to the VAB to begin getting ready for flight. We hope to have a launch date set by mid-May for the end of the month.
Deuce Returns to Service
After being redesigned and rebuilt yet again to overcome some lingering issues, the Deuce is once more a fully-operational aircraft in our fleet. This week Captain Jebediah and Commander Valentina put the fresh aircraft through its paces, shaking down the new engines and performing some high-G maneuvers to test the aircraft’s structural limits as well as also ensure the new engines performed as expected under high-G loads. This all culminated in a return flight from Sheltered Rock to KSC earlier today with a science mission performed along the way to help the Genesis program start to claw its way back out of the red (as far as the Deuce itself is concerned).
We look forwards to putting the new aircraft to work, but next up will actually be a Civvie mission flown by Cdr Val at the start of next week to take care of another old contract from earlier this year.
KerBalloon Sees Continued Success
In case you missed it, the first KerBalloon expedition since operations resumed returned to port this past Saturday with a successfully recovered payload, which landed out in the desert and had to be retrieved by UTV (better-equipped this time to handle the sandy conditions!). Although more rocket launches are coming up that will require high-altitude balloons to be released, these operations do not actually fall under the control of the KerBalloon program so while that will still be taken care of, the KB team will embark on another mission this coming week.
ATN Database
The weekly update for the Asteroid Tracking Network database is available here, containing 1,876 asteroids and 5 updated with new observation data.
From the Desk of Drew Kerman
Out of Character Behind the Scenes stuffWritten on 4/8/18
Rough week, getting back up to speed on things. Even though I really like simulated flying and was looking forward to getting the Deuce back up in the air when I opened my flight checklist, which contains about 150 items, I was just like ugh…all this work… but I eventually took a deep breath and dove back in. It’s better now that I’ve slipped back “into the groove” so all the work involved doesn’t seem quite as daunting now. I was actually 2-3 days behind on things, which wasn’t helping my motivation any, luckily I had a week off from IRL stuff so was able to slack around a lot and still catch up – I remain two days behind but it’s just the weekend, which I can bang out easy in a day.
Deuce flying
This was another complete rebuild of the Deuce in the editor from the ground up and things really seem to be great this time around. It really does seem to make a difference how much attention you pay to assembling all the parts together – take your time! I even thought I fixed the issue of the gear wanting to swerve the aircraft off the runway on the takeoff roll but although it does handle a lot less wobbly on the ground it still has some wheel issues I simply counteract with a kOS script that disables wheel friction above 30m/s.
Yea so the aircraft is as easy to fly as a Civvie now, no more weird handling issues or having to tweak the AoA of the ailerons during the flight to keep the thing balanced. I can point it where I want it to go and let go of the stick – slight adjustments needed every now and then as it does like to lazily roll in one way or another like the Civvie tends to do but that is natural. I could give the wings some dihedral to help stabilize that but it’s not a huge deal – the Roll Hold feature of FAR can handle it fine.
Mk6 launch
Of course after having no real trouble getting the Deuce flying after coming back to operations after several weeks it couldn’t be the same for rocket flight. I almost went back into a funk again when I took the Mk6 to the pad and saw the nose cone chute trying to deploy itself. I don’t use launch clamps for the Progeny rockets but for testing things I had reason to use them and they would drop the rocket after loading out onto the pad. This is why I keep a running record of the order in which I install mods, because I was able to work back through the recently-updated ones since I last launched to figure out it was KSPIE causing the trouble – turns out I missed updates to it because the author moved the thread out of the Add-Ons forum where I check for updates and into a support forum. The whole process took me over two hours of testing. Bleaugh.
Apparently the first Mk6 launched with a 500km antenna in its nose cone – whoops. I corrected that for this launch and moving forwards, luckily it doesn’t make a real difference (noticeable, but not huge) in the EC use and no difference at all in the mass.
Although I completed the whole flight on the first try, none of the radiation data was properly logged due to a bug I didn’t notice when I ran my code check straight-up test launch. Thankfully since I auto-save the game as soon as the rocket enters space I was able to re-fly the trajectory and re-log the data afterward. I also fixed the logging bug.
Finally, I should note that I totally did not expect the airbrakes to work. When I tested them during the code check flight, where I launch the rocket straight up off the pad just to ensure there are no obvious runtime errors in the program, they destroyed the rocket promptly upon deploying even to their first minimal setting due to aerodynamic forces. But again, that launch profile was different than the actual launch. Still, I was literally shouting and clapping with glee as I watched the airbrakes deploy, the rocket not blow up, and it splashing down intact. Moments like that make all the hardship worthwhile.
So. Moving on then…
