Progeny Mk1-B Captive Carry & Release Test 2

Progenitor and Genesis teams have reviewed yesterday's flight data and conclude the release went extremely well - the rocket was flying on its own after being pushed away from the aircraft and the engine exhaust would have cleared the Deuce's tail

crews have gotten quicker at getting the Mk1-B remounted to the Deuce, so it's ready to go but weather seems to be turning for the worse. Aldy and Ted are suited up and on standby in case conditions improve before 3rd sunset

clouds & wind made it seem like a storm was brewing but weather is improving and the Go has been given for the flight crew to head to briefing while the aircraft gets a final checkover out on the tarmac

the 'stache gives away that Tedman has control of the aircraft for this mission as he and Aldy wrap up preflight to get the aircraft ready for departure. The sky is mostly clear - and dark thanks to Mun's shadow as a kerbolar eclipse recedes from maximum

departure clearance has been granted from Flight Control, giving Ted permission to taxi out and takeoff. Winds are still strong and coming from the south means they'll need to take the looong drive out to Rwy19

Tedman has powered the Deuce off the ground and is now passing through 800m ASL, cleaning up the wings and setting trim for a nice easy 10m/s climb up to 6km. This allows the aircraft to maintain momentum & remain ~120m/s - gaining speed at high altitudes is tough

passing through 6km Ted has begun to turn back towards KSC. 75km downrange, he'll use the distance to slowly climb the remaining 1km, level off and confirm the aircraft is stable in preparation for release of the rocket

20km out, approaching at 127m/s level @ 7km Ted is making one final minor course adjustment as instructed by Flight. Within 10km Flight will give the Go to dive down to 6.5km and climb back up holding a 45° pitch to 7km - at which point Ted will command Aldy to release the rocket

"Abort! Abort! Abort!" Tedman instructed Aldeny to not release the rocket as he determined his speed was low and climb angle was off. He's getting the Deuce back under control from the near-stall and Flight will vector him around for another approach

the Deuce has come around for another attempt. Tedman says he will apply full power on his climb this time and also make sure to dive only 500m as he is supposed to rather than nearly 1km on the first attempt. Both admit tho they're happy to pull some Gs again!

"Release! Release! Release!" this time Tedman felt more confident in his climb and Aldeny fired the decoupler as commanded to send the rocket up and away from the rear of the aircraft. Separation looked as clean as the first attempt!

rocket has landed safely under chute and recovery crews are on the way as Tedman continues his descent to land back on Rwy19. Sun is getting low, which will make the runway markers harder to see on approach but Aldy has a pair of binoculars to help guide Ted in

taxiing back in after a smooth landing, the crew will debrief with the rest of the Genesis and Progenitor team members as data and footage is reviewed to determine whether the rocket did indeed perform nominally on this release closer to its ascent angle

initial results from today's mission show the rocket pitched up to 77° after being released at 44° (great flying, Ted!). This is only 1° more than expected based on data from the first test and shows an elevated release still won't kick the rocket over too much

we're calling it - all crews standing down for the weekend. Everyone will be back ready to go on Monday! Catch up on everything that happened this week via bit.ly/OpSummary7-9-18