Ascension Mk1 Flight 10 (Captain Jebediah)

thankfully no one was seriously injured by the rocks they were pelted with. We have a writeup on the site to provide more info on what happened: kerbalspace.agency/?p=8922 the government is currently discussing what actions, if any, should be taken to contact these isolated kerbs

learn more details about what went down this past week, including extra information on the new Mobile Launch Platform, in our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9183 what are everyone's plans for the weekend?

not everyone has given up the search, but even the area the plane was thought to have been found in hasn't been fully covered and expanding the search to an even wider area only means more time will be needed to uncover any possible signs of wreckage

make sure you know all that happened this week and learn more details via our Ops Summary - kerbalspace.agency/?p=9247

we are working hard towards our next rocket launches - check our Ops Summary to see what we did this week towards that end and get a preview of the next three Ascension missions: kerbed Mk1, unkerbed Mk1 and unkerbed Mk2 kerbalspace.agency/?p=9483

initial telemetry data review has also clinched Val the new bit.ly/KSARecords for time in space at 11m2s while also claiming the new record for a kerbal's height over Kerbin at 251.907km. Jeb, obviously, is keen to break these on his flight

learn more about today's decision to delay the Mk2 orbital attempt in our weekly Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9801 Have a great weekend everyone, and we look forward to this one especially at KSC. Anyone know why?

primary crew Cpt Jeb and his backup Spc Bob have begun basic mission prep this week with the Ascension team, which will outline objectives while reviewing and analyzing data from the previous mission. This will culminate in a launch date after the flight report releases

flight analysis for Cdr Val's mission has been posted. Just a few ascent design issues to clean up next time. We are also actively working to resolve an issue in LVD we discovered while doing this analysis: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9878

Ascension team have announced a date for Captain Jebediah's mission - launching 10/22 @ 18:25 UTC! He and his backup Specialist Bob have already begun their mission training this week consisting so far of simulator runs and emergency capsule egress drills

the mysterious disappearance of a Deuce back at the end of May has actually increased enrollment in ASA flight school - kerbs have realized more than ever just how big the surface world is & how much there is to explore, which airplanes can do well. Plus some are still searching

weekend, ho! October is only just getting started and we already have plenty of things to talk in more depth about in our weekly Ops Summary, so check it out - kerbalspace.agency/?p=9885 everyone have a relaxing weekend & try to take some time to gaze up at the night sky

Specialist Bill, primary CapCom and Commander Valentina, his backup, have started their mission training with the Launch Control A team today. We place astronauts in these roles since they are best suited to quickly communicating complex instructions in a way they would also understand

this week has mainly been water recovery exercises for Jeb and Bob just offshore from KSC. We don't need our actual recovery vessel MSV Aldeny, berthed at Sheltered Rock, because they aren't training to be hauled up in the capsule onto the deck as if everything went right

with Bob being even more of an intellectual than Val, Jeb has had trouble getting along with him during training. Jeb likes to call him "Bob the Brain". It's gotten so bad we've actually separated them, which still works fine overall since they aren't on mission together

reports from a recent surface expedition claim to have found the crash site of the missing Deuce aircraft - or at least, evidence of a crash site because the plane itself has still not been found. The news will report anything these days it seems, and this is still a hot story

once again Jeb comes out victorious in number of successful sim runs during training, which is wrapping up this week. Jeb says Bob thinks too much when things start to go sideways (sometimes literally) whereas he just "does what needs to be done"

load checks are complete for the latest Ascension Mk1 - tomorrow it will be laid back horizontal and given a detailed final inspection over the next two days and if all looks good it will then be loaded up onto the carry vehicle for rollout on Monday

mission training is complete, Captain Jeb & Specialist Bob are now in quarantine in the Astronaut Complex until launch day, allowing for them to rest after their vigorous training schedule and remain under close medical observation

wow that was a week already? Time flies when you're having fun, or are just excited like we are for another kerbed space mission next week! Get hype! Also get caught up on all that went down at KSC the past week: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9945

although they have access to a phone line to talk, Val & Bob are instead playing a game of pictograms through his window. Jeb says it's disgustingly cute & is glad they don't have adjacent rooms so he wasn't asked to join. Bob says he wouldn't have asked anyways

both of our crew in quarantine remain healthy. Jeb says he wishes the mission was tomorrow - he's tired of doctors poking him. Bob admits he's still working through some minor anxiety issues and is hoping Jeb doesn't suddenly come down with an illness

all launch readiness reports have been reviewed and signed off on by Operations Director @DKerman_KSA which means we are GO for launch attempt tomorrow! Jeb says he probably won't sleep much. Bob agrees, but not for the same reasons. Prelaunch ops kick off @ 13:25 UTC

our founder and Operations Director @DKerman_KSA has already gone on record via a short interview with KNN saying "we will not in any way be deterred by such a heinous action as occurred today and we shall cooperate fully with a joint investigation"

we're still trying to wrap our heads around what happened yesterday and have been greatly comforted from the support shown by the public. We are also providing grief counselors to any KSA staff that require them. Our astronaut crew will all receive mandatory psych evals

.@mrtagnan there's no radar coverage until the tracking vessel comes on station later in the count. We've only cared about range issues for a rocket going up & hitting something, not the other way around. They chose their window of attack wisely. This is why we are now building our own radar station

it's been a pretty crazy week and we have no new information to share on the attack investigation, but if you happen to just be catching up on things our Ops Summary still has all the vital details: kerbalspace.agency/?p=9979 Please keep those lost this week in your thoughts

funeral services have begun this weekend and will continue throughout the week for the pad workers that perished in the fire last week. Cpt Jeb has committed himself to attending as many as he can to personally offer his condolences as the sole survivor

KSC remains shut down but a team is onsite this week collecting debris from the launch pad so the ASA can begin to determine the origins of the aircraft based on the parts that are recovered. A lot remains intact, including the cabin & body of the unidentified pilot

the radome has been completed on the tall hills west of KSC and will be hooked up to the Tracking Station by tomorrow, which means we can return to KSC next week! Due to security, it's tough working remotely for engineering and R&D teams w/o full file access

our astronaut crew is each spending the weekend at a cavern (Sheltered Rock, Ockr, Kravass, Umbarg) participating in science outreach programs to show that we will not cower in fear of threats to our goal of space exploration. Still, we did send along security details

we've been seeing various news reports questioning the fact that only a single crew member was found in the Deuce wreckage. While the Deuce is a multi-crew aircraft it can in fact be flown by a single kerb. The advantages of multi-crew in safety is why most aren't flown that way

we have no official statement to give in response - we have cooperated with the ASA in giving them access to the aircraft debris from the launch pad but that is the extent of our involvement. Lots of questions tied to this revelation will certainly take more time to answer

arrests have been made as the investigation into the attack on our launch pad continues to move forward. Those accused of collaborating with the exiled radicals will be offered plea bargains for cooperation in shutting down their local support network

the Air Safety Administration has confirmed it completed its investigation into the Deuce crash but has more work to do with law enforcement officials before the report can be released - hopefully by the end of this week

early end to the week, everyone is ready to kick back for the weekend after the successful end to the first Kerbal Sounding Project launch campaign. 2 more next month! Also the ASA report was released today & we have all the details in our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=10060

these kerbs went missing months ago but the link between them and the exiles was not made until after recent events, and they will likely be able to give up more associates in the ring of religious followers who initially re-established contact with the exiles

heading into the weekend with a good report from Lead Engineer Simon that the rocket has passed load checks and will undergo final closeouts at the start of next week. That and more that went down this past week in our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=10164

a new photo has been captured of the KSC to update our online banner images - also we made another significant upgrade after the completion of pad repairs over the break. Look closely in front of the Support Village for the engine test stands & the VAB for the MLP