After two failed attempts at orbit, the Ascension team was preparing for a third try when the decision was made to pivot away from achieving orbit and instead focus on sub-orbital flight to prepare for sending a kerbal up in the finalized capsule design still undergoing certification testing. With this in mind the team used the new Launch Vehicle Designer (LVD) from ArrowstarTech to develop a trajectory similar to our orbital flight attempts but designed to bring the capsule (or in this case the capsule test object) down over the waters just east of Ockr. This would allow for the maximum amount of time in space while still splashing down to avoid any dangerous terrain or higher elevations and remaining close to support assets. The third flight of the Ascension Mk1 was tasked with following this ascent profile and performing various technology tests while in space.
The Flight
Part of the mission design called for the Mk1 tanks to not be fully fueled so the engines could burn all the way to exhaustion and allow the rocket to remain on trajectory without having to vent fuel in space or have a fuel-laden tank drop back down to Kerbin. The first attempt at a wet dress rehearsal after the rocket was installed on the pad failed due to the pumps in the service towers not onloading gas fast enough for the rocket to pressurize the greater empty space in the tanks in the scant seconds leading up to ignition. This led to a day’s delay as the problem was sorted out.
