Ascension Flight Prep Completed
The VAB crew finished assembling the Mk1 this week, picking up from where they left off back in March with the rocket already near completion. Over the past 3 months there was some work done on it to ensure build quality was up to the newer standards of the reassessed program mandates, but nothing major came up which is why we were able to get this launch scheduled before the end of the month. The rocket may have been relatively simple to construct as it does not deviate much from previous missions but the actual mission design itself is one of the most complex we have undertaken to date. Operations Director Drew even took to twitter to explain some of the details that had to be considered. As always, we aim to break new ground and explore new techniques.
Bob’s mission in July also remains on schedule and we should be able to add his rocket to the Ops Tracker before the end of the month with launch timing and more details. MSV Aldeny has returned to port in Umbarg from its berth in Sheltered Rock, where it has remained since recovering Jeb in March. It will recover the capsule from this mission, which will only fall ~135km to the east, and then stick around to allow Bob and his backup Bill to perform water recovery drills. Jeb and Val will continue to train CapCom duties with Launch Team A.
Everyone is getting a break over the weekend though, and everyone is excited to be returning to launch operations next week!
Annual Pollen Survey Quarterly Collection
Ever since the allergy outbreak of 2017 scientists have worked to mitigate the problem of exposure to surface-dwelling kerbals. Drugs remain in development and are still largely ineffective, so the next best thing is awareness of how much pollen is in the air. The trees have a cycle for when they release their pollen but not all tree species share the same cycle and the locations of the trees are scattered across the grasslands to the west and plains to the north. Using the Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer attached to the Civvie, regular flights around the region have been able to measure pollen levels to give scientists a better idea of when to issue air hazard warnings so kerbs can take precautions (like wearing masks) when outside.
The latest quarterly flight was completed by Jeb this week.
Commercial Airport Expansion in Final Phase
Have a look at the gallery above to see the first completed section of the final phase in the commercial airport expansion project underway at KSC, with the goal of augmenting the space port with a commercial hub for aircraft cargo servicing the nearby cavern of Umbarg. The large hangars will allow craft as big or bigger than the Dhumla to stay under cover during loading/unloading operations in inclement weather. Following this section will be the maintenance/fuel farm complex, then another set of small hangars for aircraft owned by the KSA/KSC and finally the cargo warehouses. Another milestone event happened this past weekend when the first train arrived from Umbarg, carrying fuel and parts for our upcoming rocket launches.
Something that stands out for the large hangars is the fact that they are not enclosed like the small ones. This is because during the settlement from the fight between the airship Barons and the aircraft industry (mainly C7 Aerospace) the Barons won some petty privileges, including not allowing aircraft to be housed in large buildings above ground, only airships. The aircraft industry still managed to pull off a win of their own however in getting the Barons to agree to specific wording saying no propeller-driven aircraft larger than the Dhumla could be constructed. They did not even think or know about the potential for jet engines!
ATN Database
The latest update for the Asteroid Tracking Network database is available here, containing 5,290 asteroids and 1 updated with new observation data. Here are the 24 asteroids that were discovered this past week.
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