Commander Valentina gets her first chance to drop a fully-equipped KerBalloon payload in a mission 114km north to Area C8FN9 to gather high-altitude pressure data for Albert Kerman Industries
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Mortimer & Drew were some of the first back to work & already signed off on a new contract for KerBalloon & another joint KB/Genesis mission
Kerbal Space Agency
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this new joint mission will take both the Civvie & the UTVs farther afield but still well within the ranges of both: bit.ly/Area_C8FN9
Kerbal Space Agency
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the KB team took a break from contract proposals after lunch to schedule the next KB/Genesis joint mission for next week on 5/25
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val is flying home today, Progenitor team analyzing data from static fire yesterday & KerBalloon team prepping for joint mission tomorrow
Kerbal Space Agency
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stormy weather moving through, we hear things are clear up at Kravass though, hopefully will remain so to allow Val to fly home at 4km ASL
Kerbal Space Agency
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those would be Bill's legs as he does what he loves: wrenching. UTVs are getting final checkouts for their overland trek of at least 226km
Kerbal Space Agency
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Bob has finished up final checkouts for the KerBalloon unit over in the VAB & it is now heading over to the HAB to be mounted to the Civvie
Kerbal Space Agency
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Bill & Bob report UTVs & KerBalloon crews ready for rollout at 2nd sunrise tomorrow. Val says Civvie will be rdy for flight at 3rd sunrise
Kerbal Space Agency
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kerbs have been showing up to pray at the Monolith to ask for deliverance & that the oncoming asteroids be diverted away from Kerbin
Kerbal Space Agency
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we should note these kerbs come by their own means & camp nearby, we do not host pilgrims @ KSC or Support Village for security reasons
Kerbal Space Agency
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early start for Bob & Bill today as they round up their other two team members & get ready to head out at sunrise to bit.ly/Area_C8FN9
Kerbal Space Agency
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Bob & Bill lead out the other UTV, only 2 needed for this trek. We're hoping cloud conditions are better later today for Civvie to fly
Kerbal Space Agency
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airship comms relay has reported on station north of KSC to keep us in contact with UTVs & with Civvie later today for the whole mission
Kerbal Space Agency
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UTVs have reached bit.ly/Area_C8FN9 after 119km of trekking, setting up camp for this night cycle. Val is finishing breakfast then suiting up
Kerbal Space Agency
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security has been dispatched to secure turf runway & ensure no Monolith pilgrims, for whatever reason, wander out there during Civvie ops
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val has suited up, been briefed, filed her flight plan & is now heading out to start preflight. Weather conditions have improved nicely
Kerbal Space Agency
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still dark out (no Mun) but Flight has cleared Val to taxi out to Rwy27 for departure, clouds scattered @ 4.2km w/ winds 311 @ 4-6kts
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val is in position & holding for takeoff clearance. Waiting for a bit more sunlight and also for security to confirm that runway is clear
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val has been cleared for takeoff, she will depart rwy hdg until 800m then turn direct towards bit.ly/Area_C8FN9 114km to the north
Kerbal Space Agency
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on course to Area C8FN9 after a good departure, Val will continue to climb to 3.5km. Bob, Bill & crew report they are breaking camp
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val is leveled off @ 3.5km moving 97m/s, has just dropped below horizon 68km distant & 48km to drop zone, ETA 8min. UTV crew is ready
Kerbal Space Agency
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clean drop reported by Val, who is regaining control after the CoM change before circling around to get a visual on the balloon's ascent
Kerbal Space Agency
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bad news: negative on visual. Val made two circles before Flight ordered her home. UTVs are 15km away & will move in to investigate
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val is back in sight of KSC (look closely along horizon for VAB) but UTV teams still working to access the drop site over some steep ridges
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val is 40km out & has begun her descent from 3.5km - still no report from KerBalloon team as they begin to search the drop site for balloon
Kerbal Space Agency
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1km ASL & turning downwind to enter the traffic pattern Val snapped a quick shot of KSC cloaked by cloud shadows before focusing on landing
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val says she's going to try a nice long sweeping turn through base to roll out straight onto final. Lanalye not thrilled by "fancy flying"
Kerbal Space Agency
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ending up short on the turn, Val was far enough out to re-align & bring the Civvie down w/a nice gentle 38m/s landing. Taxiing in to HAB
Kerbal Space Agency
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unfortunate news came in during Val's landing: KerBalloon team found the probe in several peices - compressed gas canister burst on impact
Kerbal Space Agency
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Bill says they are cleaning up what they can find & then starting the trek back for KSC, planning to arrive sometime after 3rd sunset
Kerbal Space Agency
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Val has been debriefed and shared with us a shot from the Civvie wing cam about 2 mins from the drop zone looking north at Mount Kermon
Kerbal Space Agency
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Bill has commed in to say they haven't made it as close to KSC as they'd like to continue past sundown, are setting up camp til 4th sunrise
Kerbal Space Agency
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new parts order already in to replace what was lost today, but still a blow - only MCU remaining already integrated into second Progeny Mk4
Kerbal Space Agency
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no more KerBalloon missions are possible until the first shipment of new MCUs arrives on June 1st. By June 12th tho we will have 10 units
Kerbal Space Agency
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UTVs are back to rolling, Bob estimates that they are only about 1.5hrs or so out from KSC if they don't run into any trouble along the way
Kerbal Space Agency
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happy to report UTVs have both made it back to KSC safe, thanks again to Luftkor Charters for their airship helping us remain in contact
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remember you can always review aircraft flights in our Flight Tracker by selecting Inactive Vessels. Today's flight: bit.ly/2rgvfJm
Kerbal Space Agency
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more fallout from yesterday's mission as KerBalloon says they will go alone for now until investigation into air drop mishap is resolved
Kerbal Space Agency
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they handed the Genesis team what was left of the KerBalloon & Civvie mount will also be inspected for defects, but not a lot to work with
Kerbal Space Agency
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alright here we go - all the ops from this past week + exciting details on a newly-captured asteroid, get it here: bit.ly/OpsSummary5-22…
Kerbal Space Agency
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Genesis program has inconclusive results from its investigation into balloon deployment failure. Release mechanism malfunction is best guess
Kerbal Space Agency
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they will be working to redesign the system over the next few weeks to be more redundant in triggering the inflation timer upon release
Kerbal Space Agency
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time to close out the work week! As usual, review of this past week & extra details available in our Ops Summary: bit.ly/OpsSummary6-19…
