Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 7 (Mystery Goo Study)

we are suspending all surface operations and pulling back all staff to Umbarg HQ due to temperatures increasing near 100°F as a high-pressure system sits over our region. We just can't keep our facilities cool enough in this heat for a proper work environment

this has happened before & after much investigation scientists still don't fully understand what's going on but say a mixture of ocean currents, jet stream bending and moisture levels in the air can apparently combine under the right conditions to form a very localized heat wave

KSC has weathered the storms and we'll be moving operations back to the campus today. We will have updates throughout the day on new dates for the various missions that were put on hold as staff get re-situated and back on track

VAB crews are prepping the next Progeny Mk6-I for vertical stacking today. How far along they manage to get picking up from where they left off will let us determine when to schedule the next launch. Here's a look at the new payload configuration during final checks last week

Tracking Station reports it is ready for tomorrow's launch. Pad crews have inspected and cleared the launch base of issues. VAB has the rocket stacked & by the end of the day it should be back horizontal for final closeouts to be performed early tomorrow ahead of rollout

🌅Sunrise/Sunset🌄
@ KSC (UTC-4)

7/31
#2🌄10:17:41 🌅12:38:14
#3🌄16:18:32 🌅18:39:05 !!🚀!!
#4🌄22:19:23

8/1
#1🌅00:39:56 🌄04:20:14
#2🌅06:40:47

final closeouts were completed earlier today for the Progeny Mk6 Block I set to launch in several hours, it has been loaded up onto the carry vehicle and will soon be on its way out to the launch pad for mounting. Pre-launch ops begin at 19:14 UTC!

[L-4h10m] kicking off pre-launch operations as weather reports begin to get gathered at Launch Control, sourced from weather stations, airships and maritime vessels (not ours, just operating in the region). Updates to come at these major milestones in the countdown timeline

[L-3h40m] launch team is getting ready for final briefing from Flight Director Lanalye on their mission today, which is another routine flight to high Kerbin space. This will be the first rocket to launch carrying a living payload: two mystery goo containment units

the mystery goo will be exposed in space beneath the radiation layer and while within the radiation layer. The two canisters closely match the mass of the payload truss & batteries they replaced so we don't expect any large changes to rocket behavior in flight

[L-3h10m] we are GO to begin pre-flight operations as weather reports show no storms in the area. Crew out on the pad are switching on the rocket so controllers can begin loading the flight software - you can see what has been updated here: bit.ly/AFCS_ChangeLog

[L-2h55m] tanking operations are GO after the rocket has been initialized and configured. Tanker trucks on the pad are already hooking up one at a time to deliver 109kg of liquid propellants to the third stage booster

[L-2h40m] countdown continues on schedule with no issues arising during tanking operations. Rocket is topped off and fuel levels will be monitored for leaks as pad crews secure the launch site and further preflight checks are carried out on the vehicle systems

reminders to all visitors here to see the launch that hearing protection is not required, but staying within the designated areas most certainly is. Also don't forget the rocket will be ascending into a rising sun and eye protection is recommended

[L-1h55m] crews are evacuating the launch site ahead of controllers working through their final preflight checks, which include the engine & ignition systems. Quick response team sheltering in the nearby bunker should any anomalous event occur

[L-1h30m] FD Lanalye reports we have a healthy rocket, primed and ready to go! Focus now moves off the launch vehicle and to external setup as MSV Lymun works with the Range Safety Officer from its offshore station to ensure our launch corridor is clear

[L-1h20m] high-altitude KerBalloon has begun its ascent from out in the Grasslands west of KSC. It will drift eastwards on the winds and let us know if any upper-level shear will be a danger to today's launch as we approach final polling

[L-45] all systems and assets are setup and in place for launch controllers to run through a mock-launch rehearsal to ensure everything is configured and everyone knows their roles and responsibilities during the flight. FD Lanalye likes to throw in some surprises too most times

[L-30m] final countdown is a GO as weather continues to look great with light surface winds out of the west and mostly clear skies. Sun will be rising soon, but you can still see Eve & Duna - Mun, Jool & Sarnus are also visible higher up out of this photo

[L-15m] Flight Termination System has been activated ahead of booster arming - rocket is now ready for ignition. RSO will maintain vigilance over pad and launch corridor for any incursions, which will immediately hold the count

all quiet in Launch Control as final checks are carried out on a few systems that can only be cleared while the rocket is armed. No issues being worked, everyone else getting ready for final polling at L-5m

[L-5m] final readiness polls: Wx: GO; Range: GO; Flight: GO; Tracking: GO; Ops Director: Launch permission granted! 🚀 GO PROGENY 🚀 FTS is transitioning to internal power. 300km downrange today we should have MSV Hoodall standing by for rocket re-entry tracking & recovery

[T-2m] terminal countdown has begun, with the AFCS taking over full control of the rocket. Ground connections are pulled - battery power drain rates are being monitored and RF comm checks are underway

[T-1m] nominal battery drain rate and good comms moving into the final minute of countdown, which will have one last poll of primary stations at T-30s and both auto & manual hold capability runs all the way up to T-0. Stand by! ops.kerbalspace.agency

we have booster ignition and a good lift off! Rocket is soaring high into the sky atop a pillar of flame, leaving the launch site with a thrust of 67.2kN for 4Gs of acceleration. First stage burn will last 34 seconds & push the rocket up to >600m/s and ~15km ASL

flight continues nominally, no issues during staging. Rocket is approaching 1km/s velocity, passing through 35km ASL and has traveled 8.5km downrange. ~30s remain in the final stage burn that should cut off right around the time the rocket enters space

BECO & space entry @ L+1m27s within 60ms of each other. Coasting now to an apokee of 495km over the next 8 minutes. One goo containment unit has already been opened to expose the sample to vacuum. It will close again as we near the boundary of the hazardous radiation region

first goo containment has closed, second has opened as the rocket passed through 330km. We don't have a radiation instrument on board this flight so we're using past flight data to estimate where the radiation boundary is

we are through apokee and beginning to fall back to Kerbin. The goo containment units will reverse their operation, the second closing near the end of the radiation boundary and the first re-opening (shown in Ops Tracker). It will close again prior to re-entry at 80km in ~8min

we have loss of signal as the rocket passed through 60km descending into the upper atmosphere 270km downrange. MSV Hoodall will continue to track the rocket & record telemetry data as it moves in for recovery operations. As usual it will take a few hours until we have news

post-launch ops wrapping up. First stage booster splashed down 19km downrange @ L+3m8s while the second stage booster splashed @ L+4m36s at a downrange distance of 46km. These are within expected times and distances

meeting of Progenitor team, Lead Engineer Simon & Flight Director Lanalye has concluded and the next Progeny Mk6 flight has been delayed until we know for sure what went wrong with this one. Because return of the biological samples was required, this is the 1st failed Mk6 mission

flight analysis along with inspection of recovered debris is underway. Focus right now is on the airbrakes, which the operations log says deployed just prior to breakup, and the goo units, which are the only new parts on the rocket that have never been proven on previous flights

after much debris analysis, flight modeling and design reviews - the flight analysis report for the recent Progeny Mk6-I launch is now available: kerbalspace.agency/?p=8032

TL;DR - none of the recovered debris was from the goo units, so we can't know for sure they are responsible but all other data points to the rest of the rocket performing as normal. We can only theorize and try to prevent what we think happened from occurring again