Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 10 (Mystery Goo Study Attempt 3)

A/C installation to the Monolith temple has been repaired and is operating normally. It will be offline today and over the weekend for worshipers to attend prayers then undergo a full test on Monday as part of launch readiness preps

while the launch remains on schedule for next Tues, a note for all planning to watch: L-0 set early as possible to give us time to adjust Monolith temple temps if storms form. If storms fail to form or abate, we will hold @ L-1h30m and wait for a mid-day cycle launch @ 19:00 UTC

what a later launch time does is rotate us under the region of the inner radiation belt that is the most-compressed by the kerbolar wind and closer to the surface of the planet, which means the payload will spend more time within the belt

all hands on deck today as the Progeny Mk6 preps for rollout and launch readiness reviews are completed across the campus. Monolith temple A/C has already begun to chill down the interior to below freezing

Tracking Station reports they are GO for launch support operations. One dish is down for maintenance but the other two are set to perform primary and secondary tracking, with the VAB dish as a tertiary backup

Flight Director Lanalye has given the astronauts a break from simming today to exercise her launch team and reports they are ready to support tomorrow's flight

MSV Lymun has left port in Umbarg to sail out to the recovery zone 250km downrange to the east. Even though the previous two launches have come down at 224km & 192km we know the rocket can also travel nearly 300km

🌅Sunrise/Sunset🌄
@ KSC (UTC-5)

3/12
#2🌅07:24:05 🌄11:08:07
#3🌅13:24:56 !!🚀!! 🌄17:08:58
#4🌅19:25:47 🌄23:09:49

3/13
#1🌅01:26:38 🌄05:10:40

Monolith temple was not kept chilled all this time due to a service held late yesterday. Chill down has begun again ahead of launch operations kicking off at 14:00 UTC. It takes about 5 hours to reach sub-zero temperatures

[L-4h10m] launch preparations are officially getting underway! No changes to launch timeline, we will have updates at all the major milestones in the countdown listed below along with coverage of any additional pre-launch activities

[L-3h40m] weather reports have been assimilated and are being assessed while Flight Director Lanalye gathers her launch crew for final briefing. Again, no changes to the previous flight profile - we've flown this mission two times before already on launches #7 & #8

[L-3h] we are GO to begin preflight! Winds are still a possible issue and will be monitored closely but otherwise weather is looking fine. Launch team on console preparing to wake up the rocket and begin operations code onload & setup for fueling

minor bit.ly/AFCS_Changes made to support today's launch, mostly operating the same as the last one. Next major code revision will of course come with the next Ascension launch to handle the crew capsule operations

[L-2h55m] rocket is initialized and pad crew has the tanker trucks pulled up for fueling operations to begin, onloading 109kg of liquid propellants to the third stage tanks. So far weather instruments are showing no changes

[L-2h40m] rocket is fueled, pad crew closing off valves and sending the tankers back to the VAB. Weather desk still giving a thumbs up when asked for conditions so we are proceeding with preflight operations as planned

please, all guests remain within the designated viewing areas for your safety in the event of a launch mishap and also in the event that severe weather does spring up. Either way you will want to get indoors quickly!

[L-1h55m] we're feeling pretty confident that if a storm hasn't sprung up by now, it's not going to. Monolith temple remains chilled, A/C functioning nominally. Preflight ops now moving into engine systems & ignition checks as pad crew clears out of harms way

[HOLD] preflight is complete and still no storms brewing so we will enter a planned hold, resetting the launch time to 19:00 UTC for an optimal flight path through the inner radiation belt. Launch countdown will pickup again in 1 hour at L-1h20m

in addition to changing the launch time we have also done a late onload of the science instrument control script so we could change the altitude at which the goo canisters are exposed, since the rocket will reach the inner belt at a lower altitude now, ~300km instead of ~350km

[L-1h20m] weather balloon has been released to allow us to assess upper-atmosphere wind conditions just prior to launch. Surface winds have increased but still remain within limits and will also be rechecked at the L-5m final polling

snapped just a few minutes ago by a pad worker, here's a sense of scale as he was standing on the ground looking up to take this photo. On the pad attached to the launch base the rocket stands 12m tall

[L-45m] MSV Tongjess has been offshore ready to perform range & balloon recovery duties, is now going through a full launch rehearsal with FD Lanalye's team to ensure everything is setup and properly configured for the mission on both sides

[L-30m] no issues arose during rehearsal & weather desk still holding the thumb up high when asked so we are GO for final countdown! Range Safety Officer setting up to close the pad, airspace and waters around KSC. Pad crew doing final check to ensure rocket is secure

[L-15m] all clear - RSO has announced range is closed, boosters are ARMED and Flight Termination System is ACTIVE. Final system checks underway now that rocket is primed for flight. Any incursion into Keep Out Zones will halt the countdown

[L-5m] Final readiness polls complete: Wx: GO; Range: GO; Flight: GO; Tracking: GO; Ops Director: Launch permission granted! 🚀 GO PROGENY 🚀 FTS to internal power, AFCS will go into active mode & begin terminal count in 3min. Ops Tracker: ops.kerbalspace.agency

[L-2m] Terminal count! Flight computer has taken control of the final steps to launch. Ground connections are pulled so rocket is on internal power and RF comms, both of which will be checked over the next minute to assure good operations ahead of final 30s primary stations poll

we have liftoff!! Lower 0.625m booster has ignited with an intial force of 67.2kN to push the rocket off the pad at ~4Gs. It will burn for ~34 seconds and stage a second later. The rocket will then coast until its nose drops 1.5° before igniting the 2nd stage SRB

ascent so far is looking nominal, now in the final phase with the 3rd stage accelerating the rocket up into space at speeds exceeding 2km/s. Tongjess is tracking the 1st & 2nd stages with their radar & report they will both splashdown properly offshore

successful ascent has left the rocket zooming upwards towards an apokee of 516km, which it will reach in just under 9min from now. Lower goo containment unit has already cycled open, and will remain exposed until the rocket nears the radiation belt lower boundary

rocket has passed 300km in altitude and we have confirmation the lower goo unit has closed while the upper one has opened and will remain so throughout the duration of its time within the region of higher radiation

through apokee now, the rocket has begun its descent back towards Kerbin. Already 179km downrange, it will be traveling far further than we anticipated, even based on previous launches. MSV Lymun should already be moving to intercept. All systems remain nominal

the goo have swapped exposure once more after the rocket passed back below 300km. The lower containment unit will seal itself off at 80km as it approaches the atmosphere. The upper unit is confirmed locked shut

atmospheric interface imminent. Lower containment unit has been confirmed closed & sealed. We'll lose direct signal here at KSC shortly but will get a relay from Sheltered Rock until the horizon or plasma blackout cuts off signal

only 12 seconds after that last tweet we lost signal as the rocket fell through 50km traveling at 2.2km/s. All telemetry data looked in line with a proper re-entry. Hopefully Lymun will be able to get in touch with us also through Sheltered Rock aerial with news of recovery

the rocket's last known position was 342km downrange, which means it could still travel another 20-30km before splashdown. This puts it ~3hrs beyond our planned landing area. A lengthy delay in recovery is what lead to the loss of the previous rocket to attempt this mission...

post-launch operations wrapping up, which included hauling the Progeny launch base back to the VAB so tomorrow pad workers can install the Ascension engine clamp in its place. MSV Tongjess returned the splashed down weather balloon & has returned to port in Umbarg

MSV Lymun should be at or near the rocket's final location by now, although if it is still afloat surface currents will have by now carried it off some distance. Hopefully the locator beacon is able to be picked up, which will greatly aid in their search

mystery goo mission data has been returned to us & contract payment has been received - finally! We only publish full finances monthly but you can get more regular updates by checking a program's page on the website: kerbalspace.agency/?page_id=1824

flight analysis of the latest Progeny Mk6 mission is now up for review: kerbalspace.agency/?p=8843 This was last planned Mk6 mission until the Mk7 comes into service later this year, but we are leaving contract submissions open so additional launches are possible before then

learn more about today's semi-successful launch escape system pad abort test and more happenings from this past week in our Ops Summary: kerbalspace.agency/?p=8845 Sadly yes, this will delay getting a kerbal aboard for a sub-orbital flight