Captain Jebediah and Commander Valentina make another attempt to reach Area KV-001 and also fully explore the region of potentially hazardous radiation over the northern ice caps
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May 10 2018
Deuce Science Flight 4
May 04 2018
Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 3 Analysis
In our continued quest to explore the region of high radiation found above our planet the third launch of the Progeny Mk6 Block I was carried out earlier this week.
The Flight
The initial launch time of 18:18 UTC was missed due to wind shear in the upper atmosphere that would have hit the rocket during its unpowered coast stage after dropping the first booster. A second weather balloon was sent up and returned nominal wind readings for a launch at 19:35 UTC. The rocket flew off the pad heading 135° ESE with an initial force of 67.2kN for 4Gs of acceleration to prevent drag at the nose from flipping the rocket over during this early flight phase. After only three seconds the lower 0.625m booster had reached its maximum thrust output of 68.9kN before beginning to fall off and prevent the rocket from exceeding 80kPa of dynamic pressure. At L+17.9 seconds the rocket reached a MaxQ of 76.318kPa at an altitude of 4.958km ASL as the lower booster continued to tail off thrust until flame-out at L+33.7 seconds. Now at 14.070km the Automated Flight Control System staged the booster after one second, cleanly pushing it away so when its fins were exploded a second later the debris did not damage the rocket, which continued to coast upwards for another 6.9 seconds before the nose fell 1.5° and the second stage booster was ignited at 18.601km.
May 01 2018
Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 2 Analysis
Prevented from launching for over two months due to legal and political wrangling the second flight of the Progeny Mk6 was finally able to head up into space and also successfully made it back to the surface intact for recovery thanks to some new tech that reached maturity during the delay. This was the third launch in a series of flights designed to probe out the region of hazardous radiation originally detected above the planet by earlier Progeny Mk5 flights. We have theories on what might be up there, but only hard data will tell us what actually exists. Thanks to the success of this flight we are a step closer to knowing, with two more planned to hopefully complete our initial understanding.
The Flight
Despite the long break between launches regular drills kept everyone ready to resume operations and no troubles arose during the operations leading up to the launch, which occurred on schedule after high surface winds earlier in the day died down to acceptable levels. The Automated Flight Control System fired off the first stage 0.625m booster at precisely 13:58:00.05 local time, which pushed the rocket off the launch base with an initial thrust of 67.2kN for 4Gs of acceleration on a heading of 120°. This force was enough to keep drag at the nose from pitching up the rocket any more than 1.5° before the fins began to spin up and stabilize the remainder of the flight. The lower booster’s thrust peaked at 68.9kN just 3.6 seconds into the flight before the solid fuel core design began a thrust reduction to keep the vehicle’s speed under control as it passed through MaxQ at L+17.9 seconds traveling at 504.53m/s with a dynamic pressure of 77.987kPa. The first stage burned out after 33.67 seconds of powered flight and separated cleanly one second later. A second after that the fins were shredded with explosives to spoil the booster’s aerodynamics and send it plummeting towards the Kerblantic, where it impacted 19km downrange at L+3m9s.
Apr 30 2018
Civvie Science Flight 34
Commander Valentina is tasked with flying out over the western Grasslands to Sector M16CX in order to gather atmospheric samples for the Field Research Team to keep track of pollen levels
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Apr 27 2018
K2-X Hot Fire Testing
Apr 27 2018
Deuce Science Flight 3
Commander Valentina and Captain Jebediah head back home with the newly-built Deuce on its first cross-country flight, swinging past Zone 64K-9M to conduct an aerial survey along the way
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KSA Main Image Gallery
Updates from Mission Control
Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
we’ve also placed another order for K2-X engines. This latest Ascension Mk3 mission has shown we want to move faster than planned to the Mk4 so the thrust vector control version of the WildCat-V will begin development immediately and we will order more when that is ready
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
a final round of static fires last week has completed the WildCat-V’s second qualification run & we’ll know for sure by next month if it is finally ready for production. If so, two will be ready by Q3 2021 for Extremis I and a Min/Minmus mission
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
the Viklun upper stage will be systematically dismantled to help determine the cause of the flexing and what effect it had on the overall structural integrity of the rocket. The damage from splashdown will reduce these findings but hopefully the effort will still prove valuable
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
onboard vid shows the pitch oscillations during the Ascension Mk3’s ascent were way worse than we imagined – the *entire rocket flexed* 😱 inherent structural issue? Could also be from the air pressure at the nose (think boat bow slamming up & down on hvy seas) from shallow angle
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
when the Viklun stage splashed down the empty fuel tanks blew out, helping to alleviate impact pressure on the payload but fragments pierced the flight computer & damaged the flash memory. Onboard tlm data was lost but the ops log final mins were able to be pieced back together
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
one of the things that led to the win was research done by KSA scientists to prove that asteroids contain mineral wealth which could greatly alleviate the need for surface mining. We are committed to working on a system of space resource gathering for deployment later this decade
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
here we can say we are actually working closely with Monolithic followers to protect Kerbin’s pristine environment that developed after the asteroid strike. A major victory was won today in court with a 5-year moratorium established against surface mining
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
the KSA has been involved for the past two years, led by a legal team put together by Lead Scientist Cheranne, in helping environmentalists to fight against companies looking to incorporate with the purpose of mining the surface of Kerbin to extract raw materials
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
some Ascension Mk2 bit.ly/KSARecords have now been claimed by the Mk3:
(previous record)
Heaviest Rocket Launched, Minus Payload: 19.862t (17.5t)
Heaviest Payload Launched, Orbital Trajectory: 1.662t (767kg)
Tallest Rocket Launched: 16.782m (16.212m)
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
at this time we do not know the nature of the threat or the time frame, but given that we have suffered an attack in the past (kerbalspace.agency/?p=9965) we have no choice but to take this seriously & deal with the relatively minor inconvenience compared to a potential loss of life
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
there is also now apparently a threat against KSC and we have complied with orders from the government security forces earlier today that the entire facility be evacuated. We will continue to operate at limited capacity from our HQ in Umbarg until the threat has passed
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
the original plan to develop a 1.25m TVC vacuum engine was put on hold to instead work on the 1m vac engine suitable for payloads and also because our experience with the Progeny Mk7 made us want to get more TVC engineering data from the Mk8 for a fully TVC Ascension Mk4 by 2022
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
in putting together the Ascension Mk3 mission report timeline (kerbalspace.agency/?p=11619), since it is the first, we go all the way back thru the rocket’s development as well. That reminded us of this tweet outlining the Mk3’s design goals. What happened to the TVC vacuum engine?
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
the Viklun stage & Kerbin III have been transported via rail back to KSC after arriving in port at Umbarg on Sunday. We still have to confirm that Kerbin III remains fit for flight but visual inspection looks good. Entire Viklun stage will need to be rebuilt but that was expected
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
we are working on a full launch video but here is a look at initial ascent and booster drop from the ground tracking cam atop the Tracking Station & cam atop the crew tower. Bonus to upper-stage recovery is that we will get high FPS video from the booster camera for once!
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
our crew did not miss the launch and are excited to one day ride this rocket up into orbit. Several years ago they didn’t know for sure if they’d even get to take a ride up into space yet! The final frontier is broadening bit by bit…
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Kerbal Space Agency
@KSA_MissionCtrl
@KSA_MissionCtrl
post-launch operations wrapping up with the final booster heading back to the VAB where it will be inspected with the others before being shipped back to Periapsis Co. in Umbarg for refurbishment. Rocket should be back at KSC by Tuesday
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