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Tag Archive: Progeny Mk6
Oct 04 2019
Operations Summary – Week of 9/30/19
Jul 15 2019
Progeny Mk6 Block II Flight 3 Analysis
Although we did not expect to fly the Mk6 Block II again, Bluedog Design Bureau and DMagic Orbital Sciences joined together to fund another mission to explore the radiation belts – this time on the night side of the planet. We know from past Mk6 Block I flights that the belts are blown into an extended elliptical shape by the kerbolar wind however we’ve never been able to explore the outer belt with the Block I. The Block II had the potential to not only reach it but travel all the way through and reveal the full extent of both belts. It was also equipped with the new hemispherical ion trap instrument for additional readings of the belt environment.
The Flight
After first being bumped a few days due to a delay of the Progeny Mk7-A debut launch scheduled prior to this one and then delayed further thanks to a bad decoupler between the first and second stages, the rocket flew its mission on July 9th, lifting off on schedule at precisely 12:30:00.08 local time. The ascent was nominal when compared to past Block II launches, with a clean radial booster drop and core booster separations leading up to the final boost of the liquid-fueled engine. As the rocket exited the atmosphere, it did something new for a Block II and dumped the upper payload fairings to expose the ion trap instrument to space, which managed to affect the rocket’s ascent angle and push its final apokee out to a whopping 4.3Mm!
May 20 2019
Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 11 Analysis
While there are several instruments that still await testing for our future Extremis probes (and other Kerbin orbital missions) one of them, the hemispherical ion trap, is small enough to fit on the payload truss of a Mk6. Originally designed to study charged particles from the kerbolar wind, similar charged particles (also from the wind) are trapped inside the radiation belts that surround our planet. With ample experience in exploring the inner radiation belt, the Progenitor team was able to put together a mission that launched last week which would allow for the instrument to be exposed directly to space and gather data that could be used to not only further study the environment inside the belt but better tweak the instrument for use during deep space exploration.
The Flight
No delays led to an on-time launch, followed by a nominal ascent. The rocket’s center of mass was shifted ever so slightly to the rear since the truss carrying the extra batteries and the truss carrying the payload were switched from their normal positions. This did not have any adverse affect on the rocket’s flight. All stages were separated without issue and during the final burn, after passing 45km, the top fairing halves were jettisoned to expose the test instrument – this is the first time we have detached a payload fairing while under powered flight and it did not quite go as planned.
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