Category Archive: News

What's going on at the Kerbal Space Agency

Nov 15 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 11/11/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

North Field Launch Site (1/11/19)
An alternate point of departure for Progeny Mk6 rockets that do not rely on the launch pad infrastructure. Generally used when the pad is occupied, out of service or if the rocket needs to launch northwards, which would be towards the service towers if launched from the pad

Storm Chasing (11/13/19)
A Deuce takes off from the runway at KSC, taken from a chase vehicle, with sensor pods under each wing that will be used to measure atmospheric conditions while it flies through rough weather to help better understand storm systems

Launch Sunrise (11/14/19)
Light spills over the horizon as the sun approaches - the rocket to launch today is out on the North Field, hidden behind the raised terrain of the runway. Look again to spot the sliver of Mun

Progeny Mk6 Block I No. 12 (11/14/19)
Carrying the first two of eight student-designed and built experiments on a sub-orbital flight

OFU-009(A) Plot (11/14/19)
Set to areobrake in our atmosphere, projections place it on a trajectory back out into Kerbolar orbit if it survives the pass

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Tags: Block I, Deuce, Genesis, Jebediah, Kerbal Sounding Project, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6, Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 12, Valentina

Nov 08 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 11/4/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Asteroids of October 2019 (11/4/19)
11 total with 1 impact and 1 grazing through our atmosphere and exploding. The total count remains near the 12/mo yearly average for 2019

Ground Trials (11/5/19)
The Dhumla taxis back to the HAB after completing some ground testing to ensure everything was assembled properly before taking its first flight

Runway 09/27 (11/5/19)
Running parallel to the paved runway and also the same width, this turf strip provides an alternate means of landing and taking off for some aircraft that can handle the softer ground

Runway 01/19 (11/5/19)
Wider than Runway 09/27 but also shorter, with approach guides to make the threshold visible from farther away and at night. Used when strong crosswinds for Rwy09/27 are in effect

Deuce Preflight (11/6/19)
a ground crew member atop the power unit that supplies the Deuce with electricity until the engines are started takes a photo into the cabin as the flight crew of Cpt Jeb and Cdr Val work through preflight

Cloud Rolls (11/6/19)
Updrafts bring moisture from the valleys towards the peaks which condense into clouds, or fog since these are on the ground. If winds are strong enough they can blow right over and spill down the opposite sides

Southern Volcano (11/6/19)
The large dome of the extinct(?) shield volcano at the southern tip of the landmass which KSC is located on rises up above the clouds, which form a front at the start of the desert on the western shore

DUH-402(C) Plot (11/7/19)
coming down over a major shipping lane, maritime traffic will be suspended for the duration of the impact window. We've already found shockwaves from an exploding asteroid can be enough to sink a ship

Cargo Load (11/7/19)
The second Dhumla to be built is taking on cargo for the first time to transport to the Kongo River research facility, where it will also undergo the remainder of its flight trials

K2-X Static Fire (11/8/19)
The final delivery of 2019 was made and the engine was tested on the vertical stand to ensure it functioned properly and within performance specs

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 10, Ascension Mk2, Block I, Bob, Deuce, Dhumla, Genesis, Jebediah, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6, Progeny Mk7-B, Valentina

Oct 24 2019

KSA Suffers Deadly Attack on Kerbed Space Mission

Categories:

News, Plot Summary

Click for annotated version

Earlier this week during the pre-launch operations leading up to the 3rd kerbed space mission, at approximately 16:17 UTC after tanking operations had completed and pre-flight was well underway, a Deuce aircraft came gliding in out of the darkness and slammed into the rocket. The impact was almost right in the center of the fuel tank by the aircraft’s outer left wing, causing a huge explosion. The aircraft was spun flatly around and slammed into the ground about a dozen meters away where its own fuel tanks crumpled and exploded as well. As soon at the wing penetrated the rocket fuel tank exterior however, this severed the continuity wires and triggered the automated Launch Abort System, firing the rockets in the escape tower atop the capsule to send it up and away from the resulting explosion. The chutes deployed shortly afterwards and the capsule landed hard but without injury to the occupant, Captain Jebediah, roughly 800m from the launch pad, which had gradually become engulfed in a raging ground fire as fuel and oxidizer continued to burn off. Emergency crews rushed to the scene in order to help rescue any survivors of the launch pad crew that were still working during the explosion but were unable to get close enough to fight the fire and found no one on the periphery. The 12 dead pad workers is the greatest loss of life on a KSA mission to date.

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 10, Deuce, Jebediah, Monolith

Jul 12 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 7/8/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Neidon Best Photo (7/7/19)
Taken with the 10m scope atop a 3.8km peak, this new image of the furthest gas giant surprised astronomers by revealing several strong bands of clouds which are similar to Jool and Sarnus, indicating an atmosphere that is really mixing things up - something that requires more energy than astronomers expected the ice giant to have so far from the sun (enlarged 1500x)

Packed Pad (7/8/19)
A Progeny Mk6 Block II sits on the pad attached to its launch base among the support arms for the Progeny Mk7 and next to the service structures for the Ascension Mk1 and Mk2

Topping the Tanks (7/9/19)
Fuel tanker hooked up to a Progeny Mk6 Block II to pump 220kg of liquid propellants up to the third stage

Waiting for Night (7/9/19)
A Progeny Mk6 Block II sits on the pad as the sun sets. Normally it would wait for next sunrise to launch but not this time

Progeny Mk6 Block II No. 3 (7/9/18)
Rocketing off into the night sky, this rocket explored out beyond the outer radiation belt while also constraining the size of both belts on the night side of Kerbin. It also set a new height record of 4,349.35km

Early Sunrise (7/11/19)
At 2km the crew of the Deuce are treated to sunrise ahead of anyone on the ground, seen looking to the rear via the belly camera

Still Scarred (7/11/19)
A hazy morning only barely manages to obscure the dark burnt patches of land that still remain after an asteroid exploded over the area in Nov of 2018, less than 100km from the KSC!

Isolated World (7/11/19)
Flying at nearly 6km over the largest island on Kerbin that is farthest from any continental land mass. Isolated here since the asteroid impact, scientists are planning a months-long expedition to see what plants and animals have since evolved in this unique ecosystem

Landing Beach? (7/11/19)
Just one of 4 coves and bays that were scouted by a Deuce flight over the most-remote largest island on the planet where a future scientific expedition plans to go via maritime vessels

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 7, Bill, Block II, Bob, Deuce, Genesis, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6, Progeny Mk6 Block II Flight 3

May 03 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 4/29/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

SGQ-958(C) Plot (4/30/19)
Set to land on the outskirts of the Great Desert if it survives its trip through the atmosphere, it will likely kick up a huge amount of dust that will blow into the seas to the east and feed a microbial megabloom. Somehow, life will always profit from disaster

Asterioids of April 2019 (5/1/19)
12 known passes is the second-lowest of the year and it looks like we may be heading into a quieter period

Backlit Departure (5/3/19)
Dusk falling into night as a Deuce takes off from runway 09 shortly after the sun has set behind the mountains

Snowy Vista (5/3/19)
It's quite other-worldy at the poles, seen here is the southern ice shelf surrounding the south polar ice cap with strong aurora dancing in the daylit sky. Mun and Minmus are also visible

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 5, Ascension Mk1 Flight 6, Civvie, Deuce, Dhumla, DSN, Genesis, KBHigh, KBLow, KerBalloon

Apr 26 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 4/22/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Progeny Mk7-A
The first in a series of iterations that will seek to develop a rocket capable of delivering 0.35-0.625m payloads to low-Kerbin orbit (<250km) while also testing out new technologies that we can apply to our larger Ascension rockets

JUN-419(D) Plot (4/21/19)
Came no closer than 3.06 Munar Distance at perikee two days ago

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 4, Ascension Mk2, Ascension Mk2 Flight 1, Civvie, Deuce, Dhumla, Genesis, KBHigh, KBLow, KerBalloon, Mk1-A Capsule, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 11, Progeny Mk7-A, Progeny Mk7-A Flight 1

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Mar 29 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 3/25/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Alaba RADAR Images (3/24/19)
The Arekibo Radio Observatory has finally published the first images of one of Kerbin's temporary moonlets taken with radio waves bounced off the surface as it rotates and passes by overhead. The ARO has been working since commissioning last year to produce such images and we look forwards to even better ones in the future as they get a handle on this new observation technique

Hazy Departure (3/26/19)
Not great conditions for flying over land, but heading out over the water to their destination means Captain Jebediah & Commander Valentina can climb through the clouds without worrying about any terrain hazards

Terrain Revealed (3/27/19)
When on flights over the ocean the mission is timed to do so overnight so that land is approached at sunrise to allow the pilots to make out any hazardous terrain in front of them. This photo you can see off to the right the terrain disappears into the darkness of night. Taken far to the south, the aurora are visible

LES Pad Abort Test (3/28/19)
Sunrise lights up the Mk1 space capsule atop a Mk1 Ascension lifter as it prepares to be flung into the air by the Launch Escape System, which is the tower atop it that has solid rocket motors to propel it away in the event of catastrophe

Sarnus Greatest Southern Declination (3/29/19)
A photo looking down at Sarnus' northern hemisphere as it reaches its lowest point along its orbit around the sun, placing it "below" us for a grand view of its rings along with Slate and Tekto. Eeloo and its shadow are nearly hidden among the rings, shown in the close-up frame. Although normally sporting white bands of clouds, astronomers suspect its approach to perikelion has warmed the atmosphere just enough to prevent ice crystals from forming in the upper atmosphere

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Deuce, Genesis, Mk1-A Capsule

Feb 26 2019

C7 Effectively Shut Down by Government Investigation

Categories:

News

Earlier today a raid by government authorities at the company headquarters in Kravass rounded up the entire executive division of C7 Aerospace, leaving the company without leadership. The entirety of the company’s financial assets have also been secured and frozen. All employees have been furloughed without pay and told they must remain available for investigators. This was all revealed at a press conference held just recently outside the C7 corporate headquarters. What wasn’t mentioned is why the government is taking such a strong-armed approach against a privately-owned company, which sets a potentially disturbing precedent. We are pleased at least that the top executives weren’t spirited away in the midst of the night or something equally as sinister, but are still left slightly worried given the fact that we are also a privately-owned company and we are close working partners with C7 Aerospace. As of yet, no mention has been made of the KSA and no government agents showed up at KSC today – C7 employees here at the Cape simply received notification of their status shortly after the press conference concluded.

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Tags: Aldeny, Civvie, Deuce, Dhumla, Genesis, Jebediah, Tedman, Valentina

Jan 25 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 1/21/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Ascension Mk1 Block I Flight 3
Launching north-eastwards this week along a 45° azimuth, this flight was the first designed with computer modeling to place the rocket on a sub-orbital trajectory that will land it east of Ockr. While it is in space the payload will separate from the booster and perform various guidance tests using the new reaction control system (RCS) before re-entering using a heat shield. This flight is the first to pave the way for kerbals in space!

Kerbin Relocated: Moho (1/19/19)
The sun would be 3x larger when we place ourselves in the same orbit as Moho during its closest approach, or perikelion. A slim crescent Mun is above

Ready to Scoop (1/21/19)
Mounted up top for clean airflow so the belly camera can stay installed where it is, the Atmospheric Fluid Spectro-Variometer is all set to collect air sample over the Badlands in an upcoming mission

Sunset Taxi Out (1/21/19)
The Deuce heads to the runway to depart as the sun sets. Edge lighting allows the pilots to use the runway even as darkness falls

Peak Sunrise (1/21/19)
As the Deuce flies towards the dawn, mountainous terrain makes itself visible in the coming light of day

OKG Dawn (1/22/19)
Sun is already over the horizon but just starting to rise over the mountains east of Ockr General Airport while a Deuce sits ready for departure back to KSC

Badlands (1/22/19)
A dry and rocky area, this is the first time its been overflown by a fixed-wing aircraft. Photo was taken by a Deuce belly camera

Ready to Escape Its Shadow (1/23/19)
An Ascension Mk1 rocket stands on the pad hooked up to its service tower, seen here as its shadow falls towards the VAB shortly after sunrise. Soon it will leave its shadow behind as it ascends towards space

Crack o Dawn (1/24/19)
An Ascension Mk1 Block I booster stands ready on the pad awaiting daylight as dawn begins to creep over the horizon

Launch Weather (1/24/19)
All is looking good for a rocket launch today!

Ascension Mk1 Block I No.3 (1/24/19)
Ascending upon a pillar of fire, the third flight of the Mk1-I booster hauls a test payload up into a sub-orbital trajectory to demonstrate new technologies necessary for kerbed spaceflight

Separation Confirmed (1/24/19)
A cable hooked to the payload allowed the booster camera on an Ascension Mk1 Block I to get a shot of the payload separating and moving away under its own power with the help of a cold gas reaction control system. Eve is just to the right and Jool is in the upper right

Big Boi (1/25/19)
Wings still folded to make it out of the HAB doors, the Dhumla is tugged out onto the tarmac for the first time to prepare for ground testing ahead of flight trials

All Engines Running (1/25/19)
The Dhumla sits with its flight crew, Flight Officers Tedman and Aldeny, ready for its first taxi exercise as all engines roar with readiness. Out of the way, GPU truck!

Turnabout (1/25/19)
The flight crew practices using reverse thrust on one side to pivot the Dhumla around in a tighter circle, using the middle section of the runway so in case of any mistakes they don't run off into the grass

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 3, Block I, Deuce, Dhumla, Genesis, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6

Jan 11 2019

Operations Summary – Week of 1/7/19

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

2018 Seismic Impact Report (1/6/19)
Yellow events can be correlated to predicted impact locations of asteroids discovered by the ATN. Everything else is based solely off seismic data that exhibits the properties of a ground impact or air burst. The size of the event does not directly relate to the size of the asteroid. Over 50% of impacts were discovered beforehand this year, showing an improvement in asteroid detection while overall impact rate was down 66%

KSC Portrait 2019 (1/6/19)
An overview of the KSC as it appears at the start of 2019. Major changes from the 2018 portrait include the Ascension service tower adjacent to the launch pad and the paved and edge lit runway. If you look closely towards the Support Village, a structure can be seen on the lawn of the R&D campus which is the 1.25m engine test stand

Dawn Silhouette (1/8/19)
A Civvie sits on the tarmac ready for flight during the next day cycle. Jool, Moho and Eve (with Gilly visible as well) hover above the horizon kissed by the rising sun

Powered Up (1/8/19)
A service truck carrying a ground power unit is ready to be hooked up to a Civvie so the instruments can be powered during preflight without needing the engine's alternator or the aircraft batteries. It can also crank the engine while saving battery power. it's huge because it also supports our larger aircraft

Scorched Horizon (1/8/19)
Flying at 1.5km the Civvie approaches a region of the grasslands that has been burned by fires that raged after being ignited by the heat of a meteor exploding overhead and raining down hot debris

Burn Scar (1/8/19)
The charred landscape after fires raged through the grasslands, set ablaze by the heat of a meteor exploding in the air overhead. Seen here from 3.6km

Mun (1/8/19)
Our nearest neighbor shines in the sky. At the time this photo was taken a small asteroid Mun captured into orbit named Alaba was passing through its sphere of influence for the 17th recorded time

Moho (1/9/19)
Enlarged 10x from the photo taken by the Kerman Observatory's 4m telescope. The craters seen on Moho are both large and deep, which make sense considering objects would be traveling at high velocities this close to the sun

Sea Creature Hunt (1/11/19)
This is one of nearly 15,000 photos taken on a recent aerial survey over a region of water where mariners claim to have spotted large sea creatures breaching in the distance. The hope was that they could be spotted at or near the surface by plane, which maybe wouldn't spook them since close approach by ship would not reveal any activity

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Tags: Ascension, Ascension Mk1, Ascension Mk1 Flight 3, Block I, Block II, Civvie, Deuce, Genesis, Mk1-A Capsule, Progenitor, Progeny Mk6, Progeny Mk6 Block I Flight 8, Progeny Mk6 Block II Flight 2

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Thu Feb 18 11:57 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Thu Feb 18 11:56 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Thu Feb 18 09:37 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Thu Feb 18 09:36 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Wed Feb 17 16:23 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Wed Feb 17 13:41 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Wed Feb 17 13:40 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Wed Feb 17 13:39 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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)

Wed Feb 17 10:40 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Tue Feb 16 17:58 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Tue Feb 16 17:57 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Tue Feb 16 14:22 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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?

Tue Feb 16 14:21 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Tue Feb 16 11:12 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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!

Mon Feb 15 12:13 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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…

Sun Feb 14 16:57 EST 2021

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Kerbal Space Agency
@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

Sat Feb 13 18:45 EST 2021

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Category Archive: News

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