A look at all the release locations for KerBalloon missions. Still mostly relegated to our own hemisphere due to comms issues, satellites in 2020 could change that and open up more exploration in the eastern hemisphere
Parked for Rollout (12/16/19)
A marshal positions the Progeny Mk-6 Block I carry vehicle, ready to squeeze past the Mobile Launch Platform and head for the launch site at the start of tomorrow
Sunrise Touchdown (12/18/19)
A Deuce piloted by Commander Valentina and also carrying Captain Jebediah and Kerbin Weather Service meteorologist Katgan comes in for a landing after flying from Sheltered Rock and investigating a storm over the Kerblantic that could pose threat to a rocket launch later today
Space Awaits (12/18/19)
Final preflight checks get underway for a Progeny Mk6 Block I rocket looking to lift off at the next sunrise
Progeny Mk6 Block I No.15 (12/18/19)
Launching from the North Field allowed us to place the camera way back and zoom in to catch the rocket flying up into the sky in front of the rising sun without the VAB and other KSC buildings getting in the way
UYO-577(E) Radar Images (12/19/19)
Some choice photos of the large asteroid that tumbled by over head of Arekibo Radio Observatory, which used its active radar to bounce radio signals off the rock to capture its humps and lumps as it tumbled by
2019 Year in Review - Atmospheric Flight (12/19/19)
All flight paths and stats from the past year of aircraft operations
2019 Year in Review - Crew Report (12/20/19)
A look at what all crew members accomplished over this year
2019 Year in Review - Rocket Flight (12/20/19)
An overview of the rockets and missions that flew this past year
2019 Mission Cadence (12/20/19)
A monthly breakdown of missions performed for various programs throughout the year. For the first time since 2016 we've gone a full calendar year with no months lacking missions
The final of 4 launches carrying 2 experiments designed and built by students with mentoring from industry professionals to further study properties of the ionosphere, radiation belts, sun, zero-G, and more
Captain Jeb takes a photo from his seat in the cockpit of a Deuce as they work their way east over the Kerblantic towards the coming day
Above the Storm (12/8/19)
At 6km ASL the crew of the Deuce make ready to dive into the thick of a low-pressure system to capture valuable data about the storm while it is active
Rolling On Out (12/9/19)
The Progeny Mk6 Block I for tomorrow's mission heads for the launch site with the mounting vehicle, tanker truck and crew shuttle following behind. The shadow of the service towers is visible on the VAB doors in front of which is parked the Mobile Launch Platform
Spectators Arrive (12/10/19)
Shuttle buses are seen here leaving the Support Village and carrying visitors over the causeway to KSC so they can view the upcoming launch
Progeny Mk6 Block 1 No.14 (12/10/19)
The third in a series of 4 launches that will carry student-designed and built experiments up into space
Zosimus Pass #4 (12/10/19)
In what turned out to be it's last pass, the debris of the asteroid likely rained down somewhere along this track as it has not been spotted back in orbit in the days since
Mount Kermon (12/11/19)
On the way to the Sheltered Rock region, Captain Jebediah lets the autopilot do its job while he snags a photo of the highest mountain in the KSC region
SRG Afar (12/11/19)
Flying south of Sheltered Rock General airport, seen off in the distance, a passing Deuce is on its way to investigate a storm north of the mountains, hidden over the horizon and behind the tall peaks
Mountain Sunset (12/11/19)
The sun begins to dip behind the mountains of Sheltered Rock as seen from a Deuce belly cam at 6km
Stack It Up (12/12/19)
The final rocket for 2019, a Progeny Mk6 Block I, is being vertically stacked to test load bearing elements. To the rear workers get Ascension Mk1 & Mk2 parts ready to move to "center stage" next year for final assembly
Radiation Study (12/12/19)
The aurora that can be found near the north and south poles are formed from charged particles striking the upper atmosphere after being funneled down along the lines of the magnetic field, which creates a belt of radiation that affects even the surface at high latitudes. This balloon will ascend to 25km to measure these changes in radiation
Radiation Data (12/13/19)
a plot of rad levels collected during the balloon's ascent. The rad increase should be more linear but since the balloon is drifting south towards the edge of where the outer radiation belt meets the atmosphere the increase starts to fall off
The third of 4 launches carrying 2 experiments designed and built by students with mentoring from industry professionals to further study properties of the ionosphere, radiation belts, sun, zero-G, and more
A high-altitude balloon begins its ascent to 26km from near the middle of the Great Desert
Zosimus (11/24/19
a newly-captured Class-A asteroid that will eventually crash or burn up after multiple passes through Kerbin's atmosphere
Zosimus (11/24/19
a newly-captured Class-A asteroid that will eventually crash or burn up after multiple passes through Kerbin's atmosphere. Although it appears to impact the planet, the scale of the figure is making it only appear to do so
Zosimus (11/24/19
a newly-captured Class-A asteroid that will eventually crash or burn up after multiple passes through Kerbin's atmosphere, as you can see here by the dotted line
Backseat Driver (11/26/19)
Specialist Bill is aboard with Commander Valentina and Captain Jebediah to test out a new instrument console that will read out data gathered from wing instruments and allow Bill to tell the flight crew where to go to collect the best data
Tracking Station (11/27/19)
The three 7m dishes help us stay in touch with vessels that have been launched, and in the future satellites on orbit They can communicate effectively out to Minmus. Right now between launch campaigns they are undergoing maintenance and calibration
Slate Orbit (11/28/19)
The view from around Sarnus, with Slate above and Eeloo near the rings. Slate is only 60km smaller than Kerbin. This is an artist rendering in our Kerbin Relocated imagery series
Alaba Trajectory Update (11/29/19)
Changes to its orbit after the 29th encounter continue to match predictions made back in October
Alaba Trajectory Update (11/29/19)
Changes to its orbit after the 29th encounter continue to match predictions made back in October
Despite the advance notice of it skimming through the atmosphere, not enough funding was acquired in time for astronomers to lay out any observation stations along its path, so its fate is completely unknown at this time
New Alaba Orbit (11/18/19)
After spending barely 14 minutes in Mun's SOI the last encounter, just a small tweak to its trajectory was made
New Alaba Orbit (11/18/19)
After spending barely 14 minutes in Mun's SOI the last encounter, just a small tweak to its trajectory was made
Stacked Up (11/18/19)
A Progeny Mk6 Block I stands fully stacked to test parts that need to carry load. The third stage is undergoing testing right now and then the supports on the second stage will be removed. Off in the background Ascension parts await assembly
Loading Up (11/20/19)
Cranes lower the Progeny Mk6 Block I onto the carry vehicle while work continues in the background to ready two more rockets for launch next month
Tanked Up (11/21/19)
A fuel tanker gets ready to depart the launch site after loading propellant onboard the Progeny Mk6 Block I mounted out on the North Field. Cold upper-atmospheric air is indicated by a hazy ring around Mun formed by ice crystals
Clearing Out (11/22/19)
The last of the crew vans departs the launch site out in the North Field, leaving the Progeny Mk6 Block I ready for lift off
Progeny Mk6 Block I No.13 (11/22/19)
Carrying two more student-designed and built science instruments up into space from the North Field launch site
The second of 4 launches carrying 2 experiments designed and built by students with mentoring from industry professionals to further study properties of the ionosphere, radiation belts, sun, zero-G, and more
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
The first of 4 launches carrying 2 experiments designed and built by students with mentoring from industry professionals to further study properties of the ionosphere, radiation belts, sun, zero-G, and more
Despite confidence in their trajectory predictions, astronomers still kept a close watch on the moonlet and caught it making an unscheduled pass through Mun's SOI
New Orbital Data for Alaba (9/29/19)
Despite confidence in their trajectory predictions, astronomers still kept a close watch on the moonlet and caught it making an unscheduled pass through Mun's SOI
New Orbital Data for Tantalus (10/1/19)
As predicted, it will exit the system before the end of the week
Asteroids of September 2019 (10/1/19)
14 tracked with 1 of these impacting is another average month and we hope the trend continues downwards next year as surface activities continue to increase
MLP & Dhumla Progress (10/2/19)
The Mobile Launch Platform is nearly complete, with its main deck finished off and just needing the SRB mounts in the launch bay. It has also added a second command cabin so it can roll back in the opposite direction without turning around.
Behind it the Dhumla's main fuselage is almost fully assembled and the engines have begun to be installed.
Space Communication Network Dishes (10/2/19)
A look at the hardware used to communicate with objects in space. The 60m dish will be built for future deep space missions while the 18m dishes will be built as needed to relieve the 27m dishes already in place when orbital traffic starts to grow so they can focus on deep space missions as well
New Orbital Data for Vieras (10/2/19)
Also as predicted, Vieras will impact Kerbin's southern hemisphere the same day Tantalus is due to exit the system, leaving behind only Chikelu and Alaba in orbit around Kerbin
New Orbital Data for Vieras (10/2/19)
Also as predicted, Vieras will impact Kerbin's southern hemisphere the same day Tantalus is due to exit the system, leaving behind only Chikelu and Alaba in orbit around Kerbin
Mk2 to Mk1 (10/3/19)
The lifter stage originally meant for the first Mk2 flight is the closest to flight-ready and will be used for Captain Jeb's mission that was pushed up when the Mk2's first flight was delayed. It will just need to lose the decouplers for the solid rocket motors
Empty Quarter (10/4/19)
The Great Desert doesn't feature much in the way of plants or surface features, with the land scoured clean by winds and sand. It does have some of the roughest terrain on the planet with interesting atmospheric effects, which this high-altitude KerBalloon is on its way up to study
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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!
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…
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