A low-altitude KerBalloon begins its ascent to 16.5km from the grasslands southeast of the Sea Ring crater rim
Mun Shadow (10/14/20)
Kerbin II caught up to the shadow cast by Mun as it eclipsed the sun traveling over the ocean between DSN Central and Arekibo
Minmus & Duna Appulse (10/15/20)
Wandering through the sky due to its inclined orbit, Minmus doesn't always come so close to the planets and this pass with Duna was close enough to be able to resolve the red planet (and its large moon Ike) in the same frame as our furthest moon. At the time this photo was taken Duna was 19,841,966km from Kerbin
Mun is Not Alone (10/15/20)
Although it looks lonely up there, it is currently accompanied by a tiny companion as the asteroid Alaba swings through its SOI during the time this photo was taken. It will be the last time, the 49th on record, because this pass will give the asteroid a push and send it back out into orbit around the sun after being a companion to Kerbin for almost 3 years
Alaba's Journey (10/18/20)
a look at all 50 trajectories that resulted in 49 Mun encounters during its nearly 3yr stay in orbit
Sunrise Departure (10/18/20)
A Dhumla heavy-lift cargo aircraft departs from KSC at sunrise, one of many aircraft that pass through the space center, which acts as a commercial freight hub for the nearby cavern of Umbarg
Payload Integration (10/19/20)
The smallsat prototype from Luciole Space Systems is getting its final checkout in the HAB prior to being lifted up atop the waiting Progeny Mk7-B rocket
Overlooking KSC (10/21/20)
Traveling south of the Cape the Kerbin II probe looks "upwards" along Kerbin to spy the coastline of the continent upon which rests KSC, partly obscured by clouds
Kerbin II looks down upon the central uplift of the antipode to the Sea Ring crater, atop which sits the DSN/ATN Central communications/observatory facilities at an altitude of 3.759 km
Asteroids of September 2020 (10/1/20)
Although a near-record month was expected, thankfully things fizzled out and only 7 known asteroids whizzed past, with no recorded impacts
Reset for Progeny (10/1/20)
The Mobile Launch Platform has been rolled back to the VAB and the support legs along with engine mount are now in place to prepare for the upcoming Progeny Mk7-B launches this month
Shores of the Kongo (10/2/20)
Near the mouth of the longest river on Kerbin a high-altitude KerBalloon begins its ascent to collect weather data
New Orbital Data (10/2/20)
Astronomers have confirmed that Alaba will indeed be ejected from the Kerbin system later this month
New Orbital Data (10/2/20)
Astronomers have confirmed that Alaba will indeed be ejected from the Kerbin system later this month
Vertical in the HAB (10/2/20)
Although it's mostly assembled horizontally we still like to stand the rocket up prior to rollout to ensure that vertical loads are properly handled by the various structural support elements
Getting Wet (10/5/20)
A Progeny Mk7-B rocket sits on the pad getting fueled up with liquid propellants so it can undergo a wet dress rehearsal to ensure the ground service equipment is functioning properly ahead of launch the next day
Progeny Mk7-B No.3 (10/6/20)
Still attempting a mission success for the Mk7-B, although it appeared to go alright upon recovery it was discovered the lower part of the rocket had broken off during re-entry, so the engine was not recovered
Recovered & Reused (10/6/20)
The first stage booster from a Progeny Mk7-B launch is trucked back to the HAB after being recovered offshore so it can be stripped of flight hardware and sent back to its manufacturer Periapsis Co. to be refurbished and recast with solid fuel so it can be used again for a 4th time. This was the first booster recovered that had also been previously used, twice on the static-fire stand in this case prior to being used in a flight
Inner & Outer (10/8/20)
Two inner planets and two outer planets hanging out together, with Duna and Neidon near appulse, or their closest apparent visual distance to one another. They look close but Neidon is so far away that if you zoomed in to resolve Duna you still couldn't resolve Neidon. Also it's really dark out when no Mun is in the sky
Mk1-B Capsule Mockup (10/7/20)
Arriving on the train, the mockup is a partly-functional version of our new kerbed space capsule that will be used for exercises. It can't go to space but will allow us to certify that it is capable of recovery
Crispy Re-Entry (10/7/20)
The downwards facing camera lenses quickly get toasted during re-entry but the booster cam also has an upwards facing camera that can still see the heat and flames caused by air friction as the Progeny MK7-B comes falling back from space at over 1km/s
Sea Ring Crater (10/8/20)
Site of the massive impact that forced kerbal civilization underground after nearly wiping us out completely. The uplift in the center is home to the Arekibo Radio Observatory, a massive 200m kerb-made bowl that gathers faint signals from the cosmos and can also beam radio waves up into space. The Deep Space Network and Asteroid Tracking Network also have a presence there. Photo taken by Kerbin II near its 227km apokee
Launching this month for the first time - the Progeny Mk7-B!
Asteroids of July 2020 (8/5/20)
Tying May with 12 known encounters, still the maximum number for the year so far
Alaba Trajectory Update (8/10/20)
New orbit after the 46th encounter this past weekend
Alaba Trajectory Update (8/10/20)
New orbit after the 46th encounter this past weekend
Progeny Mk7-B Rollout (8/12/20)
Heading to the launch pad for the first time atop the same carry vehicle used for Ascension rockets. Once installed atop the launch clamp and hooked to the service tower for stability, a fourth support leg will be installed
Extra System Checks (8/13/20)
When launching a new rocket, in this case the Progeny Mk7-B, it's always best to make extra, extra sure everything is working correctly, even if you have to delay a launch
Alaba Final Prediction?
Astronomers are 99% sure that the moonlet will indeed be ejected from the system over the next two months, taking into account the large trajectory changes that have in the past thrown off their propagation models. This time they think they have accounted for close Mun passes and although the exact timing of encounters may be off by several seconds or minutes the end result should be the same
Progeny Mk7-B No.1 (8/14/20)
The inaugural flight sees the rocket achieve all of its in-flight objectives however it did not fully survive re-entry and the second stage engine was not recovered as planned
Ospray Vacuum Restart (8/14/20)
While it's not the first time we've restarted an engine in flight, it is the first time for this particular engine. The lack of air pressure above the atmosphere means rapid expansion of the exhaust gases
Booster Recovery (5/14/20)
The first stage of the Progeny Mk7-B drifts back down to the Kerblantic, becoming the first booster to be recovered and hopefully even re-used one day. The VAB is just visible over the horizon
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