Duna and Moho share a close encounter in the dawn sky, moving past each other as Duna continues to rise while Moho sets. Eve is also rising, becoming visible again after passing through inferior conjunction with Kerbin
Minmus Occults Urlum (5/31/20)
Because of its large 6° inclination (large because it's so close to us) Minmus wanders around the sky a lot an rarely encounters other nearby celestial objects. Despite Urlum's distance, its massive size still makes it appear rather large in comparison
Pink Sunrise (6/2/20)
Looking west from outside the Tracking Station as the sun finishes rising to the east and colors the clouds. Another beautiful day at KSC!
Asteroids of May 2020 (6/3/20)
The highest amount in one month so far for the year at 12, but thankfully with no known impacts
North of the Wall (6/3/20)
Releasing a low-altitude KerBalloon while looking west back towards Kravass, which is behind the Wall. That the clouds seem to stop over the ridgeline of the mountain range known as the Wall is not a coincidence. This large terrain upthrust regularly acts as a frontal boundary and stalls or redirects weather coming from the polar regions, keeping the northern plains temperate
Alaba Orbital Update (6/8/20)
The trajectory after the latest encounter, No.40
Alaba Orbital Update (6/8/20)
The trajectory after the latest encounter, No.40
Alaba Mun Encounters 6/2020-6/2021 (6/8/20)
After increasing inaccuracies in the previous prediction made back in March, and new long-term propagation was created. However although it shows Alaba is no longer ending up thrown out of the system by the end of the year, astronomers are cautious of the 45th encounter, which will see a large change in eccentricity and argument of periapsis - a similar encounter is what began to throw off the calculations from March
Alaba Mun SOI Transits 6/2020-6/2021 (6/8/20)
The paths the moonlet will take as it passes by Mun over the next year
KSC Airport Diagram Rev2 (6/10/20)
With the addition of a new runway, hangar complex and taxiways, the first half of a major renovation to support commercial/private aviation and provide a link to UmbargWith the addition of a new runway, hangar complex and taxiways, the first half of a major renovation to support commercial/private aviation and provide a link to Umbarg
Position and Hold (6/10/20)
A Deuce piloted by Commander Valentina and Captain Jebediah taxis out onto Runway 03/21 for departure, heading southeast to deploy dropsondes over a Kerblantic storm
VAB Integration Resumes (6/12/20)
After suspending operations for over two months for procedural reviews and assessment of integration processes workers are getting back to building Progeny and Ascension rockets with renewed vigor
Heading out to the pad, an Ascension Mk1 Block I lifter carries a space capsule on top for its first sub-orbital flight. Normally putt-putting out to the pad at 1.5m/s, the carry vehicle now transports the rocket at just 1m/s to ensure the capsule (and its future occupant) gets a smooth ride to the pad
Fill Up Time (4/18/19)
Two tanker trucks, one for oxidizer another for liquid fuel, hook up at the launch service tower to pump propellants aboard the main tanks. The rocket is thirsty, and the tankers have to make an additional trip to the VAB to refuel before the rocket is topped off
Standing Ready (4/18/19)
The first Ascension Mk1 Block I lifter to carry a capsule (but not kerbal) into space waits patiently during the final countdown for lift off as the sun rises
Ascension Mk1 Block I No. 4 (4/18/19)
Lifting off topped with the first kerbed space capsule, although for this flight it only contains a test dummy. Angled elevator fins will help to increase its ability to pitch over and follow the pre-programmed flight plan
Prior to MECO (4/19/19)
Taken yesterday from 55km as the 4th Ascension Mk1 Block I nears main engine cutoff on its way to space carrying the capsule that will one day take a kerbal along for the ride
Ascent Profile Comparison (4/19/19)
The 4th Ascension Mk1-I flight (red) did not need to follow as steep a trajectory as the earlier third flight (green) due to its greater mass necessitating a more vertical ascent to reach the same height. It then deviates radially to the south thanks to an accidental triggering of the Launch Escape System when the capsule separated from the main stage
A Mk1 lifter gets ready in the middle of the VAB for stacking of the capsule, seen in its cradle to the left awaiting the attachment of its Launch Escape System after the RCS blocks finish getting installed around its base. Three more lifters await in the wings, although we are short one engine due to an explosion during static firing on the test stand
Viklun Mk1 Blueprint (4/9/19)
Meant to stack atop an Ascension Mk1 Block II lifter, this stage is what ultimately carries the payload into a transfer orbit, or even its final orbit if the mission allows for it. The engine is designed to be more efficient when used in space, unlike the engine of the lifter being optimized for atmospheric use
Empty Pad Awaits (4/11/19)
Launch of an Ascension Mk1 lifter is scheduled for one week from now and work has been done to ensure the pad is ready to support the mission. Minmus is visible near the center of the image
scheduled for 4/18 this will be the first flight of the capsule that will one day take a kerbal into space. It will launch with a test dummy inside
ZMA-630(A) Plot (4/2/19)
A unique visitor, the first known asteroid to make a pass through Minmus' SOI after closest approach to us of 3.32 Munar Distance
Viklun 1.25m Vacuum Engine (4/2/19)
Our Ascension Mk1 lifter failed to achieve orbit on its own so a second stage will be needed to push the payload into orbit, which will be achieved hopefully by the Viklun engine, seen here shortly after arriving in the VAB
Asteroids of March 2019 (4/3/19)
15 passes with 1 impact nearly ties with the previous month and represents average levels of activity
A Utility Task Vehicle (one of 3 used to traverse overland to release locations) stands in the foreground as a low-altitude KerBalloon begins its ascent to 16.5km to gather data on the levels of gasses in the air. The extinct volcano on which this release is taking place may actually just be long dormant...
Just a few days after opposition Jool reached the lowest point in its orbit relative to the sun, causing shadows to from its largest moons (Laythe, Vall, Tylo) to be cast upon the southern hemisphere as we stare down upon the northern, with a hint of blue aurora near the pole
TWT-049(B) Plot (3/1/19)
Taking a plunge near the north polar ice shelf, it will pose no danger to any surface activities and may be observed by workers at the ATN North construction site
Astronomers have plotted out the next 19 encounters the moonlet will have with Mun over the next 2 years before it is punted back out of the system. The three major phases follow its slow inwards travel until it reaches a low eccentricity state which means its circular orbit intersects Mun's orbit at both sides. This lets it encounter Mun where it gets a boost from its motion and is thrown out of the system as a result
QPR-884(E) Plot (2/18/19)
Hoping for a water impact - recent studies have shown an airburst could cause more damage with a larger area of pressure forcing the water out of the way into bigger waves
Rotation (2/20/19)
The huge bulk of the Dhumla takes to the skies for its second flight test
Over the Mountains and Through the Clouds (2/22/19)
From the First Officer's seat aboard the Dhumla Flight Officer Aldeny took this photo as he and FO Tedman climbed towards a new record altitude of 8.683km ASL. Unfortunately they had to make an emergency descent after a failure in cabin pressure before they could climb as high as 9-10km, their original goal
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