Tag Archive: Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

May 05 2017

Operations Summary – Week of 5/1/17

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Planet Parade at Dawn (4/39/17)
Moho makes its first strong appearance prior to the sun rising, with Eve, Neidon, Urlum, Duna and Sarnus following above

Minmus Half Phase (4/30/17)
The flat plains of Minmus are prominent in this photo captured by Commander Valentina

Kerbolar Latitude (5/1/17)
A look at all the planets visible at dawn (Dres was too high up for this photo) and their current Kerbolar latitude, with the yellow line being the ecliptic. Although Eve and Sarnus share similar latitudes on opposite sides of the ecliptic, Sarnus is further away and thus has a larger apparent angle

Dawn Eclipse (5/2/17)
Slightly rarer but still frequent, eclipses at dawn & dusk are our favorites, seen here from Building C of the Support Village

April 2017 Asteroids (5/2/17)
One known impact and a lot of whiffs this past month, with a total of 12 tracked asteroids. Astronomers predict we only see about 30-40% of what's really out there

Western Sunrise (5/3/17)
Looking away from the sunrise we are treated to Mun resting in a bed of colored clouds, burnished mountains and the top of the VAB lit by the sun

Duna & Urlum Appulse (5/3/17)
Sarnus is above, while top to bottom below the pair lie Neidon, Moho, Minmus (tinted red by the atmosphere) and then Eve

Minmus Transit No.1 2017 (5/4/17)
Although it appears fully in the sun, it's mostly the atmosphere. The actual surface of Minmus and the sun are only partially overlapping as it skims by to the south. The transit lasted only 41min 40sec - we were lucky to be able to catch it over KSC!

Transit Composite 2017 - So Far (5/4/17)
This year will hold the record for most transits - 5 in total. There is one more Minmus transit occurring on June 29th and a second Moho transit on October 15th. We will keep updating this composite as the year progresses

Kravass General Airport Diagram (5/4/17)
This is a reference pilots use when flying in and out of KGA, the first surface airport solely for general aviation use

Progeny Mk3 Flights (5/5/17)
Looking from the south towards the launch pad

Moho (5/5/17)
Seen here in 1/2 phase as it begins to pass more behind the sun from us

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Tags: Genesis, KerBalloon, Progenitor, Progeny Mk3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 1, Progeny Mk3 Flight 2, Progeny Mk3 Flight 3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 4, Progeny Mk4

Mar 24 2017

Operations Summary – Week of 3/20/17

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Sunset w/ Crescent Mun (3/18/17)
Commander Val was up late for some stargazing and witnessed the final sunset of the day. She found the crescent Mun high overhead a nice excuse to capture the full height of the VAB while also the sunset to the west.

Rocky Runway (3/20/17)
In the weeks since flight operations ceased due to not having any craft capable of flying the runway has fallen slightly into disrepair and will be given some TLC over the course of a day to ensure any landings don't flip an aircraft due to a pothole

Duna Nears Conjunction (3/20/17)
Seen at maximum zoom through Commander Val's telescope, Duna is now 5.6x smaller than it will appear later this year when we approach closest to it at opposition. She plans to compare the sizes with a photo then, in late July

Civvie Production Model (3/21/17)
Our brand-new design of the Civvie single-engine general aviation aircraft sits on the tarmac in front of the Horizontal Assembly Building where it was rolled out earlier this morning. It will undergo its first flight trials this day

Civvie Production 1st Takeoff (3/21/17)
After a successful roll down the turf runway 27 at full power the Civvie lifts effortlessly into the sky for its maiden flight under the command of Captain Jebediah Kerman

Civvie Production 1st Landing (3/21/17)
Returning home, Captain Jeb brings the Civvie in for a decent landing, made difficult only because lack of pitch authority meant he had trouble keeping the nose up near stall speed to put all three wheels down at the same time. He made it tho!

Two Thumbs Up! (3/21/17)
Captain Jeb after exiting the new Civvie Production model says the test flight was "incredibly awesome" and shortly after went into the HAB to shake the hands of all the program engineers. "Still needs some tweaks," he said later, "but overall a solid aircraft"

Progeny Launch Base (3/22/17)
With its pitch now adjusted to 6° the launch base for the Progeny rockets has been moved back out to the launch pad ahead of the next scheduled launch to take place this Friday

Half of Eve (3/22/17)
The inner planets Eve & Moho are the only ones we can see go through phases as they orbit around the sun. Here is Eve as it begins to pull further away from us and around to the other side of the sun, showing more and more of its surface to us since the transit of 2/22

Progeny Mk3 #2 (3/22/17)
All stacked with fins adjusted for a slower spin rate, the second Progeny Mk3 rocket is ready to be loaded up onto the lorry tomorrow and be rolled out to the launch pad the following day assuming launch readiness checks turn out okay

BTS-121(D) Break Up (3/23/17)
Entering over the Kongo River region this large asteroid thankfully broke up high in the atmosphere and rained down smaller debris over a 250km swath of land, forming many small craters several hundered meters wide, starting a few small fires and overall localized devastation but no regional impact event

Civvie Production Model Flight Test #2 (3/23/17)
Engine started and ready to taxi, Captain Jeb will take the Civvie back up for more flight tests to hopefully certify it ready for science missions and other tasks required of it by the KSA. We've re-mounted the outboard cameras as well

Civvie Production Model Flight Test #2 Data Analysis (3/23/17)
The wide wing design and light weight of the Civvie combine to give it an impressive glide capability - in a stall even! Despite the throttle at idle and the nose pitched up continuously throughout the stall period, the Civvie never sank at a rate faster than the landing gear are certified to withstand. This means that if the aircraft's engine were to ever fail, it should be able to land safely without power

Rocket Rollout from Above (3/24/17)
Specialist Bob setting up his camera atop the VAB for the launch later today caught site of the rocket lorry carrying the Progeny Mk3 out to the pad

Progeny Mk3 (3/24/17)
Ready for pre-flight, the Progeny MK3 stands 11.1m tall when mounted to its launch base

Sun Rise Before Rocket Rise (3/24/17)
A Progeny Mk3 rocket stands tall on the launch pad as the sun rises behind it

Progeny Mk3 Flight Termination (3/24/17)
After flying too far south out of the predetermined ascent corridor the rocket's 3rd stage booster was detonated while the payload was still attached causing the entire rocket to be lost

Progeny Mk3 Launch #2 (3/24/17)
The astronauts all stood atop the VAB to witness the second launch of the 3-stage Progeny MK3 rocket off the pad

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Tags: ATN, Civvie, Genesis, Progenitor, Progeny Mk3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

Mar 24 2017

Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

Categories:

Mission Dispatch

The second launch of our new 3-stage rocket aimed to determine how the rocket behaves during long coast periods and break through 10km to collect another Kerbal Sounding Project bounty

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Tags: 0.35m, 0.625m, Fail, Kerbin, Probe, Progenitor, Progeny Mk3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 2, Solid Fuel, Sub-Orbital

Mar 17 2017

Operations Summary – Week of 3/13/17

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

Jool Dodges Mun (3/12/17)
Now that it has risen high enough on its inclined orbit, Jool no longer is able to be occulted by Mun - at least not when viewed from the equatorial region of Kerbin. It currently now passes over Mun's north pole

Progeny Mk3 Stacked (3/13/17)
The full three-stage booster stack of the Progeny Mk3 is our tallest rocket assembly to date, and is very awe-inspiring as demonstrated by the look on the face of that VAB technician

Finding Dres (3/13/17)
The dimmest naked-eye planet, Dres is a challenge for backyard astronomers to locate in a starry sky, which is why this is a great time to view it seeing that it's close to Duna to use as a waypoint and appears in the sky at dusk before the multitudes of dimmer background stars are visible.

Progeny Mk3 Topping Off (3/13/17)
The first Progeny Mk3 rocket is about to become fully assembled as the payload is added to the top of the booster stack under the watchful eyes of VAB technicians

Triple Joolean Transit (3/14/17)
The three large Joolean moons of Vall, Tylo and Laythe cast their shadows together upon Jool as the pass between it and the sun. A little while after this photo, Laythe's north pole was darkened also by Tylo's shadow

Civvie Production Model (3/14/17)
The sleek look of the new Civvie as it stands nearly complete in the Horizontal Assembly Building. C7 Aerospace Division reports that two days of closeout work remain until it is ready for ground trials to begin

L-1 Day (3/14/17)
Weather remains fair as the suns sets on the eve of our first rocket launch in 3 months

Launch Day (3/15/17)
Second sunrise arrives and shows that we still have some great weather going for us today for the first launch of the Progeny Mk3 rocket, still to be trucked out to the pad for mounting

Launch Timeline (3/15/17)
a new longer launch timeline helps ensure everything is ready when it comes time to launch, from a larger rocket to mount to a recovery ship at sea to place on station, a night time buffer window gives cushion for unforeseen events, and leaves us all of daylight to try for a launch

Progeny Mk3 Rollout (3/15/17)
We had to significantly upgrade our rocket lorry to carry the Mk3's greatly extended length and also heavier weight thanks to the lower stage booster. Still the rear suspension gets a good workout and the whole thing travels at only 2m/s. It is 665m to the launch pad from the VAB

Viewing Areas (3/15/17)
we have areas set back from the launch pad open for employees and their families to enjoy the launch

Ready for Preflight (3/15/17)
Launch Control has confirmed the rocket was mounted properly and now the pad has been cleared so they can really get into preflight, which could potentially lead to an unexpected ignition or explosion.

Weather Hold (3/15/17)
As the sun rises casting a shadow of the Progeny Mk3 upon the Vertical Assembly Building, the Weather kerbs decide there is too much cloud cover to get good video footage of the flight, which is important should anything go wrong. We will await clearer sky conditions

Hunkered in the Bunker (3/15/17)
Commander Val snaps a selfie with the other three astronauts Bill, Jeb and Bob as they all wait for the weather hold to be lifted so the Progeny Mk3, seen behind them, can lift off

Final Countdown (3/15/17)
The view from Launch Control as the skies finally clear with only high-level clouds in sight. The countdown is picked up from L-5 minutes

Progeny Mk3 Flight 1 Recovery (3/15/17)
Since we expected the payload to travel east over the water, chute was deployed almost immediately after payload fairing separation at apokee, so our water-based recovery crews would have plenty of time to get under it. However it stayed over land, so at least our land-based crews were able to be ready for it to come down. It landed only 356m north of the launch pad

Progeny Mk3 Flight 1 Launch (3/15/17)
Although we intended the rocket to travel east downrange, low TWR caused the nose to pitch up before the rocket could accelerate and spin up enough to maintain pitch, which sent it almost straight up over the launch pad, returning the payload just 356m north of the pad

Progeny Mk3 Launch Base Damage (3/16/17)
After the first flight of the Mk3 inspection of the launch base revealed some light damage from the exhaust of the first stage booster. Thankfully it was nothing that would permanently disable the base's ability to function. There was a second launch rail atop the one shown here, it was obliterated by the booster on ascent. We plan to simply replace it each launch, as it is a cheap part

Dangerous Debris (3/16/17)
We had debris falling towards the space center (and onlookers!) which is not a good thing at all, and has forced us to postpone the next launch while we make some changes to the flight profile

TDU plot (3/16/17)
the telemetry data unit gathered flight information in 0.25s increments, each represented by a pixel on this plot. The large drop in mass denote staging events, and the large scatter in the AoA plot (red) show how much the payload tumbled and then spun after it was released from the third stage booster in the thick lower atmosphere

Kicking the Tires (3/17/17)
Captain Jeb helps Commander Val with the walkaround inspection of our brand new Civvie, which has been redesigned based on lessons learned from the prototype model. It underwent ground trials today

Sunset Taxi Out (3/17/17)
After a final tweak of the suspension setup Commander Val takes the Civvie out for one more quick test run to ensure that the wheels and handling are to her liking

QAS-238(D) Plot (3/17/17)
Due to pass by at 2.30 Munar Distance, this will be the 4th known asteroid to swing through the Kerbin system this month. Which means there's probably been about 6-10 we haven't seen

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Tags: Civvie, Genesis, Progenitor, Progeny Mk3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 1, Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

Mar 03 2017

Operations Summary – Week of 2/27/17

Categories:

Behind the Scenes, News, Operations Summary

The Night Sky (2/11/17)
Taken from Commander Val's window in the Astronaut Complex. She would rather be outside with her large telescope but thanks to a current health situation everyone has been cooped up indoors for the last few days under quarantine protocols. Mun, Moho, Eve and Duna are all visible

Kravass (2/12/17)
Taken from 5.7km ASL where an observatory sits atop the high peaks that rise over the underground city of Kravass. You are looking south down the valley towards the distant sea

Eve & Moho Appulse (2/17/17)
The two inner planets swing past each other as Duna hovers higher above, seen from out the window of Building B in the support village

Sunset from Umbarg Tunnel (2/18/17)
A look back at the KSC from the underground tunnel access to Umbarg City

2017 Eve Transit @ 00:53 UTC (2/22/17)
One hour into the transit of Eve on the 22nd of February 2017. The true-color image of the sun was taken with a solar filter installed over the lens of the telescope. The tilt of the crosshair matches the angle of Eve's direction as it moves across the face of the sun

Double Transit (2/22/17)
Mun and Eve are seen moving across the face of Kerbol over Umbarg City. Minmus is also visible to the lower right, unfortunately not partaking in the event

2017 Eve Transit @ 06:53 UTC (2/23/17)
Nearing the end of its transit, Eve continues its slow travel from east to west across the sun, rising upwards as it goes

2017 Eve & Moho Transits Composite (2/23/17)
Both transits were photographed every hour after the start. The Moho transit took 8h27m23s and the Eve transit took 7h58m37s

Mun Occults Jool South of the Equator (2/25/17)
Now that it has risen to 1.128° above the ecliptic if you want to see Mun occult Jool you need to travel south of the equator. This photo was taken from above Umbarg, nearly 3°S and Jool still almost manages to scrape past Mun's north pole

Moho/Eve Appulse & Mun Occultation (2/26/17)
4 days past the Eve transit it is already back in the dawn sky next to Moho and its large inclination already takes it north of Mun even when viewed from over Umbarg City 3°S of the equator. Moho however was occulted by Mun shortly after this photo was taken

Partial Eclipse (2/26/17)
Seen from 3°S over the city of Umbarg, the antumbra of Mun is visible moving over the mountains to the north

Operations Set to Resume (2/28/17)
From atop the support village Building B looking at KSC on a lovely day as operations get ready to resume after a biohazard shut down the facility for over a week

Triple Shadow Transit (3/2/17)
It's a special time right now between February 17th and April 22nd of 2017 where all three large moons of Jool cast shadows on its surface at the same time. The order of shadows right to left are Tylo, Laythe and Vall. There's a chance we may also be able to see Tylo cast a shadow over Vall while also shadowing Laythe and then Jool!

Waxing Gibbous Mun (3/3/17)
Nothing special, just a look at our nearest neighbor

February 2017 Asteroids (3/3/17)
A look at the trajectories of the 8 (known) asteroids to fly by Kerbin during the short month of February

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Tags: Civvie, Genesis, Jebediah, KerBalloon, Meeny, Progenitor, Progeny Mk3, Progeny Mk3 Flight 1, Progeny Mk3 Flight 2, Progeny Mk3 Flight 3

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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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Tag Archive: Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

Operations Summary – Week of 5/1/17

Operations Summary – Week of 3/20/17

Progeny Mk3 Flight 2

Operations Summary – Week of 3/13/17

Operations Summary – Week of 2/27/17

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