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
Progeny Mk3 Flights (5/517)
Looking towards the launch pad from out over the water to get an idea of how the flights deviated north or south
Moho (5/5/17)
Seen here in 1/2 phase as it begins to pass more behind the sun from us
Requiring one more launch than planned to get the job done, after several failed attempts the Mk3 finally fulfills its promise and becomes the first rocket to breach the barrier to the upper atmosphere.
~9km to the west is a ridgeline 450m ASL that is the tallest terrain nearby to KSC. Specialist Bill went out on a hike and snapped this photo looking back at the campus
Eclipse Ending (4/17/17)
The Mun moves off the sun as it sets following an annular eclipse. The Tracking Station and R&D buildings can be seen in the foreground
KerBalloon Payload (4/18/17)
The Civvie has its new radial mount attached to its belly on which the KerBalloon casing will be mated. lacking its usual payload truss due to clearance issues, the vital flight controller and science instrument are mounted directly to the casing. Parachutes are mounted to the side.
Crescent Mun & Minmus (4/19/17)
While Mun appears to float atop some clouds to the right of the VAB, Minmus hovers above the building's roof.
Stacking Underway (4/19/17)
the VAB is bustling to prepare the booster stacks for the Progeny Mk4, although in this case the stack pictured in the center will be topped with a Mk1-B booster instead so we can launch an additional Progeny Mk3
Smothered by Clouds (4/19/17)
Although clearer now than it was earlier, flight conditions did not improve enough throughout the rest of the daylight cycle to allow either Civvie to take to the skies.
Taxi Out for Deployment (4/21/17)
The Civvie taxis out under control of Commander Val to test the dropping of a KerBalloon unit while in flight. The Civvie Prototype stands in the background while Mun occupies a mostly clear sky with great flying conditions, if a bit windy
Approaching Drop Zone (4/20/17)
The Civvie head back towards KSC after climbing over 1km to stay above the restricted airspace ceiling. We will aim to have Val drop the KerBalloon unit just west of the main campus
Falling to Kerbin (4/20/17)
The KerBalloon unit dropped from underneath the Civvie parachutes slowly down to the ground, where it was recovered successfully. During an actual mission, the gas envelope would deploy instead to begin the balloon's ascent.
Time to Get Ready (4/21/17)
Bill and Bob are out early to help the KerBalloon crews prep the UTVs for departure at next sunrise, heading 150-200km inland in order to reach a drop zone over which the Civvie will deploy a KerBalloon probe
Sunrise Departure (4/21/17)
The UTVs that will be recovering the KerBalloon probe deployed by the Civvie head out well in advance to cover the 150-200km of overland distance to get to the drop zone
Payload Inspection (4/21/17)
Captain Jeb takes a close look at the KerBalloon unit attached to the bottom of his aircraft, making sure it is mounted properly to keep the Civvie flyable.
In the sky behind him you can see Duna and Eve moving towards appulse, and Moho lies above the aircraft's nose
Payload Flight Departure (4/21/17)
The Civvie successfully takes off without issue carrying a KerBalloon unit under its belly for the first mission to deploy a payload
Too Low! (4/21/17)
Jeb's first attempt to make it over the mountain pass fails, as the payload he's carrying makes the Civvie climb too slowly to get high enough on a direct approach. He circles around to gain more altitude
Over the Mountains (4/21/17)
Having climbed high enough to make it through the mountain pass, a shot from the port-side wing cam shows where we have an airship stationed to relay comms from the backside of the mountains to KSC.
KSC Ho! (4/21/17)
Coming around from the backside of the Western Mountains Captain Jeb is once again in sight of KSC and heading home after successfully deploying his KerBalloon payload and taking some contractual observations on the way back
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