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MacFran KASA Space Program Thread


Calvin_Maclure

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MacFran KASA Space Program Thread
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What this thread is about:
I enjoy writing up mission profiles, playing the game beyond simply building, launching and landing crafts. I enjoy building the story around it all as well. It helps to tie everything together and give the game and the experience greater depth. I also enjoy reading good stories about KSP games, seeing well thought out builds that meet the challenge of complexity vs simplicity and effectiveness head on. I hate over-the-top, unrealistic and frivolous designs. I enjoy sharing my designs and getting criticism or comments on them. If you enjoy these kinds of things, then this thread is for you.

It is a mish-mash of missions, some of low profile while others of great significance, with stories unfolding in chronological order, the first being the oldest. Although, since I only not too long ago started doing this sort of thing, I cannot go all the way back to the very start of it all. I do my best to maintain a balance between detail and length for both description and screenshots. There will always be at least one or two ''teaser'' screenshots below each post text followed by the rest of the album in the ''reveal hidden content'' dropdown.  

Enjoy! 


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Project Orion - KASA's program with the goal to extend kerbaled exploration to Kerbin's red neighbour

When KASA announced its Orion project several years ago, a project with the daunting task of conquering Duna and ultimately seeing footsteps on the surface of the red planet, we new it would usher in a new ear of space flight, just like the Apollo program had when the challenge to set kerbals on the Mun was undertaken. For the first time, kerbals left Kerbin's sphere of influence and set out to another world. First, it was one mission, and then another, and then another, and then another. Not long after the program had started it ended with KASA having successfully flown and landed no fewer than 8 missions to the Mun and no fewer than 16 kerbals had left their mark on its grey powdery surface. Technology had been developed to meet the daunting challenges that lay ahead and with every subsequent flight so our understanding of the challenges, risks and potential rewards involved in space exploration grew ever more. 

For Orion, new technologies will also have to be developed. Bigger stronger rockets, inflatable habitat, extended life support systems, rovers, safe nuclear power sources are just a glimpse of what the KASA engineers and scientists will have to come up with in order for the conquest of Duna to occur. So far the program has not failed to impress in both its size and costs. Test flights have been performed, tech has been tested out and with it KASA's confidence in its ability to send the first kerbonauts to Duna has grown, as has also the impression left with each subsequent test flight that this is really happening: kerbals are headed to Duna in the not too distant future. The last time Kerbals left Kerbin was on Eagle VIII the last Mun mission where two lucky Kerbonauts left footprints on the Mun's surface for the last time.

KASA administrator, Charles Bolden Kerbal has said that "the Orion mission designs are still evolving. Our test flights have confirmed a lot of important design features work as intended, but have also shown that some can be improved, and improve them we will". KASA has been under a lot of pressure from Congress to keep a close eye on mission costs and cost overruns. So far, Orion has been the most expensive single undertaking KASA has ever done. To be fair, it is also the most complex it has ever undertaken. 

Photo courtesy: KASA


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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Did somebody say '''Mun''?

When we went to the Mun, the missions were designed to be short duration ones. We knew we would not stay for extended periods of time. At least, not now. But that was then and Duna is a different beast. One cannot afford to go and leave like we did when going to the Mun. Duna is much farther and takes longer to reach. Missions must be seen as long duration where Kerbals would stay on the surface for several weeks at a time. But KASA is seeing beyond Duna already. ''Our goal in going to Duna is not only to conquer Duna itself'' says Bolden,  ''but for Duna to serve as a teaching ground for all of us to perhaps even extend our kerbaled mission scope to beyond Duna and to other nearby bodies''. But why the Mun? Bardous Kermin, a seasonned KASA astronaut with several missions under his belt says ''conquering Duna for extended stays will not be easy. But the Mun has a lot to offer us in terms of training grounds. We can practice setting up bases and living there with only what we brought with us. We can practice using the Mun's available resources as a means to support ourselve during our stay''. And so with this in mind, KASA has designed a Mun mission which it calls ''Mun Return Mission'', or MRM for short. There, kerbonauts would set up a small base, mine for resources and practice living in isolation for extended periods of time on another body.

Some say its nothing but a waste of time and resources. Duna Direct advocate, author and scientist R. Zubrin Kerbal made the statement that ''we can send kerbals to Duna within the next 3 years. We have the necessary abilities right now''. People like Zubrin see our return to the Mun nothing more than a sideproject and time waster funded by private enterprise for nothing more than profit. But even critics like Zubrin admit that the Mun does offer an interesting platform off of which to test new tech and ideas.  

''The fact of the matter is that we've never done anything like mining a planet's surface to forage for the necessary resources off of which to live or do any other kind of activities like that which is needed for extended stays in areas really far from Kerbin. What we at KASA are trying to accomplish is sending kerbals to planets beyond Duna, if at all possible, and the Mun, because of its proximity to Kerbin, gives us a potentially really good training platform. We can go there easily and test a host of complex tech and ideas before heading out to distant bodies where, if something serious were to happen, the crew would be in serious jeapordy'', said Bardous Kermin, KASA kerbonaut. But critics of the Mun Return Mission program say that whatever needs to be tested can be tested here on Kerbin itself. No need to waste precious funds going to the Mun to do it. ''Private industry is pushing for this because they have a vested interest in seeing this happen. It means more contracts and more government funds going in their deep pockets'', said Zubrin. 

Whether or not KASA actually does choose to use the Mun for training and research remains to be seen. But plans are underway for the design of the Mun Return Mission.
 

Mission highlights from Eagle VIII
Photo courtesy: KASA

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Paying a Visit to Plock - New Horizons Mission

Just in time to ring in the new year, New Horizons was successfully launched for a historic flyby of Plock. It is expected to reach the Kerbol's most distant planet in just about 7 yrs. KASA scientists and engineers were in a mad scrambled to launch the probe asap, as Plock is currently beginning its trip moving farther and farther away from Kerbol due to its highly elliptical orbit.
The launch went as planned, and no anomalies were reported. ''Plock has never been visited before and its very, very far away from Kerbin. Its orbit takes it around Kerbol in many, many years'' said Alan S. Kerbal, the head of the New Horizons program. ''Since Plock was headed into the outer part of its orbit taking it even further away from Kerbol, we really werent in our optimal launch window. So we took the biggest rocket we could get our hands on and sent this tiny probe on its way in a hurry.'' New Horizons weighs in at less than 2 tons but was flown out of KSC aboard one of KASA's larger rockets, the Hobbes VI block 3 configuration. ''The flyby will be short because the probe will be moving rather quickly, but it'll be historic and we cant wait to see what secrets Plock is holding out for us''. 

New Horizons was designed and built by the Aerospace and Astronomy Division at Kaltech University in partnership with the KASA Jet Propulsion Labs

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Remembering Past Successes - Youppi

Today, KASA remembers and celebrates the memory of the Youppi missions, part of the early pioneering space conquest missions it undertook several decades ago. Youppi was the first multi crew missions KASA flew (crews of two were flown) and the first to attempt and succeed rendez-vous as well as demonstrate our ability to sustain long endurance space flights. Only a few missions were ever flown as the Apollo program was in very good shape and on track. Nevertheless, the Youppi program, small of a step as it may have been, was a necessary one in getting kerbins to the Mun. 

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Rescuing Hubble

At a cost of 1.4bn dollars, KASA's affectionately called ''Hubble Deep Space Telescope'' wasn't doing too much star gazing as KASA had lost contact with its beloved orbiting observatory now for several months, as KASA administrators and heads of the Kerbinside Observatory were scratching their heads trying to figure out a solution. So KASA engineers did what KASA engineers do best: they mounted up a mission to salvage it. Launching with the best available crew, Space Shuttle Endeavour headed upwards through the night sky high (high for the Orbiter) and made for the stricken space telescope at an altitude of 400km.

On the agenda, remove the stricken communications equipment, install the new communications gear and relocate the telescope to a lower orbit, by about 15km, to keep it away from newly launched satellites and, lastly, retrieve some much needed data from its hard drives.

Whats more, KASA also got to try out its brand new toy: the Kanadarm courtesy of the Kanadian Space Agency. The robot arm was key to the mission, allowing the crew to snatch the satellite and maneuver it gently into the Shuttle's cargo bay where repairs could be performed. ''The Kanadarm is a great addition to the Shuttle fleet. It performed beautifully and really allowed us to perform a mission that otherwise would have been significantly harder to perform'', said Sigsy Kerman. 

The mission, lasting several hours and necessitating a pair of EVAs was a complete success. The satellite is at its new orbit and KASA can speak to it anew. The telescope, which some have said, has been arguably the most scientifically important satellite ever to be placed in orbit, and it will now continue to fulfill its mandate to peer deep into the kosmos.

Photo courtesy: KASA
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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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OSCAR - Near Space Communications Network

KASA’s Kerbin Sciences division is set to be stripped of funding in favor of the exploration of deep space, with the president-elect Donal T. Kerbin having set a goal during the campaign to explore the entire Kerbol system by the end of the next two decades.

This would mean the elimination of KASA’s world-renowned research into climate related phenomena. KASA’s Kerbin Science division’s budget which was set to grow to $2bn next year may see a drastic reduction while, by comparison, space exploration has been scaled up somewhat, with a proposed budget of $2.8bn for the next fiscal year.

Bob Kerbin, a senior Trump campaign adviser and retired KASA astronaut, said there was no need for KASA to do what he has previously described as “politically correct environmental monitoring”. “We see KASA in an exploration role, in deep space research", said Bob in an interview with the Kerbin Times.

Part of this commitment to deep space exploration will see an overhaul of Kerbin's "near space" communications satellite network. The plan is to launch a series of the latest OSCAR (Orbital Signal Carrier And Receiver) communication satellites, at a cost of 450 million each, produced by Lockeed Kerbin's Aerospace and Defense department, to replace the current near space comm satellites network. The current satellites would be decommissioned and de-orbited once all functions have been transferred to the newer and better OSCAR satellites, if all goes to plan.

P.S.
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The first of the OSCAR communication satellites was successfully launched into a LKO today aboard a Hobbes I 4-2 configuration ushering in a new era in space communication technology. Lockeed Kerbin engineers report that all systems are nominal.

Photo courtesy: Lockeed Kerbin Aerospace and Defense
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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Building a Space Station - Orbital Akademy Space Station

How did we manage to get a 100 ton space station up in orbit around Kerbin travelling at 2200m/s? Watch as KASA astronauts and engineers build in 10 launches and several EVAs Kerbin's first Orbital Academy Space Station. Over 200 pictures in 8 awe inspiring albums highlighting the chronological construction of the station from start to finish. 

About the Station:
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The station was designed in partnership with one of KASA's most trusted contractors, MacFran Aerospace Industries, and is used to train kerbonauts on how to endure long duration space flights, how to work with great proficiency in space as well as performing a host of scientific and medical experiments in a zero-g environment. The station cost a whopping 98 billion dollars to produce, launch and assemble and uses a combination of solid and inflatable modules. It orbits Kerbin at an altitude of 90km with a 5 degree inclination. The station was designed to serve primarily as a training grounds for future long duration kerballed space exploration missions. It can hold up to 8 kerbonauts at a time. The station is currently the largest kerbal made object in orbit and can be seen with the naked eye at night.

Part I - http://imgur.com/gallery/gg0A7
Part II - http://imgur.com/gallery/5d00I
Part III - http://imgur.com/gallery/LoQ7E
Part IV - http://imgur.com/gallery/52xQp
Part V - http://imgur.com/gallery/Am3xb
Part VI - http://imgur.com/gallery/OrjF3
Part VII - http://imgur.com/gallery/a3viZ
Part VIII - http://imgur.com/gallery/rPHnP

 

Photo courtesy: KASA and MacFran Aerospace Industries

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Attempting to Reach Dres - Mariner Deep Space Mission Dres

Following a fairing separation failure (which caused the loss of the rocket and its cargo) during the launch of a multi-million dollar probe that was slatted for a flyby of Dres, KASA management and MacFran Aerospace Industries both refused to comment until the investigation is further along. ''With another Mariner Deep Space probe already under construction, we should still be in good shape for another attempt soon'', said KASA in the only statement it has released since the incident. 

Debris was scattered over the Atlantic ocean as most of the debris survived whatever parts of the atmosphere they had to reenter. ''This is precisely why launches occur from where they do'', said Petra Kerbin of the Associated Space Press. 

Dres is the fifth planet in the Kerbol star system. It is located between Duna and Jool in a somewhat eccentric and inclined orbit. It is considered to be the largest non-planet like object in the Kerbol system. It is similar to Moho and Eeloo in that it has no atmosphere and no natural satellites. To date, no missions have ever reached or been sent (with MDS being the exception) to Dres and KASA scientists were hopping to remedy this with this mission. KASA has, on its Dres agenda, several other missions including another MDS flyby followed by a lander named Galileo, after the famed Galileo Galilee. 

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P.S.: KASA is happy to report that the second launch occurred without any issues and MDS is on its way to Dres

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Moho Mariner Near Space Missions - Visitin Moho

The Delta-II rocket launched on Dec 9th from KSC carrying with it the first of two planned Mariner Near Space (MNS) probe missions on their historic flybys of Moho. The closest planet to Kerbol has, as of yet, never been visited by any probes. 

The successful launch of the Delta-II rocket carrying the Moho Mariner Near Space M2 satellite following on the heals of Moho Mariner Near Space M1's launch just a day earlier. MNS M1 is targeting a flyby of the northern hemisphere of Moho whereas MNS M2 is targeting the souther hemisphere. With a slight exception to a few last minute additions of small science instruments to MNS M2, both probes are identical in design.

Both launches went off without a single glitch. Go Delta. Go Calvin. Go Mariner.

Photo courtesy: KASA, Lockeed Kerbin Aerospace and Defense
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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Asteroid Sample Kerbin Return Mission (ASKRM) - Test Flight

As part of its mandate to explore the Kerbol system, KASA's Asteroid Sample Kerbin Return Mission, or ASKRM, is designed to fly to near Kerbin asteroids as they journey near our little blue planet, rendez-vous with the asteroid, land on it, collect a sample and return it to Kerbin for analysis. The mission, though a challenging one, is believed to be of upmost scientific importance. Many scientists believe that asetroids hold a unique set of clues to understanding our universe and maybe, just maybe, even clues about our place in that universe. 

Over the weekend, KASA, in partnership with MacFran Aerospace Industries, were happy to report they had completed the first ever launch of the Hobbes 1 4-1 configuration testing out the return capabilities of the Asteroid Sample Kerbin Return Mission (ASKRM) pod. Both the Hobbes 1 4-1 and the Sample Return Pod (SRP) performed as intended, the Calvin C2 Briz upper booster having already proven itself performed as expected.

The sample return pod sits at the center and top portion of the satellite and is the only component intended to return to Kerbin. It contains a core drill which will obtain the sample.

Picture: ASKRM Probe (photo courtesy: MacFran Aerospace Industries)
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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Duna Deployable Habitat Module (DDHM) - Design and Flight Tests

With the Duna launch window inching ever closer with ever passing day, scientists and engineers at KASA have been in a mad scramble to finalize all required designs in order to move on to the testing of the yet unproven components.

Thus far, all but one of the Orion Mission items have been tested, including the Orion Capsule and Service modules, Leo and Ares descent vehicles which will carry the Kerbonauts to the planet's surface, as well as the rockets which will carry the payloads to orbit (including the gigantic Hobbes VII lifter). So far two test flights have been executed, one around Kerbin and the other around Minmus, allowing engineers and crew to evaluate the crafts ability to perform over short hauls.

All items have proven themselves up for the tasks and challenges that lay ahead. Yet one item still remains: the deployable habitation module, or DDHM. But KASA engineers are hard at work doing just that. The DDHM's ability to survive reentry has been a partial success, as even though the module did survive the fierce heat of reentry, the solar panels were damaged during the jettison of the outer protective shell. Had that occurred while making its entry of Duna, the mission could have suffered a catastrophic ending. Static tests have also been done demonstrating the module's ability to deploy its landing airbags and inflatable modules. The only test that have not been done yet is actually seeing if living inside the DDHM for an extended period of time is feasible. But that is all about to change.
A six man (and women) crew are gearing up for an extended stay in the module on Kerbin. The plan is to airdrop the module from a C-177 and drop off the Kerbonauts and have them stay for several weeks, executing stress tests on the module and see the viability of the design.

Yet as testing began, crews ended up finding a major flaw rather unexpectedly as soon as they arrived on seen. It seems that the module is a little top heavy… Though the airdrop was a complete success, the module landed on a slightly angle hill, tipped over and suffered irreparable damage. Crews did what they could to salvage the mission but could not resist the obvious conclusion. Engineers and staff cleaned up and brought the broken module back to KSC for analysis. Subsequent design changes have already been proposed including relocating the airbags to increase the width of the module to improve its stability. Much to the dismay of the crew, KASA engineers and project administrators, this portion of the testing will have to be sideline as engineers redesign the module to ensure that such incidents do not occur ever again. ‘’It’s a good thing we decided to do this test’’, said Sigsy Kerman (one of the 6-man crew) in an interview with the Kerbin Times. ‘’Had this happened on Duna, we would have been in serious trouble’’.

So far, development costs along with testing have cost taxpayers well over 8.5 billion dollars. Some, including many in Kerbin's democratic party, are starting to seriously question the program stating ''there are more important issues on Kerbin than exploring a barren rust pile''. Critics rush in to say the program has been nothing but setbacks and test flights with nothing to show for it, but any proper minded Kerbal will see that through it all, we've developed technology that has already begun to trickle in to our daily Kerbin lives. Charles Frank Kerbin, KASA's chief administrator has remained adamant that the program must and will go on to inspire generations to come.

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Mun Return Mission (MRM) - Test Flight 1

For the first time KASA's modular-design philosophy has been put to the test. The very first test flight of the new MacFran
Moon rocket, aptly named 'Aquinas', after the 13th century philosopher, has just successfully completed its first test flight, the first of two scheduled test missions. Most components were already tested before in a series of prior missions. 

When KASA was given the task of designing project Orion, part of the mission objectives it set out for itself was to develop and implement modularity in its designs so that a new missions with different demands could easily be whipped up without having to start from the ground up. ''By building this way, we can design one component that could match the mission profile of more than
one type of mission'' says Charles Bolden Kerbal, KASA administrator. ''It helps to reduce costs and overrun expenditures as well as the time needed to design and test new unproven concepts''.

Where as previous test flights were ''all up'' tests of what KASA devised as the mission craft that will carry kerbals to and from Duna in its Orion Mission, this one was the first time KASA designed, from scratch, a new mission with a different destination other than Duna by picking and choosing off-the-shelf-already-developped tech to produce the new Mun Return Mission (MRM). Not all of the tech, however, is ''old''. Both the new LEM design as well as the upper booster stage responsible for the circularization and Trans-Munar Injection (LMI) burns  are new designs and this test flight served to prove that they work. But the rest, all interchangeable. Not bad.

This first ever flight of the new systems successfully tested several key items for the upcoming Mun return missions: the Hobbes VIII booster main stage (the largest KASA has ever produced and the first of its kind with a detachable engine compartment which allows all eight of the upgraded RS-25 engines to re-enter the atmosphere, be recovered, refurbished and be reused), the new Aquinas LEM and Orion
SM booster stage.

credit: MacFran Aerospace Industries, KASA

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Mun Return Mission - Test Flight 2

Champagne, toasts and celebrations were all the rage today at KSC as KASA successfully completed the second of its two planned test flights of the Munar Return Mission (MRM). For the first time in many years, kerbonauts were sent beyon Kerbin's sphere of influence and went where, previously, only 16 kerbals had been before: the dark side of the Mun. No, that's not a reference to Kink Floyd's famous album, but to the actual Munar dark side.

The first test flight verified a bunch of systems performances in LKO whereas this one was to test the Aquinas LEM's ability to undock from the Orion capsule, autonomously land and take off from the Mun and rendez-vous back with the orbiting CM. With the exception of a small computer glitch which caused the LM to refuse to respond to commands after it had return to the CM and was decoupled a second time to be sent crashing into the Mun's surface (which engineers and crew were easily able to solve by simply rebooting the LEM's onboard computers remotely), the mission was a complete success. The only true close call came when, quite to their surprise, engineers noticed that the CM's heat shield had suffered far more ablative loss than had been expected.

The three lucky kerbonauts, Doobdin Kerbal, Dumin Kerbal and Melbel Kerbal were elated at, not just the mission's success, but of kerbals returning to the Mun. ''It had been well over two decades since the last time any Kerbals had been sent to the Mun'', said Melbel. In fact, the last time Kerbals left Kerbin's sphere of influence was during an all ups test flight of the Duna mission which was sent in orbit around Minmus to see how the complex design would fair over extended mission time.

The mission marked the second successful flight of the Aquinas LEM and Orion SM Boost stage, and the third successful time the Hobbes VIII Ultra Heavy booster was used. The Hobbes VIII features a unique design where the engine mount containing all 8 upgraded RS-25 engines is jettisoned from its gigantic fuel tank allowing it to reenter Kerbin's atmosphere safely. Its integrated heat shield and radial parachutes allow it to survive the mach 6 plus speeds and land safely in the Atlantic where crews wait for its arrival. No word yet on when any of the three engine casings will be used again.''The plan is to use as few of these as possible, basically having maybe a a set of 3 or 4 of these that are continually used in rotation'', said Marcus Kerbal, lead propulsion engineer for the Hobbes VIII at MacFran Aerospace.


No plans to actually land on the Mun have yet been announced, but with growing pressure from Congress to get kerbonauts to Duna soon, it is hard to tell just what KASA will choose to focus on next.

Photo courtesy: KASA


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Duna MultiSpectral Satellite - Duna Biomes

The Keuropean Space Agency (KSA) successfully launched the Duna MultiSpectral Scanner today aboard the Ariane 5 rocket, with a Calvin T Briz upper stage on its way to Duna to scan the red planet's surface in order to establish a biome map. The map will be key in helping KASA scientists determine suitable landing sites for both upcoming manned and unmanned missions. KASA has at least five scheduled and funded unmanned missions which will see a host of different landers touching down on the planet's surface, as well as several kerbaled missions, though the final number is up to any one's guess. The biome map will serve as an important tool for targeting specific locations of interest in both cases. ''It's really important to know as much as we can about the planet's surface from composition to landscape to topography if we're to make the most of these missions'' said Carl Kerbal, head of KASA's robotic exploration hub, JPL. The satellite was produced in partnership with Kaltech's Space Exploration department and KASA. Ariane 5 was provided by KSA.

The only mishap occurred when the Ariane main stage booster failed to de-orbit. ''The booster was equipped with thrusters which, once the third staging had occurred should have slowed the booster down enough to cause it to eventually de-orbit''. The Duna Multispectral Scanner is scheduled to arrive at the red planet in 305 days time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Resources at Duna - Duna RSSO

Ridding atop of a Calvin 1.3 and Hobbes 4 rocket, KASA successfully launched the Duna RSSO satellite headed towards the red planet. The launch proceeded without a hitch and KASA engineers report that all is well with the RSSO.

The satellite is set to reach Duna in about 305 days time where, once there, it will fire its onboard engines and set itself up for a polar orbit. Once in orbit, it will scan Duna's surface for resources. Combining its data with the Duna Resource Scanner and Biome Scanner satellites already on-route to the red planet, the information gathered will be combined to help scientists and engineers determine suitable landing sites for upcoming kerballed and unkerballed missions.
 
The satellite is equipped with a pair of narrow-band scanners, the M335 and M4435, both developed in partnership with Kaltech and Stranton universities. The scanners will allow scientists to scan the planet's surface for items like water, ore and minerals. Also onboard is a planetary survey camera developed by a joint partnership betweem Kanon, KESA (the Keuropean Space Agency) and KASA's Karshall Space Center. Using the PSC, scientists will scan the planet's surface for items like gypsum, hydrates, metallic ore and rare minerals. 

Acting KASA administrator, Robert L. K. Kerbal said ''with all three satellites in orbit scanning the surface, we'll be in really great shape to figure out what would be the most interesting places to send our probes and kerbonauts''. 

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Rendez-vous with Moho - Moho Mariner Near Space Mission 3

Launching atop a Soyuz rocket, Moho MNS mission 3 was successfully sent on its way for a Moho flyby rendez-vous. Initially intended to ride on board a Delta-II rocket, which was used for both previous Moho MNS missions, a last minute change was made when KASA experienced several issues with the Lockeed Kerbin supplied booster. After several setbacks, Moho chief planetary scientist and mission leader, along with a few KASA engineers, called up Kroscosmos to see if a Soyuz booster could be made readily available for the mission. There was. ''The R7 booster is cheap to produce, simple in design and thus easy to get your hands on'', said Martin Kerbal, Moho mission specialist at KASA. ''We called up Kroscosmos, told them about our situation, looked at our budget to see if we had enough, and voilà, fast forward a little and we're sitting on the launchpad again, ready to try for another shot.'' The launch went without a hitch and all systems appear to be nominal aboard the small space probe. ''We have one more maneuver to perform to adjust our trajectory, which will happen in a few weeks. If all goes according to plan, we should still have about 400 delta-V remaining onboard'', said Martin.

The flyby, the closest to be attempted yet, will carry the probe across the planet's equator at about a 45 degree angle. The probe will traverse from the south pole, up to the equator and up to the north pole. ''This is going to be a fast one, faster than the other two missions currently on their way. That's what you get when you launch late in your launch window.'', said Martin. 

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Sending Supplies - Station Bound

Station supplies gettin' low? Time to resupply! A Cygnus resupply mission is now on its way bound for the Orbital Akademy Space Station having been successfully launched aboard a Soyuz rocket earkier today. The Cygnus is carrying food, water and a host of other basic necessities. The mission brings with it much needed supplies as an earlier resupply mission failed during launch when communications were lost after the upper stage separated from the Hobbes 2 booster.

Though not carrying as large an amount of supplies as the intended Station Resupply Consumables that should have been, the Cygnus is carrying enough to allow the current crew to continue its mission for another several weeks, as the station has been running on reduced crew for several weeks now. Crew rotation is scheduled to occur in the not too distant future. No word yet on whether or not the total crew number will remain the same or increase. 

The only mishap that occurred was when the Soyuz upper stage failed to correctly detach from the Cygnus. After the Cygnus reached its intended orbit, it performed a 180 degree maneuver, at which point the booster was to separate and then perform a deorbit burn. By throttling the Cygnus engines at low power values, engineers were able to separate the booster from the cargo craft. Now that booster is lost in orbit. What's causing some concern to Kroscosmos engineers and KASA engineers is that the booster is in the same orbital plane as the station, albeit at a slightly higher altitude then what the station orbits at. Though the rogue booster is not any immediate threat, nor should it be in the near future, KASA will have to keep a close eye one it in the future. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sights set on Soaring High - Dream Katcher

As part of its KFAA certification, Kierra Nevada's Dream Katcher successfully demonstrated its ability to perform a post-reentry water ditch landing.

Part of the certification program demands that a craft demonstrate its ability to handle any emergency contingency that may occur during the most critical parts of its mission (such as an emergency reentry that could see the craft reenter without a runway in sight) particularly when civilians are involved. ''The tests are demanding, but we're quite pleased with how they're progressing'', said Jenson Kerbal, chief Dream Katcher engineer at Kierra Nevada. ''Dream Katcher is showing great promise. It really is turning into a dream come true.''

Though primarily a test to evaluate a water ditch scenario, the flight also allowed engineers to further evaluate the crafts behaviour during high speed reentry. ''So far, this was the highest and fastest test we've conducted, so we were eager to see just how well she would handle the higher speed and loading. Overall, we were quite pleased''. All previous test flights had been either suborbital in nature or just pure flying tryouts to evaluate the DK's flight behaviour that would be encountered in its final landing approach at the KSC. ''Overall, in all portions of its return trajectory that have been tested so far, its been above expectations. There were some significant growing pains in the initial design and testing phases, but that's to be expected in a project like this'', said Jenson. ''But now, we're all feeling really optimistic. Its a wonderful flying machine and performed better than we expected it would during this test flight.''

Next on the certification program list of ''to-dos'', the DK still has to perform an actual succesful orbital flight, reentry and landing before Kierra Nevada can even hope of getting KFAA approval for crewed flight. ''As far as government certification goes, KFAA approval is needed if we're going to fly civilians on the Dream Katcher. But as far as KASA or any other government space agency crew are concerned, all we need is KASA approval, and they're not quite as picky as civilian agencies go''. Kierra Nevada also has to test the OMACS module (or Obital Maneuvering And Cargo System), which is basically just a strapped on external luggage compartment, but success of those tests will not have any bearing on civilian flight certification. ''Regardless, that module is not intended to reenter with the DK. Its designed to be ditched just prior to reentering and burn up, so we dont need any flight validation tests on it. We just have to make sure that it can handle a launch''.  

Photo courtesy: Kierra Nevada, KASA

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Star Gazing from the Mun - Munar Surface Deep Space Observatory (Watterson Observatory)

Big news for Mun fans as KASA was officially granted an increase in budget for the realization of a proposed Munar space station and Munar surface observatory. After years of lobbying and competing for funding against other proposed KASA projects, the Munar Space Station and the Munar Base Deep Space Observatory (MBDSO), named the Watterson Observatory after the famous writer, just might see the light of day after all.

Although a proposal was officially accepted by Kongress for both the station and observatory after plans were presented in full detail, Kongress made it clear to KASA that, for now, only the observatory was receiving the necessary funds. The Munar orbital station is still seen as an unnecessary expense of limited scientific purpose. Coming in at an estimated cost of 3.2 billion and 4.5 billion respectively, Kongress agreed to an increase in KASA’s budget for deep space exploration by 8.7 billion spread over the next 7 years, which should take care of any cost overruns should they occur.

Under the new administration, KASA was given a strict mandate to explore all of the Kerbol system and get kerbals to Duna within the next decade. Many had been proposing a Munar base to serve as a testing grounds for such future missions. However, due to costs estimates exceeding allowable margins, plans to use the Munar surface as training grounds were scrapped. Rather, the logic has it that the building of the observatory on the Munar surface would serve as sufficient training for future Duna missions. ‘’The construction of the observatory will give us valuable lessons in how and what to do for such tasks’’, said California Kerbal, led engineer for the Munar observatory.

Two designs were proposed for the observatory, an autonomous version that would be controlled from Kerbin, and one where a crew would be stationed at the observatory to both operate it and perform preliminary analysis directly from the Mun. But the added development and operational costs were a quick one-two knockout punch and Kongress was quick to dismiss it in favor of the autonomous design. Crewed missions could easily be sent to the surface for any necessary servicing, should it be required. The observatory would be located on the ‘’dark side’’ of the Mun (the side we never see from Kerbin). Its solar cells would allow it to recharge its batteries while being exposed to Kerbol (which is also a completely inopportune time to gaze at anything with Kerbol blasting you with sunlight) and then use that stored energy, while being shrouded by the Mun, to observe distant planets, stars and galaxies.

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Talking to Watterson - MBDSO Comm Sats

KESA's Ariane 5 rocket blasted off yesterday delivering a pair of short range communication satellites on route for the Mun. The KMDA made satellites are a part of the Munar Base Deep Space Observatory and were the first step in establishing the project. The pair of satellites will orbit the Mun in an equatorial orbit spaced 180 degrees from one another ensuring near constant coverage for the Munar observatory. Both satellites will maintain constant communication with the already orbiting Mun Comm Sat which, to this day, has been KASA's sole means of communications with all Munar satellites. For now, the plan is to utilize only this pair of satellites in order to ensure communication with what will be an autonomously controlled observatory, even though momentary loss of contact will occur every now and then as the satellites loose their line of sight with the observatory. KASA has stated, however, that should budgets allow, following the completion of the observatory, and that it be deemed a worthwhile expenditure, there could be a second launch of either one or two more such satellites which would ensure constant uninterrupted communications to be possible. Each satellite came at a cost of only 12.5 million each.  

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Robot Duo to the Rescue - the Kanadarm2 and Dextre

Say hello to KASA's newest space toys: the Kanadarm2 and Dextre (short for 15 DOF Dextrous Autonomous Robotic Manipulator). Supplied to KASA by the KSA (Kanadian Space Agency) under contract by the manufacturing firm KMDA, KASA hopes that the robotic duo will provide it with what was yet an incomparable capacity to assemble, disassemble and repair orbiting equipment.

With plans to potentially build an orbital science facility around the Mun, KASA wanted to find a way to better manipulate cargo and components while in orbit. Previous stations (such as the Orbital Akademy Space Station) were assemble via autonomous drones moving the components to their respective locations. But there was always a level of risk involved that KASA no longer wants to take. With sights firmly set on the Mun and Duna, KASA simply cannot afford any unnecessary risks that could jeopardize mission and crew. 

The robotic duo is designed to work in tandem with the main component being the Kanadarm2. Dextre is intended to be a dextrous extension to the Kanadarm2 that can be docked and undocked when ever its services are needed, or its task completed. 

KASA successfully completed, what is now considered a hallmark mission, the servicing of the Hubble Deep Space Telescope using the Shuttle's Kanadarm, the predecessor to the Kanadarm2, not too long ago. That mission marked the first time the Shuttle's robotic manipulator figured as the central piece to a mission's success. KSA feels confident, as does its manufacturer KMDA, as well as KASA that this system will usher in new age of on orbit servicing capabilities.

P.S.: Dextre V2 screenshots at end of post

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Dextre V2 - Improved design, mobility and capacity. Now with 18 DoF!

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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Prepping for Robotic Assistance - Sending Hardware Supplies to the OASS

Another successful launch, docking, delivery of goods and destructive reentry of the Cygnus resupply mission CRM 2 occurred in the past week. The mission delivered the necessary equipment needed to prep the station for the upcoming installation of the Kanadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the proof of concept validation trials set to begin within the next month. Onboard were several truss segments along with the necessary fastners which will be mounted at various points on the station prior to the Shuttle's arrival. The truss segments in question are what the Kanadarm2 and Dextre will use to attach and hold on to the station, along them to move about the station. One the goods had been delivered, the Cygnus module was disconnected and de-orbited sending it to a fiery end.

Along with the actual Kanadarm2 and Dextre, Atlantis will also be carrying additional components needed to finalize the installation of the robotic duo. Tests are scheduled to begin soon after installation and preliminary tests have been conducted. KASA wanted to perform these tests on the OASS since it allowed them to validate the robotic capacity while in LKO. The plan, if all goes well, is to use a second set of KA2/Dextre robotic manipulators and send them to a munar orbit,  where they will be used to assemble the orbital munar station still in the works. No word yet on when that program is scheduled to takeoff. KASA had received a confirmed increase in budget in order to allow the construction of the Watterson Munar Observatory, but plans for the station had (up to recently) been put on hold. But with more lunar plans discussions occuring, KASA has decided to push and go ahead with the station after all, provided testings of the KA2/Dextre go well. 

The Kanadarm2 and Dextre combo, courtesy of the Kanadian Space Agency, and manufactured under contract for an amount of 500 million dollar amount, once mounted on the OASS will remain there where it will be able to perform repairs and upgrades to the station.

Photo courtesy: Kroscosmos / KASA

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Edited by Calvin_Maclure
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