CJSA- RP-0 Mission Report

[Bev7787]

Commonwealth Joint Space Agency

So, this is my new RP-0/RSS mission report series based out of two launch sites- one fictional and one real. Next post will go up when I feel like uploading and editing images.

[Bev7787]

1956: Coronation 1

April 24th 1956 began just like any other day at the Woomera Testing Ground, except the sleek new rocket sitting on the pad. This was the CJSA's first orbital attempt.

Coronation 1 lifting off.

The booster was powered by 6 Jabiru SRBs on the bottom in addition to two V-405 engines. The upper stage was an AJ-10, followed by another Jabiru as third stage and a ring of small 'Fishermans' SRBs as fourth stage.

Coronation 1 hit Max-Q at approx. 5km ASL.

Following a successful booster sep, the booster continued to orbit.

With the fairings and first stage long gone, this is what the payload looks like, along with the third and fourth stages.

The final stage inserted the probe into an 151 x 5000 km orbit.

Edited August 27, 2016 by Bev7787
Autocorrect, nice try ;)

[Bev7787]

1959a: Aurora L Flight 1

In the 3 years since the last orbital launch of the CJSA, the agency had been moving to a new site in East Malaysia due to its equatorial location. So, it wasn't until 1959 till the CJSA was finally ready for another launch.

The first flight of the Aurora L rocket on May 12th 1959 was the first rocket to lift off from LC-1 Semporna.

Launching into the rain that is often found in the tropics, the rocket's RD-108 first stage powers it through the clouds.

Eventually, the first stage burned out, and the Swift I upper stage took over.

Unfortunately, the rocket didn't have enough delta-v to place the payload into a polar orbit- but experiments were done before the rocket burned up over Antarctica.

After the launch, which boosted morale, the agency was given a yearly grant of $500 million a year.

But, that wasn't the only launch of 1959...

Edited August 4, 2016 by Bev7787

[Bev7787]

1959-1960: Coronation 2

While the new launch site in Semporna was being built, the world was not standing still. Both the United States and the Soviet Union had gotten probes into orbit. Worse, both had already made flybys of the moon. The CJSA's response was Coronation 2- A backup Coronation 1 bus on a bigger rocket.

Although ready by August 1959, an issue with the US-sourced Agena delayed the launch until January 1960.

Lift-off occurred on January 23rd 1960.

0th Stage separation

1st Stage Separation. Unlike older rockets, Coronation 2 utilised hot-staging, firing the upper stage engine before the lower stage was expended- saving weight in the form of ullage rockets.

Coronation 2 arrived in a 159km x 179km orbit on its Agena stage.

One orbit later, the TLI burn was initiated.

Separation of the probe in Lunar SOI. The Agena would eventually make a course correction using its RCS to make the depleted stage a lunar impactor.

While the Agena impacted the moon...

Coronation 2 gathered science data and photographs from the far side of the moon, before being flung out into a heliocentric orbit. The success of Coronation 2 greatly boosted morale in the program, and soon, more launches were planned for the moon, and for the upcoming Project Sirius.

 

Edited August 27, 2016 by Bev7787

[Bev7787]

So, it turned out I hadn't installed CTT. I installed it today and broke my launchers, so this will be on hold while I get my save sorted out.

[Bev7787]

February-October 1960: Setting the Pace

Following the successful launch of Coronation 2 and its subsequent flyby of the moon, it passed into heliocentric orbit in February 1960.

Coronation 2 transmitted some data back to Earth, before being commanded to shut down. But more was to come. In late March 1960, the upgraded Aurora L was finally unveiled for its first launch. The payload was a new experimental imaging satellite provided by the governments of the three CJSA nations.Launching into a polar orbit, the trajectory was designed to dump the first stage in the sea south of Indonesia.

The Swift II upper stage performed flawlessly, and the payload was successfully placed into LEO.

In April, LC-2 had its first launch carrying PSS-1 (Privately Sponsored Satellite 1), the first satellite placed into orbit by a private organisation. The Aurora L2 (Aurora L v2 with 2 Castor I motors) launching the satellite had been transported to the pad earlier that month.

Launch was flawless and soon, the satellite ignited its OMS to place PSS-1 in its intended orbit.

June 1960 brought a familiar rocket with a new payload. Perched on top of the Hawk B booster (An upgraded version of the booster which launched Coronation 2) was Sirius 1, the first complete capsule for Project Sirius.

The second stage was the Swift IB booster, a derivative of the original Swift I made for the original Aurora L. The engines, having been shared with both the Swift series and the Agena series in the United States, performed as expected.

Release from the third stage.

Following successful tests of manoeuvrability and its OMS, the capsule reentered the atmosphere. Unfortunately, not only was the capsule severely off course, but the parachute deployed too early, resulting in loss of payload when the capsule struck the ground in the Congo at 130 m/s.

Due to that, a mission was hurriedly prepared from an Aurora L that was being built for PSS-2 (Now PSS-3), managing a launch in August. This mission would fulfil a contract to recover an object from Earth orbit and to test the parachute again, as things didn't go quite so well last time.

The mission was successful and the staff got back to work finishing PSS-3.

The delayed PSS-3 was finally launched in October, reaching its 530km polar orbit successfully an hour after launch.

With these missions now completed, only a few missions remain on the manifest to be launched in 1960-Early 1961. One of them was Sirius 2...

Edited November 6, 2016 by Bev7787
Finished the post

[Bev7787]

November 1960: Sirius 2

Following the partial success of Sirius 1 was Sirius 2, the first manned mission to space. With the Soviets rumoured to have already begun a manned program, and knowing the progress of the US' Mercury program, the CJSA decided to act and show the world the technological genius of the Commonwealth.

November 28, 1960: Pilot Alan Martinez is sealed into the Sirius capsule at LC-1.

Lift-off occurred at 10:20 a.m, local time. Thousands had gathered at the launch site to see the soon-to-be astronaut launch.

Booster seperation was nominal, the rocket having been extensively tested on the ground and during the launch of Sirius 1.

Less than ten minutes after launch, Sirius 2 was released from the third stage of the Hawk B booster. Alan Martinez has become the first man in space.

The picture above proved the Earth was round, and was published in major newspapers around the world throughout the week following the flight.

Two and a half orbits later, Pilot Martinez initiated the deorbit burn over Africa using Sirius' OMS.

A crewman on a ship in the Celebes Sea east of Indonesia captured the reentry trail of Sirius 2.

Three hours and twelve minutes after lift off, Sirius 2 splashed down in the Pacific Ocean just north of the island of Papua. Alan Martinez, hitherto unknown, has just become one of the Western world's celebrities.

Edited November 6, 2016 by Bev7787
I have the good grammar

[Vanamonde]

Closed by OP's request.