PUCK Aerospace: An RP-1 Adventure (late1960: more aerospace records and polar satellite)

[Spikemaster]

ok

thanks
New page!

 

Edited April 10 by Spikemaster

[Aelfhe1m]

Excerpt from Pathé News Monday 24^th March 1958

“Kit Carson of Puck Aerospace was in an uncharacteristically sombre mood today as he addressed members of the press at their operations centre in Kourou, French Guiana. Today was the first attempted launch of their new larger rocket that had been shown to select members of the press over the weekend. Unfortunately, as Mr Carson reported, a number of technical problems with the engines resulted in the rocket not quite having enough performance to place its one-ton satellite into Earth orbit.

“While everything looked nominal immediately following launch with all six of the powerful new rocket engines on the first stage of the massive 130 ton rocket lighting successfully and carrying the vehicle skyward, problems were first noticed a mere two minutes later, when telemetry from one of the side booster engines began indicating a reduction in performance. While concerning, Mr Carson stated that engineers had been confident that the rocket still had enough thrust to still reach some sort of orbit.

“However, the rocket’s fate was sealed a mere three and a half minutes later when one of the second stage engines began reporting lower than expected thrust. The combination of failures resulted in the rocket failing to reach orbital velocity and the satellite was only able to transmit a tiny fraction of the planned scientific observations before falling back into the atmosphere and burning up less than 24 minutes after launch.

“Despite the setback, Mr Carson remained cautiously optimistic, emphasising that such issues were only to be expected when dealing with such complex and experimental systems (a common refrain from previous Puck Aerospace launch failures). He pointed out that their engineers were already pouring over the data that had been returned by the flight monitoring systems and that this new information would be put to use in modifying the engines where necessary before the next launch attempt.

“With a certain degree of wry humour, Mr Carson invoked the legendary tale of Robert the Bruce and the spider. ‘You only truly fail,’ he said ‘when you stop trying. Just as the spider fell many times while trying to spin its web but never gave up. We too will try, try, try again and eventually we will succeed. I have confidence in the abilities of our engineers and scientists to resolve these problems and deliver the full potential of our Xanthos rocket. I believe that this rocket holds a lot of promise for the future and we must not let our initial teething issues from taking a deep bite of the fruit of success.’”

Excerpt from Pathé News Friday 22^nd August 1958

“It has been a troubling couple of months at Puck Aerospace’s headquarters in Kourou, French Guiana. Reports of budgetary problems that led to the laying off of a large number of their researchers and technicians in favour of hiring additional engineers have been downplayed by company spokesperson Mrs McKenzie-Poitier. She stated that claims of the company facing bankruptcy were highly exaggerated and instead emphasized that this was expected to only be a temporary hiatus in their research and development endeavours and that most of the dismissed staff are likely to be rehired within a year or two as the company's finances improve.

“Mrs McKenzie-Poitier was speaking to the press alongside Chief Administrator Mr Vincent Glasgow and Flight Operations Manager Mt Kit Carson, in a conference following the launch today of their second Xanthos rocket. While emphasising that the rocket had successfully delivered its satellite payload into orbit of the Earth, Mr Carson admitted that an early performance loss on one of the boosters had prevented it from reaching its full target altitude. He was careful to stress that only the one engine had shown any problems this time and that while the satellite was in a lower orbit than had been desired, it would still be able to return a significant portion of the expected scientific data planned for the mission.

“He further pointed out that the fact that the satellite had reached a stable orbit despite the early partial loss of one engine, only went to demonstrate the potential capability of the Xanthos rocket once it is performing to its full capability.”

Excerpt from Pathé News report Thursday 1^st January 1959

“Addressing staff and guests at the Puck Aerospace Hogmanay party in Kourou, French Guiana yesterday, owner Peadar Kincaid joked about how it was only fitting that they end the horrors of their past year with a bang, as he pressed the button to start the evening’s fireworks display. He spoke candidly of mistakes made by himself and other senior management in their attempts to rush the Xanthos rockets into production and admitted that several corners had been cut in the testing of the rockets and their new engines that were rather glaring blunders in hindsight.

“While admitting to their problems and the lack of any fully successful launches during the prior year, he was keen to stress that it hadn’t all been bad news and that they had learned a lot even from the worst of the failures. Mr Kincaid spoke of the next Xanthos rocket, even now being prepped for launch and of a fourth rocket just beginning construction. He highlighted his continuing belief in the capabilities and proficiency of their staff and contractors and his firm belief that they would overcome their current woes and forge forward together into a brighter future.”

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Gameplay notes and screenshots:

Spoiler

Early 1958: Lot of fiddling about in KSC management – hiring engineers, cancelling the build of the 3^rd light satellite (bad idea – never should have started it). Designing a 400kg polar satellite, margins are very narrow with current launcher – might not be a great idea [Future note: never launched].

23 Mar 58: 1^st Xanthos ready to launch. I’m very nervous about this – 8 engines give Test Flight a lot of chances to ruin this launch… First stage engines light successfully and we have lift off. Full burn and clean separation of boosters. T+1:59 performance loss on one engine. MechJeb is predicting failure to reach designated orbit. 2^nd stage lit and separated OK, but predicting 500 m/s shortfall in ∆V. T+5:34 loss of thrust in one engine. 575 m/s predicted shortfall. Final “orbit” -503.6 km x 224.8 km. Probe transmitted 1.5 units of science before burning up at T+23:35.

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22 Aug 58: 2^nd Xanthos launched. First stage ignition OK. T+0:28 performance loss on one booster. Deficit isn’t too bad, might be recoverable. A minute later and predicted deficit climbing – I was probably over-optimistic earlier. Clean fairing separation at 50km. No failures on core stage engines. 2^nd stage lit and separated cleanly. Predicted deficit is 148 m/s. Reached an orbit, but only 200 x 975. Well short of the contract’s required 200-900 x 1500+. Still, I should get some science from it at least.

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1 Jan 1959: Fireworks image from this page: https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/nostalgia/gallery/nostalgic-pictures-show-north-wales-10333317

'Puck's' end-of-year comments are an echo of some of my thoughts of what I could have done better during the 1958 time period. Putting the LR89 and LR105 engines onto lighter launchers that could have picked up some Test Flight data while the Xanthos was being built might have prevented the initial launch failure (or at least reduced the odds of it happening) and would have been an overall better idea instead of trying to build another Yeti launcher and then aborting it part way at the cost of all the man hours that had already been spent assembling it. I also panicked a bit after the first flight failure and trying to rush the construction of the second rocket before the programme deadline, which was unsuccessful anyway.

Original AI image generation:

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Images of Moira tended to be quite varied in their generation ranging from glamour to utterly unflattering (small selection of the other 29 images generated):

A little too casual for a news report of the period - they tended to be much more posed.

I like the expression on this last image, but the positioning of the microphone is awful.

 

[Aelfhe1m]

Excerpt from Pathé News Wednesday 14^th January 1959

“Despite the optimistic tone set at their New Year’s celebrations just two weeks ago, Puck Aerospace’s run of bad luck does not look to be abating any time soon. Mr Vincent Glasgow tried to put on a brave face while announcing another major launch attempt, and another round of failures, but the strain was obvious to everyone watching.

“While the previous flight of the Xanthos rocket could, perhaps, be classified as a qualified success, there was no question that today’s launch was nothing short of dismal. The initial stages of the flight seemed promising, with lift-off and the separation of the side boosters and payload fairings all proceeding as planned. Unfortunately, this early success failed to carry through to the remainder of the flight, starting a little more than two minutes after launch, when one of the four engines on the core rocket shut down early. According to flight engineer Monty Scott, this would not have been too serious, since the remaining engines could have taken up the slack at that stage, but alas a second engine partially surrendered to the strain just a minute later. Putting even more stress on the two remaining fully functioning engines.

“The rocket’s woes did not stop there, however, and when the guidance systems attempted to start the upper stage engines, only one of the two responded. With a grossly off centre thrust, the rocket began cartwheeling out of control before breaking up and exploding. A sad end to an eventful four-and-a-half-minute flight.

“While the recent series of setbacks have slightly soured Puck Aerospace’s reputation with their government backers, the management team continue to express their confidence in their engineering staff’s ability to overcome their current difficulties and put their space programme back on track.”

Excerpt from Pathé News Thursday 28^th May 1959

“The Fates smiled upon Puck Aerospace today as their fourth launch of a Xanthos rocket reportedly proceeded without a hitch. Initial reports indicate that the one-ton science satellite was placed into almost exactly the intended orbit. The version of the satellite launched today, differed from the three previous failed attempts in that in addition to the magnetic and radiation sensors of the prior design, it also carried a small pressurised habitat containing several plants and insects. The satellite will send regular updates to the scientists here at Kourou, as they monitor the long term affects of an extended stay in space has on these organisms. The team hope to collect a couple of weeks of observations before the batteries run down and the life support systems for the small habitat fail.”

Excerpt from Pathé News Thursday 4^th June 1959

“Buoyed by the recent successful launch of their first heavy science satellite and the detailed information received from it, Puck Aerospace today announced that they were moving forward with a planned programme of launches, starting next year, to expand studies of the Earth from space and to partner with several companies in the use of satellites for commercial purposes – such as long-range communication and aiding in navigation at sea.

“As part of this programme, they revealed that they have entered into closer ties with various research bodies in both Europe and America to develop the technologies necessary for this endeavour. This includes the appointment of Dr James Van Allen of the University of Iowa as chairman of their scientific advisory board and closer ties with the recently formed United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

“News from both France, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom, indicates that their governments are also heading towards establishing their own official agencies to promote the peaceful exploration of space.”

Excerpt from Pathé News Monday 20^th July 1959

“A new aircraft took flight over Kourou, French Guiana today, as Puck Aerospace test pilot Mdme Arlette Bertrand took the Hawker Siddeley high altitude research aeroplane Condor for its first proving flight. Mdme Bertrand reached and held a lofty 22,000 metres of altitude as she flew south-east along the South American coastline. While hardly the first time that planes have reached such heights, what sets the Condor apart from its predecessors is that it relies on long thin wings to provide lift at much slower speeds, making it a much more stable platform for observing the ground below it and the thin atmosphere around it at such altitudes.

“Its slower speed and much more sedate consumption of its onboard fuel supply allow it to remain at such altitudes much longer than the faster but short ranged jets that preceded it, collecting data from a wider swathe of ground on each flight. While Mdme Bertrand’s initial flight lasted less than an hour, future flights of several hours’ duration are planned.

“Flying such an extreme aircraft is not without its challenges, and one of those came with the landing. Given the fragile nature of the extremely light airframe and a lack of a clear view beneath her, Mdme Bertrand relied on information radioed from her friend and teammate Mlle Marguerite Laurent for guidance during the final stages of the flight. Mlle Laurent was in the passenger seat of an Aston Martin DB touring car as it paced the aircraft on its approach to the runway, calling out details about its speed and height above the ground, to guide Mdme Bertrand down to a safe landing."

Excerpt from Pathé News Wednesday 21^st October 1959

“Following the leaking of rumours over the weekend from their factory in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, Hawker Siddeley have confirmed that work has begun on constructing the latest in their series of experimental rocket planes for Puck Aerospace. Advances in cockpit technology and the use of newer more powerful engines are expected to give the plane never before seen performance, taking it higher and faster than previous generations of test aircraft, with the goal of launching a pilot up to the very edges of space before the end of next year.”

Excerpt from Pathé News Friday 1^st January 1960

“In what is quickly becoming tradition, Mr Peadar Kincaid once again addressed workers and invited guests at the Puck Aerospace Hogmanay party and fireworks display in Kourou, French Guiana yesterday evening.

“Looking back over the ups and downs of the prior year, he spoke at length about their many achievements over the past twelve months, while acknowledging the rocky start to the year with the failed Xanthos rocket launch. But the good far outweighed the bad, he insisted, with their continuing near perfect record of sounding rocket launches and the successes of their high-altitude aircraft research being a much better indicator of their organisation’s abilities than the single failure of their heavy satellite launch at the beginning of the year. Instead, he praised the engineers, scientists, administrators and others who had put in such sterling work over the year.”

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Gameplay notes and screenshots:

Spoiler

14 Jan 59: 3^rd Xanthos launched. 1^st stage ignition OK. Boosters OK. Fairings OK. Core engine #2: shutdown T+2:20. Deficit 36 m/s – it might be OK? T+3:27 Performance loss on engine #1 – deficit 364 m/s!! Ignition failure on one of the two 2^nd stage engines – spins out of control. Another failure!

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28 May 59: 4^th Xanthos launched. Everything went right. I nearly fainted in shock (joke). MechJeb launched the satellite almost exactly into the orbit I requested: 220 x 1550 km. Pe just 100m low. Still more than good enough for the contract and a day later both 1^st Science Satellite and 1^st Biological Satellite were completed (bit of a cheese doing both with the same vehicle, but the contracts (currently) allow it and after 3 failures I was very eager to finish this programme (9 months late)

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4 Jun 59: Appointed James van Allen as Chief Scientist. Started Early Earth Observation and Early Commercial Applications.

20 Jul 59: Flight of the Condor. Arlette Bertrand. Took off and climbed rapidly to 12,000m then shallowed out to climb to 22,000km. Held for required 5 min, then cut throttle, turned and descended for return to Kourou. The design of the Condor is obviously heavily influenced by the American Lockhead U-2 spy plane (first flown 1955). Obvious differences include the use of tricycle landing gear rather than the U-2’s bicycle gear and the radically different shape of the cockpit. The use of a chase car to assist during landing is part of normal U-2 operations (https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/er-2-with-chase-vehicle-pursuit/)

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Condor craft file is available on KerbalX.

21 Oct 59: Mission Control Upgrade complete. Start Administration upgrade and queue Tracking Station upgrade (0%). Designed, tested and started building X-15 analogue.

31 Dec 59: Fictional end-of-year party just to pad out announcements. I didn’t actually fly the sounding rocket launches mentioned, but a real-life space agency would have continued to fly multiple launches per year – doing so in game would have been tedious for the small amount of additional science that could have been gained, but it adds a little flavour to the press release. Looking back, I think choosing the light version of Early Orbital programme might have been a better choice. It would have allowed me to keep up a faster rate of rocket launches, using more tested technology rather than jumping to a heavy, expensive, untested and slow to build launcher. It might also have prevented me hitting the current choke point I'm experiencing on science gathering.

 

[Aelfhe1m]

Pathé News Monday 1^st February 1960

“A surprise announcement from Puck Aerospace Chief Executive Peadar Kincaid rocked journalists at a press conference at their Kourou, French Guiana headquarters today. Riding high on the successes of their fledgling space programme, the ambitious entrepreneurs have signed an agreement with a consortium of European aerospace companies and governments to begin developing some daring new rockets. Not content with merely sending artificial satellites into orbit around the Earth, they plan to launch probes to explore our nearest neighbour, The Moon!

“While Mr Kincaid admitted that they did not have the technology to achieve even the simplest of the new project’s goals as yet, he stated that several lines of research are planned and he was confident that they would soon show real progress and have close up photos of The Moon from space within the next 18 months to two years.

“Opinion amongst various experts interviewed following the announcement was mixed, with several expressing the belief that while both the Soviets and the American space programmes have demonstrated recently that reaching the Moon is just barely within mankind’s abilities now, they feel that the smaller independent Puck Aerospace will not have the same capability for many more years yet.”

Pathé News Wednesday 10^th February 1960

“Flying high on her earlier success last summer, Mdme Arlette Bertrand of Puck Aerospace once more climbed into the skies above South America as she took her Condor research aircraft on a survey flight 25 kilometres above the French Guianan and Brazilian coastlines during an 80-minute mission today.”

Pathé News Wednesday 2^nd March 1960

“Test pilot Mdme Arlette Bertrand was once again breaking records as she took Puck Aerospace’s Kestrel experimental jet aeroplane up for a short flight from Kourou, French Guiana today. Climbing almost to the edge of the stratosphere, Mdme Bertrand held her plane at more than 18,000 metres while making a three-minute speed run at a peak speed of 721 ms^-1 (1,612 mph). Once again pushing her plane to its very limits. After returning safely to Kourou airport, she expressed the opinion that while she could perhaps squeeze a little more speed out of the current engines, they were operating right at the limit of their heat tolerance and pushing them much further risked explosive failures.”

Pathé News Monday 21^st March 1960

“Hawker Siddeley’s new experimental rocketplane was rolled out for its first test flight from Puck Aerospace’s facilities in Kourou, French Guiana today. Test pilot Mlle Marguerite Laurent was aiming to take the plane more than 85 km into the sky but after releasing from the carrier aircraft several hundred kilometres off the Guianan coast, she reported some minor control issues during the initial ascent and briefly shut down her engines while she regained control. With the aircraft once again in the correct orientation she attempted to start the engines once more, but only one responded. Despite a couple more attempts, the starboard engine refused to light again, and Mlle Laurent was forced to hold the throttle on the remaining engine at a severely reduced setting to prevent the off-centre thrust pushing her aircraft out of control.

“Despite these difficulties however, she did succeed in setting new altitude and speed records with a peak altitude of 81,023 metres (50.3 miles) and a top speed on ascent of 1,524 ms^-1 (3,409 mph). A second attempt will be scheduled for the end of next month.”

Pathé News Friday 29^th April 1960

“There were no engine problems for Puck Aerospace’s XSP-01 rocketplane today when it carried test pilot Mlle Marguerite Laurent to new record-breaking heights and speeds, reaching a top speed of 1,571ms^-1 (3,514 mph) while climbing 90,986 metres (56½ miles) into the sky above the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of French Guiana today.”

Pathé News Friday 10^th June 1960

“In their first major rocket launch of the year, Puck Aerospace showed off their new Lycan rocket. While smaller than the massive Xanthos launcher, it utilises much of the same technology although the first stage used only a single one of the booster engines, the lighter upper stage should have been capable of placing a small scientific probe into an orbit crossing above the Earth’s poles in order to take low resolution video photographs of the whole planet’s surface over the next several months.

“Unfortunately, there was another failure of the booster engine, with an abrupt drop in performance just 90 seconds into the flight dooming the mission to failure. The probe managed to only transmit a small number of images before falling back into the atmosphere and being destroyed just 29 minutes after launch. Another attempt will be scheduled for later in the year.”

Pathé News Monday 20^th June 1960

“Puck Aerospace test pilot Mdme Arlette Bertrand set a major milestone in manned spaceflight today, by taking their experimental rocket plane up above the 100 km mark for the very first time. According to a new ruling by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), this qualifies her as the world’s first astronaut. Mdme Bertrand only had a few minutes to appreciate these lofty heights before plummeting back into the atmosphere and gliding her plane to a safe landing on the runway at Kourou, French Guiana.”

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Gameplay notes and screenshots

Spoiler

31 Jan 60: Start Early Lunar Probes programme (fast) [6 slots full]. While it is possible to do fly-by and impactor missions with current tech, I’ll be holding off until I’ve got slightly better engines so that I can do orbit and transfer missions rather than direct ascent like the earliest Soviet and US missions.

Simulation of flying Condor to 25km to confirm it can do the next optional stratospheric contract (should have done this earlier and gotten the second flight in before end of 59). Turn Tracking station construction to 100% (needed for Moon missions communications).

10 Feb 60: Condor soars to 25km piloted by Arlette. Flight time 1hr 20. Testing shows ceiling is ~28.5km without a redesign - so I’ll skip the 30km contract as not worth the effort.

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Oddly, I didn't take any screenshots during the high altitude run. Only take-off and landing.

2 Mar 60: High Supersonic (Optional) 700-725 m/s for 3 min. Arlette Bertrand takes Kestrel for a spin. Completed contract and collected final 1.5 points of Mach 2 Flight experiment. Simulation confirmed that even at 18.5km, Kestrel’s engines would overheat before reaching 800m/s, so next contract in that series is out of reach without tech upgrade or new plane with larger more heat tolerant engines. I will skip the rest of the optional jet contracts in this programme and just focus on finishing the rocketplane contracts.

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21 Mar 60: XSP-01 Marguerite contract: X-Planes 85 km. Overpitched slightly on ascent so after I cut the engines briefly to recover, one engine failed to re-ignite. The off centre thrust from the remaining working engine needed to be kept throttled down to prevent excessive torque, this led to underperformance on the ascent to peak altitude. Max alt. 81023 m, max speed 1524 m/s. So not a complete failure, I got additional altitude and speed records for a small consolation.

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Craft file on KerbalX

29 Apr 60: XSP-01 85 km attempt 2 by Marguerite. Alt: 90986 m, speed: 1571 m/s. 1.4 High Altitude science.

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10 Jun 60: Lycan I XG-3 Hypatia. Polar satellite launch - for science. T+1:33 performance loss 1^st stage. Failed to reach orbit. 2.8 science transmitted before exploded on re-entry. T+28:00.

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Craft file on KerbalX

20 Jun 60: Karman Line crewed by Marguerite. Alt: 108319m, Speed: 1802 m/s. After re-entry and dropping to thicker atmosphere re-lit engines to burn off excess fuel. 1.7 from High Altitude science. Next contract in series is 110km – shouldn’t be a problem.

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5 Jul 60: Tweak engine position and orientation in XSP-01 for better alignment with dry centre of mass to reduce over pitching as fuel burns during ascent. Testing in simulation showed that XSP would also (just) handle the hypersonic contract (2000 m/s+ for 2 min below 40km) so another couple of flights could finish X-Planes programme.

Craft file on KerbalX

 

Edited April 19 by Aelfhe1m
Added links to new craft files

[Aelfhe1m]

Pathé News Thursday 4^th August 1960

“Test pilot Marguerite Laurent took Puck Aerospace’s Hawker Siddeley Experimental Space Plane for another spin in the skies above Kourou, French Guiana today. But rather than soaring up to the edges of space, the engineers wanted to stress test the plane’s performance at hypersonic speeds lower in the atmosphere. To this end, Mlle Laurent was asked to climb to just below 40,000 metres and then push the plane as fast as it would safely go.

“While her suborbital flight last month had reached speeds of just over 2000 ms^-1 while falling back into the atmosphere, this would be the first time anyone had attempted to fly for an extended period at such high speed and the control room was packed with engineers carefully monitoring the telemetry signals being sent back from sensors packed throughout the aircraft. Despite throttling the engines back to their minimum setting after levelling off at her cruising height and reaching the 2000 ms^-1 target speed, the thin air at that altitude did little to impede the progress of the rocket plane and its speed continued to creep upwards as time ticked by. Nervously eyeing some of the temperature readouts from the nose and belly of the craft, the engineers finally asked her to cut the engines completely as the speed reached 2,176 ms^-1 and allow the craft to slow a little before opening the throttle again. After three tense minutes, the engineers declared the test complete, and Mlle Laurent slowed and descended before gliding back to the runway for a textbook perfect landing.

“Today’s flight achieved the last of the initially planned goals for the space plane testing programme, but after consultation between Puck Aerospace, Hawker Siddeley and their government backers, it has been decided to continue testing the plane to see just how far the pilots can push its speed and altitude performance.”

Pathé News Tuesday 23^rd August 1960

“Puck Aerospace test pilot Madame Arlette Bertrand continued her friendly competition with fellow pilot Mademoiselle Marguerite Laurent, by breaking her altitude record from two months ago. During her fourteen-minute flight today, Mdme Bertrand climbed to an amazing 111,606 metres above the Atlantic Ocean off the French Guianan coast. After falling back almost to the surface, Mdme Bertrand lit her rocket engines for a second time and pulled her plane into another climb, although she only had enough fuel to reach a little over 55 kilometres altitude on this additional ascent. With no fuel left in the tanks, all that remained was for her to glide the plane back towards the runway at Kourou for yet another safe touchdown and collect her astronaut wings as the second ever person to fly into space.”

Pathé News Monday 12^th September 1960

“After having her altitude record broken by her teammate, Madame Arlette Bertrand, last month, Mademoiselle Marguerite Laurent was determined to prove herself during her flight in the Hawker Siddeley experimental rocket plane from Puck Aerospace’s facilities in Kourou, French Guiana, today. Pushing the plane higher than ever before, Mlle Laurent soared to a staggering 120,854 metres above the Atlantic.

“There was a moment of high drama on the descent however, as the extreme accelerations experienced while pulling out of her dive, caused Mlle Laurent to black out very briefly. Fortunately, she recovered almost immediately and was able to regain control of her plane and bring it safely back to the runway. While no harm came as a result of today’s scare, management has decided to call a halt to high altitude testing for the time being.”

Pathé News Thursday 20^th October 1960

“After an unsuccessful launch attempt in June, Puck Aerospace were once again trying to send a satellite into a polar orbit around the Earth today. This time, the launch of the Lycan rocket proceeded without a hitch and the small solar powered satellite was placed in a 192 by 3,768-kilometre orbit that would repeatedly take it almost over the north and south poles during its two-hour trip around the Earth. The satellite’s onboard television camera will be transmitting images of most of the Earth’s surface over the next several months as it circles around and around the planet.”

Pathé News Saturday 31^st December 1960

“In his now traditional Hogmanay speech to staff and guests at Puck Aerospace’s headquarters in Kourou, French Guiana, Mr Peadar Kincaid praised the staff on achieving several notable milestones during the past year. While also calling attention to the behind the scenes work of the many researchers, engineers and other staff of the company, he highlighted the awarding of astronaut wings to both test pilots, Mademoiselle Marguerite Laurent and Madame Arlette Bertrand, by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) for their rocket plane flights to more than 100 kilometres above the Earth. He finished his speech by toasting all present and stating that he was looking forward to seeing what they could achieve in the new year.”

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Gameplay notes and screenshots

Spoiler

4 Aug 60: XSP-01 Marguerite. X-Planes hypersonic. Max speed 2176m/s at 39500 m. This completes all necessary X-Planes contracts, but I want to more suborbital contracts (+30 rep, +143 conf) to get a bit more science before I close it out and collect the huge reputation boost (would be +606.6 at present).

Spoiler

23 Aug 60: X-planes suborbital (110km), Arlette. Peak alt: 111,606 m. After falling from apoapsis, re-lit engines to climb above 40km for little extra science. 2.1 High altitude science. One more flight should finish HA science (completion bonus has dropped to 599.8 but suborbital 120km contract is worth another +30, +9 [+143 conf] so should be worth delaying a few more weeks)

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12 Sep 60: X-Planes suborbital (120km), Marguerite. 120,854m, Marguerite blacked out briefly due to high g-forces when pulling out of descent. HA flight science completed.

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20 Oct 60: Lycan I XG-3 Hypatia to polar orbit for science. Orbit 192 x 3768 @ 85.0°.

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AI generated images

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