The KATO Space Race [Pic-Hvy] - (ended, see reboot thread RftS:ERA)

[NathanKell]

Mond 2

Munar Impactor (Try, Try Again)

Mission:

Mond 2

Mission Control:

Reichsraumfahrtamt (Imperial Spaceflight Office)

Launch Vehicle:

Langschiff-A(M) [Armbrust-Repulsor IIM]

Objective:

Munar impact probe

Description:

Launch the Mond 2 impactor probe on collision course with Mun.

Outcome:

Success

Details: LV used is the Langschiff-A(M) launch vehicle with a stretched upper stage. Mond 2 will launch on Munar intercept; Repulsor IIM will fire both engines from separation, then on burnout Mond 2 will engage its own final stage to complete injection into Munar transfer orbit. Mond 2 spacecraft features corrected guidance module, and payload fairing has more heat shielding.

Background: RRA Engineers worked overnight shifts to try to determine what went wrong on Mond 1. After much investigation, an engineer named Irene Kredt had an insight: she took some spare guidance parts, placed them behind a fairing wall, and turned a blowtorch on the fairing. As she expected, the guidance unit experienced similar delay in firing to that experienced by Mond 1. Management overlooked the damage to the expensive guidance components in their jubilation at finally finding the source of the problem--and a chance to correct it. While the payload fairings of the Langschiff-A were rated for normal launches, Mond 1 was not a normal launch: both B7 engines in the Repulsor IIM fired from separation, and so Mond 1 developed a much higher speed much lower in the atmosphere. Air friction heating made it through the aeroshell and damaged the guidance unit. (It was no wonder Kredt was the one to discover the problem; she and her husband, also an engineer, had long been concerned with overheating, and had developed the cooling system for rocket engines used to this day.)

RRA engineers hastily added to the shielding of the fairings, added further redundancy to the guidance and control system, and launched Mond 2. This time they would take even fewer chances: the flight plan decided upon would have the E1 engine ignite only a few dozen seconds after separation from the Repulsor IIM.

Results:

Complete success: Mond 2 was launched into a direct munar intercept and, before impact, transmitted the first up-close photographs of the Mun. Mond 2 was the first object to reach another world and did much to restore Kerman confidence after the twin disasters of Mond 1 and being beaten by the Kritish.

Notable Flight Events

T-00:00:10 Mond 2 on pad. Note its identical appearance to Mond 1; the extra shielding on the payload fairing is internal.

T+00:00:12 Pitch program begins.

T+00:01:10 Armbrust-derived booster is staged away.

Note atmospheric friction: Kredt was right!

T+00:02:23 MECO, Repulsor IIM fuel exhausted.

T+00:02:38 Mond 2 passes Karman line. Fairings and Repulsor IIM staged away.

T+00:3:20 Mond 2 is properly aligned and E1 ignites successfully!

T+00:3:30 E1 cutoff; Mond 2 aligns communications suite with Kerbin and sails on to the Mun.

T+03:12:32 Mond 2 enters the Mun's "Sphere of Influence," where the gravitational force of the Mun exceeds that of all other bodies (i.e. Kerbin). Still on course for impact.

T+03:56:50 100km up. The photographs are wowing scientists across Kerbin.

T+03:58:39 Last signal received. Mond 2 impacts the Munar surface at just under 1 km/s.

[NathanKell]

Well, that was...quite the break. Oh hi, forums!

I took advantage of the downtime to finally finish my tech-levels modding of every engine, and making some custom textures for StretchyTanks and Procedural Fairings. Expect much prettier (and more realistic) rockets and probes!

Examples, coming soon:

Meton 3 on Granite launch vehicle

Meton 3 and its kick stage falling towards the moon (apparently KSA had better luck than JPL/NASA with this spacecraft design!)

Mond 3 on its Langschiff-A3 launcher. You might say the RRA are something of pioneers in the field of probes.

[NathanKell]

Missile Development

Part 2: ICBMs

Prometheus, the Light-Bringer

The Kerbicans had begun the development of an inter-continental ballistic missile during the Second World War. The Prometheus Project was created well before development of the SSM-4 Granite began; indeed, Prometheus was authorized by the same executive order which created the Pandora Project. Work on Prometheus slowed after the end of the war, but it never entirely stopped. Its early origins showed: Prometheus was a truly massive single-stage missile, designed for a very heavy payload--the first blutonium devices weighed nearly four tons each. Numerous challenges had to be overcome before even a prototype could be created, including: how to control it, how to design an engine powerful enough, how to make sure the warhead section does not burn up on reentry. By the end of the war, two of those questions had been answered: the massive (3.5 ton) LR18 engine delivered over half a meganewton of force in its first (non-explosive) static firing, and researchers at KalTech had discovered the blunt body theory: blunt nosecones have detached shockwaves at high speed which transfer less heat to the reentry body than a pointed one. Guidance was a challenge much harder to overcome.

As time passed, however, the task grew easier. Advances in electronics miniaturization and the mathematics of missile guidance meant that challenge too, could be surmounted, and the mass of blutonium warheads shrunk. With that shrinkage, some guidance components could be placed in the RV along with radio receivers; these, combined with small cold-gas thrusters for course-correction, allowed a quite reasonable accuracy. After numerous failures, on the pad and in the sky, in various subscale test vehicles and in full-size demonstrators, Prometheus systems were finally getting reliable enough for an all-up test. By the time the Granite entered production and service--and was used to test a more advanced RV--Prometheus was ready for launch tests.

Shown here is LACROSSE 3, the first successful test of the SSM-3 Prometheus.

By this point the Prometheus was designed for a warhead massing 2.75t, leading to much better performance. Early models could barely be classed as intercontinental.

Ignition! This time no problems detected in the LR18.

Bus separation, approx 55km. Bus includes RV in the nose and guidance unit.

Bus fires cold-gas thrusters for course correction. Booster can be seen tumbling in the background.

Reentry. RV with thermal protection can be seen white-hot in the nose.

Kerman ICBM Projects

The Kermans took things more in sequence, only beginning ICBM work when the Wallarmbrust was finished. However, work remained desultory as at that time the Kermans did not think ICBMs were truly practical: their early blutonium warheads were even heavier than the Kerbicans', and they had not yet discovered the blunt body theory: even if one could loft a blutonium warhead halfway around the planet, the thinking went, it would just burn up on reentry. All that changed with reports of successes in the Prometheus Project. While the Kerman Empire and the Union of Kerbican States remained the best of friends, it simply wouldn't do for the UKS to be able to attack with no viable response from the Luftstreitkräfte. Emergency proposals were solicited, and three were selected. First and simplest was a proposal to add Repulsor II-derived boosters to the Wallarmbrust, yielding the Wallarmbrust-B. This would give it much longer range, and combined with advances in thermal protection even its existing RV shape might serve. Second, an old project from Pfalz-Albatross Flugzeugwerke for a much larger ballistic missile was given the go-ahead under the name Balliste. Over three times as massive as the Wallarmbrust, it promised similar performance to the Prometheus. Like the Prometheus, it was a single-stage missile; it featured a massive C3 (uprated C2) engine. Despite its size, it was the most conservative solution, eschewing any kind of staging, unproven at the time. Finally, the Wallarmbrust design team (most former members of the Verein für Raumschiffahrt) proposed a much more radical solution: place a shortened Wallarmbrust main stage (the W-Kurz) on top of a much larger booster. This offered far greater performance--indeed, more than was necessary!--but staging, before the extensive Armbrust-Repulsor tests, was unproven and dangerous. To make it look more viable, it was presented as a small, logical step forward from the basic Wallarmbrust, rather than a new missile, and termed Wallarmbrust-C. To minimize time and difficulty, it would use a three-chamber version of the C2 with thrust-vanes for control, and other Wallarmbrust-derived hardware. Desperate for solutions, this too was approved. In addition to these projects, the Air Ministry asked researchers at the Kaiser Friedrich Institute to examine high-speed friction heating and ways to combat it. Their first RV design would be employed on the Balliste and Wallarmbrust-C.

Wallarmbrust-B. Note four Repulsor II-derived boosters. Missile could never be flown on a maximum-range trajectory since the thermal protection system of the reentry vehicle would fail.

Balliste. Over three times as massive as the Wallarmbrust. Note new RV design (narrower part at top), finless design (verniers are used).

Balliste: the Kerman Empire's first operational ICBM.

Note the massive thrust from the uprated C3 engine and eight B7-derived verniers for attitude control.

Wallarmbrust-C. Note enormous stabilizing fins on lower stage, and far higher performance despite less than two thirds the mass of the Balliste. In fact, the performance is far higher than necessary--what other payload could those old VfR hands have in mind?

Note the thrust vanes used to direct the engine exhaust rather than a more advanced (and unreliable) gimballing system.

Stage separation. Using data from Armbrust-Repulsor tests, it finally works.

RV separation. Both the Wallarmbrust-C and the Balliste share the same RV.

The Kritish Get In the Game

The Kritish, despite their many suitable locations for bombers--and, like the other Great Powers, despite any real hostility betwixt them all--finally embarked on a missile program of their own. Coming late to the game--developing an IRBM at the same time the others were developing ICBMs--meant they could avoid some early pitfalls, and the missile produced was far more capable than the Kerbican Granite or the Kerman Wallarmbrust. Given the Rainbow Code designation BLACK EQUITE by the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Space, who jointly developed it, it featured a single high-thrust gimballing engine, the Decurion. While it had slightly worse sea-level performance than the C2, its closest competitor, it had much better vacuum performance, and this, combined with its higher thrust than the C2, led to faster, longer-ranged missile. In addition, due to ongoing research supporting MERCURY, the Kritish independently developed the blunt body theory, and applied it to the BLACK EQUITE reentry vehicle. This RV featured an early version of the ablative coating soon to be used in most RVs, civil and military. However, the state of the blutonium warhead program was not similarly advanced, and so the reentry vehicle needed to be far larger than a Kerbican one of similar yield.

BLACK EQUITE intermediate range ballistic missile. Note higher performance, but also much larger RV.

The reentry vehicle in its element.

Edited October 14, 2013 by NathanKell
Fixed to use my imgur account

[NathanKell]

Project Aquarius Part 1

Little Koe

Wikinger I signaled the dawn of the Space Age, but no one doubted that an even bigger prize was yet to be claimed--and was just around the corner. Who would be the first to place a Kerbal in orbit? Each Power had a number of programs. The most advanced, at the time of Paul Twiss's historic flight which made him the first Kerbal in space, was the KSA-led Aquarius Program. While the KU Air Force had its own orbital program relying on technology and architecture similar to the Kritish, the KSA took a different route: wary of the problem of reentry heat, and well-knowing the blunt body theory discovered only a scant few years prior, they decided on a ballistic reentry with a sphere-cone reentry capsule. After AURORA put a Kerbal in space, funding and speed only increased. By executive order all other crewed-space projects were combined under the leadership of KSA. The KU Navy, also relying on ballistic capsules derived from high-altitude balloon experiments, accepted this with only the slightest demurral, but the KUAF project was kept open by the sleight-of-hand of claiming it was merely high-speed/high-altitude research, and the need to keep pace with the Kritish.

Aquarius was a far-sighted project. KSA studied numerous approaches before settling on ballistic reentry, but the fact that the capsule would not be more than minimally controllable during reentry meant little for its time in space. Aquarius would not be mere "spam in a can"--instead, the designers set out to create nothing less than the first spacecraft. The pilot would have manual-override control at all times. Small cold-gas thrusters would control spacecraft orientation, while a restartable hypergolic engine and fuel system derived from the Explorer program OMS would allow handle orbital insertion, maneuvers, and deorbiting. This was touted as the final level of safety for Aquarius: since the OMS would handle orbital insertion, if the system failed entirely, no deorbit burn would be necessary to get the capsule out of orbit. No astronaut would be stranded in space.

So ambitious was the original Aquarius project that it quickly ran into problems. First, it hit feature creep: soon KSA was well over the original 1.5 ton estimate, and was heading up fast. KSA designers wanted two crew for safety, the ability to exit the capsule in space, enough delta V for orbital maneuvers, a fuel cell and large quantity of life support systems for week-long stays in orbit...the list went on. With increased weight came increased launcher requirements, and that brought the second problem to the fore. The KUAF-run Prometheus Project was still behind schedule and behind on performance. While the first successful test of an all-up Prometheus was a year past, the missile was still not ready for service. KSA had originally hoped to launch their capsule on top of the massive Prometheus missile, but even if KUAF and Consolidated could work out the kinks and get repeatable successes, there was little chance the system could be crew-rated. At burnout the LR18 gave tanks-dry Prometheus with even two tons on top well over 5.5Gs of acceleration, and the missile suffered massive POGO problems--acceptable, barely, for a warhead, but unacceptable for a crewed capsule.

A drastic solution was needed, someone to cut the Gordian knot, and cut someone did. By executive order Project Aquarius was split into three separate projects. Project Aquarius would continue with a mandate to create a simple, one-Kerbal capsule with just enough delta V for orbital insertion and deinsertion. Project Argo would be tasked with development of the original, fully capable Aquarius spacecraft, designed to be 75% system compatible with Aquarius. Finally, Project Herakles would develop a crew-rated booster capable of lofting either Aquarius or Argo into orbit. Given the successes of the Koddard launcher and high-altitude, high-speed ignition of its LR32 engine, staging was deemed safe enough for use, and with staging came much lower peak acceleration at burnout.

By the point of Aquarius’s division, KSA had decided on a naming convention for its projects: while existing equipment and projects would in the main retain their prior names (like Granite and Aquarius), forthcoming equipment and projects would be given Ancient Kellenic names. As Ancient Kellas was known as the font of Western science (and democracy) this seemed highly appropriate. The Prometheus Project might also have been an inspiration, taking as its name that of a Kellenic deity, Prometheus the light-bringer.

Aquarius-Little Koe

Mission:

ALK-6

Mission Control:

Kerbican Space Agency

Crew:

Kris the Chimpanzee

Launch Vehicle:

Little Koe

Objective:

Escape system test of all-up Aquarius capsule at Max Q

Description:

Launch Aquarius capsule on Little Koe booster, activate abort system at Max Q, and recover capsule safely offshore.

Outcome:

Success

Details: LV used is the Little Koe solid booster, a cluster of two pairs of solid rocket motors, one pair 30s burn time, one pair 60s burn time. Flight path can be changed by varying ignition time (if any) of SRM pairs. For ALK-6, all four will ignite at launch, putting maximum aerodynamic stress on capsule. LES will trigger at Max Q (which will closely coincide with max acceleration in this launch configuration) to demonstrate capability in toughest circumstances. Aquarius capsule will then separate from LES and descend on ballistic path, slowed by parachutes, to splash down offshore.

Background: The Aquarius spacecraft would have to be tested before it could be used, and testing is expensive. While large solid fuel rockets were nowhere near safe enough, let alone burned cleanly and regularly enough, for crewed use, nor were they as mass-efficient as liquid-fueled rockets, they had one main advantage: they were cheap. KSA's Max Koget, who had taken the lead at in spacecraft design for Project Aquarius, sat down with his team to rough together a cheap booster to test various Aquarius systems: capsule aerodynamic stability in powered flight, during separation, and during freefall; the TPS designed to protect the capsule from reentry; and the Launch Escape System (which used a similar clustered-solid approach, also designed by Koget). Given its squat, cute shape, looking like a toy rocket, it was natural that the team nicknamed it Little Koe. The name stuck.

Project Aquarius needed a number of Aquarius-Little Koe launches to test aerodynamics and safety. The first flights, after a booster-alone test, would use a boilerplate mass/shape simulator of the Aquarius capsule, and test its aerodynamic properties and its thermal protection and recovery systems. Later flights would be devoted to testing the LES, and finally tests of the actual capsule in flight and under abort conditions. ALK-6 was the final Little Koe test: it would test the real Aquarius capsule with an abort under the harshest possible aerodynamic conditions. To verify crew survivability, a chimpanzee, Kris, donated by the KUN, would be strapped to the pilot's acceleration couch.

Aquarius-Little Koe Program to date:

QTF-1: Launcher qualification test flight. LK launcher performs admirably. Success.

ALK-1: Booster test. Launch of boilerplate capsule on LK booster, firing only first two SRMs. Success, apokerb 12km.

ALK-2A: Booster test. Launch of boilerplate capsule on LK booster, firing pairs of SRMs in sequence. Failure, second pair ignites early, booster overstresses and breaks up. Apokerb 13km.

ALK-2B: As ALK-2A with strengthened booster internals. Success. Apokerb 57km, capsule recovered.

ALK-3: Launch escape test. Boilerplate capsule and real LES. All four SRM ignite at launch, LES fired at Max Q. Success, apokerb 16km, capsule recovered.

ALK-4: Capsule reentry test. First test of real Aquarius capsule. Launched without LES. LK launched as ALK-2B. Success, apokerb 74km, capsule recovered.

ALK-5A: Launch escape test. First test with real Aquarius capsule and LES. Failure, short triggers on-pad activation of LES. Once ignited LES works flawlessly, apokerb 900m, capsule recovered.

ALK-5B: Launch escape test. LK launched as in ALK-2B, LES fires just before second stage burnout. Success, apokerb 68km, capsule recovered.

Notable Flight Events for Aquarius-Little Koe 6:

T-01:00:00 Aquarius with Launch Escape System on Little Koe booster. Note four clustered solid rocket motors at base.

T+00:00:00 Liftoff! All four SRMs ignite to provide maximum possible dynamic pressure.

T+00:00:23 Test of LES at Max Q.

T+00:00:26 Capsule reorients and stages away LES. Smoke trail of Little Koe booster can be seen in background. Capsule rides up to 16km apokerb.

T+00:2:42 Drogue deploys at 7.5km.

T+00:03:59 Main deploys at 500m.

T+00:05:14 Splashdown!

Edited October 2, 2013 by NathanKell
Fixed pic links

[Captain_Party]

I haven't actually started manned launches yet. But his name will be called Twiss Kerman!

[NathanKell]

TOP SECRET

PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEFING - KUAF SPACE UPDATE

UPDATE ON SPECTRAL PROGRAM

TOP SECRET

MISSION:

SPECTRAL 14

CONTROL:

Kerbican Union Air Force

LAUNCH VEHICLE:

GRANITE-BACTRIA-A

OBJECTIVE:

All-up test of SPECTRAL system #8

DESCRIPTION:

Launch SPECTRAL satellite on BACTRIA-A bus/upper stage on GRANITE booster, test camera, return film bucket.

DETAILS:

In absence of restartable LR42 designed for BACTRIA program, BACTRIA bus will use LR32 modified for hypergolic fuel and ATTICA (ex-KODDARD) thrust controls as BACTRIA-A. With LR32 unrated for restart, hypergolic RCS will circularize SPECTRAL at desired orbit and plane, and deorbit film bucket. SPECTRAL will test photographic capabilities, deorbit, and release film bucket for air recovery off the Cape.

OUTCOME:

Film capsule successfully recovered

FLIGHT FOOTAGE:

SPECTRAL 14 ignition, 1100Z, CCAFS.

Stage separation; BACTRIA-A ignites successfully.

SPECTRAL 14 passes Karman line; fairing jettison. Burn continues.

MECO. Antennae extended.

SPECTRAL 14 extends solar wing and reorients for orbital insertion. Note dual cameras on spacecraft nadir (solar wing at zenith) and film reentry capsule at nose.

Insertion into orbit of 180x180 @ 85 degrees by RCS.

SPECTRAL 14 taking footage

Deorbit burn commences

Film bucket separation. BACTRIA-A bus will burn up in atmosphere.

SPECTRAL 14 film bucket during reentry. Note sphere-cone shape with heatshield, film capsule, parachute module.

Main chute deploys, SPECTRAL 14 ready for air pickup. KUAF C-119.

=======================

ADDENDUM: KERMAN CREWED SPACE EFFORTS

As of March, Kerman efforts appear to be in disarray. After early crewed-space efforts had focused on a capsule, Kritish suborbital flights gave the Luftstreitkräfte the upper hand and they now receive the lion's share of the funding. The "Swallow Project" (ML-1111) for a crewed spaceplane is advancing, but slowly: the pacing items appear to be the heat shielding and the large, throttleable hypergolic engines necessary for a spaceplane. An explosion two weeks ago has set the program back months. The RRA plan for a small ballistic capsule ("Leif") is at little more than the mockup stage.

While our concentration of effort on a single program--AQUARIUS--has produced notable results, and we appear on-track to beat the Kermans into space, we nonetheless must state that we cannot allow a "spaceplane gap." Given Kerman ingenuity it seems likely that, sooner rather than later, they will solve the remaining issues with the Swallow. Given that KSA has been most uncooperative, the KUAF desperately needs its own dynamic-soaring spaceplane program, and certain development options are available for the X-18 program...

"Swallow" spaceplane, front-right quarter. Note use of nose as shock cone for the intakes and the movable plates to change intake geometry. "Swallow" is a Messerschmitt and Lippisch design designated P.1111. Lippisch influence can be seen in the large delta wings and blended-wing-body design. Nozzles for the reaction control system can be seen in the wing roots.

Rear view of "Swallow." Note large combined exhaust pipe for dual Junjers Jumo 107 turbojets (mounted to the sides) and a central Kronach ramjet. Rocket propulsion appears to be from modified B7 engines converted for hypergolic use; we understand they are designated B12 and have over twice the thrust of the B7 and are optimized for vacuum use. Restart capability is planned, but as reported above the hypergolic fuel mixture is causing problems. Rear RCS nozzles and an extendable antenna can also be seen.

The RRA's "Leif" spacecraft with hypergolic orbital insertion stage. We conjecture that this is what the VfR people had up their sleeves when designing the Wallarmbrust-C, as we estimate the whole system fits perfectly atop the Wallarmbrust-C. Unlike our own AQUARIUS, the "Leif" capsule, its retro package, and its upper stage all sit inside a fairing at launch. The engines used for both the upper stage (2) and the retro package (4) appear to be derivates of the E1, with less thrust per nozzle but two nozzles per engine. Given the two stages, it appears that despite the use of hypergolic fuels the RRA does not plan to restart the engines. Finally, like our own AQUARIUS, a launch escape system is used, and the capsule is a similar sphere-cone blunt body.

[NathanKell]

And a bonus to my adoring fan(s?), after such a long absence: the proposed Aquarius-Prometheus config:

[NathanKell]

Arrow to the Stars

The Kritish Enter the Space Age

RED GLADIUS

As the successes to their east and west piled up--though none had yet beaten the Kritish feat of a Kerbal in space--the Kritish stepped up their booster programs. Finally, the program codenamed RED GLADIUS bore fruit. Based on the BLUE EQUITE intermediate range missile but considerably scaled up, the RED GLADIUS relied on Kritish ingenuity to make up for (temporary) technological deficiency. The Kritish had not yet had success with lighting rocket engines in near-vacuum conditions (notably the HARC lit its rockets while still in the atmosphere), and did not yet trust staging for that and other reasons; nor did they have as much access to Krodinan solid rocket technology as did the Kerbicans. Thus they came up with a unique "stage-and-a-half" design. As innovative as the single-wall pressure-stabilized tanks used on the Kerbican Prometheus, the stage-and-a-half design ensured that all three engines would be lit at launch. One minute into flight, the booster would be jettisoned; the two sustainers would continue to fire until MECO, over a minute and a half later. This greatly increased performance compared to a single-stage design and meant that total mass (and the thrust needed to lift it) were much less than the Prometheus, despite needing a larger reentry vehicle. The Red Gladius RV was a slightly-scaled up Blue Equite RV with a small orbital maneuvering system using hypergolic monopropellant. All told, Red Gladius massed half again what Blue Equite did, and launched with double the thrust. The booster was a derivate of the Blue Equite's Decurion engine, the Miles; the sustainers were brand new, advaned Tribunes with half the thrust but a full 315 seconds vacuum specific impulse. The missile suffered considerable teething troubles, but on the eighth flight (and third revision) it worked flawlessly. Launched from Woomera, the dummy RV splashed down twelve and a half minutes later, 1,250km downrange.

Mission:

IGNIS CAELI 8

Program:

IGNIS CAELI (Fire of Heaven)

Mission Control:

Royal Air Force

Administered by:

Ministry of Defence / Ministry of Space

Partners

: Royal Aircraft Establishment, Rocket Propulsion Establishment, Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Rolls Royce, de Havilland

Launch Vehicle:

Red Gladius Mk3 #4

Launch Site:

Woomera, Launch Area 3

Objective:

ICBM Development

Outcome:

Success

Notable Flight Events

T-00:02:00 Red Gladius Mk3 #4 being assembled before rollout to LA-3.

T+00:00:00 All engines green, umbilical disconnect. Liftoff!

T+00:00:19 Roll program ends, pitch program begins.

T+00:01:00 Boost engine dropped. Note remaining kerosene in the feed line lighting off; while no danger to the rocket, later Red Gladius boosters will not shut down boost engine until after feed lines are cut (to burn remaining fuel), and only then jettison it.

Sustainers operating perfectly.

T+00:02:41 MECO, fuel exhausted.

T+00:02:50 Booster staged away from support bus/reentry vehicle.

T+00:02:55 OMS test fire.

T+00:11:50 Peak reentry heat.

Splashdown at T+00:12:22, 1,251km downrange.

BLUE SAGITTA - Prosperabimus

Mission:

Prosperabimus

Program:

BLUE SAGITTA

Mission Control:

Ministry of Space (and GCHQ)

Partners

: Royal Aircraft Establishment, Rocket Propulsion Establishment, Oxford University, Rolls Royce, de Havilland

Launch Vehicle:

Blue Sagitta

Launch Site:

Woomera, Launch Area 6

Objective:

Signal Relay, Kerbin Science

Outcome:

Success

Description: Launch the Prosperabimus satellite into a 150x150 at 45 degree inclined orbit. Launch vehicle is Blue Sagitta, composed of Red Gladius-derived stage-and-a-half booster and HGMP-1 upper stage. Prosperabimus will act as signal relay and conduct kerbin science experiments once in space.

Background:

While development of RED GLADIUS was ongoing, its potential use as a satellite launcher was studied. A small second stage and satellite payload could easily fit within the massive fairing used to house the reentry vehicle for the missile, and its payload of approximately two tons would be enough for a small satellite and upper stage. Thus was born the BLUE SAGITTA program and launch vehicle. However, given the problems the Kritish had been having with vacuum-ignited upper stages, this upper stage would have to use hypergolic propellant, in particular the same hypergolic monopropellant used in the Red Gladius OMS. This stage was christened the HGMP-1 upper stage, and was built with a unique feature: three small solid motors would fire on payload separation to clear the stage from the payload's orbit. Unlike other programs of Kritain's space efforts, HGMP-1 did not receive a Rainbow Code, and in particular not a Latin-derived one as other space components did. With the Red Gladius booster proven in multiple tests, that stage of Blue Sagitta seemed quite reliable. Further, the thruster used in HGMP-1 was merely a scaled-up version of those used in the Red Gladius support bus, and so the MoS felt safe in testing Blue Sagitta in all-up configuration with an actual satellite aboard.

The satellite was built by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in cooperation with Oxford University for two roles: it would act as a space-born signal relay, and with various sensors perform kerbin science experiments. The project lead was fond of the works of the Kard and at first wanted to name it Prospero, after the magic it would do in space (and it being a perfectly good Latin verb); however, given the end of that play, the team prevailed upon him to change it to the first person plural future, Prosperabimus ("we shall prosper"). Prosperabimus had a large guidance ring, with a short truss placed atop it. Inside were batteries and RCS tanks. Atop it was a large, long-range antenna. On the sides of the truss were large solar panels and small RCS thrusters. Unlike the small, uncontrollable first satellites of the other powers, Prosperabimus was designed for a long life in orbit, with considerable propellant tankage. Beyond keeping it in a stable orbit, small maneuvers could even be conducted with the thrusters.

This last requirement, and indeed the large power-generation abilities of Prosperabimus, were related to its third, secret mission. It was later revealed, under the Thirty Year Rule, that GCHQ, the United Kingdom's signals intelligence agency, had also played a role in the satellite's design. Not only was it suited for signal relay, but also signal intercept and relay. The inclined orbit, which brought it over most of Kerbin's surface, was necessary not only for the kerbin science mission, but also the sigint mission, as were the solar panels and large suite of power-hungry electronics aboard. If successful, more such satellites would be launched.

Notable Flight Events (Boost phase events omitted unless different from Red Gladius flights)

T-00:02:00 Prosperabimus and HGMP-1 upper stage inside fairing, two hours prior to rollout at LA-6 at Woomera.

T+00:00:50 Boost engine separation. Note early separation time, as total payload for the booster is less than the RV and warhead. This is an improved booster where the boost engine fuel line is cut well before separation.

T+00:04:20 After MECO at 2:50 and fairing jettison at 4:15, HGMP-1 upper stage and Prosperabimus satellite reorient for orbital insertion. Red Gladius booster can be seen in the background at bottom left.

T+00:15:01 HGMP-1 burns for orbital insertion, 150x150km at 45 degrees.

T+00:15:19 Final separation: the small solid motors ignite, pushing away the HGMP-1 upper stage.

Prosperabimus in orbit.

[NathanKell]

So, figured I should start translating the Latin if it's obscure (hopefully Sagitta isn't obscure, especially given the post title?). Hence all the parentheticals. And, astropapi1, after all that it ain't Black Arrow (though it kinda looks like it)--more like an early Blue Streak with tiny upper stage, with Atlas stage-and-half setup.

[bs1110101]

Can you please post and/or pm me your custom textures for the tanks and fairings?

[Pipcard]

Creative use of the Modular Girder Adapter for the Propserabimus satellite.

[NathanKell]

bs1110101, check the respective threads. They're there now.

Pipcard, thanks! I decided I wouldn't try to clone either Ariel or Prospero for this one (unlike Pioneer and Ranger, which you'll see shortly). I figure Mulbin will get to them eventually.

And you know, your KASDA thread was quite an inspiration for this, so thanks for that too!

[NathanKell]

The Early Satellites

By the time the Kritish joined the space age, the Kerbicans and Kermans had put a number of satellites in orbit.

Kerman Satellites

Program:

Vör Programm

Mission Control:

Reichsraumfahrtamt (Imperial Spaceflight Office) / Reichsnachrichtendienst (Imperial Intelligence Agency)

Administered By:

RRA, RND, Reichsverteidigungamt (Ministry of Defense)

Launch Vehicle:

Langschiff-B

Launch Site:

Sternburg Raumhafen SR-4C, Deutsch-Ostafrika

Objective:

Signal Relay / SIGINT

Intended Orbit:

Kerbostationary Equatorial

Outcome:

Success

Background: The Kermans' first attempt at kerbostationary satellites, and the first use of Launch Complex 4 at the Sternburg spaceport, the Vör program, like the later Kritish Prosperabimus, served a dual function. They were signal relay satellites, designed to receive and retransmit radio signals from a fixed area on Kerbin. They were used to test KEO relay of civilian and military traffic, but could also be tasked by the RND to "listen in" and retransmit other traffic. For this purpose they were equipped with a cold-gas RCS/OMS for plane changes and dish attitude changes.

Vör satellite atop Langschiff-B/b launcher. Note small hypergolic upper stage atop Wallarmbrust booster. This is the "breit" version with a large fairing, and the upper stage inside the fairing.

Vör satellite in Kerbostationary Equatorial Orbit (2,868.8 x 2,868.75km at 0.1 degrees)

Mission:

Halo 1-4

Program:

Halo Programm

Mission Control:

Reichsraumfahrtamt (Imperial Spaceflight Office)

Administered By:

RRA, RVgA

Launch Vehicle:

Langschiff-C with custom orbital maneuvers bus

Launch Site:

Sternburg Raumhafen SR-6A, Deutsch-Ostafrika

Objective:

Signal Relay

Intended Orbit:

Medium Kerbin

Outcome:

Success

Background: The Halo satellites were the medium-orbit counterpart to the Vör satellites. They were designed as a relay constellation (a halo) 250km up. Not only would they relay signals ground-to-ground, but they could also obviate an expensive ground relay network for communication with other Kerman satellites. They were designed to be launched four at a time on a special bus, which would carry them to an orbit of 250 x 102km. It deployed one satellite each orbit, and the satellite then circularized at 250km. When all satellites were deployed, the bus fired its thrusters one more time to deorbit itself. The bus used the same E5R thrusters as the Langschiff-B's standard hypergolic upper stage; however, they were mounted outboard so as not to damage the satellites. Halo was the first launch of the Wallarmbrust-C repurposed for launch vehicle use as the Langschiff-C, and it was necessary given the large mass of four satellites and their bus.

Halo 1-4 in fairing atop Langschiff-C. Bus with tank, thrusters, antennae, and guidance ring can be seen at top.

Halo 3 in orbit with its omnidirectional antenna, two high gain antennae, and solar panels deployed.

Mission:

Struve 1

Program:

Struve Programm

Mission Control:

Reichsraumfahrtamt (Imperial Spaceflight Office)

Administered By:

RRA

Launch Vehicle:

Langschiff-B with no upper stage

Launch Site:

Sternburg Raumhafen SR-4B, Deutsch-Ostafrika

Objective:

Kerbodesy, kerbin science

Intended Orbit:

Low Kerbin, Polar

Outcome:

Success

Background: Named after the famous Struve family of astronomers, the first satellite to bear the name was related to the progenitor of that family: Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve. While that Struve was more known for his work on double stars, he also gave his name to an early effort in kerbodesy (the measurement of Kerbin), the Struve Kerbodetic Arc, a set of survey stations to accurately measure Kerbin's radius. Given that the chancellor was a great admirer of the radical democrat and proto-socialist Gustav von Struve (later Gustav Struve), that too must have had an affect on the RRA's naming process. Struve 1 carried highly sensitive equipment to measure Kerbin's gravitational field, as well as a radar system to determine the height of ground above sea level to compare with the gravity measurement. Later analysis of the data allowed scientists to also predict concentrations of various resources, given the change in density.

Struve 1 atop Langschiff-B launcher with no upper stage. Struve 1 used onboard RCS propellant to circularize.

Struve 1 in its 105x105km 86 degree polar orbit.

Kerbican Satellites

Mission:

Helios 1

Program:

Helios Program

Mission Control:

Kerbican Space Agency

Administered By:

KSA

Launch Vehicle:

Koddard III

Launch Site:

CSC LC-3, Union of Kerbican States

Objective:

Extra-Kerbin probe / solar observation

Intended Orbit:

Kerbolocentric

Outcome:

Success

Background: The Helios 1 probe was the first kerbal-made object intended for extra-Kerbin orbit (Mond 3 was the first to achieve escape velocity, but by then communication had ceased). After the failure of Meton 1 and 2, KSA decided it needed more information on the space at and beyond high Kerbin orbit. In particular, it appeared that radiation damage was the cause of the guidance failure on Meton 2. Additionally, scientists had been clamoring for more investigation of Kerbol, and the Koddard III launch vehicle, capable of placing a satellite in KEO, was also capable of placing a smaller satellite and small solid upper stage in LKO, whereupon the kick stage would fire, giving the satellite an escape trajectory. Helios 1 was another Explorer-derived satellite, this time featuring eight solar panels, double the batteries, and a small high-gain directional antenna. The sensor package was designed to detect radiation and, once free of Kerbin's interference (and before the satellite was out of communication range) to make observations of Kerbol.

Helios 1 and solid kick stage in fairing atop Koddard III LV. The kick stage is little more than a shortened K-II solid booster with vacuum-optimized nozzle, and as such quite reliable.

Kick stage firing to place Helios 1 on escape trajectory.

Kerbin recedes into the distance as Helios 1 begins the first half of its mission. Note dish pointed at Oracle II-1.

Mission:

NavSat 1B

Program:

NavSat Program

Mission Control:

Kerbican Space Agency

Administered By:

KSA / Kerbican Union Navy

Launch Vehicle:

Koddard IIb

Launch Site:

CSC LC-3, Union of Kerbican States

Objective:

Navigational satellite

Intended Orbit:

Low Kerbin, 45 degree inclination

Outcome:

Success

Background: The KU Navy had long sought improved means of navigation for their ships, sponsoring many projects over the years. With the dawn of the space age, satellites seemed an obvious means to derive navigational fixes. Already partnering with KSA on Project Aquarius, the Navy found it easy to request some KSA launch vehicles and KSA experience to help in developing their satellites. Given its potential to revolutionize civilian nautical navigation as well, the NavSat program found enthusiastic backing at KSA, and indeed throughout the administration. NavSat 1 was scheduled for launch on the first Koddard IIb. The Koddard IIb LV used the new Attica upper stage, derived from the improved K-Ib used on the Koddard III. Sadly that first launch failed, taking a NavSat (later named 1A) with it, but the followup launch, NavSat 1B, succeeded admirably, and the satellite was thereafter known as just NavSat 1. NavSat 1 was launched at a 45 degree inclination, to test the NavSat system; the KU Navy had plans to launch a constellation of eight such NavSats into polar orbits, to allow for whole-Kerbin coverage and spares.

NavSat 1B atop Koddard IIb LV. Note new Attica upper stage. The Attica upper stage is a refinement of the K-I upper stage, and nearly identical to the K-Ib, but renamed following KSA's naming guidelines.

NavSat 1 in 150x150km at 45 degree orbit.

Mission:

Telstar 1

Mission Control:

Kerbican Space Agency

Administered By:

KSA / Kerbican Telephone and Telegraph

Launch Vehicle:

Granite-Attica

Launch Site:

CSC LC-5, Union of Kerbican States

Objective:

Communications satellite

Intended Orbit:

Medium Kerbin

Outcome:

Success

Background: Telstar was designed as a testbed for commercial communications relay via satellite. Covered in solar panels to power the advanced electronics necessary for its store/forward mode of operation, Telstar 1 could handle four multiplexed telephone calls over its single transponder; unlike the earlier Oracle satellites the transponder allowed it to relay them in real time. It was designed to orbit three times per day, to provide considerable "hang time" over the UKS. At its 1068km orbit, necessary for that period, it could relay signals from the UKS to ground stations across both oceans--when above the horizon, of course. Telstar was designed in partnership with KT&T, who used it to relay telephone calls, and the public-(semi-)-private partnership was an attempt to see how space could be used for more than research.

Telstar 1 atop Granite-Attica LV. The Attica upper stage is a refinement of the K-I upper stage, and nearly identical to the K-Ib, but renamed following KSA's naming guidelines.

Telstar 1 in its 1068km orbit.

Edited October 16, 2013 by NathanKell
Fixed by error with Halo LV, changed heliocentric to kerbolocentric.

[wminsing]

Just wanted to chime in and say fantastic thread; very interesting technical details and good use of modded parts. Really enjoying the story so far!

-Will

[NathanKell]

Wow, wminsing, that's very kind of you! I'll do my best to keep up then!

Oh, and caught a big error above. It had been a while since I had flown the Halo mission, and I missed that I actually launched it on a Langschiff-C. That post has now been fixed.

[Pipcard]

bs1110101, check the respective threads. They're there now.

Pipcard, thanks! I decided I wouldn't try to clone either Ariel or Prospero for this one (unlike Pioneer and Ranger, which you'll see shortly). I figure Mulbin will get to them eventually.

And you know, your KASDA thread was quite an inspiration for this, so thanks for that too!

You're welcome!

I wish I had known how to resize parts when I started KASDA (the day I got KSP), so I could have 0.625 m solid rockets.

[NathanKell]

Yeah, they're supremely useful as boosters for 1.25m stacks, or for remaking small solid LVs. Also, just to be able to increase the burn time and decrease the thrust!

Admittedly this is a _heavily_ modded campaign, as you can see. Every single engine I use, for example, let alone the more cosmetic stuff...

OK, that's TWO fixes to XVI: the Langschiff-B/C goof, and also I guess I should call it kerbolocentric, not heliocentric...

[NathanKell]

Mond 3, Meton 3

Munar Twins

Mission:

Mond 3

Program:

Mond Programm

Mission Control:

Reichsraumfahrtamt (Imperial Spaceflight Office)

Launch Vehicle:

Langschiff-A4

Launch Site:

Sternburg Raumhafen SR-2A, Deutsch-Ostafrika

Objective:

Image the far side of the Mun

Intended Orbit:

Low Munar (hyperbolic)

Description:

Launch the Mond 3 probe on an orbit to take it around the Mun's far side, return imagery by signal when in contact again.

Outcome:

Success

Details: Mond 3 spacecraft features cone-shaped striped heat-diffusing body to account for differences in heating/cooling in long flight around Mun. Package includes large camera and electronics capable of transmitting images over the long distance to Kerbin. LV used is the Langschiff-A4 launch vehicle, standardized version of the ad-hoc Langschiff-A(M), with the small kerolox transmunar injection stage used for Mond 1 and 2. Mond 3 will launch to orbit then trans-munar injection; Repulsor IIM will fire twice to place Mond 3 and TMI stage into orbit, then on burnout and after guidance-set delay Mond 3 will engage its own final stage to complete injection into Munar transfer orbit. Once near the Mun, the stage will drop away and be observed to impact the Mun by Mond 3.

Background: Third in the series of Mond probes, Mond 3 was designed to return the first photographs of the far side of the Mun. Since the Mun is tide-locked, only the near side is ever visible to Kerbin; a probe is necessary to gain imagery of the far side. Probe orientation would be tricky: in order for the photographs of the far side to be useful, Kerbol would have to be shining on the Mun's far side. However, that meant the near side of the Mun would be in shadow, precluding a light sensor as a method of orientation. RRA engineers instead created an orientation program that locked onto three bright stars to give a 3-axis fix, and a light sensor to detect when the far side of the Mun was visible. Once visible, the spacecraft would reorient, the TMI stage detach and be propelled via RCS thrust down and away from the craft, and the camera would start rolling. With luck, the impact of the TMI stage would even be caught on film, giving invaluable insight into the composition of the lunar surface.

Results: Complete success. Mond 3 launched during the night in order to achieve Munar intercept. The trans-munar injection stage worked quite well, firing at precisely the right time in order to place Mond 3 into a transfer orbit with a Munar periapsis of 6.7km (desired periapsis was 3.5km, a quite acceptable error). At six minutes to periapsis the light sensor tripped, Mond 3 reoriented, the TMI stage detached, and the camera started rolling. The impact of the TMI stage was even caught on camera. After successfully transmitting its tiny, grainy, but invaluable images, Mond 3 continued out of the Munar sphere of influence on an escape trajectory; not long after its systems died and contact was lost, it became the first Kerbal-made object to exit the Kerbin-Mun system and enter a kerbolocentric orbit.

Notable Flight Events

T-00:08:00 Mond 3 in assembly building prior to rollout to Startrampe 2A.

T+00:00:00 Liftoff!

T+00:00:12 Pitch program begins.

T+00:01:10 Armbrust-derived booster is staged away. Note limited exhaust flare as only one B7 is firing (second will fire to place stack in orbit).

T+00:03:07 MECO #1, apokerb of 121km achieved.

T+00:03:28 Mond 3 passes Karman line. Fairings jettisoned.

T+00:14:21 Repulsor IIM fires second B7 engine, places payload stack in orbit.

T+00:14:45 After MECO #2, Repulsor IIM staged away. TMI stage will now wait for ejection point.

T+00:38:17 Mond 3 is properly aligned and E1 ignites, placing Mond 3 into a Munar transfer orbit.

T+06:03:52 Mond 3 enters the Mun's "Sphere of Influence," where the gravitational force of the Mun exceeds that of all other bodies (i.e. Kerbin). Still on course.

T+07:35:10 100km up. Light sensor trips, stage set to detach, camera running.

T+07:36:10 TMI stage detaches, fires RCS to impact the Mun.

T+07:40:09 TMI Stage can be seen about to impact the Mun.

T+07:40:11 Impact. 1 minute to periapsis.

T+07:41:15 Periapsis of 6.7km.

T+07:44:23 After Kerbinrise, communication link finally established. Footage begins transmission.

Mond 3 on escape trajectory.

Mission:

Meton 3

Program:

Meton Program

Mission Control:

Kerbican Space Agency

Launch Vehicle:

Granite-Corinthia

Launch Site:

Canaveral Space Center LC-5, Union of Kerbican States

Objective:

Munar impact probe

Intended Orbit:

High then low Munar (impact)

Outcome:

Success

Background: KSA, like the RRA, had its eye on the Mun. To investigate it, they began the Meton program, named after the Kellenic astronomer Meton of Athens who invented the Metonic cycle, very nearly a common multiple of the Kerbolar year and the Munar month. The Meton program envisioned munar impact probes, munar orbiters, and even landers. The Block I Meton spacecraft was designed to be light enough to be launched on a Koddard III, but the electronics and sensors could not be made rugged enough to withstand the rough ascent given by a solid booster. Thus KSA turned to the Granite booster, used by the KU Air Force. Using their experience in designing orbital maneuvering systems with hypergolic propellant, KSA created their own in-house upper stage for the program, called Corinth (in line with the usual practice of naming stages after Kellenic regions). It used a far smaller engine than the Bactria (still mired in development problems): the Corinthia's LR25R was a scaled up version of the LR11R NTO/MMH hypergolic bipropellant engine used by Explorer, Oracle, and the like, and produced a bit over three times the thrust. The Bactria, by contrast, had a design thrust of ten times what the LR25R could deliver. The LR25R would also be used (in a group of 3) as the Aquarius OMS, and so Meton would also serve as a way to test Aquarius Program technologies.

The Block I Meton spacecraft included extensible solar wings, the first spacecraft to do so. These were needed, as it was quite power-hungry compared to the early Explorers and Oracles: it featured a low-gain omnidirectional antenna, a high-gain directional antenna (dish), two cameras (a wide-angle and a narrow-angle), and numerous sensors. Further, its guidance unit was much more complicated, since it would need to perform multiple attitude corrections and even course corrections.

The Meton program ran into problems from the start. First, the Corinthia upper stage was far larger than any earlier hypergolic upper stage. Second, there were integration issues with the Granite booster, given the size difference and the desire (given how underpowered the Granite was) to minimize drag losses and thus go to with complexly-curved fairing. Finally, the environment of high cismunar space was as yet unstudied; no one was sure what complications might await the probe. Finally, however, Meton 1 was ready for launch. Sadly the problems did not end there: Meton 1 suffered an explosion in the Corinthia upper stage two minutes into flight; the spacecraft was a total launch. The backup, Meton 1A, was launched immediately afterward, but also failed: the solar wings failed to extend, and Meton 1A ran out of power only a few thousand kilometers from Kerbin. After going over the spacecraft design with a fine-tooth comb and finding that program error (a missing hyphen), as well as a few others, Meton 2 was pronounced ready for launch--but not before Mond 2 impacted the Mun. Up until the third hour of flight, Meton 2 appeared a complete success, but at that point attitude errors started accumulating. When Meton 2 fired its RCS for a correction burn, the burn took it away from the Mun rather than towards it; shortly thereafter all communication ceased. It would not be until Helios 1 confirmed KSA's supposition that there was some heightened form of radiation in high orbit by discovering the van Kallen belts that KSA felt ready to try for a third time. The Block II Meton featured much-increased radiation shielding and a further-optimized guidance program.

Yet again, however, the Kermans had beaten KSA to the punch: Mond 3 returned pictures from the Munar far side. Thus the Block II featured another change: more film. Rather than being launched on a straight shot to the Mun, KSA decided to send Meton 3 far beyond the Mun and around its far side before a correction burn put it on an impact course. This way KSA could return pictures of the far side and pictures of the surface (since the impact site would be, just barely, above the horizon for the Oracle relay). In addition, it was hoped that by keeping the course correction until the last moment, Meton 3 might duplicate Mond 3's feat and take a picture of the Corinthia TMI stage impacting the Munar surface.

Notable Flight Events

T-00:05:00 Meton 3 atop Granite-Corinthia LV in Launch Complex 5 VAB. Note double-curve fairing for better aerodynamics.

T-00:00:10 Meton 3 at pad LC-5B, ten seconds to liftoff.

T+00:00:00 Liftoff!

T+00:00:23 Pitch program begins.

T+00:02:10 MECO, fuel exhausted.

T+00:03:11 Passing Karman line, fairings jettison. Solar wings and antennae deploy successfully. Meton 3 coasts to 121km apoapsis.

T+00:06:36 Corinthia ignition #1. Meton 3 circularizes at 122 x 122km orbit.

T+00:07:33 Burn completed, stack reorients for ejection burn.

T+00:43:14 Corinthia ignition #2: TMI burn. Kerbin apoapsis will be seventeen thousand kilometers.

T+00:44:55 Burn completed. Corinthia will jettison, and Meton 3 will coast to far away from the Mun before falling back towards it.

T+13:31:06 After small corrective burn from RCS, Meton 3 reaches apoapsis of 16,914km above Kerbin's surface. Note Corinthia upper stage is still quite close to Meton 3, and Mun is lit from the side; in order for good lighting at the impact site, far side lighting is less than optimal on the trip "up"--though the far side begins about a quarter in, so the lighting is not that bad (Meton 3 is approaching from the side).

T+20:45:35 2,500km from the Mun, Meton 3 initiates second correction burn, pulls away from Corinthia upper stage. Transmission begins, first of the far side images, then in real time.

T+21:37:41 Meton 3 is 400km up, Corinthia upper stage can be seen falling away.

T+21:44:30 Final burn: Meton 3 almost exhausts its onboard propellant at 100km altitude in order to increase its "hang time" above the Mun.

T+21:46:20 Contact lost. No image of the Corinthia upper stage impacting was received; either it impacted outside the field of view or Kerbican optics were sufficiently inferior to Kerman ones as to preclude the necessary detail.

[NathanKell]

Editor's note. Both missions occur before some of the satellites featured in Part XVI. Also, you may note a few retcons. I've been meaning to redo the early missions for verisimilitude (what idiot deorbits their first satellite?--MC stock missions, I'm looking at you and your progency) and craft design wasn't up to snuff, either the probes or (now that I've added new textures and stuff) the LVs. When .22 drops and my mods are updated, I may do just that.

[Pipcard]

kerbolocentric, not heliocentric...

In the game, it's officially called "Sun", not "Kerbol", so I use "heliocentric".

[thorfinn]

Will you release a KASA mod pack someday?

Better yet, maybe you could write a KASA tech tree (you mostly have it in your head already), so the people who want challenge in career mode could follow your footsteps!

[NathanKell]

Interesting you should say that. I was wondering if there were interest for that, and considering doing so.

The KASA modpack is mostly in my sig: it's just some specially-rolled engine configs and names for MFSC, and the the other stuff in the sig. As to tech tree, see this thread I just created. I'd apply all the parts I use to the tech tree that thread ends up with.

Other than the *.craft files, which I can release too, of course; though I do use some rescaled parts from mods that have no-distribution clauses, so those can't come. Only thing shown so far is the rescaled FASA warhead, but there's some others you'll see ere long.

[zirgon]

Thanks for awesome mission report!

[NathanKell]

Thanks, zirgon!

An update, folks. I had originally planned to just retcon the first few missions to use LVs and probes up to my present standards. But a new opportunity means that I basically have to redo everything. I mean, the _text_ will all be correct, except for the stupidity of deorbiting satellites, but the LVs and orbits? Totally different.

A sneak peak of what's coming (note the dV and Periapsis figures.) And the giant Kerbin, obvs.

Granite-Attica WIP. All this to launch 190kg.

Argo-Herakles II WIP

[thorfinn]

.....that's real scale?