The Kerbal Space Agency - Flight Tracker v3 w/Better ground plots, telemetry, navigation & more!

[Drew Kerman]

Although we have an aircraft at our disposal for flying science missions in the atmosphere of Kerbin, a problem is getting pilots to fly it. Both Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan work primarily for C7 Aerospace, and their work schedule with them is rather busy. Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman finally got fed up with having to wait days to weeks between flights and set out to find his own solution. The result is a large gas-filled balloon that is capable of floating up to 25km, which is more than twice as high as the K-130's ceiling. The downside is that it can only carry up a single drop pod at a time, but the upside is that it can be launched far more frequently.

For its first flight, we took things nice and easy as no one had any idea how this thing would fly. Still, it managed to give us quite a few surprises on the way up and down. The drop pod also chose to be mischievous.

[Drew Kerman]

Although we have an aircraft at our disposal for flying science missions in the atmosphere of Kerbin, a problem is getting pilots to fly it. Both Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan work primarily for C7 Aerospace, and their work schedule with them is rather busy. Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman finally got fed up with having to wait days to weeks between flights and set out to find his own solution. The result is a large gas-filled balloon that is capable of floating up to 25km, which is more than twice as high as the K-130's ceiling. The downside is that it can only carry up a single drop pod at a time, but the upside is that it can be launched far more frequently.

After the near failure of the first flight, some measures were taken to help ensure a better recovery this time out. In addition to the weight balance being tweaked a longer-range antenna was installed to prevent line-of-sight issues if the blimp traveled too far from KSC. With the previous logical errors found and fixed after the last flight there was hope of being able to perform some more science on this drop.

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

Desson re-configured the thrust and weight balance for this flight to hopefully recover the rocket intact this time!

[Drew Kerman]

The third and final ComSat to orbit Minmus was successfully launched into LKO, where it transferred without issue to Minmus and detached from its transfer stage in orbit around the moon, leaving it to drift until we re-activate it for use as an impactor. In order to slot the satellite into position between the two existing ones, an aggressive maneuver was plotted to send the craft whipping past Minmus as low as 15km, after which it would rise up to complete the constellation of communication satellites.

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Edited May 21, 2015 by Gaiiden

[Drew Kerman]

Although we have an aircraft at our disposal for flying science missions in the atmosphere of Kerbin, a problem is getting pilots to fly it. Both Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan work primarily for C7 Aerospace, and their work schedule with them is rather busy. Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman finally got fed up with having to wait days to weeks between flights and set out to find his own solution. The result is a large gas-filled balloon that is capable of floating up to 25km, which is more than twice as high as the K-130's ceiling. The downside is that it can only carry up a single drop pod at a time, but the upside is that it can be launched far more frequently.

In this latest outing, Captain Dudsby, top academy flight graduate, took over the controls for the blimp, which had been slightly further tweaked to hopefully make it more stable on ascent/descent for faster vertical travel. Earlier in the week, Flight Officers Greggan and Kirk had to ferry the K-130 to a C7 Aerospace facility for yearly maintenance and Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman had them drop off a probe along the way. Engineers found a few more issues in the code they were able to patch for this drop.

http://pastebin.com/s2riF1bh http://pastebin.com/X4DhqJLE

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

For his third flight, Desson reverted back to the original weight distribution but adjusted the thrust of the solid rocket engine. He figured that the weight of the still-attached engine was causing the chute to tear itself apart on deployment so he's added a decoupler to drop the engine once it has been spent. Hopefully he will be able to recover the science package this time!

[Drew Kerman]

Now that we have established a robust communications network around Minmus it's time to send the first scientific mission to study the moon from orbit and map its surface. Mi-SCAN was designed to handle all these tasks, featuring over a dozen scientific instruments to take readings in space and close to the surface. Copious amounts of dV will allow the craft to perform extensive maneuvers around the small moon, including close passes and large inclined orbits. Data and observations gathered from Mi-SCAN will pave the way for future orbital and surface missions to the moon.

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[Drew Kerman]

Although we have an aircraft at our disposal for flying science missions in the atmosphere of Kerbin, a problem is getting pilots to fly it. Both Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan work primarily for C7 Aerospace, and their work schedule with them is rather busy. Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman finally got fed up with having to wait days to weeks between flights and set out to find his own solution. The result is a large gas-filled balloon that is capable of floating up to 25km, which is more than twice as high as the K-130's ceiling. The downside is that it can only carry up a single drop pod at a time, but the upside is that it can be launched far more frequently.

New drop pods have arrived and it's time to continue testing and refining the code that will eventually be applied to the atmospheric drop probe still attached to Duna I. This blimp flight was commanded by Captain Desson, and he of course had to raise the stakes even further when it came to landing...

[McPoisoned]

I really enjoy reading your posts! One of the best Mission reports imo

[Drew Kerman]

Although we have an aircraft at our disposal for flying science missions in the atmosphere of Kerbin, a problem is getting pilots to fly it. Both Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan work primarily for C7 Aerospace, and their work schedule with them is rather busy. Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman finally got fed up with having to wait days to weeks between flights and set out to find his own solution. The result is a large gas-filled balloon that is capable of floating up to 25km, which is more than twice as high as the K-130's ceiling. The downside is that it can only carry up a single drop pod at a time, but the upside is that it can be launched far more frequently.

Another flight took place the same day as the last, since the probe failed to run any experiments and just needed new chutes. A small weather window opened up so the flight profile was supposed to be straight up and straight down for a quick and simple mission. Of course, nothing ever goes quite as planned and the simplest of missions can still end up going horribly wrong...

[Drew Kerman]

Ground-based telescopes have long been hampered by the atmosphere that sits over them and distorts the light coming from outer space. This has been overcome to an extent by building observatories higher up in the atmosphere, but even the highest peaks able to be built upon still see through the majority of the blanket of air surrounding the planet. Placing a telescope orbit is easy enough, but designing a telescope to operate in outer space has long been an engineering challenge astronomers have been working to overcome. Now, the Kerman Space Telescope, designed by DMagic Space Industries, is the first attempt at operating an observatory from Low Kerbin Orbit. Although it's not very big, its main purpose is to test technologies and see objects within the Kerbol system clearer than ever before. This report covers the initial launch of the satellite. For ongoing mission updates, see http://bit.ly/-KST

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[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

In this latest attempt to actually recover intact the payload he's launching, Desson has added a kOS scripting unit to his avionics processor to hopefully provide better control over the deployment of the parachute once the solid rocket engine burns out.

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

Suspecting that his rocket is attempting to deploy its parachute while traveling at a supersonic velocity, Desson has tweaked the code to make sure the deployment does not occur until the airspeed has fallen below Mach 1. It's finally time for him to recover a payload intact!

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

This is it. This is the one. Well, that's what Capt Desson keeps telling everyone at least. But all indications look good - he's worked out and come up with a solution for every problem that has presented itself to date, so nothing short of a catastrophic mechanical failure should keep him from recovering his payload, at long last. Of course, catastrophic mechanical failures are always a very real possibility when you are dealing with high-powered rockets...

Edited June 29, 2015 by Gaiiden

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

Finally, after successfully recovering his payload Desson only has one last goal remaining - the collection of science data. A code error in the last flight prevented the instruments from running, but with that fixed there should be nothing to stand in the way of total success at last!

[Drew Kerman]

We posted 560 images over the course of the year, and have managed to whittle them down to our 55 favorites. Starting with our Top Ten, the remaining images that follow are in chronological order

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[Drew Kerman]

It is July of 2014 and with the successful completion of the Low-Kerbin Orbit communications network and successful test of its robustness it was now time for Phase Two of the Kerbin System Communications Network, which would place dedicated comm satellites in orbit by Mun to prevent loss of signal while orbiting around behind the moon. The initial plan called for two satellites placed in orbit around Kerbin but at the same altitude as Mun, one leading, one trailing it in its orbit. Complications arose, however, which forced the KSA to abandon this plan after the launch of ComSat Mun I. Further short-sightedness in the design of the initial Mun ComSat led to the network being gimped for several months before a kerbed orbital mission to Mun in early 2015 finally brought the network up to full operational status.

This summary covers the events before, of and between Mission Dispatches #26, #27, #28, #29, #49 & #56.

The initial design for the Munar Relay Network called for just two satellites versus the three that orbited Kerbin. The trick was that these satellites would not actually orbit Mun, but orbit Kerbin at the same altitude as Mun. One would always be slightly ahead of Mun's SOI, one slightly behind, allowing for signals to bounce from LKO to any craft orbiting the far side of Mun. There were some limitations to this design, such as craft very low to the surface or on the surface of the far side being unable to see the lead/trail ComSats, but the KSA wasn't planning for any such missions prior to placing at least one more satellite in orbit for science research that could then provide for a relay at certain times. The vehicle design for both ComSats also included a suite of science instruments for the transfer stage carrying the satellite to Mun, allowing for it to then go into orbit and perform experiments before being impacted into the Munar surface in view of ground-based telescopes.

(Left) The mission plan for ComSat Mun I detailing the placement of the satellite and transfer stage impact

(Right) ComSat Mun I in the VAB. The foldable solar arms were a new design. Heavy, but compact

The launch of ComSat Mun I at 9am on 7/25 was without serious issue, although once in orbit several small faults arose. The first was the solar arrays being unable to deploy to a position in which they could be rotated, fortunately they were installed facing outwards just in case this problem arose. The craft could orient itself to face panels towards the sun and although it could only use two panels at once from the ComSat this was fine for the transfer stage also had solar panels. The second issue was a failure of the engine to cutoff automatically during the circularization burn around Kerbin, which led engineers to discover that the burn controller could not be utilized and all engine burns had to be performed manually. Both problems persisted throughout the mission as engineers worked to find solutions.

(Left) ComSat Mun I photographed by the transfer stage after it was deployed into 11,400km orbit ahead of Mun.

(Right) The path taken by the transfer stage to fall back into orbit around Mun for scientific study

ComSat Mun I was successfully placed into orbit ahead of Mun later in the day at approximately 8:14pm and the transfer stage (re-dubbed Munar Orbiter I) was maneuvered into orbit around Mun, becoming the first spacecraft to do so the following day at approximately 8:07am. While the engineering issues were still present, thankfully all science instruments aboard the transfer stage were in good working order and the entire morning was spent in various orbits collecting valuable new data on Mun. The transfer stage was impacted into Mun at approximately 12:06pm in view of several ground-based telescopes as planned. Despite the ongoing issues with the burn controller and solar panel arms, the mission was declared an overall success.

It took two days for the engineers to finally track down the issue with the solar arms and upload a patch to ComSat Mun I. The arms were successfully deployed outwards and allowed for more freedom in where the dish could be pointed while the satellite could still track the sun. At the same time, engineers also uploaded a patch they hoped would fix the automated engine controller for any future maneuvers that may be needed to keep the satellite in place. Two days later however, on 7/30, the mission team realized that the satellite's guidance computer had been affected by the recent patch and ComSat Mun I was falling behind in its orbit and back towards Mun's SOI. Unsure of whether the problem with the guidance computer and engine controller could both be fixed in time to prevent slingshotting around Mun, it was decided instead to allow the craft to continue falling back and insert it into orbit.

The initial plan to continue using only two satellites around Mun,

it was later realized that such a design would not work

While the problems with ComSat Mun I continued to be worked once it was successfully inserted into orbit, a design proposal was tabled for allowing the satellite to remain in orbit and be joined by its partner in equatorial Molnya orbits that would keep them away from Mun around the far side most of the time for relay from Kerbin. The problem with this design, it was later realized, was that due to Mun's rotation as it orbited Kerbin, the orbits you see in the diagram above would not always face away from Kerbin unless the craft continuously expended fuel to push their orbits around, an extremely wasteful endeavor. Given that engineers were no longer sure they could build a craft capable of maintaining its position just outside of Mun's SOI, the decision was made to leave ComSat Mun I in orbit permanently and go with the same three satellite constellation that was in orbit around Kerbin.

This decision came with its own problem however - since it was not originally designed to orbit Mun, the ComSat did not carry enough battery capacity to survive both a Munar night transition and eclipse of the sun by Kerbin, which can at times happen in quick succession or even at the same time. Unwilling to commit to a major redesign of the ComSat this late into production of the second one, the engineering team had to work overtime to come up with a solution and pulled up some old research on capacitors, which had originally been set aside in favor of larger battery capacity. Because larger batteries would increase weight too much, capacitors provided an ideal solution to storing energy until it was required for the extra boost in getting through both Mun and Kerbin's shadow.

ComSat Mun II undergoes testing in the VAB to ensure its new

capacitors can provide the energy needed

The capacitors worked so well that engineers were even able to add a second dish to the ComSat, which would allow for it to relay signals from Kerbin to Minmus in the rare cases when it is actually blocked by Mun. ComSat Mun II was launched at 9am on 8/9, arriving in orbit around Mun later that evening at approximately 5:12pm with no major issues throughout the journey. A bit of orbital dancing was required after the transfer stage (Munar Orbiter II) detached to perform its science mission - when its close pass to Mun was executed it would have been out of sight of Kerbin and both ComSats had ComSat II not been maneuvered to follow it down close to Mun's surface and relay data. After an evening of science data collection, the impact of Munar Orbiter II was suspended until the next day.

(Left) ComSat Mun II photographed going supersonic from the belly cam of a Mk1.2 Raker orbiting the launch

(Right) Attempting to place the first two ComSats relative to each other required a slight altitude adjustment

The following day however Lead Scientist Wernher Von Kerman requested the impact remain suspended, as he had recently developed an experiment capable of collecting dust samples and wanted to include them aboard ComSat Mun III's transfer stage so it could attempt to fly through the impact cloud of Munar Orbiter II and retrieve samples of Munar regolith. Lead Engineer Simon agreed to their inclusion and with no need to be in constant communication with Munar Orbiter II it was decided the first two ComSats could now be placed relative to each other to form the first two points of the eventual triangle. This required a raise in altitude from 200km to 233km for ComSat Mun I for the two satellites to see each other over the horizon, thankfully this was (barely) still within tolerance for ComSat Mun I's limited power supplies.

ComSat Mun III's transfer stage with its new dust collectors

(white/blue striped containers)

ComSat Mun III was launched at 9am on 8/18 and immediately after liftoff it was apparent something was wrong with the booster thrust settings when the rocket quickly accelerated to 3Gs off the pad and roared towards space so fast it actually lost stability and tumbled during ascent. Payload fairing structural integrity was nearly compromised but reaction at Mission Control was swift and the rocket was recovered enough to attempt orbit. The lift stage, meant to burn out during orbital insertion burn, actually burned out right as 70km apokee was reached, and orbit had to be attained through the transfer stage engine. This expended too much fuel, causing the mission to be suspended while the teams worked on various options. It was decided the next day the only viable option was to launch a new mission - any attempt to send up a refueling craft would just be more expensive. The original ComSat Mun III would remain in orbit around Kerbin as a weather satellite for the Kerbin Meteorological Society.

Because a whole new rocket had to be built, and also due to a devastating atmospheric asteroid impact, the second ComSat Mun III was not launched until 9/12 at 10am. It was initially inserted into a high elliptical orbit similar to the previous launches but this used up too much fuel for very little gain as most onboard science experiments had already been run in such an orbit near Kerbin. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but because extra fuel was needed to work up a pass through Munar Orbiter II's ejection cloud ComSat Mun III could not circularize around Kerbin prior to transfer to Mun. So it was the next day, when Mun's orbit came around Kerbin into position for a transfer out of the elliptical orbit, that ComSat Mun III transferred over to Mun, arriving at approximately 4:12pm. Over the course of the following day ComSat Mun III was detached from its transfer stage (Munar Orbiter III) and moved into place relative to the first two ComSats to complete the triangle and close the loop around Mun's equator.

(Left) The launch of the second ComSat Mun III as it arcs up into the sky at sunrise, starting from a proper 1.3 TWR

(Right) The completed triangle of the Munar Relay Network, with Munar Orbiters II (inside) & III (outside)

It took the entire day on 9/15 to set Munar Orbiter II on course to impact Mun and Munar Orbiter III on course to (hopefully) fly through the upper reaches of the cloud of ejected material, where particles would be fine enough to possibly not severely damage the spacecraft. Limited fuel aboard Munar Orbiter II and III forced the mission control team to impact in a heavily cratered area mission scientists did not feel was ideal, but such were the constraints that were in place. At approximately 6:53pm Munar Orbiter II hit the surface, an event which was captured by Munar Orbiter III's camera as it flew by over head - almost directly over head, which meant it most likely had not passed through any debris that was still flying up from the surface. Scientists decided to only open one canister, saving the other two until the next orbit almost 4 hours later. The second pass over the area yeilded a slightly higher count from the detector, but not nearly what was hoped for. Munar Orbiter III, being the last planned orbiter to be sent around Mun for some time, used the last of its fuel to change its elliptical orbit into a higher plane for long-term science observations of Mun.

The impact of Munar Orbiter II photographed by Munar Orbiter III

Although 3 ComSats were now in orbit around Mun, the Munar Relay Network was not operating at full capacity. The weak link remained ComSat Mun I, which did not have enough power capacity to sustain a higher, slower orbit around Mun and did not have an extra dish to relay signals to Minmus. Fortunately these shortcomings did not hinder any upcoming missions, which included a mapping satellite and lander. Missions to Minmus were not even on the drawing board yet. Still, the Agency wanted the Munar Relay Network at full capacity as soon as possible, but their only option was to send astronauts out there to upgrade ComSat Mun I. It took several months to finish developing and testing a capsule capable of ferrying more than one kerbal up into orbit and off to Mun, and the rocket that was supposed to do so failed to attain orbit in late December, thankfully without the loss of any astronauts, who detached via the Launch Escape System and splashed down safely in the Kerblantic.

(Left) Commander Bob and Captain Wehrtop prepare to board the ill-fated Mun I (Right)

Finally, at 9:30am on 2/19/15 Mun III launched with Commander Bob and Captain Desson, successfully attaining orbit and transfer to Mun. There it suffered a near catastrophic event that placed the entire mission in jeopardy, but due to the resourcefulness of the crew of Mun III and the staff back at the KSA all primary mission goals were eventually able to be completed, which included the retrieval of dust samples and other science data from Munar Orbiter III and the upgrade of ComSat Mun I, adding capacitors and a second dish. Once the astronauts had returned home safely, the Munar ComSat team at the KSA got to work pushing the Munar ComSats up to higher and more stable orbits at an altitude of 1,000km. March 10th finally saw the fully-operational Munar Relay Network in orbit around Mun, relaying signals to craft in Munar orbit and also off towards craft that had since been launched into orbit around Minmus to begin setting up the Minmus Relay Network, Phase Four of the Kerbin System Communications Network.

(Left) Captain Desson floats next to ComSat Mun I, now upgraded with capacitors and 2nd dish (still folded down)

(Right) The fully-operational Munar Relay Network receiving signal from Kerbin (lower-right) and relaying to Minmus (lower-left)

[Drew Kerman]

It is September of 2014 and with the completion of the Munar Relay Network attention was focused on the next upcoming mission, which would test out new technology to map the surface of a planet from orbit. This would facilitate future missions to other worlds, providing data necessary to plan landings - not just determining whether an area is flat or not, but whether it is in the middle of a single biome or near others. Terrain data coupled with biome data was the goal of the first SCAN satellite to orbit Kerbin. If it proved its worth, the technology would next be deployed around Mun.

This summary covers the events before, of and between Mission Dispatches #30 & #34.

It was time to begin exploring other worlds - but landers were still an untested concept, and why would you try to land somewhere when you didn't know what the surface was like? This was essential data and could be obtained from orbit, which was a place the KSA was very comfortable operating in. The new and unproven mapping technology was planned to be tested first in orbit around Kerbin to ensure everything was performing nominally before a more costly mission was sent off to Mun. The extra power requirements of the mapping instruments aboard the satellite meant that the solar panels could generate more heat than the craft would be able to dissipate into space on its size alone. A radiator was attached to aid with dumping waste heat, and the larger 3-panel solar arms were also redesigned to allow the individual panels to tilt and finely control the amount of solar power and heat being generated. As with the ComSat Mun designs, RCS thrusters would be the sole method of propulsion once the satellite was deployed from the lifter stage.

(Left) K-SCAN in the VAB demonstrating the operation of its new solar arms. The radiator is on the fuel tank

(Right) K-SCAN sits atop its launch vehicle on the pad, awaiting lift-off after a weather delay

K-SCAN, the SCAN satellite to orbit and map Kerbin, was launched after a short weather delay at 5pm on 9/25, which was also the day KSC once again welcomed visitors after the devastating atmospheric asteroid impact almost a month earlier. The launch was supposed to place K-SCAN into an optimal scanning orbit of 80° inclined at an altitude of 447km, however a control anomaly during ascent prevented the rocket from reaching this target. It took several fuel-wasting maneuvers after orbital insertion to achieve an orbit that would be suitable for scanning Kerbin's surface. Unfortunately the lift stage was destroyed via re-entry as originally planned so the full cause of the control anomaly could not be confirmed, but it was suspected that a fin hydraulic actuator was sluggish or partially stuck for some reason, weakening overall control authority.

A work-in-progress terrain map of Kerbin after a day in K-SCAN's initial orbit

Two days later, Flight Director Lanalye approved a plane change with almost all remaining RCS fuel to shift inclination from 63° to the originally-planned 80°. This was a very expensive maneuver so close to Kerbin and left only 0.52 units of monopropellant in the tanks. It did allow for the satellite to fill in much of the polar regions however and although the remaining fuel was used to increase altitude and thus field of view, the mission ended with 94.8% of Kerbin mapped. The missing percentage was only the relatively flat polar regions and the 95% mission goal was nearly reached. During the scanning no instrument problems occurred, and the mission was deemed an overall success. Planning and construction for the Munar satellite began immediately, while the Kerbin Meteorological Society took control of K-SCAN for weather monitoring.

The Mu-SCAN satellite was initially designed to match K-SCAN, with the additional feature of a rotating base for the scanning truss that allowed the satellite to orient its scanning equipment and solar arrays independently. A late addition was capacitors when mission planners remembered the problem of ComSat Mun I and realized the satellite would have to contend with the extra-long periods of darkness brought about by Kerbin eclipsing the sun, possibly right before/after the satellite transits through the dark side of Mun. Thankfully these events would not always be a concern because the satellite would be on a highly-inclined orbit, but it was still designed to be capable of operating in an equatorial orbit just in case it found itself stuck there for a period of time for some reason.

(Left) The original Mu-SCAN design, showing off its new rotating truss base

(Right) The removal of some batteries and addition of capacitors to compensate for long night transitions

Once again delayed a few days by weather, Mu-SCAN successfully launched into Munar transfer orbit on 10/17, and it arrived in orbit around Mun later that day. The initial orbit was close to equatorial, and the transfer stage used most of its remaining fuel to get the craft halfway to its target inclination of 87.1° before it was sent down to impact Mun. The satellite navigated itself the rest of the way into its target orbit and began scanning the surface on the afternoon of 10/18. A few minor orbital adjustments over the next few days resulted in 100% coverage of both terrain and biome maps on 10/22. Mu-SCAN was then lowered closer to Mun to allow its new gravity sensor to pick up more accurate readings for a day before it was raised up to a higher altitude where it would serve as an omni connection for the Munar Relay Network.

(Left) The convoluted path taken by Mu-SCAN to insert into Munar orbit and begin its transfer to an inclined orbit

(Right) A rendering of a fully deployed Mu-SCAN in orbit around Mun

The success of the Mu-SCAN mission not only meant the KSA now had data it could use to plan a Mun landing, but it also brought new interest to the field of satellite mapping that quickly led to advancements in technology for even better terrain resolution on future missions.

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

Now that Desson has (finally) successfully landed and recovered a payload that carried out its scientific experiments, he's decided it's time to go bigger, farther - faster! After a relatively brief battle with the UK government over whether private citizens (as he was launching these rockets himself) should be allowed to send objects into the upper atmosphere on suborbital flights, the Civilian Rocketry Act was passed by the Assembly. Desson (and other UK citizens - especially university clubs) now have a way to file for a launch license for rockets capable of reaching greater than 30km in height (lower altitudes only needed approval from the Air Safety Administration). Launch license in hand, Desson had a new rocket design to try out with an additional booster stage, hoping for a water recovery off the coast of KSC.

[Drew Kerman]

It is October of 2014 and two new astronauts have joined the ranks of the Kerbal Space Agency, having endured months of hard training to become the first of a new generation. Despite all that training however they have yet to test their mettle on an actual mission, so the KSA put together one for each of them with the additional goal of cleaning up some of the junk previous missions had left in orbit. It is the ultimate test - returning from space alive. Can they both do it?

This summary covers the events before, of and between Mission Dispatches #31 & #35.

Even before the KSA had launched its first mission they knew they would eventually need more astronauts in their program to augment the original three. The call for applicants was put out within a month of the Agency's forming and hundreds of submissions were received - the number being so small because at this time only applicants from the military were being accepted. The candidate pool was eventually whittled down to only three, to mirror the number of current astronauts, and intensive training began in earnest over at the Kerbal Space Academy in March of 2014. Over the next 6 months the kadets learned about the aspects unique to space flight, trained both in a massive EVA water tank and out in the harsh Kerbin wilderness, and experienced simulated missions that threw them into situations of dire peril. Although their graduation was delayed in Sept thanks to an

atmospheric asteroid impact, they did graduate to become astronauts. Attrition was not to be denied however, and one kadet was forced to bow out during training. For a complete accounting of their training, see this collection.

Captains Wehrtop and Desson flank Commander Bob at the end of the

graduation ceremony, where the mk1-2 capsule was revealed

The newly-minted astronauts needed to be proven, and the KSA had two pieces of debris floating in LKO that needed removal, so missions were setup to allow Desson and Wehrtop to gain some actual experience in space. By simple alphabetical order, Desson was selected as the first newbie to head up into space. His rocket was constructed and ready for launch by October 10th, standing at 21m tall and weighing 53t it was both the tallest and heaviest vehicle launched to date. After a bit of range and weather delays, Captain Desson successfully launched into orbit under the node of the debris trajectory. Although he managed to match orbital inclination correctly, he improperly entered into orbit at the altitude of the target perikee, which left his 2nd stage attached. The mission team instructed him to burn for the higher orbit so he could properly exhaust and decouple the 2nd stage and allow his vehicle to be properly balanced for RCS translation during rendezvous. The second stage was also de-orbited so the mission to remove debris from space didn't end up leaving any behind!

(Left) The orbital stage for rendezvous and capture of the debris, with multiple tanks to aid in balance & retractable RCS nozzles

(Right) The fully-staged rocket out on the launch pad, an impressive sight, with a record 6 SRBs

The target for Desson's mission was debris left in orbit by one of Commander Bob's first attempts to perform a rendezvous in orbit. He was able to successfully rendezvous on the first try, a testament to his training. Getting the debris onto a suborbital trajectory however proved more difficult that expected when mission control was unable to take control after Desson went on EVA and attached a small probe core. He therefore had to use his own body and EVA pack to bump against the rotating debris and stabilize it so he could attach fuel lines. Mission control kept attempting to gain contact with the debris and finally instructed Desson to attach the launch antenna from his craft, which worked but controllers realized the torque wheels were inoperative. So the debris was simply oriented retrograde while still hooked to Desson's orbital stage and then cut loose. Controllers were able to ignite the engine to set it on a return trajectory. Mission complete, the flight team attempted to land Desson in the Great Desert for him to collect some ground samples but vastly undershot their landing zone and dropped Desson towards some 3-4km tall mountains! Thanks to his parachute not detaching from the capsule upon landing and tumbling down a slope, the drag was enough to prevent Desson from serious harm or death, as the capsule itself was beat up badly. Any landing you can walk away from...

Capt Desson stands victoriously beside his capsule, which tumbled down the slope behind him

Later in the month, it was Captain Wehrtop's turn to prove he has the Right Stuff when he blasted off aboard his slightly smaller de-orbital vehicle on Oct 21st. His target debris, left over from Commander Bob's service mission for the LKO ComSat network, was at a much lower orbital altitude than the debris Desson went up for, so less fuel was needed. Wehrtop also experienced problems during his ascent, the most serious of which was a slight imbalance caused by the change to the amount of fuel that nearly burned up the craft in the atmosphere when it began to level out too early. Although Wehrtop managed to hit his target inclination to within an acceptable margin of precision, he inclined his orbit the wrong way and an expensive plane change was required. Thankfully mission planners had left in some of the fuel they could have removed for any unforeseen problems like this one and the mission was able to continue as planned.

Capt Wehrtop stands proudly at the hatch to his capsule, ready to board

Although the mission got off to a rough start, the remainder went smoothly. Wehrtop successfully rendezvoused with the debris and had no trouble getting a probe attached and linking mission control to it - it had no damage to its torque wheels and was not found rotating. A quick bit of refeuling, and Wehrtop cut loose and moved away to allow mission control to orient the debris and burn its engine to set it on a return trajectory. Coming home, the flight team once again wanted to shoot for the Great Desert, however they were much more cautious this time and made sure that Wehrtop would either land in the desert as planned or at worse in the water to the east. It turns out he ended up missing the water by only a few kilometers and did indeed drop down into the desert, where he was able to collect surface samples for return to the KSC.

(Left) Orbital rendezvous with the last remaining debris in LKO, fuel lines still attached

(Right) A successful landing in the Great Desert. Looks hot

The success of both missions gave the two new astronauts confidence, cleaned up space around Kerbin, and have been considered examples for future astronaut training missions should more debris exist once the new class graduates in early 2015.

[Drew Kerman]

Capt Desson has revealed a new hobby of his, building and launching small-scale rockets. He's not an engineer by trade, but has always been naturally gifted in building and fixing things so he decided to give rockets a try. We've agreed to keep track of his exploits here in this flight log. Who knows? Maybe something more than just fun will come out of this someday...

After the last launch failure, Desson made some minor modifications to the rocket, including adjusting the balance of the payload to decrease the amount of torque produced by engine thrust, hopefully leading to a slower turn-over rate that would allow the rocket to fully ascend through both stages. Once again he set up out on the north field facing east in the hopes of recovering his payload out of the ocean once it returned from sub-orbital flight, possibly as high as space.

[TaintedLion]

I hope this keeps up! Keep on going, it's brilliant!

[fred31354]

I love this! This is easily one of the best long-term KSP fics I have seen.

[Drew Kerman]

When C7 Aerospace purchased the Aerospace Group from the KSA and moved some of their operations to KSC, some of their aircraft became available for use on science missions. The most well-rounded craft, the K-130, was generally the workhorse as it was able to be configured for a number of different missions.

After finally resuming operations, Flight Officers Kirk and Greggan were able to be persuaded to take on a science mission once again. Although they had no time for a dedicated flight, they let Lead Scientists Wernher Von Kerman know they had spare load capacity for an overseas cargo flight to a UK military forward operating base. Since they would be passing over the West Shore Desert, they agreed to carry along and drop a single pod for the KSA. This would be the first opportunity for Wernher and his team of engineers to test new code for low-altitude drop pods, adapted from the code for high-altitude drop pods that was refined over several blimp missions since the last K-130 science flight back in March.

[Drew Kerman]

After a 4-month forced hiatus thanks to a government audit, the KSA was finally able to resume operations. During that time no craft movements were able to be carried out, so drift affected all communications satellites and all other operating craft needed to be fully checked as well as craft in storage.

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