The Suzaku Program - Eve Investigator Launch

[AlexinTokyo]

A New Challenge for KAXA

Dateline: Kerbal Space Center

By: Walter Kronk-Kerman

Following President Joneff Kerman's speech to kongress last month, the Kerbal Aerospace Exploration Agency (KAXA) has announced the creation of a new program to meet the president's goal of "landing a Kerbal on Eve and returning them safely to Kerbin."

The program, which will consist of several missions over a potentially multi-year time frame, will be known as 'Suzaku', and will require the development of several new designs, and even new technologies. To date, no program so ambitious has been attempted by the fledgling Agency.

Head of R&D at KAXA, Wernher von Kerman, speaking at the program-launch press conference earlier today, noted that, "Very little is actually known about our cosmic neighbour, Eve, except that it is very massive, and also very, very purple. Even getting there will be a significant challenge, let alone returning from the surface."

KAXA Mission Controller, Gene Kerman, who has been officially appointed as Head of Flight Control for the Suzaku Program, expanded on this sense of the unknown. "Before we can consider sending Kerbals to Eve, we must first learn all we can about the purple planet. To this end, the first Suzaku Program mission, which we've tentatively nicknamed 'Trailblazer' will consist of probe craft loaded with scientific instruments designed to thoroughly investigate Eve and its surrounds. It is hoped that we will be able to launch this initial Suzaku mission within the next few weeks, at the latest."

He added, "Testing of lander and ascent vehicle designs will require significant time and resources, and this means that a fully manned mission will be impractical for some time to come.

While excitement runs high over the new program among KAXA scientists, concerns have been raised over the dangers inherent in sending Kerbals to other worlds, and regarding the large budget that will surely be required to see the program to completion. In particular, KAXA veteran and owner of Jebediah Kerman's Junkyard and Spaceship Parts Co., Jebediah Kerman, has gone on record saying that he doesn't believe that they could pay him enough to go to, "that horrid, purple place." We still await an official KAXA response to this comment.

It is the desire of this reporter, however, to wish all involved with Suzaku every success with the program, and I hope to be interviewing Kerbonauts returning from Eve in the not too distant future.

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The newly unveiled program flag for the KAXA Suzaku Program.

Edited November 19, 2014 by AlexinTokyo

[AlexinTokyo]

Reserved for future stuff

[AlexinTokyo]

Suzaku I - Investigator launched from KSC

Dateline: Kerbal Space Center

By: Walter Kronk-Kerman

The first mission in KAXA's Suzaku Program, christened 'Investigator', was launched yesterday from KSC. The Investigator will attempt to place a number of scientific probe craft around Eve, to gather data for the planned crewed mission.

Photograph of the Investigator on the pad awaiting launch.

Mission Director Gene Kerman explained the scientific goals of the Investigator mission.

"If all goes according to plan, the Investigator transfer vehicle will place three separate probes into different orbits around Eve. Two of these, known as Scout and Pathfinder, will be satellite probes. Scout will mount a newly developed Synthetic-Aperture Radar sensor to create a high-resolution scan of the surface of the purple planet. This will allow us to determine, hopefully with a high degree of accuracy, an appropriate landing site for the Suzaku Crewed Vehicle.

"Pathfinder will mount a Multispectral scanning sensor, developed by The Scientific Committee on Advanced Navigation, which will report back data about the conditions on Eve's surface and in the atmosphere. Pathfinder will be inserted into a much lower orbit than Scout, which is planned to have an approximately circular orbit at an altitude of roughly 750 to 800 km above the surface.

"The third probe carried by Investigator, called Trailblazer, will be very different. Initially, Trailblazer will be inserted into a low orbit around Eve, just beyond the limits of the atmosphere. After reporting on gravitational parameters in low orbit, and based on data provided by Scout and Pathfinder, Trailblazer will be commanded to initiate a deorbit maneuver, after which automatic landing systems should bring it to a semi-controlled halt on Eve's surface.

"If the probe survives to this planned landing, a second set of scientific experiments will collect data on atmospheric composition, temperature, and pressure, as well as further gravitational parameters. A seismic sensor will also provide evidence of any tectonic activity on Eve."

The Investigator has now been confirmed to be in a stable pre-departure orbit around Kerbin, allowing KAXA scientists and technicians to calibrate and test on-board electrical systems and sensor packages. All systems are reported to be in a 'go' status at this time. In slightly less than 2 hours, the Investigator Transfer Vehicle's engines will ignite to push it into an orbit designed to intercept our neighbour planet in approximately 170 days.

The Investigator Transfer Vehicle and its payload of probe craft, seen just after separation from the final launch vehicle stage.