KSP REACHES THE MUN!

KSP - Year 2, Day 36

Named the Celestia Project, the staff at KSP have finally turned their attention on the Mun. Yesterday, Celestia I was launched with the mission to prove that a probe can leave the orbit of Kerbin an successfully reach the Mun. And it succeeded. 

An artists painting of the Celestia-I impact probe

A Houndstone C-2b was used to escape Kerbins gravity and deliver the probe to the Mun. Although a success, the mission, once again, wasn't without glitches. An ill-placed gravity detector unit failed to turn on. Other data, such as altitude above the Mun and velocity, were measured successfully from other equipment, however. Also, the probes separation from the booster altered the course to a point where it caused Celestia I to nearly miss the Mun completely. Celestia I also became the furthest-traveled Kerbal-made object, the first vehicle to enter the sphere-of-influence of another world and also the first to impact another celestial body.

An image of the Mun taken from the Observer telescope showing the impact site of Celestia I

The probe had no propulsion system itself. For a machine that is designed to impact another world and destroy itself, there seemed little sense in adding such systems. So from an orbit of 80km above Kerbin, the second-stage booster took aim and fired the probe to the Mun. Under the watchful eye of CommSat IV, Celestia I crashed into the Mun at a speed of 845m/s just eight hours and twenty minutes after launch.

The second-stage booster followed Celestia I and impacted the Munar surface a few minutes after the probe. However, the booster had nearly half of its fuel remaining, which is a common trend with the launch vehicles. As the missions become more complex, the price-tag usually goes up with it. And can KSP really justify wasting resources like this? When asked about the projects funding, a spokesman replied:

'We are aware that our rocket division is perhaps a little over-zealous. However, we have begun to invest a lot of time into this issue. We have a new series of launch vehicles in development which we can expect to see soon.'

Regardless of this, we look forward to the next mission.