CELESTIA VIII - THE FIRST PROBE TO ORBIT THE MUN

KSP - Year 2, Day 141

Following the success of Celestia VII, the staff at KSP wanted to put a probe into orbit around the Mun to observe the surface for future landings. To do this, Celestia VIII was constructed as an orbiting scientific platform that would be the new eyes for Mission Control.

'We know we can land a vehicle on the Mun,'  said Gene Kerman. 'But Celestia-seven was a simple probe to prove that we could achieve a landing. If we had sent a vehicle that was built on a large budget and it turned out the surface of the Mun was quicksand, then we would have upset a lot of investors. Now that we know the surface is solid, we can set something special down. But we don't want to just pick a site that looks good from here. We need eyes up there to investigate a significant landing site.'

Celestia VIII launches on top of the new Union A-2A launch vehicle

To achieve this goal, Celestia VIII was constructed as the Mun's first orbiting laboratory. A camera, similar to the one fitted to Observer, was used on the probe. Before now, Observer has been the KSC's eyes in the sky to study the Mun. And it has done a grand job. But as the project progresses, the staff need a more detailed picture of the Mun's surface. To do this, the probe needs to be closer. But Celestia VIII is more than just an observatory. It is also fitted with other equipment that will help mission control gather significant data of the Mun.

An artists impression of Celestia VIII orbiting the Mun

Just over five-and-a-half hours after lift off, Celestia VIII became the first Kerbin-made object to orbit the Mun. The probe flies eighty kilometers above the surface and takes pictures of potential landing sites for future landers. But perhaps the most striking picture sent back by the probe is one of our planet. It's the first time a picture of Kerbin has been taken from this distance, and reveals our planet in it's entirety from space.

The most distance and spectacular image of Kerbin captured yet by any probe to date

With Celestia VIII now fulfilling the role of Observer, it is thought that the ageing observatory will shift it's focus to Minmus. A lot of the Observer team have apparently moved to work with Celestia VIII already. An engineer stated:

'Observer is nearly out of fuel now. It has achieved some great results, such as the Mun Mosaic. It is under debate whether to extend it's life further and use it to gather some information on Minmus, or just retire the satellite. Either way, it's mission is almost at an end.'

With Celestia VIII taking up residence around the Mun, we can now look forward to greater things as it finds sites of interest for future landers.