CELESTIA XI COMPLETES MUN FLIGHT TRIALS

KSP - Year 2, Day 225

After Celestia X's failed attempt to prove that vehicles can land and then take-off again from the Mun, Celestia XI was next up to have a shot at the mission. Eleven days after launch, it signaled back to Kerbin the success of these objectives.

Another Union A-2A takes Celestia XI to the Mun

Celestia XI conducted it's lifting trials over 10 days. The first lift, the simplest maneuver, involved a simple ten-meter ascent and landing, which took place three days after the probe touched down. The second was another ten-meter ascent followed by a ten-second hover, which occurred six days after landing. The third, which is the most difficult and where Celestia X met it's premature end, involved the ten-meter ascent followed by a horizontal flight across the surface before landing again. This was conducted ten days after it's initial landing.

One of the lead project directors stated:

'We have now successfully proved that a vehicle can land on the Mun, take off, fly over the surface and then touch down again. This is an important accomplishment and one we are proud of.'

The landing site was Harvester Crater, which is the large crater located just south of the Lake of Remembrance. KSP's Mun orbiter, Celestia VIII, revealed this to be a particularly mountainous area. This made it a perfect proving ground for Celestia XI. It was decided that if the probe can successfully conduct maneuvers here, any following craft would have a good chance of doing the same anywhere on the Mun's surface.

Harvester Crater is one of the larger craters after the giant Magna-Lacus'

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of this particular mission is Celestia XI being the first landing-probe not to be fitted with a camera for surface imaging. Staff stated that they could not justify the cost of installing a camera when surface imaging was not it's goal. Which is a shame, because Harvester Crater perhaps offers some spectacular views.

Celestia XI is expected to be bathed in grand views as depicted in this painting

With the Celestia project proving that vehicles can orbit, land, take-off and fly across the surface of the Mun, we expect to be knocking on the door of manned flight soon.