CELESTIA PROGRAM SUMMARY

The staff at KSP can look back at their second year into the Space Program with much pride. A total of sixteen vehicles were launched through the Celestia program, eleven of which were successful and with six still operating today. Six probes, eight landers and two rovers left the boundaries of Kerbin to explore the Mun. One even returned to us. Great streams of data have been sent back, stunning images have been captured and a plethora of tests have been conducted.

A chart showing information about the vehicles launched in the Celestia project

'Outstanding.' said Gene Kerman at the closing conference of Project: Celestia. 'We have achieved everything we set out to do. First we reached the Mun. Then we landed on it and orbited it. Then we advanced our landings with heavier vehicles carrying much science equipment. After that we landed, and then took off again. The next probe took that a stage further and actually returned to Kerbin with Mun samples. Now we are roving around it's surface. And to finish it off, we have two advanced orbiters doing different but equally important roles that will see us through to the next phase. It's a great time to be a Kerbal!'

Six of the vehicle are still operating, which consist of two landers, two rovers and two orbiting probes. It is expected that the landers won't function for much longer. The rovers are planned for a year of operation, but this is expected to run longer. The orbiters, however, could last well up to a decade.

The impact and landing sites of the various Celestia vehicles

The success of the mission also goes to the launch vehicles that took the probes there. Currently supplied by DAA Aerospace, three launch vehicles were used: Houndstone C-2A, Union A-2A and Union A-2B. The C-2A vehicle was only used once. It wasn't entirely understood how difficult it would be to get to the Mun, so one of the most powerful rockets available was used. With that data, DAA Aerospace was able to fine tune their latest launch vehicle, the Union A-2A. Later, the Union A-2B was used for the final three missions. This modified version sacrificed it's RCS, losing a lot of it's maneuverability and fine course correction, to save weight so heavier vehicles could be sent to the Mun. At this stage of the project, developing a new launch system was not a cost-effective solution when simple modifications to existing equipment was enough.

The three launch vehicles used. The Union A-2A and Union A-2B are virtually identical in appearance

The Celestia program has achieved all the required testing thought to be needed to prove that Kerbals can indeed land on the Mun and return to Kerbin safely. The announcement of the next project is expected in the next few days.