Deuce Science Flight 17

MSV Aldeny set sail earlier today for the recovery zone 325km to the east and has contacted us through Sheltered Rock to report ships passing them headed for Umbarg say a storm is working westwards & could affect recovery or launch tomorrow (not actual sail route)

ground crews are readying the Deuce for departure in the next hour. This photo gives you a better idea of The Chute they flew down last week and today they'll be climbing out over The Wall. SRG is no joke! Pilots that can fly in & out of here can fly anywhere

Deuce is fired up & ready to go with Val in the left seat operating the aircraft and Jeb in the right seat handling navigation, comms and additional tasks Val can't do without releasing the yoke. Taxi/takeoff clearance has been granted

after ramping off the end of the runway, using the slope to help accelerate, Val pulled a hard left and hauled back on the stick to climb hard over The Wall at 3km, holding positive rate at 15m/s. Jeb immediately cleaned up the aircraft, pulling in the gear & flaps to reduce drag

clearing The Wall in the dark is always a bit dicey, but the aircraft stuck to the instrument departure and had no problems with terrain. Heading south now, descending over the foothills on the other side, Val will level off for cruise at 2km ASL

Jeb signed off as they dipped below the horizon. It's dark, you can't see storm clouds. Flying at a constant altitude allows Katgan in the back to begin to guide them towards the lower pressure area out to sea where the storm resides

Jeb got back in touch with us a few mins ago & Val has vectors with clearance for a straight-in approach to Rwy27, looks like they got a good slice of the storm in one pass - Kat says the cabin windows need shades, she was very distracted by the lightning in the darkness

Ascension program planners are still working the updated drag and flight dynamics results from the Mk1 flight into the Mk2 ascent trajectory to make sure we still end up in an orbit so expect a launch date next week. What about this week? Catch up: kerbalspace.agency/?p=10393