Kerbal Space Administration

Year 15, Day 306 About a month ago, the Duna Reconnaissance Orbiter entered a low orbit around the red planet, Duna. It was a very large and exciting moment for all, and was a mission to see if we could map other planets like we could with Kerbin. The mission was launched on Day 201 of this year, and arrived just months later at Duna. After successfully entering a perfect 90° polar orbit, its mission begun; to study Duna from above and map the entire surface. Shockingly, the time it took for DRO to map the whole surface of Duna was far shorter than scientists and engineers expected. Instead of taking 2-3 months as they predicted, it only took a little over 1 month to map the whole surface of Duna. Researchers, scientists, and engineers still have absolutely no clue as to why this is. It could have been "simply enough, incorrect assumptions and calculations" as engineer Bill Kerman theorized. Official KSA Article Directly below is the surface map of the planet Duna, courtesy...

Year 15, Day 244 A new space telescope has been launched, called the Kandra Space Observatory; and it captures X-rays. This new telescope (technically a space observatory in orbit) is called the Kandra Space Observatory, designed and funded for by the Kandra Foundation and KPL. The project costed approximately ƒ17,000 (Funds) to develop and launch (roughly 102 million USD). What's different about this telescope, however, is VERY cool indeed! Instead of just capturing visible light, kind of how like the Kerman Space Telescope works, it also is able to capture X-rays, which can allow the telescope to pierce deep into near planetary systems. In fact, one new exoplanet has ACTUALLY been found around the close star Tuun, the brightest star in the night sky. That planet's name is Puf, a potentially habitable "eyeball world", only the third planet found around Tuun so far. We already discovered the binary planetary system of Rask and Rusk a while back, and Debdeb has a lot...

Year 15, Day 220 Finally, after many months of launching missions and building, the KSS is finally complete! The pieces for the truss structure (including solar arrays) were launched on the KS-5 and KS-6 missions respectively. After this, KS-7 launched Kvezda, the first true docking port for the station, which itself was very similar to Karya. And then KS-8 launched the final piece to the station, to be connected with the Done&Dusted lab module; actually, a complex of modules kind of like how Kunity launched to Karya, with multiple nodes already attached. This final piece was at its core another docking port (central node, called Harmony), and connected to it on its port side was the Kribo Lab Module, built for the KSS via the help of KerbalMax Industries and the C7 Aerospace Division. The other connection, on the starboard side, was the Kolumbus Lab Module, made possible thanks to Integrated Integrals. These also store more electrical power alongside being secondary laboratories...

Year 15, Day 200 The KSA has finally launched KS-4 which brought the second part of the Kerbal Space Station into orbit; it actually includes several modules in one, each of them are:  Done&Dusted Lab Module Tranquil Node Cupola Module Kunity Hub Module Kwest Airlock Harmony Node This marks a huge step forward in the construction of the station. Along with this, the first crew of the KSS is now onboard! They are scheduled to stay on the station for about 2 months and then return to Kerbin's surface, just as a test to see how living in space will affect future Kerbals from boarding the station. Official KSA Article

Year 15, Day 179 The KSA proudly announces its new website, KSA-GOV! You heard that right, the KSA made an official website. It will have new KST images, featured sections, learning sections, and so, so much more. Don't worry, this blog isn't abandoned; just has a new companion site! The KSA built it to make it easier to share their discoveries and connect with the rest of the astronomy community.  You can even sign up to have your own KSP screenshots or alternatively SpaceEngine shots on the front page by contacting parkerrallieshope@gmail.com, if you wish, of course! All images will be saved in the "Images" page, but only one image will be chosen for the front page. You can click here to view the website! And remember, if you like it, bookmark that site! You can also contact me at the same email (parkerrallieshope@gmail.com) to provide feedback about the website. Thank you all! Official KSA Article

Year 15, Day 176 Finally, after a long journey, the small but mighty Triumph rover has made it to Duna! And yes, indeed, it has already landed on the surface, flawlessly! The historic landing was made yesterday and demonstrated that Kerbals can achieve anything they want with enough determination. The even better part is, the rover works! It does drive, albeit, quite slow, but it does have to crawl across the Dunatian surface slowly so it doesn't encounter big problems that could otherwise inhibit the rover's function, like a rock that could flip it or the Kraken being particularly mean that day. Maximum speed of the rover is only 1 meter per second, but still, for a first rover? That's really fast, also given its size. It's also captured images from the surface of Duna. It'll plan to use its scientific instruments onboard, such as its spectrometer, barometer, and thermometer to study the harsh conditions of the red planet. After that and more driving tests, its ...

Year 15, Day 154 The KSA has rolled out another megaproject, once again, a HUGE one... A space station! The station, being developed globally by other scientific partner organizations, is called the Kerbal Space Station (KSS). The first piece, made in collaboration by the KSA and Rockomax Conglomerate, was put into orbit by the KS-3 mission and is called Karya. This is a very large step for space travel and planning how to live in space. The first Kerbonauts are expected to arrive within the next month, so stay tuned! Very exciting times of space travel await us. Official KSA Article

Year 15, Day 142 The KSA has finished their work on yet another project, and this one is HUGE... Figuratively. A rover to Duna, called Triumph! The rover is a first of its kind mission to Duna to uncover the secrets of the red planet and test for future rovers on the planet. Basically, to determine the feasibility of larger rovers on Duna later down the line, ones that could actually find out even more about the planet. It also has aboard several tools to study the surface of Duna. This includes its Spectrometer for Atmosphere and Ground Survey (SAGS), cameras, and thermometer unit. It also has onboard things critical for its function, including the solar panel "roof" and CommNet short antenna. And with these things all functioning together into a gold foil covered box with wheels, we get a beautiful rover ready for the harsh conditions on Duna! It's likely that within the month, Triumph will be launched and sent to Duna, hopefully with landing success. May we continue ...