KerbalX

Details

• Type: VAB
• Class: probe
• Part Count: 26
• Mods: 2
• KSP: 1.11.1

Mods

• Bluedog DB
• CONTARES

The idea of placing an telescope, or other kind of observatory, into space had been theorized since the mid-19th century. The biggest limitations of ground-based telescopes was atmospheric noise and light pollution where as one in space would be free from it all to make bigger observances. The first serious work on a space telescope was done by Lyman Spitzer in 1946 but it would be more than two decades later before Orbiting Astronomical Observatory-2 (OAO-2) would be activated in 1968. The Soviets also had their own success with the Orion 1 telescope launched with Salyut 1 in 1971.

The European Space Research Organization (ESRO) began developing the Large Astronomical Satellite (LAS) in 1964 to become the first European space telescope but funding issues caused its cancellation four years later. The project was later revived in 1973 as a collaborative effort between the European Space Agency (ESA), NASA, and the UK Science Research Council. The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was finally launched on January 28th, 1978 on board a Delta 2914 rocket which was a Delta 2000 series with (9) Castor 2 boosters with an additional fourth stage, the Star 37E solid rocket. It was placed in a stable geosynchronous orbit for an initial three year mission with the first two months used as a commissioning phase to test out systems and instruments. The IUE was highly successful and became the first space telescope that could be operated in live time by ground operators. While it was slated for deactivation in 1982 it continued operation, at near-perfect efficiency, including detailed observations of Hailey’s Comet and every planet (minus Mercury) until it was finally deactivated in September 1996, a full fourteen years after it was initially scheduled to be terminated.

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) is an approximation of the real life one using a mixture of Bluedog parts for the launcher and parts from CONTARES PROBES for the actual telescope. It is powered by a set of solar panel wings which wrap around the body while retracted providing for a relatively slim payload profile. It is meant to be operated in Medium Kerbal Orbit (MKO) near a keosynchronous orbit which is approximately 2863.33 km.

The Daleth 2000 series, 2914 variant is an approximation of the Delta 2914 which carried the real-life IUE made with Bluedog Design Bureau parts. It has one major difference in that it uses eight Dioscuri boosters instead of nine but I’ve retained the same numbering for simplicity’s sake. The main and booster stages are fired together with the booster rockets providing thrust augmentation with the exhausted boosters remaining on the main stage. They should get you to space after which the second stage, the Daleth-P, takes over to bring the payload into MKO. Lastly, the Staara-37D handles the orbital burn and will probably leave you with a slightly eccentric orbit.

The historical mission profile will put in close to a KSO and you should aim for an initial apogee of 2863.33 km although your perigee will almost certainly be considerably above or below the initial projection. The timing of the final stage is critical to your final orbital parameters and firing it too early or too late will leave you with a much more eccentric orbit.

Built in the VAB in KSP version 1.11.1.