Orion Program Update: Strategy and Timeline

In late 2017, President Donald Trump issued Space Policy Directive-1, calling on the NASA Administrator to:
Lead an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners to enable human expansion across the solar system and to bring to Earth new knowledge and opportunities.Beginning with missions beyond Low-Earth Orbit, the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations.*
This Exploration Campaign strives for four strategic goals:
1. Transitioning LOE missions to commercial operations which support NASA and the needs of an emerging private sector market;
2.Extend long-duration U.S. human spaceflight operations to lunar orbit;
3.Enable long-term robotic exploration of the Moon;
4.Enable human exploration of the Moon as preparation for human missions to Mars and deeper into the solar system.*
Building on 18 years of ISS partnership with other nations, the Exploration Campaign also:
Leverages advances in the commercial space sector, robotics and other technologies, and accelerates in the next few years with the launch of NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket.
NASA is building a plan for Americans to orbit the Moon starting in 2023 and land astronauts on the surface by the late 2020s.*
The plan requires NASA to:
Conduct the uncrewed SLS/Orion first flight in 2020 to the lunar vicinity;
Conduct a crewed flight sending Americans around the Moon in 2023;
Establish a human-tended lunar orbiting platform for crews to visit from Earth, to  transit to and from the lunar surface, and to depart to and  return from Mars;
Develop the Gateway that at a minimum:
Emplaces a power-propulsion (communications) element (PPE) around the Moon by 2022.*
The Gateway is to be incrementally transported to lunar orbit by the SLS/Orion and  commercial launch capabilities.*
At this time, everything is on track for a 2020 launch of Exploration Mission-1 and 2023 launch
of Exploration Mission-2, the first crewed Orion Program mission.
EM-1 will carry a German Space Agency (DLR) radiation protection experiment
using an Israeli radiation protection
spacesuit and two dummies.

Momentum Rapidly Building for Orion Program - cislunar operations taking shape

NASA is rapidly addressing the daunting issues that face it and international partners as the way to crewed deep space and lunar exploration is opened for the first time since the Apollo missions of the late sixties and early seventies.First,there is the issue of scheduling.The ambition and the will to move forward of the US Government,the EU and the other ISS partners is there now,so solutions are earnestly being drawn up.
1.What to do about the ISS?While the ISS is on the downslope of its service life,with obsolescence coming in 2025,it could possibly be extended to at least 2028 with a public-private partnership to maintain the current setup,or even an intiative to build a new Low Earth Orbit facility or facilities.At the same time,the Orion Program has the solid backing of the Trump administration,so NASA isn't sitting around daydreaming.
2.The first integrated test flight of Orion and the Space Launch System,EM-1,is now planned for a launch sometime between December 2019 and June 2020.Before that,however,is Ascent Abort-2,the final test of the Orion emergency escape system,scheduled for 2019.
3.EM-2,the first crewed Orion mission,which will send humans to a high lunar orbit 40,000 miles above the Moon,the farthest humans have ever traveled from Earth,must be held off till 2023 for a very practical reason:the mobile launch platform has to be modified to handle the heavier upgraded propulsion stage in a 33-month process.This is because EM-1 is to be launched with only the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS).
4.The Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway project,designed as a platform to both prepare for and stage the Orion deep space missions from,and further scientific knowledge of the Earth,Sun and Moon,is planned to begin in 2022 as the power and propulsion system is launched on a separate mission;it was initially to be carried up by EM-2.Scientists have submitted 190 abstracts to NASA on research the LOP-G could carry out,and NASA recently convened a conference of scientists and engineers to scope the possibilities out.
5.Public/private partnerships are pegged as the way to develop both the LOP-G and lunar landing and exploration technologies needed for the scientists' proposals that,besides lunar studies,range from astrophysics and telescope assembly,to heliophysics and Earth science.
The idea is,to make good use of the LOP-G in between the yearly Orion missions of the 2020s and beyond.

Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway Planning Accelerated as the ISS Partnership Met In Holland

Construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway,as the ISS successor is now being called,is projected to begin in the first half of the 2020s.The LOP-G is the main destination for the Orion Program in the 2020s,building up enough experience for missions beyond the Moon and possibly to Mars and even a Venus flyby in the 2030s.The LOP-G is being designed by the five space agencies of the ISS Partnership to succeed the aging Low Earth Orbit station:NASA,ESA,Roscosmos,the Canadian Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency.The second meeting for LOP-G planning was held in August 2017 at the European Space Centre,ESTEC,in Noordwijk,the Netherlands.*
An outline of the LOP-G initiative has been drawn up.It lays out establishing a cislunar presence as Phase 1 of the project,the core of which is the new space station.The LOP-G is not meant to be continually staffed,unlike the ISS;instead,with the Orion spacecraft docked,a crew of four would work in space for 42 day periods.The LOP-G would consist of a power/propulsion module;a habitation module;a possible airlock for space walks,similar to the Space Shuttle setup;likely an updated Canadarm robot arm;and possibly an advanced glass cupola for a 360-degree view of the Moon and Earth.
The core LOP-G would be assembled by 2025 over three SLS flights,each with a crewed Orion capsule.This could possibly be changed to two SLS flights plus a less expensive SpaceX Falcon 9 Heavy flight for the power/propulsion module deployment,given the President's 2019 NASA budget proposal.
Commercial or international partners could provide the resupply flights.The final construction mission,to bring up the airlock,is projected for 2026.*
With the LOP-G,NASA will practice complex deep space rendezvous,while learning to live and work where a quick return to Earth is not possible.The 40kw solar-electric propulsion system,more powerful than any SEP currently operating,will allow LOP-G to transition between an always-sunlight halo lunar orbit to other orbits that could be used for other applications,including lunar landings.Anyone can come and use the LOP-G,both the commercial and international partners.*
In Phase 2,the Deep Space Transport,depicted as a cylindrical vehicle in concept artwork,will be developed.The LOP-G will be a lunar port of call for a large crew vehicle,the DST.Between each trip,the DST will be resupplied,refurbished and maintained at the LOP-G.Each DST will be good for a total of three roundtrips to Mars.One SLS cargo flight will carry a DST to lunar orbit in 2027.No other launch vehicle but the SLS can carry the 41 metric tonnes of the DST to the Moon in one piece,the minimum size for a Mars-class transport.*
In 2029,a crew would board the DST for a one-year shakedown mission.In 2033,there will be the first crewed flight to a Mars orbit.If a Venus assist,or slingshot,is used to reach Mars,the astronauts could observe the clouds of Venus and the volcanoes of Mars on one mission.*
This is the basic outline sketched by the ISS partners in Holland last summer.Details may be altered,but President Donald Trump and the National Space Council under Vice President Mike Pence are committed to the Orion Program and its commercial and international partnerships.The President's 2019 NASA Budget proposal funds both EM-1 and EM-2,which are the first two Orion missions;the ISS through 2024;as well as the Parker Solar Probe,James Webb Space Telescope and other important missions such as New Horizons.

Orion Program Update-what are they working on and when will it launch?

As far as NASA and partner ESA are concerned,it's full speed ahead for the Orion Program-not just for test flight Exploration Mission-1,but even for EM-2,the first crewed mission of Orion.The Orion Crew Module is currently being processed for EM-1,the first integrated mission of Orion and the new Space Launch System rocket,the most powerful rocket ever built.The capsule has been in the clean room of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center,Florida,where critical systems such as propellant lines,Environmental Control and life support systems are being installed.In the building's high bay,a number of test stands,processing bays and other hardware have been laid out.Several Orion components such as Thermal Protection Panels are in various stages of processing there,NASA said.
The Orion Crew Module will be launched from Pad 39B in 2019 on EM-1.A three-week flight will take it some 40,000 miles beyond the Moon into cislunar space,the farthest a human-rated spacecraft has ever flown.After a fiery re-entry,it will splash down in the Pacific.*
Meanwhile,in Europe the European Space Agency Orion Service Module is being processed for EM-1 and will be shipped to KSC in 2018.Additionally,the second ESA OSM,for EM-2,is being constructed by ESA contractor Thales Alenia in Turin,Italy.The ESA OSMs provide power,propulsion,cooling,water and oxygen to the Crew Module.*
The purpose of the Exploration Missions is to build and test the systems needed for the challenging deep space missions to the Mars system and beyond in the 2030s,in concert with NASA's domestic and international partners.The vision taking shape involves constructing the Deep Space Gateway,a small space station that will facilitate further crewed and robotic cislunar missions on the way to Mars.There may be about five crewed lunar landing missions in the 2020s as well as robotic counterparts,evaluating commercial prospects on the Moon as well as increasing the scientific knowledge base about our only natural satellite,while preparing for longer duration space flight more independent of Earth.*
The other major component of Orion,the Space Launch System,has been making similar progress.According to John Honeycutt,SLS Program Manager at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,Alabama:
This year,the SLS team has constructed major parts of the rocket,such as the in-space stage,which is already at NASA's KSC in Florida;the four RS-25 engines;core stage structures;and solid rocket booster segments.The rocket is happening now.The SLS has made great progress and has an exciting year ahead as NASA conducts critical structure tests at Marshall,assembles the core stage and the RS-25 engines at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans,and delivers more hardware to the launch pad at Kennedy.                              

Orion Program Update: Summer of Safety and Recovery Systems Testing,SLS Rocket Fabrication and Testing

This summer has been quite busy for the Orion Program,with multiple tracks of testing and fabrication going on at various NASA and contractor faclilities.The media rarely report what many Americans would consider dull engineering activity.Of course,the excitement of exploration cannot occur without these extensive preparations.No one will fly in a shoddily built,unsafe and untested spacecraft.In actual fact,the missions to deep space have already begun with this hardware development,and also the research on long-duration flight being done on ISS.*
On 14 June,a mock-up of the Orion crew module was dropped out of a Boeing C-17 Globemaster at an altitude of 25,000 feet over the US Army Proving Ground in Yuma,Arizona to test the three main parachutes.The test was of the parachutes' performance in low altitude and low dynamic pressure.The engineers are testing for different situations in this flight qualification process.It was the sixth of eight tests.*
NASA has also been testing an updated design for the crew module uprighting system,a system of five airbags on top of the capsule that inflate at splashdown.The original design,tested on Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014,didn't work properly.The airbags should turn Orion right side up if high winds or waves were to flip it over,or if it should land nose cone first in the ocean.The testing will be in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at Johnson Space Center,Houston,one of several tests to validate computer models.Later in the summer,the airbags will be tested in the Gulf of Mexico off the Galveston,Texas coast.*
On 15 June,subcontractor Orbital ATK tested the abort motor for the Launch Abort System,firing it for five seconds.The LAS is positioned on top of the Orion crew module,and propels the crew in their capsule away from the Space Launch System rocket,directing them toward the Atlantic Ocean for a safe descent in the event of an emergency.*
The test verified that the LAS can fire within milliseconds and will work as expected under high temperatures,NASA said.*
As well,crew egress testing took place from 10-14 July in the Gulf of Mexico by an interagency group of NASA,US Navy,Coast Guard and Air Force personnel to stage various ideal and less than ideal splashdown and recovery scenarios,such as landing off course or water intruding into the crew module.*
Meanwhile,Space Launch System rocket hardware such as fuel tanks and solid rocket booster motors are being fabricated and tested by contractors including Boeing and Orbital ATK.All the hardware will eventually be shipped to Kennedy Space Center for stacking and integration of Orion and the SLS for the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1 in 2019.EM-1 will be  followed by the crewed EM-2 in the 2022-3 time frame,taking astronauts a record 40,000 miles past the Moon and dropping off 13 CubeSats,small satellites that will conduct research on lunar and astrobiology topics,among others.*
Boeing (BA),Orbital ATK Inc (OA)

Bulletin:NASA Rejects Revision to Orion Program Schedule - thanks,but no thanks

NASA has politely declined the White House's suggestion that it might speed things up and make the first launch of the integrated Orion system,Exploration Mission -1,also the first crewed Orion mission.While expressing gratitude for President Trump's obvious enthusiasm for the space program,the agency feels it would not be in the long-term interests of the Orion Program to skip the uncrewed fully integrated test flight it originally planned for,this late in the mission planning process.It would be difficult.*
Instead,NASA will proceed with a focus on the uncrewed EM-1 test flight,while at the same time constructing hardware for the first crewed Orion mission,EM-2.EM-1 is now planned for a 2019 launch,taking all factors into consideration,including hurricane damage that was sustained by NASA facilities.EM-1 will be a technological milestone,as it takes a human-rated spacecraft to a high lunar orbit,farther than one has ever gone before.It will also be a definitive confirmation that Orion is indeed on track for safe,reliable operations in deep space.

First Integrated Piece of Space Launch System Hardware Headed for Cape Canaveral AFS - NASA's new deep space rocket

The Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage,or ICPS,which is the upper stage of the massive Space Launch System deep space rocket,is currently being transported by barge and truck to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida from Alabama.Its destination is the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Operation Center at the Cape.The ICPS is the first piece of integrated SLS hardware that will arrive at the Cape for final processing and testing before shipment to Ground Systems Development Operations at Kennedy Space Center prior to launch on Exploration Mission-1 in the 2018-19 time frame.At the request of the White House,NASA began a formal feasibility study on 17 February 2017 of making EM-1 the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft,moving that goal up from 2021.In a more informal study of the question the agency conducted on its own,NASA concluded it would be technically possible to meld the first crewed mission with the EM-1 shakedown mission of the integrated Orion/SLS.The formal review,with input from the Astronaut Office and a lot of consideration of crew safety,will be ready in about a month.*
Designed and built by Boeing in Huntsville,Alabama and United Launch Alliance,a Boeing/Lockheed Martin partnership,in Decatur,Alabama,the ICPS will propel Orion and 13 secondary payloads of CubeSats (small satellites) to a point beyond the Moon,into deep space.If EM-1 is crewed,NASA says there would likely be two crew members on an 8-9 day mission to cislunar space,in a high orbit around the Moon farther out than humans have gone before,where the goal of reaching the Mars system will be advanced through a series of Orion missions.*
Eventually,the ICPS will be replaced by the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage,or EUS,which will be capable of taking astronauts far beyond the Moon,to the Mars system or elsewhere.
Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Orion Rising:What To Expect in 2017 and Beyond From the Deep Space Spacecraft

At this writing,the constellation Orion has begun rising in the eastern sky shortly after nightfall,pleasing those both with and without telescopes.At the same time,its namesake spacecraft is steadily being prepared for its 2018 launch on Exploration Mission-1,the first unmanned,integrated test of the complete Orion deep space exploration system,including the Crew module,ESA Service Module and Space Launch System rocket,in a high orbit around the Moon.These preparations will continue throughout the new year,bringing the first manned,record-breaking test of Orion,Exploration Mission-2,ever closer - as soon as 2021.At that point,NASA plans one launch a year of Orion in pursuit of its deep space objectives.
If 2016 was a time for integrating structural elements into the spacecraft,and then critical systems such as avionics components and propulsion tubing,next year will unfold as:
1.In spring 2017,computers in the Crew Module for EM-1 will be turned on for the first time to verify that the spacecraft can route power and send commands in an integrated test to verify Orion's systems are connected and responding appropriately.
2.The ESA Orion Service Module that will propel and power Orion will be shipped to Kennedy Space Center after structural and systems work is finished up at Airbus Defence & Space in Bremen,Germany.
3.The heat shield will be secured onto the Crew Module in summer,and then the Crew and Service Modules will be stacked one on top of the other.In early 2018,this stack will be shipped to NASA Glenn Plum Brook Station,Ohio,where it will undergo tests in the dynamics of launch and the harsh environment of deep space flight.
4.Several parachute tests will take place over the Arizona desert to verify the safety of recovery operations.
5.Human factors tests such as a legibility test will help evaluate how humans interact with the new spacecraft.
6.Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin will carry out its own series of stress tests at its Denver facility.*
Even as these tests for EM-1 go on,construction work for the EM-2 Crew Module will begin in 2017.
Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Understanding NASA's Journey to Mars - what to expect and when

NASA'S Journey to Mars consists of three phases,and two of them have already begun.The first phase is the Earth Reliant.It runs from today to the mid-2020s,and is centered on the International Space Station,which operates through 2024.The ISS,NASA says,is a world-class test bed for the technologies and communications systems needed for human missions to deep space.The astronauts are ascertaining what it takes to live and work in space for extended periods.In particular,NASA wants to know how the body changes over time in the harsh environment of space and how to protect astronaut health.*
Besides this quest for knowledge,we are working with our commercial crew and cargo partners on providing access to Low Earth Orbit and eventually stimulate new economic activity,allowing NASA to continue using the station while preparing for deep space missions.*
The second phase,Proving Ground,runs from 2018-30.There will be regular crewed missions and spacewalks in cislunar space,or lunar orbit.Their goal is to verify deep space habitation.Three of these crewed cislunar missions have been mentioned so far.Before them,in November 2018,the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1 will go 40,000 miles beyond the Moon on an approximately three-week mission to test the new Space Launch System rocket and European Service Module for the Orion spacecraft.In the 2021-23 time frame,EM-1 will be basically replicated by the first crewed mission of the Orion programme,EM-2,which will set a new record for distance traveled from Earth on a human spaceflight.There will also be an Asteroid Redirect Mission culminating in the mid-2020s that will test deep spacewalking and sampling techniques;along with Solar Electric Propulsion,which will be used to deliver substantial cargo for human missions to Mars;and a planetary security manoeuvre,the gravity tractor experiment,that will test a technique which may be able to deflect an asteroid getting too close to Earth.Finally in the 2020s will be a year-long mission to validate readiness for the Mars mission.*
The third phase of the Journey to Mars plan is the Earth Independent,running from now to the early 2030s.Mars rovers are already studying potential Exploration Zones for compelling scientific research sites and resources our astronauts could possibly use.The next rover goes up in 2020;a round-trip robotic sample return mission is planned for the late 2020s.A mission to send humans into Low Mars Orbit is envisioned for the early 2030s.
This phase will test the entry,descent and landing techniques needed to get humans to the surface of the red planet and study what's needed for in-situ resource utilisation.NASA is confident we are well on the way to getting there,landing there,and living there.

Fire in the Desert:NASA Tests SLS Booster for First Flight

On Tuesday 28 January,NASA lit up the desert with a tremendous and lengthy spurt of flame as it tested the Space Launch System booster at Orbital ATK Propulsion Systems in Promontory,Utah.It was the second and final test firing before the first launch of the integrated Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket on the unmanned Exploration Mission-1 to a high orbit over the Moon in late 2018,NASA said.The two-minute full-duration qualification ground test for the SLS booster provided NASA with critical data to support booster qualification for flight and test the motor at the colder end of its accepted propellant temperature range at a targeted 40 degrees Fahrenheit.*
EM-1 will mark the farthest distance a human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled from the earth.The Orion/SLS pair will eventually launch astronauts into deep space,including an asteroid-redirect mission and then on to the Mars system,beginning with EM-2.*
The first SLS booster test had been successfully completed in March 2015 and demonstrated good performance at the higher end of the accepted propellant range of 90 degrees F.Testing at the extremes experienced on the launch pad is important to understanding the effects of temperature on the propellant's ballistic performance.*
The SLS booster was lying on its side on Test Stand 97 in a brushy and hilly desert landscape.A problem with a ground systems computer unrelated to the flight hardware caused a three hour delay of the test.Some 600 gigabytes of data were collected on the 82 test objectives as a crowd of at least hundreds of observers looked on from a mile and a half away.Former astronaut and now Orbital ATK Vice President Charlie Precourt described it as a beautiful test.The contractor aims to preserve the forensic data,freezing everything that happened at the moment of shutdown and dissecting the motor for qualification,Mr.Precourt said.Film,acoustics and temperature data will be digested.
The company is well into casing the propellant of the left booster of EM-1.Three of the total of 10 booster segments-five for each booster-needed for EM-1 are already completed and fueled for flight.*

Orbital ATK,Inc (OA)

New NASA Report Clarifies the Mission To Mars

NASA has released an intricate roadmap of its central manned spaceflight mission:"NASA's Journey To Mars:Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration."According to NASA Administrator General Charles Bolden,US Marine Corps Retired,the report,which was reviewed by this blog,consists of additional details about our journey to Mars and how we are aligning all of our work in support of this goal.The plan presents three thresholds of challenges,each more difficult than the last as the distance from Earth increases:
1.Earth Reliant Exploration is centered on the International Space Station,where the world class microgravity laboratory is testing technologies and advancing human health and performance research that will enable deep space,long duration missions.
2.Proving Ground:NASA will learn to conduct complex operations in a deep space environment that is just days from Earth.Primarily,this means cislunar space,or that volume of space which is around the Moon.Cislunar space features multiple possible staging orbits for future deep space missions.In this phase,NASA will advance and validate capabilities needed for humans living and working at vast distances from Earth,such as at Mars.This phase is linked to the upcoming Orion Exploration Mission flights and the Asteroid Redirect Mission.
3.The Earth Independent threshold builds on the previous two to enable Mars missions,possibly to low-Mars orbit or one of the Martian moons before an eventual landing on Mars.*
This strategy charts a course toward horizon goals,while delivering near-term benefits and defining a resilient architecture that can accommodate budgetary changes;political priorities;new scientific discoveries;technological breakthroughs;and evolving partnerships,said Dr.William Gerstenmeier,NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations.The ultimate goal is enabling humans to thrive beyond Earth for extended periods of time,leading to a substantial presence in deep space.The near-term missions have a cadence of compelling and integrated human and robotic missions providing for an incremental buildup of capabilities for more complex missions over time.At least one crewed mission per year is envisioned for the Proving Ground,cislunar phase.
The Proving Ground phase begins in 2018 with Exploration Mission 1,the first integrated test of the new Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft,including the SLS launch performance;Orion's heat shield performance following return from deep space;and deep space navigation.
Exploration Mission 2 will be the first crewed mission for Orion,featuring the addition of the Exploration Upper Stage and the possibility of co-manifested payloads within the EUS-to-Orion launch vehicle adapter,such as pressurised modules for habitability.*
Beyond these initial cislunar missions,the Asteroid Redirect Mission introduces Solar Electric Propulsion,which utilises energy from the sun to accelerate ionised propellant to very high speeds,to provide thrust for months or years-transporting big loads with far less propellant than with chemical propellant,extending the deep space exploration capabilities critical for Mars and beyond.
Deep space acronyms mentioned in the report include EDL-Entry,Descent and Landing;ISRU-Insitu Resource Utilisation;SEP-Solar Electric Propulsion;EUS-Exploration Upper Stage;and ECLSS-Environmental Control and Life Support Systems.NASA emphasises that its Mission to Mars is for all of humanity and international in character, relying heavily on partners from the ISS missions and more,as well as space industry partners.For example,the European Space Agency is providing the test Service Module that is stacked beneath the Orion spacecraft.

Manned Spaceflight Update:First Space Launch System Booster Test;International Space Station One-Year Crew Nears Launch

On 11 March,a major milestone was reached when the Space Launch System's solid rocket booster passed the first of two flight qualification tests for deep space missions.The two minute test mirrored an actual flight,since it lasted the same amount of time the booster will burn on liftoff.The test was conducted at the Orbital ATK test facility in Promontory,Utah.After the second qualification test 2016,the flight booster hardware will be transported to Kennedy Space Center for the first flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft together,Exploration Mission 1 in 2018.
The work being done around the country today to build SLS is laying a solid foundation for future exploration missions, and those missions will enable us to pioneer far into the solar system,said Dr.William Gerstenmaier,NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations.*
The SLS booster was heated for months to reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit,so it could be tested at the highest end of the propellant temperature range.The second test in early 2016 will test the booster at 40 F,the low end of the propellant temperature range.
Our partnership with Orbital ATK and more than 500 suppliers across the country is keeping us on the path to building the most powerful rocket in the world,said SLS program director Todd May.Some 102 design objectives were assessed during the test with more than 531 instrumentation channels.The SLS booster met applicable ballistic performance requirements,including thrust and pressure.Data was also gathered on the new internal motor insulation and liner and the improved nozzle design.
Two SLS boosters will be grouped with four RS-25 main engines for the launch,operating in parallel for the first two minutes of the launch.The boosters provide more than 70% of the thrust required to escape Earth's gravitational field.SLS will be configured for a 70-metric-tonne/77 tonne lift capacity to carry the unmanned Orion spacecraft beyond Low Earth Orbit in EM-1,the first flight of the integrated system.The projected date of EM-1 is 30 September 2018.On future manned missions to deep space,SLS will be configured for a record-breaking lift capacity of 130-metric-tonnes/143 tonnes.*
On 27 March,NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly,Captain US Navy Retired,and Roscosmos Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko will be launched for the One-Year Crew Mission aboard the International Space Station,accompanied by Cosmonaut Gennady Padalka.They will be launched aboard a Soyuz YMA-16M spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome,Kazakhstan.Kelly will be the first NASA astronaut to spend a year in space,but Russia has completed four manned missions of at least one year in duration.Padalka will return to Earth before Kelly and Kornienko.
The One-Year Crew will pave the way for the deep space missions of the future,including Orion flights,by gathering critical physiological and psychological data on the effects of long duration space flights.American and Russian scientists will collaborate on the project using the ISS technology,which is more advanced than the technology Russia had for its long duration studies some 20 years ago,yielding a more comprehensive picture.*
Orbital ATK Inc (ATK)

Onward To Deep Space:The Orion Spacecraft's Next Missions

The Orion spacecraft arrived in San Diego late Monday in the well deck of the USS Anchorage(LPD 23),an amphibious transport dock ship.It will now be trucked back to Kennedy Space Center,Florida for data retrieval and processing for reuse.The next flight of Orion is scheduled for June 2018.It is called Exploration Mission-1.EM-1 will be another unmanned mission.On this flight,Orion will be launched into a stable orbit around the Moon to demonstrate the integrated system performance of Orion with the new Space Launch System rocket.Much of NASA's focus between now and late 2017 will be on building and testing the SLS,led by the Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville,Alabama.*
The following space flight,in 2021,will be Exploration Mission-2,Orion's first manned mission.EM-2 will fly a crew of up to four astronauts farther into space than humans have gone before,in a test flight around the Moon.Of course we have orbited the Moon before,but not at the height Orion will achieve,which means humans will be farther from Earth on Orion than the Apollo astronauts ever got.*
After EM-2,the Asteroid Redirect Mission will involve capturing a small asteroid with a robotic spacecraft and relocating it to a stable lunar orbit for astronauts to rendezvous with and study.This activity will test new systems and capabilities needed for the exploration of Mars and its moons.*
The first mission to Mars will take place sometime in the 2030's,with Orion likely carrying an international crew on the eight month trip,their exploration vehicles having been prepositioned in orbit around Mars,and returning them to Earth.*
Until at least 2020,the International Space Station will continue preparing the way for long duration space flights such as the asteroid and Mars missions.The research being done and experience accumulated on the ISS will be critical to exploring the solar system on the Orion spacecraft.ISS even participated in Orion's first mission by using its sensors to provide surface winds data at the Orion recovery site.*
Between now and 2018,Boeing will be building the SLS Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage,which will boost Orion to the correct altitude and trajectory needed to send the spacecraft around the Moon to check out vital systems on the initial test flights,NASA said.The ICPS is a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based system based on Boeing's Delta Cryogenic Second Stage already used on Orion's first test flight.The ICPS will be replaced by a larger,more powerful upper stage needed for the asteroid and Mars missions.At that point,the SLS will be the tallest and most powerful rocket ever made.Boeing is also building the Core Stage of the SLS,while Lockheed Martin is prime contractor for the Orion spacecraft itself.Lockheed will be making any modifications to Orion deemed necessary after analysis of the EFT-1 data.*
Boeing(BA),Lockheed Martin(LMT)

Orion Spacecraft Ticking Off Milestones-Navy divers rehearse

In June,the Orion spacecraft crew module,or capsule,reached a milestone when it was sucessfully stacked on the service module at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center.The three Orion components-the third component being the launch abort system that is attached to the top of the capsule-are being readied in the facility for December's Exploration Flight Test-1.
The stacked modules are in the Final Assembly and System Testing(FAST) cell,where they undergo final systems tests before being rolled out for mating with the Delta IV Heavy rocket.Power connections are made,and bolts and fluid connector are placed during this phase of mission preparation.There are also electrical,avionic and radio frequency tests.*
The unmanned EFT-1 will see Orion launched to 3600 miles above Earth for a two-orbit,4.5 hour test flight.During the flight,systems critical for manned deep space missions will be evaluated.Finally,the Orion capsule will reenter the atmosphere at nearly 20,000 miles an hour before parachute system deployment and splashdown in the Pacific,where a US Navy amphibious warfare vessel will retrieve it.Engineers will scrutinise the performance of Orion's heat shield,which is the largest ever built,and the adapter linking the spacecraft to its rocket.*
Early in June,US Navy divers trained for recovering the capsule at the NASA Neutral Bouyancy Lab in Houston.They got an overview of Orion's thermal protection system hardware;worked out procedures for installing the back-up horse collar fixture for a well deck recovery and the contingency basket lifting straps.They also rehearsed the baseline attachment approach using upgraded hardware and a forward bay cover flip operation so the capsule can be recovered and placed right side up on the ship.*
At the end of June,a rigorous parachute system test was conducted over the Arizona desert of the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground.An Orion crew module mock-up was pulled out of a C-17 aircraft at 35,000 feet.In the final complete parachute system sequence test before December's inaugural Orion spaceflight,engineers applied various stresses to the system,which it in fact breezed through.*
In 2017,Exploration Mission-1 will integrate Orion with the new Space Launch System rocket,the most powerful rocket in the history of spaceflight.Its booster is manufactured by Alliant Techsystems,while its first stage engine is by Pratt&Whitney Rocketdyne.Lockheed Martin builds the Orion spacecraft,designing it for missions to an asteroid and Mars.*
Lockheed Martin(LMT),United Technologies(UTX),Alliant Techsystems(ATK)