Orion/Artemis Programs Update:Orion Capsule and European Service Module for Artemis 1 Mission Completed

The Orion crew module for the uncrewed Artemis 1 Mission slated for 2020 has been completed,Vice President Mike Pence announced on 20 July 2019.Speaking at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center,Florida,Mr. Pence was joined by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine,Apollo 11 Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin,KSC Director Robert Cabana,Lockheed Martin CEO Marilyn Hewson,and Rick Armstrong,son of the late Apollo 11 Commander Neil Armstrong.*
Looking ahead:
1.Since being shipped in its bare bones pressure vessel form from the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans,the capsule has been integrated with thousands of parts and undergone rigorous testing of its flight systems.The European Service Module for Artemis 1 has also been completed.It will provide power,propulsion,water and oxygen for the Artemis Moon missions.The ESM is a product of Airbus Space and Defence in Bremen,Germany.Engineers have begun the process of joining the crew module to the service module,with teams connecting power and fluid lines to complete hardware attachment.
2.Next,the conjoined modules will be shipped via the cavernous Guppy aircraft to NASA Plum Brook Station in Sandusky,Ohio for testing to verify that the partial stack can survive the challenging conditions of deep spaceflight.
3.Pending successful completeion of the Plum Brook tests,the partial stack will be returned to KSC for final processing and inspection.Then it will be fueled and transported to the monumental Vehicle Assembly Building for integration with the new Space Launch System rocket.Finally,the complete stack will be rolled out on the crawler transporter to Launch Complex 39B to await launch.*
Engineers at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,Alabama are more than 50% through their evaluation of the SLS for deep space missions.*
The crewed Artemis 2 Mission is scheduled for 2022 and is to set the distance record for crewed spaceflight,reaching a high lunar orbit 40,000 miles from the Moon.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Orion Program's SLS Rocket Already Being Fabricated;Engine Test Soon

Some components of the Orion Program's new Space Launch System rocket are already being fabricated by a giant tool at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans.Parts of the rocket's engine section and the Core Stage are being welded by the Vertical Weld Center,a massive tool that is three stories high and weighs 150 tons.The barrel that holds the rocket's four RS-25 main engines was completed in November.The VWC will also weld barrel panels together to produce whole barrels for the SLS Core Stage's two pressurised tanks,intertank and forward skirt.*
The SLS will include components that were also part of the Space Shuttle system's hardware.For example,the RS-25 engine was also the Space Shuttle's main engine,and the SLS will utilise the same two solid rocket boosters that the Space Shuttle used as well.An engine firing test was planned to occur before year's end at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,Mississippi.An RS-25 engine was placed on the A-1 Test Stand at the Center in November,awaiting final preparation and activation work.*
The Boeing SLS Core Stage contains the rocket's cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant for the main engines.The Core Stage will tower more than 200 feet high and have a diameter of 27.5 feet.*
A new engine controller is being produced for the RS-25 engines.The controller regulates valves that direct the flow of propellant to the engines,which determines the amount of thrust generated during an engine test.Propellant flow and engine thrust determine a spacecraft's speed and trajectory,NASA explains.The engine controller also regulates the engine's start-up sequence and shutdown sequence,critical to the proper operation of the sophisticated RS-25 engine under both normal and emergency conditions.)*
The RS-25 engine is a product of Aerojet Rocketdyne,a division of GenCorp.*
Boeing(BA),GenCorp(GY)