NASA's deep space capsule and service module,the Orion spacecraft,has been attached to its rocket adapter and transported from the Neil Armstrong Checkout and Operations Building to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center.After extensive testing at the checkout building,Orion is ready for the next phase of preparation for its maiden,unmanned voyage in December,Exploration Flight Test-1.
While at the PHSF,Orion will be fueled with high pressure helium,ammonia and hydrazine.Once fueled,it will be mated with the Launch Abort System in October.*
The transfer of the stacked crew module,service module and adapter to PHSF took place last Thursday at a cautious pace on a special transport vehicle-essentially a large,very strong flatbed truck.It was overseen by Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin,United Launch Alliance and security personnel on its brief but deliberate journey.*
Orion's GPS receiver is radiation-hardened and can lock onto a GPS satellite in eight seconds,providing the position,velocity and time information critical for navigation.*
This week,a joint NASA-US Navy team is practicing recovery techniques off the coast of California-first with a crane on the rescue and salvage ship USS Salvor(ARS-52),then with the well deck of amphibious transport dock ship USS Anchorage(LPD-23) in preparation for EFT-1.*
Orion's deep space missions to an asteroid and Mars will be launched by the new Space Launch System,which will be the world's most powerful rocket,while EFT-1 will be launched by United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy.*
Orion can accommodate a crew for up to 21 days.Longer missions will require an additional habitat for living and working space.Many of the spacecraft's critical safety systems will be evaluated in December's approximately 3600 mile journey into space.*
Lockheed Martin(LMT),Alliant Techsystems(ATK)
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