Human Exploration:Orion Program Update

Launching on the new Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space; provide emergency abort capability;sustain the crew during space travel; and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.During 2020, the Orion spacecraft that will execute the Artemis I mission, the first complete flight test of the Orion system,was readied for its critical flight slated for 2021. Orion consists of three elements: the crew module; the launch abort system; and the European Service Module, which provides the power, propulsion and oxygen that crews will need to reach their destination.Artemis II in 2023 will be the first crewed Orion mission, and is to include a Canadian Space Agency of astronaut.* Catherine Koerner is the new Orion Program manager.* In early December 2020, the Artemis I Orion spacecraft departed from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center en route to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF), having completed testing and assembly.The spacecraft will undergo ground processing and integration in facilities across the Center in preparation for launch.At the MPPF,teams with NASA's Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will equip the spacecraft with propellants and commodities for its flight. Integration of ground system elements and the Launch Abort System will take place at the LAS Facility in 2021.The spacecraft will then make its final steps at the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking on the SLS rocket before being transported to Launch Complex 39B prior to launch.* The first of 10 pieces of the twin SLS rocket boosters was placed on the mobile launcher inside the VAB on 21 November 2020.It is the aft assembly, housing the system that controls 70% of steering during the SLS' initial ascent.Over several weeks, the other segments are stacked one at a time and topped with the forward assembly. Even as the Artemis I Orion spacecraft completes preparation for launch, the Orion for Artemis II is already well into processing.By early December, the forward bay cover that protects the top part of the crew module during re-entry at more than 25,000 mph had been installed.* By 18 December 2020, NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson,LT Jonny Kim,USN and COL Randy Bresnik,USMC (ret.) inspected the Orion spacecraft simulator following its arrival at NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston.The simulator will allow astronauts, engineers and flight controllers to train for scenarios during Artemis Moon missions.It has Orion display and control panels plus crew seats to mimic the experience of actual spaceflight to cislunar space and back. LT Kim and Wilson are among 18 astronauts recently selected to be eligible for Artemis Moon missions, while COL Bresnik is Assistant Chief of the Astronaut Office for Exploration.* On long duration missions,Orion would dock to habitation modules.One such is the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) built by Northrop Grumman Space Systems for the Gateway,a small space station in lunar orbit being built to accommodate deep space missions and investigations.* Northrop Grumman (NOC)