Commercial Crew Engine Passes Test - ready for crewed mission of Boeing Starliner

On 18 August 2016,an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL 10 engine successfully completed a test for launching humans on the first crewed flight test of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.The flight is scheduled for February 2018 following an uncrewed test in 2017.Viewing the test at Aerojet's facility in West Palm Beach,Florida were NASA Commercial Crew programme astronauts Captain Sunita "Suni" Williams,US Navy;Colonel Eric Boe,US Air Force Ret.,and Captain Barry "Butch" Wilmore,US Navy.Colonel Robert Behnken,US Air Force,is the fourth Commercial Crew astronaut.
All the astronauts present expressed confidence in the engine after meeting the Aerojet personnel and viewing the test.
When you go through the whole process seeing the engine and seeing the professionals out there building the engines,there was no doubt the test would be a success,CAPT Williams said.*
The RL 10 helped get the New Horizons spacecraft to Pluto.It will be one of two RL 10s that will power the Atlas V rocket's Centaur upper stage that will push the Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft up to the ISS for docking during the February 2018 crewed test.After the test,the RL 10 will be shipped to United Launch Alliance's Decatur,Alabama facility and bolted next to its sister engine on the Centaur upper stage.Four RL 10s will also be used for the Orion programme's new Space Launch System rocket's Exploration Upper Stage on the crewed Exploration Mission 2.*
By enabling the transport of more ISS astronauts,NASA's Commercial Crew flights will nearly double the amount of research the astronauts can complete on the station,thus making for greater progress in support of the Orion deep space missions as well as other scientific goals.NASA is also committed to transporting international astronauts on its Commercial Crew spacecraft as well as Americans.*
Aerojet Rocketdyne (AJRD),Boeing (BA)

USAF Boeing X-37B Helps Ensure Leadership in Space Technology

The US Air Force will launch the fourth unmanned mission of its dedicated space plane,the Boeing X-37B,on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 20 May 2015.The mission,known as OTV-4,or Orbital Test Vehicle-4,will be focused on the testing of experimental payloads,says Randy Walden,director of the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office.The RCO will test an experimental propulsion system developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and Space and Missile Systems Center,among other experiments.A NASA advanced materials investigation is also on the docket.No other experiments have been disclosed.
We're very pleased with the experiments lined up for our fourth OTV mission,Mr.Walden said.We'll continue to evaluate improvements to the space vehicle's performance,but we're honoured to host these collaborative experiments that will help advance space technology.*
The Air Force has two of the vehicles,which are 8.8 meters/29 ft. long.One of the OTVs flew missions 1 and 3;the other flew mission 3.The last mission,OTV-3,lasted nearly two years at 674 days in orbit,landing on 14 October 2014.OTV-1 launched in April 2010 and lasted 225 days;OTV-2 blasted off in March 2011 and lasted 469 days.The duration of the OTV-4 mission wasn't released.*
The X-37B began as a NASA project in 1999,but was transferred to the USAF in 2004.The spacecraft was based on the aerodynamic design of the space shuttle.Indeed,it was originally intended to be launched from the shuttle's cargo bay,but was converted to an independent launch format when that was deemed too costly.Originating in Boeing's Phantom Works,it became a classified project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and part of the Department of Defense's independent space policy after the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.The program is concerned with risk reduction,experimentation and operational concept development for reusable space technologies in support of long-term developmental space objectives.*
The X-37B has been landing at Vandenburg Air Force Base,California,with Edwards Air Force Base,California as an alternate site.By the end of 2014,the OTVs were to be housed in the former space shuttle hangars at Kennedy Space Center,OPF-1 and OPF-2,following the hangars' renovation.The spacecraft is the world's smallest orbital space plane,one-fourth the size of the space shuttle.It is powered by one Aerojet Rocketdyne human-rated AR2-3 engine.Flying an orbit of the same altitude as reconnaissance satellites and the International Space Station at 410 kilometers/255 miles,it is a crucial exponent of the Air Force's space doctrine that space is vitally important to everything it does,be it secure communications;intelligence,search and rescue;missile warning;weather prediction;or precision navigation and timing,all of which rely on space,a domain that is increasingly contested.*
One of the main experiments on OTV-4 will test the Hall effect thruster in support of the Advanced High Frequency Communications Satellite program.The AEHF satellites are nuclear-hardened and cost one billion dollars each.They are designed to ensure the continuity of military communications in the most drastic wartime scenarios.Three AEHFs have been deployed,with three more planned.
The Hall effect thruster experiment involves collection of telemetry from the thruster operating in the space environment,as well as measurement of the thrust imported on the vehicle.The data will be used to validate and improve Hall thruster and environmental modeling capabilities,which will enhance the ability to extrapolate ground test results to actual in-orbit performance,the Air Force said.A more efficient on-orbit thruster capability is highly significant.Less fuel burn lowers the cost to put a satellite in orbit,as well as enhances a spacecraft's operational flexibility,survivability and longevity.
The Hall thruster is a 4.5 kilowatt unit that uses electricity and xenon to produce thrust for maneuvering satellites.It produces whisper-like thrust by ionising and accelerating xenon gas.Xenon fuel weighs just a fraction of conventional hydrazine fuel,but takes longer to utilise.It is an electric propulsion system that needs very long periods of time to harness for orbital maneuvering.That may explain why the OTV-3 mission lasted almost two years.*
Boeing (BA),Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc (AJRD)

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)