Orion Program Update:2018,a year of urgent tasks

The year 2018 will see a great amount of activity at NASA and contractor centres to prepare for the launch of the first integrated test of the Orion system,Exploration Mission-1,an uncrewed mission targeted for 2019.NASA aims to have all major hardware completed by the end of 2018.At the same time,construction for the first crewed mission of Orion,EM-2,planned for the early 2020s,has already begun and will continue apace thoughout 2018.*
In early 2018,NASA says the heat shield will be bolted to the EM-1 crew module.When
the ESA Orion Service Module,or powerhouse,arrives from Europe,it will be mated with and stacked beneath the crew module.In January,the US Navy and NASA personnel will again be refining capsule recovery procedures off the California coast.*
Over the course of 2018,the core stage of the new Space Launch System,the world's most powerful rocket,will be completed and its four RS-25 main engines,evolved from the Space Shuttle main engines and built by Aerojet Rocketdyne,will then be attached to it.*
In spring 2018,the mobile launcher will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center for testing of the fit between launcher and pad systems,then be trucked to the huge Vehicle Assembly Building for testing of mount mechanisms;ignition overpressure and sound suppression water pipes;nitrogen and helium supply lines;and access platforms.Then it's back to the pad once more for several months of full system testing.*
In summer 2018,critical software updates for command and control in support of EM-1 will be wrapped up.In 2019,the complete Orion system will be stacked,integrated,tested and rolled out to the pad to await launch.The ultimate goal of the program is to produce a flexible,reuseable and sustainable infrastructure that will support deep space missions of graduated complexity for decades to come.*
EM-1,besides testing the integrated Orion system,will also be carrying a payload of 13 small satellites for a broad spectrum of research projects.*
At the 68th International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide,Australia on 27 September 2017,NASA and the Russian Space Agency,Roscosmos,signed a joint statement on a common vision for human exploration.Indeed,the entire ISS partnership of NASA,Roscosmos,Canada,ESA and Japan are intent on ensuring that full advantage be taken of ISS technological development and demonstration,as well as of lessons learned from its assembly and operations for this future exploration.
For its part,industry is currently devising a series of study and risk reduction concepts for NASA's Deep Space Gateway,which is to be a small space station in lunar orbit for support of Orion missions,and for the transport needed for Mars exploration.Those awarded contracts for the effort include Bigelow Aerospace;Boeing;Lockheed Martin;Orbital ATK;Sierra Nevada Corporation;and Nanoracks.Five of the six companies have been chosen to develop full-sized ground-based engineering prototypes of habitation systems to be completed in 2018.NASA has also solicited industry for proposals for studies on concept development of a power and propulsion element,which will be the first pieces of Deep Space Gateway architecture to be placed in lunar orbit.*
NASA and The National Space Council,chaired by Vice President Mike Pence,is committed to carrying on in the spirit of international and industry cooperation that has characterised the ISS.*
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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.                              

NASA To Build Spaceport Near the Moon-reusable transport spacecraft also planned as agency unveils Deep Space Gateway concept

Yesterday,28 March 2017,NASA posted an article to its website unveiling the most detailed plan yet for the Orion Program.The new projects,which it calls Deep Space Gateway,expand upon the basic concept of using cislunar space,the area in the lunar vicinity,as a testing ground for missions to the Mars system and elsewhere in the solar system.These projects will enable the building and testing of systems needed for the Mission to Mars and other celestial bodies.*
NASA now intends to build a spaceport,essentially a small space station,within the early Orion crewed missions,to serve as a gateway to deep space and the lunar surface as well.It will contain a power bus;a small habitat that would extend crewed mission time;docking capability;airlock;and servicing by logistics modules to enable research.The spaceport,which NASA also calls the gateway,will be propelled by high power electric and chemical propulsion to sustain the station's orbit or transfer it among a family of orbits in cislunar space as needed.The gateway will be made possible by the Space Launch System rocket's cargo capability plus the Orion spacecraft's crewed deep space capability.The project will be developed,serviced and utilised in collaboration with commercial and international partners,NASA pointed out.*
Dr.William Gerstenmaier,NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations,described the Deep Space Gateway thusly:
I envision different partners,both international and commercial,contributing to the gateway and using it in a variety of ways with a system that can move to different orbits to enable a variety of missions.The gateway would move to support robotic or partner missions to the surface of the Moon;or to a higher lunar orbit to support missions departing from the gateway to other destinations in the solar system.*
The agency also intends to build a reusable transport spacecraft powered by electric/chemical propulsion that will depart from the gateway for destinations such as Mars.It will take crews to their destination,then return to the spaceport for servicing and eventual reuse.This transport vehicle will also take advantage of the SLS capability to launch large volumes and mass,as well as advanced exploration technologies now being developed and tested on the ground and in the ISS.*
The first integrated flight of the Orion system,Exploration Mission-1,including the new SLS rocket,Orion spacecraft and ESA Orion Service Module,is currently scheduled for 2018,but would be delayed to 2019,if a NASA study now underway recommends making EM-1 a crewed mission.*
This burst of energy from NASA no doubt reflects the strong commitment of President Donald Trump to the agency and America's continued leadership in aerospace.