Orion Program Update:Gateway Milestones

On 5 January 2023,NASA announced that technicians at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans,had finished welding the pressure vessel,or backbone,of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV),or capsule, for the Artemis IV mission,the first crewed mission to the Gateway lunar space station.Gateway's two initial components,the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) and the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) are being designed and constructed by Northrop Grumman and Maxar Technologies,respectively.Earlier,on 3 January,a new Gateway mockup was delivered to NASA Kennedy Space Center,to facilitate astronaut training on HALO systems.Gateway will be the most distant space station ever built,flying in a near-rectilinear lunar orbit,so crews will need extensive training on its operations.* The Co-manifested Launch Vehicle (CLV),referring to the HALO and the PPE,will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket at KSC Launch Complex 39A no earlier than November 2024.Future Gateway modules will include the European Space Agency (ESA)/Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) International Habitation module (I-HAB),which will increase the station's habitability capacity from its initial 30 days up to 60 days;the ESA ESPRIT-Refueler;and further logistics modules.The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will provide the Gateway External Robotics System (GERS) called Canadarm3.Indeed,one of the four Artemis IV astronauts will be a Canadian.The Blue Origin Human Landing System (HLS) that will potentially transport astronauts on Gateway to the lunar surface is being co-developed by Blue Origin,Northrop Grumman,Lockheed Martin and The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory;while the SpaceX Starship has been selected to transport astronauts to the lunar surface for NASA'S initial lunar landing of the Artemis III return to the moon mission.NASA will award future lunar landing contracts on a competitive basis after Artemis III.* Gateway will provide unique science capabilities,allowing extended views of Earth,Sun,Moon and space not possible from Earth's surface or Low Earth Orbit (LEO).Two of the first three experiments for Gateway will be attached to the station's exterior.They will monitor the Sun's radiation environment and space weather,respectively;while a third experiment will fly inside HALO to study radiation shielding effects and improve radiation physics models for cancer,cardiovascular and central nervous system effects,helping assess crew risk on deep space exploration missions.At the same time,International Space Station missions will continue to be flown.* In HALO,there are accomodations for storing food,water,tools and experiments,plus space for exercise and sleep.It also provides a safe and healthy atmosphere,regulating proper rates of oxygen and nitrogen,while filtering the air for contaminent removal.ESA is providing the HALO Lunar Communication System (HLCS).* The Gateway will be a staging point for sustained lunar exploration and extensibility towards long-term lunar and solar system exploration.HALO itself is 3 meters/9.84 feet in diameter and has three docking ports.It features Time-Triggered Ethernet (TTE) for seamless integration of modules,payloads and subsystem components.* Lockheed Martin (LMT),Maxar Technologies Inc (MAXR), Northrop Grumman (NOC)

CENTCOM Commander Boards Nuclear Missile Submarine

U.S. Central Command commander General Michael "Erik" Kurilla,US Army,boarded the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS West Virginia (SSBN 736) on 19 October 2022 at a secret location in international waters of the Arabian Sea.Also coming aboard was Vice Admiral Brad Cooper,commander of U.S. 5th Fleet and NAVECENT.The Arabian Sea is between Oman,Yemen and Somalia to the west,and India to the east.General Kurilla got a hands-on briefing on the submarine's capability.The USS West Virginia traverses the globe as a member of U.S. Strategic Command and the seaborne leg of the nuclear deterrent triad. Said General Kurilla: These submarines are the crown jewel of the nuclear triad,and the West Virginia demonstrates the flexibility,survivability,readiness and capability of USCENTCOM and USSTRATCOM forces at sea.* The West Virginia is homeported at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay,Georgia.The Lockheed Martin Space UGM-133 Trident II ballistic missile deployed on the West Virginia is also deployed by the UK's Royal Navy on its Vanguard-class submarines.The Trident II Strategic Weapons System has greater accuracy,payload and range,such that it could be used as a first-strike weapon.* Each of the 14 Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines carries 24 Trident IIs.This will be reduced to 20 in 2023 in accordance with the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) agreed by the US and the Russian Federation.The Trident II can carry a variety of nuclear warheads,ranging from 475 kilotonnes of TNT equivalent all the way down to the tactical nuclear weapon range of 5-7 kilotonnes.* While Lockheed Martin Space is the missile's prime contractor,subcontractors include Boeing (navigation maintenance) and Northrop Grumman (engineering and integration).The missiles will remain in service until 2042 under a life extension plan (D5LE).Indeed,two of the D5LE missiles were sucessfully test-fired from the USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) in 2021.The new US Navy Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine will replace the Ohio-class,and the UK's new Dreadnought-class will supplant the Vanguard-class;but the new submarines will continue to field the UGM-133 Trident IIs.* Boeing (BA),Lockheed Martin (LMT),Northrop Grumman (NOC)