Tag: EM-1
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NASA moves to maintain SLS Core Stage work tempo, address schedule concerns in OIG report
Following NASA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) releasing a report on October 10 of their audit of the agency’s management of the Space Launch System (SLS) Stages contract, NASA has reacted by confirming they have already taken measures to assure that there is not a stoppage of work on the SLS Stages. The OIG concluded…
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Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems readies SRBs for first SLS flights
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems continues production of solid rocket booster (SRB) segments for the first launches of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at their Promontory Propulsion Systems facility in Northern Utah. Mixing of solid propellant for the SLS boosters and casting it in each of the ten segments for the second flight set is…
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Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems readies SRBs for first SLS flights
Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems continues production of solid rocket booster (SRB) segments for the first launches of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at their Promontory Propulsion Systems facility in Northern Utah. Mixing of solid propellant for the SLS boosters and casting it in each of the ten segments for the second flight set is…
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Navigating the twists and turns steering SLS Development
This year’s decision to increase and extend use of the initial “Block 1” operating configuration of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) booster also impacts the space agency’s near-term plans for evolution of the launch vehicle’s design. The Congressional commitment to a second Mobile Launcher for SLS, along with the ability of SLS Block 1 to…
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Boeing, NASA managing SLS Core Stage hardware traffic ahead of first vehicle stacking
A traffic jam of NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage hardware that needs to be assembled is building at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Building (MAF) in New Orleans. Completed subsections of the first vehicle and structural test articles (STA) are lining up to be put together at the same time as structures for the second…
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Digging into the details of Orion’s EM-1 test flight
As NASA continues to analyze and refine the profile for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) test flight, more information about the multi-week mission is beginning to be detailed. The Orion spacecraft will fly into orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth in a shakedown mission before the first crew flies in Orion on Exploration Mission-2…
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Digging into the details of Orion’s EM-1 test flight
As NASA continues to analyze and refine the profile for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) test flight, more information about the multi-week mission is beginning to be detailed. The Orion spacecraft will fly into orbit around the Moon before returning to Earth in a shakedown mission before the first crew flies in Orion on Exploration Mission-2…
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Boeing finishes SLS LOX tank foam work, recovering from tube contamination issues
Prime contractor Boeing recently completed Thermal Protection System (TPS) applications on the liquid oxygen (LOX) tank for Core Stage-1 (CS-1), the first NASA Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage. The cryogenic propellant tank was moved out of Cell N at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans on June 20, where spray-on foam insulation…
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NASA digging into SLS Block 1 revival plans after getting second Mobile Launcher money
NASA has started updating plans and schedules for additional SLS Block 1 launches in the early 2020s after Washington added federal budget money for a second Mobile Launcher (ML) platform and umbilical tower in late March. Construction of a new Mobile Launcher frees the first ML from a three-year long downtime for teardown and reassembly…
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Schedule for First SLS Core Stage Still Sliding
A recent assessment of the completion date for the first Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage now puts it at the end of May, 2019, close to the middle of next year. The date indicates that production and assembly schedules are still sliding and is reducing confidence in meeting the June, 2020 date that was…