Tag: Orion
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AA-2: Orion’s in-flight abort test successfully completed
NASA performed an in-flight test of the Launch Abort System (LAS) for its Orion crewed spacecraft Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. A highly instrumented test article simulated the Orion Crew Module, connected to a flight version of the LAS and a Peacekeeper missile modified to be the booster for…
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NASA Orion AA-2 vehicle at the launch pad for July test
All the elements of the NASA flight test vehicle for the Orion program’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test in early July are now at Launch Complex 46. The test booster was stacked on the launch pad in April and overnight May 22 into May 23, the test article was rolled from a Kennedy Space Center (KSC)…
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NASA Plum Brook Station gets ready for EM-1 Orion testing
NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, is finishing preparations for pre-flight testing of the Orion spacecraft assigned to Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The Space Environments Complex of the Glenn Research Center test facility will be used to put the in-space configuration of Orion through thermal vacuum and electromagnetic testing that should take a few months.…
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NASA aims for quick start to 2024 Moon landing via newly named Artemis Program
A new amendment to the White House’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget request increases NASA’s federal budget by $1.6 Billion. The additional funding is allocated for multiple elements of the lunar mission architecture in order to pursue the goal of returning crew to the lunar surface by 2024, a program that has now been named Artemis,…
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Concerning Orion – Amid SLS push, Orion requires Life Support testing
While NASA pushes it Space Launch System (SLS) to make a mid-2020 debut, Orion also needs to find solutions to both match the realigned targets and achieve key objectives before the second flight with astronauts onboard. Most notably, the Orion Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is set to make its full debut on the…
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Examining NASA’s challenge to SLS as ‘Moon, soon’ becomes the latest bold goal
Vice President Mike Pence has instructed NASA to land Americans on the Moon within the next five years. That was the headline from the latest National Space Council meeting this week. These words will require action and an influx of additional funding to stand a chance of becoming a reality. However, an overriding abstract behind…
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NASA considers shifting a key test flight beyond the moon to commercial rockets
An artist’s conception shows NASA’s Orion deep-space crew capsule with its European Service Module placed beneath it and an upper stage powering it out of Earth orbit. (NASA Illustration) NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine told a Senate hearing today that his agency is looking into an option to double up commercial launch vehicles in order to…
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Lockheed Martin assembling EM-2 structures for NASA’s first crewed Orion flight
While final assembly continues on the Orion spacecraft that will make the program’s first solo flight, the major pieces of the next spacecraft are being assembled alongside for the first crewed mission. A crew of four is planned to take the spacecraft on a Lunar flyby during the Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) test flight. The Crew…
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Lockheed Martin assembling EM-2 structures for NASA’s first crewed Orion flight
While final assembly continues on the Orion spacecraft that will make the program’s first solo flight, the major pieces of the next spacecraft are being assembled alongside for the first crewed mission. A crew of four is planned to take the spacecraft on a Lunar flyby during the Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) test flight. The Crew…
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Lockheed Martin getting NASA’s EM-1 Orion modules ready for final mate
The two modules that will fly NASA’s first solo Orion flight into lunar orbit and back are going through standalone testing in the lead up to becoming a mated spacecraft. The Crew and Service Modules for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) flight are being assembled and tested by Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin in the Operations…