Tag: Orion
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Orion ESM begins hot fire testing at White Sands
The Orion European Service Module (ESM) Propulsion Qualification Module (PQM) is in the opening phases of testing – including hot firings – at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. Bolted to a test stand, the PQM is being taken through a series of test campaigns by a team of personnel from prime contractor…
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Orion STA undergoing pre-mission testing in Denver
With all the structural test articles (STA) of the Orion spacecraft at prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s Space Systems facility in the Denver area, work is underway to qualify the elements for the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) and Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2) missions to the Moon. Testing of different combinations of spacecraft hardware in support of EM-1 and…
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NASA says it’s OK for VP Mike Pence to touch that hardware marked ‘Do Not Touch’
Even Vice President Mike Pence couldn’t resist tweeting a Photoshopped version of the “Do Not Touch” photo snapped during his visit to Kennedy Space Center. (@VP Mike Pence via Twitter) You know that viral photo of Vice President Mike Pence putting his hand on a piece of space hardware marked with a “Do Not Touch”…
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Orion deep in processing for EM-1, planning for following missions
As US Vice President Mike Pence visited the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), one of the welcoming party, the Orion crew module, is fast taking shape ahead of its Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) flight. With major processing milestones – such as the mating of the heatshield with the Crew Module, NASA managers are already thinking ahead to…
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ASAP on board with NASA’s DSG as stepping stone to Mars
NASA’s major push towards building a new outpost near the Moon has received encouraging words from its key safety advisory body. NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) was told the build up of the outpost in the 2020s represented an ambitious, forward-looking and credible plan that has both agency and political support. DSG: NASA has been…
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NASA rules out crew on first SLS flight
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of NASA’s Space Launch System. Credit: NASA NASA managers have ruled out putting a crew on board an Orion capsule atop the agency’s huge Space Launch System rocket for the gargantuan booster’s maiden flight in 2019, citing technical risks and higher costs, up to as much…
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NASA rules out crew on first SLS flight
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION Artist’s concept of NASA’s Space Launch System. Credit: NASA NASA managers have ruled out putting a crew on board an Orion capsule atop the agency’s huge Space Launch System rocket for the gargantuan booster’s maiden flight in 2019, citing technical risks and higher costs, up to as much…
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NASA decides against putting crew on first SLS rocket launch, now delayed to 2019
An artist’s view shows NASA’s Space Launch System launching an Orion capsule. (NASA Illustration) NASA has broken the news to the White House and the world that speeding up the first crewed flight of its exploration launch system wouldn’t be worth the added cost and risk. That means the first launch of NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch…
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NASA confirms first flight of Space Launch System will slip to 2019
Artist’s concept of the Space Launch System lifting off from launch pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA/MSFC NASA’s top human spaceflight official says the maiden flight of the Space Launch System, a behemoth booster designed to loft astronauts on expeditions into deep space, will be delayed from November 2018 until…
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Trump signs NASA authorization act, Pence to chair National Space Council
President Trump signed the NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2017 on Tuesday, surrounded by members of Congress and astronauts. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls President Donald Trump signed a new NASA authorization bill Tuesday, the first such space policy framework since early in the Obama administration, that largely continues the space agency’s efforts to foster a commercial…