{"id":13295,"date":"2019-03-13T17:36:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T09:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/facing-more-delays-nasa-opens-door-to-launching-lunar-mission-with-commercial-rockets\/"},"modified":"2019-03-13T17:36:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-13T09:36:54","slug":"facing-more-delays-nasa-opens-door-to-launching-lunar-mission-with-commercial-rockets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/facing-more-delays-nasa-opens-door-to-launching-lunar-mission-with-commercial-rockets\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing more delays, NASA opens door to launching lunar mission with commercial rockets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artist\u2019s illustration of NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft and its European-built service module, powered toward the moon by an upper stage engine. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining the lunar test flight\u2019s schedule despite fresh delays in the development of the multibillion-dollar Space Launch System that jeopardize the heavy-lifter\u2019s 2020 inaugural flight, the agency\u2019s administrator said in a congressional hearing Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The lunar test flight, known as Exploration Mission-1, is a precursor to NASA\u2019s plans to fly astronauts on the Orion spacecraft, build an outpost in lunar orbit, and eventually return humans to the moon\u2019s surface. But Exploration Mission-1, or EM-1, has faced repeated delays as engineers build and test the Orion capsule and the Space Launch System, the heavy-lift rocket originally designed to loft Orion spaceships and astronauts into deep space for the first time since the last Apollo moon mission in 1972.<\/p>\n

NASA now believes the Space Launch System will not be ready for the EM-1 test flight by June 2020, the program\u2019s most recent target launch date. Jim Bridenstine, NASA\u2019s administrator, said Wednesday the space agency is weighing alternatives to keep the Orion spacecraft on track for a lunar mission in 2020 to test the capsule\u2019s European-built power and propulsion module, and assess the performance of the crew capsule\u2019s heat shield during blistering re-entry into Earth\u2019s atmosphere from the moon.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of those options would include launching the Orion crew capsule and the European service module on a commercial rocket,\u201d Bridenstine said in a hearing with the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.<\/p>\n

Bridenstine said it is important for NASA to stick to its commitment to launch EM-1 by June 2020, and his announcement Wednesday marked the first time a NASA leader has publicly discussed launching the Orion spacecraft\u2019s first lunar mission on a commercial rocket, and not the more expensive government-run Space Launch System.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s illustration of the Space Launch System on launch pad 39B at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCertainly, there are opportunities to utilize commercial capabilities to put the Orion crew capsule and the European service module in orbit around the moon by June of 2020, which was our originally-stated objective, and I\u2019ve tasked the agency to look into how we might accomplish that objective,\u201d Bridenstine said.<\/p>\n

NASA is just beginning to study the possibility of using commercial rockets for EM-1. United Launch Alliance\u2019s Delta 4-Heavy rocket launched an Orion capsule on its first orbital mission, known as Exploration Flight Test-1, in December 2014, sending the crew module and a mock-up service module into an orbit ranging as far as 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) from Earth before the capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean to conclude a nearly four-and-a-half-hour mission.<\/p>\n

There are no rockets currently in service capable of sending an Orion spacecraft and its service module around the moon, but Bridenstine said a pair of commercial launches could be substituted for one SLS flight. A fully-fueled Orion spacecraft is estimated to weigh around 57,000 pounds (25,848 kilograms), near the maximum lift capability of an SLS Block 1 rocket \u2014 the heavy-lift launcher\u2019s initial configuration \u2014 on a lunar trajectory.<\/p>\n

Bridenstine announced NASA\u2019s new look at commercial launch alternatives to the Space Launch System after committee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, raised concerns about new SLS delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s what we can do, potentially \u2014 again, we\u2019re starting the process now \u2014 we could use two heavy-lift rockets to put the Orion crew capsule and the European service module in orbit around the Earth, launch a second heavy-lift rocket to put an upper stage in orbit around the Earth, and then dock those two together to throw around the moon the Orion crew capsule with the European service module,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cI want to be clear. We do not have, right now, an ability to dock the Orion crew capsule with anything in orbit. So between now and June of 2020, we would have to make that a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks during an event at NASA Headquarters in February. Credit: NASA\/Joel Kowsky<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wicker reminded Bridenstine that replanning Exploration Mission-1 would be challenging to complete by mid-2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is 2019,\u201d Wicker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have amazing capability that exists right now that we can use off-the-shelf in order to accomplish this objective,\u201d Bridenstine responded. \u201cJust a few years ago, we launched an Orion crew capsule into deep space on a commercially-procured rocket. That has already happened. What\u2019s different now is we have this European service module, which is how we have propulsion and life support and all these capabilities that we need to last for a period of time with humans in deep space. We can use off-the-shelf capability to accomplish this objective for EM-1, but not change the direction of the SLS and EM-2.\u201d<\/p>\n

Exploration Mission-2 is set to be the first Orion mission with astronauts on-board. The most recent schedule released by NASA projects EM-2 would be ready for launch on the SLS in 2023 on a nine-day trip around the moon and back to Earth.<\/p>\n

Since the Orion test flight on the Delta 4-Heavy in 2014, SpaceX has debuted its Falcon Heavy rocket, with more than double the Delta 4-Heavy\u2019s lift capacity to low Earth orbit. SpaceX sold a Falcon Heavy mission sold to the U.S. Air Force last year for $130 million, while ULA says a Delta 4-Heavy mission costs around $350 million.<\/p>\n

Neither rocket has the power to send the nearly 29-ton (26-metric ton) Orion spacecraft toward the moon on a single launch.<\/p>\n

Exploration Mission-1 is slated to last around 25 days, during which time the Orion spacecraft and its service module would travel to the moon, swing as close as 62 miles (100 kilometers) from the lunar surface, then loop into a more distant orbit around 40,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) from the moon. If NASA sticks to EM-1\u2019s current flight plan, a dual-launch alternative using commercial rockets in 2020 would likely have to use separate launch pads, and likely two different rockets, due to the mission\u2019s relatively short duration.<\/p>\n

Bridenstine said NASA intends to decide on the commercial launch option for Orion in the \u201cnext couple of weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery moment counts because \u2026 NASA has a history of not meeting launch dates, and I\u2019m trying to change that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Wicker then asked Bridenstine how much it would cost to move the Orion capsule\u2019s launch to large commercial rockets, which customers typically purchase at least two years in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s another discussion,\u201d Bridenstine replied. \u201cI think there are options to achieve the objective, but it might require some help from the Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before addressing the specifics of NASA\u2019s consideration of commercial launchers for the Orion test flight, Bridenstine said in his opening statement Wednesday that NASA must be bold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to have really impressive goals and stunning achievements that the world can get behind,\u201d he said. \u201cI can tell you, as the NASA administrator, when I meet with our international partners, one of the things that they\u2019re most excited about is the idea that we\u2019re going to go to the moon again.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A Lockheed Martin engineer works on the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-1 at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA\/Rad Sinyak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EM-1 will be the first Orion flight with a fully functioning service module, built by Airbus Defense and Space and funded by the European Space Agency as an international contribution to NASA\u2019s deep space exploration program. Airbus delivered the service module delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in November for final assembly and testing with the Orion crew capsule.<\/p>\n

The service module includes four solar array wings to generate electricity, a U.S.-provided engine left over from the space shuttle program, the Orion spacecraft\u2019s cooling system, and water and air tanks to keep crews alive on the journey to and from lunar orbit.<\/p>\n

NASA and European managers say the Orion crew capsule and service module are scheduled to be ready to begin final launch preparations in early 2020. The crew capsule\u2019s heat shield was mated to the spacecraft last year, and the service module was powered on in February for the first time since arriving in Florida.<\/p>\n

The two segments will be mated together for the first time in the coming months, and engineers plan to transfer the Orion spacecraft to NASA\u2019s Plum Brook Station in Ohio in July for a battery of tests in a thermal vacuum chamber to verify the ship\u2019s performance in the cold, airless environment of space. The spacecraft will return to Florida around October, according to a schedule released by ESA.<\/p>\n

Concerns about the readiness of the European-built service module has previously been a factor in determining EM-1\u2019s launch date, but the element\u2019s delivery to Florida last year was a major milestone in getting the module ready for flight.<\/p>\n

A report in October by NASA\u2019s inspector general criticized the agency and Boeing for cost and schedule overruns on the SLS core stage, which has encountered development problems that previously delayed the first SLS launch date from late 2018 to mid-2020. The core stage will contain liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants feeding four modified space shuttle main engines. Two side-mounted solid-fueled boosters built by Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, also derived from shuttle-era designs, will provide additional thrust.<\/p>\n

The SLS Block 1 rocket will also have an upper stage derived from ULA\u2019s Delta 4 rocket, with a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine.<\/p>\n

Other than the core stage, most hardware for the first Space Launch System remains on track for a 2020 launch, including the main engines, the solid rocket boosters and the upper stage.<\/p>\n

The Trump administration\u2019s $21 billion fiscal year 2020 budget request for NASA released Monday would defer the development of a bigger four-engine upper stage for the Space Launch System\u2019s Block 1B configuration. NASA intended the more powerful SLS Block 1B to launch co-manifested missions with Orion crew capsules and modules for the agency\u2019s planned Gateway, a mini-space station in the vicinity of the moon envisioned as a waypoint for landers traveling to and from the lunar surface.<\/p>\n

Instead, NASA officials said Monday they plan to launch elements of the Gateway on commercial rockets, decoupling the modules from the Space Launch System.<\/p>\n

The White House\u2019s NASA budget request also proposes launching a robotic probe to explore to Jupiter\u2019s icy moon Europa on a commercial rocket, and not with the Space Launch System. In a NASA budget bill passed earlier this year, Congress included language specifying the Europa Clipper mission should launch on the SLS.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers led by Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, have long supported the Space Launch System. NASA\u2019s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is home to the SLS program.<\/p>\n

Congress approved $2.15 billion for the Space Launch System program in fiscal year 2019, while the Trump administration\u2019s budget request would slash that by $375 million to around $1.78 billion.<\/p>\n

Shelby said last week that, in his role as chairman of the appropriations committee, he has \u201cmore than a passing interest in what NASA does,\u201d according to a report in Space News.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a little parochial interest, too, in what they do in Huntsville, Alabama,\u201d Shelby continued in an introduction of Marshall center director Jody Singer at a luncheon in Washington. \u201cJody, you keep doing what you\u2019re doing. We\u2019ll keep funding you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his remarks Wednesday, Bridenstine said the Space Launch System remains a \u201ccritical piece\u201d of NASA\u2019s deep space exploration plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking a rocket that has a throw weight larger than anything we\u2019ve ever been able to throw before,\u201d Bridenstine said of the Space Launch System. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about a rocket that\u2019s larger than the Statue of Liberty, with a fairing size that can put really big objects into space, and in fact, into deep space, in orbit around he moon, even. It is a critical capability.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, here\u2019s the challenge that we have with EM-1. SLS is struggling to meet its schedule. It was originally intended to launch in December of 2019 (and) no later than June of 2020. We are now understanding better how difficult this project is, and that it\u2019s going to take some additional time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear from Bridenstine\u2019s statement Wednesday whether NASA would consider putting astronauts on EM-2, which would become the first launch of the SLS under the scenario outlined Wednesday. NASA has avoided flying a crew on the inaugural launch of a new spacecraft or rocket since the first space shuttle mission.<\/p>\n

Bridenstine later clarified to reporters that NASA could still put astronauts on EM-2 without an uncrewed SLS test launch, according to Space News.<\/p>\n

The Space Launch System\u2019s Boeing-built core stage will undergo a full-duration test-firing, or \u201cgreen run,\u201d at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi with its four RS-25 main engines before launching for the first time from the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key is we want to test fully the Orion crew capsule and the European service module around the moon, and then ultimately maintain the SLS program, so that by the time we do EM-2, it will have done a full-up green run test \u2026 and then, after the green run test, we will have tested the SLS, we will have tested the Orion crew capsule and the European service module around the moon, and then we can get back on track for EM-2,\u201d Bridenstine said. \u201cThe goal is to get back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artist\u2019s illustration of NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft and its European-built service module, powered toward the moon by an upper stage engine. Credit: NASA In a major shift, NASA is considering using two commercial launchers to send an unpiloted Orion crew capsule and its European-built service module on a test flight around the moon next year, maintaining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1657,670,291,831,2586,1545,466,25],"class_list":["post-13295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-airbus-defense-and-space","tag-boeing","tag-commercial-space","tag-european-space-agency","tag-exploration-mission-1","tag-human-spaceflight","tag-jim-bridenstine","tag-launch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}