{"id":17936,"date":"2019-09-23T20:03:01","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasas-orion-spacecraft-program-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-vote-of-support\/"},"modified":"2019-09-23T20:03:01","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:03:01","slug":"nasas-orion-spacecraft-program-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-vote-of-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasas-orion-spacecraft-program-gets-a-multibillion-dollar-vote-of-support\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft program gets a multibillion-dollar vote of support"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_522774\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-522774\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-522774\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/190923-orion2-630x568.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"630\" height=\"568\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/190923-orion2-630x568.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/190923-orion2-768x693.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/190923-orion2.jpg 809w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-522774\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Orion crew capsule meant for NASA\u2019s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon and back is being prepared for its flight. (NASA Photo \/ Radislav Sinyak)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA says it\u2019s ordering three more Orion spacecraft for missions to the moon, at a cost of $2.7 billion \u2014 and plans to order as many as nine more by 2030.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement signals NASA\u2019s long-term commitment to its Artemis program for lunar exploration and settlement, with a crewed lunar landing planned for as early as 2024.<\/p>\n<p>The Orion spacecraft for that mission, known as Artemis 3, is included in the newly announced order, along with the spacecraft for Artemis 4 and 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis contract secures Orion production through the next decade, demonstrating NASA\u2019s commitment to establishing a sustainable presence at the moon to bring back new knowledge and prepare for sending astronauts to Mars,\u201d NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a news release. \u201cOrion is a highly-capable, state-of-the-art spacecraft, designed specifically for deep space missions with astronauts, and an integral part of NASA\u2019s infrastructure for Artemis missions and future exploration of the solar system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two Artemis missions are scheduled to precede the landing, and the spacecraft for those missions \u2014 Artemis 1 and 2 \u2014 are already in development. Artemis 1 would be an uncrewed trip around the moon and back, currently set for the 2020-2021 time frame. Artemis 2 would trace a similar trajectory in 2023, but with a crew.<\/p>\n<p>Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for the Orion program, which is managed by NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The newly awarded contract, known as the Orion Production and Operations Contract, lays out a schedule for ordering as few as six and as many as 12 spacecraft by Sept. 30, 2030.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"The Hardware For NASA\u2019s Artemis I Mission Comes Together\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gdu1ROHLDrk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Orion spaceships for Artemis 6 through 8 would be ordered during fiscal year 2022 at a total cost of $1.9 billion. NASA said ordering the spacecraft in groups of three optimizes efficiencies for production.<\/p>\n<p>NASA plans to phase in spacecraft reusability, starting with the reuse of interior components from Artemis 2 on the Artemis 5 Orion. The Artemis 3 crew module would be reflown on Artemis 6, NASA said.<\/p>\n<p>The first six spacecraft would be acquired on a cost-plus basis, with a firm fixed price to be negotiated for follow-up orders.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s NASA announcement was hailed by members of Texas\u2019 congressional delegation, including both U.S. senators. \u201cThis is a great day for the men and women at Johnson Space Center,\u201d said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, a member of the Senate\u2019s space subcommittee. \u201cThey are crucial to our national space program, and have an undeniable legacy and record of success in advancing America\u2019s leadership in the human exploration of space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Orion spacecraft would be launched on NASA\u2019s heavy-lift Space Launch System, another multibillion-dollar development program that has Boeing as the prime contractor for the rocket\u2019s core stage and avionics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Orion crew capsule meant for NASA\u2019s uncrewed Artemis 1 mission around the moon and back is being prepared for its flight. (NASA Photo \/ Radislav Sinyak) NASA says it\u2019s ordering three more Orion spacecraft for missions to the moon, at a cost of $2.7 billion \u2014 and plans to order as many as nine [&hellip;]<\/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":[304,625,190,640],"class_list":["post-17936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis","tag-moon","tag-nasa","tag-orion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17936"}],"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=17936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17936\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}