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\u201c[First] there\u2019s the design certification, which is what we just went through, the DCR. So you certify the design to be able to meet a specific set of requirements that you specified. There\u2019s a second piece of that, which is the operational readiness, and that focuses on looking across the ground operations, the flight operations, and your support groups in order to be able to say that you\u2019re operational [and] ready to go execute a mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe third piece of that is the system acceptance, and that\u2019s the hardware as designed and built,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt has to be accepted, delivered to the Kennedy Space Center, and you have to make sure that you understand that it met all of its requirements in order to be accepted and ready to integrate into that operational process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then the fourth piece of that is the mission certification, and that\u2019s really saying the design, the operational readiness, and the accepted hardware are coming together and we will be able to take this vehicle and execute a specific mission in time going to a specific location. So it\u2019s looking at the actual hardware as designed, as ready to be flown, and are you going to be able to go do everything you said for that specific mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Credit: NASA.<\/p>\n
(Photo Caption: A graphic highlighting the major elements of the SLS Block 1 Crew vehicle. Block 1 vehicles are planned for the first three SLS launches to send Orion spacecraft to the Moon.)<\/em><\/p>\n Beaman explained that the DCR examined the entire program. This ranged from the components of the SLS Block 1 Crew configuration for Artemis 1 to the integrated vehicle and overall organization. \u201cIt encompasses the entire program,\u201d he said. \u201cThe elements are the hardware elements like the Core Stage or the Boosters, and so they have a design review within their organization that focuses specifically on their hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n The elements within the program include the Booster, Liquid Engines, SPIE (Spacecraft\/Payload Integration and Evolution), and Stages offices.<\/p>\n The Booster Office manages the Northrop Grumman five-segment SRB (Solid Rocket Boosters). These boosters evolved using existing hardware from the reusable four-segment Space Shuttle SRB design. The Liquid Engines Office manages the SLS application of two Aerojet Rocketdyne liquid hydrogen-oxygen engines\u2013the RS-25 and the RL10. Four RS-25 engines are clustered in the Core Stage across all SLS designs. For the Block 1 vehicle, one RL10 engine flies on the ICPS (Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage) second stage.<\/p>\n The SLS Block 1 vehicle uses the ICPS as its in-space second stage. The ICPS is a variant of ULA\u2019s (United Launch Alliance) DCSS (Delta Cryogenic Second Stage) with some customizations. The SPIE Office manages the application of the ICPS along with interstage and payload adapters for the Block 1 vehicle.<\/p>\n The Stages Office manages the all-new Core Stage produced by Boeing, which has been the pacing item throughout the program\u2019s development. In parallel with beginning test flights of the initial Block 1 vehicle, the program and element offices are also developing their parts of the next-generation SLS vehicles, Block 1B and Block 2.<\/p>\n The Core Stage and Boosters are the base blocks of the SLS design. The Core Stage is a ground-started sustainer stage; it, along with the payload stacked on top, is lifted out of the low atmosphere and accelerated by two SRBs. The Core and Boosters in the initial SLS Block 1 Crew vehicle insert Orion and a fully-fueled ICPS on a high-velocity trajectory just shy of a stable orbit. This allows for a safe and targeted disposal of the Core Stage.<\/p>\n While the Core Stage re-enters from orbital velocity and rapidly breaks apart in the lower atmosphere before an ocean disposal, the ICPS will make a short burn with Orion on top to raise the perigee to a stable orbit. The ICPS will then make a long TLI (trans-lunar injection) burn to send Orion, itself, the connecting adapters, and ride-sharing CubeSats on a trajectory that will pass about 100 kilometers from the surface of the Moon.<\/p>\n Credit: NASA\/Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n (Photo Caption: A September 2020 ground test of the five-segment SLS Solid Rocket Booster is captured by a drone at Northrop Grumman\u2019s Promontory test and production facility in Utah. Two SRBs like this will provide most of the thrust during the first two minutes of ascent.)<\/em><\/p>\n Beaman heads the SE&I (Systems Engineering and Integration) Office, which oversees other work such as software development and how the vehicle\u2019s hardware elements fit and work together. \u201cWhat [the SE&I] Office is responsible for is the design review for the overall vehicle, so their data feeds into the overall review and the design certification at the vehicle level which I\u2019m responsible for executing for the program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cFlight software is in my organization, so [SE&I is also] responsible for the development and the integration of the software activity. [That] not only [includes software development for the] elements but [we also] integrate with the Orion program, as well as EGS [Exploration Ground Systems].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of the test capability resides at Marshall Space Flight Center for flight software and for ground software, so we\u2019re responsible for that within my office,\u201d Beaman went on to say. \u201cThen there\u2019s other portions of [SE&I], the analytical portion of the vehicle, what we typically call systems analysis, that also falls with my organizational responsibility\u2013so all of the loads and environments, the flight trajectories.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe actual execution of the flight mission to get the vehicle to where it\u2019s supposed to be in space is the responsibility of my office [as well],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Remaining programmatic work<\/p>\n One of the things documented coming out of the Design Certification Review was the work remaining. \u201cBased on the things that we identified, here\u2019s the [work] that we have left to do before we can go fly,\u201d Beaman said. \u201cAnd you document those so that you make sure that you do [them].\u201d<\/p>\n A couple of open items are in the final phases of work. One is a modification to a hydrogen bleed line in the Core Stage\u2019s engine section that is a part of the MPS (Main Propulsion System).<\/p>\n During the Hot Fire tests that concluded the Green Run design verification campaign for the Core Stage, the pressures seen in the line were higher than predicted. \u201cYou design the system based on your analytical predictions,\u201d Beaman noted. \u201cYou have models and drawings, and you design the system to perform a certain function, and one of the things was the bleed-off [of] excess hydrogen.\u201d<\/p>\n Beaman said that the change increased the diameter of the line to lower the pressure. \u201cIt was safe to go ahead and do the [Hot Fire] test [with the original design], but we wanted to make that hydrogen line a little bit larger so we didn\u2019t have those higher pressures,\u201d he said. \u201cSo what we\u2019ve done is we\u2019ve gone through the redesign process.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat redesign has been successfully tested, so we know that it will meet the requirements that we have levied upon it, and now we\u2019re in the process of implementing that design and putting it on the vehicle. It\u2019s gone through its full certification test and meets the requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n Credit: Brady Kenniston for NSF.<\/p>\n (Photo Caption: The flight article for Artemis 1, Core Stage-1, fires in the B-2 position of the B Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on March 18 during the second Green Run Hot Fire test. The second Hot Fire ran a full 500 seconds in duration, accomplishing all planned test objectives.)<\/em><\/p>\n Another open item has to do with the batteries that supply independent power to the part of the launcher\u2019s flight safety system. \u201cWe have a range safety system that is to protect the public, and it has to have an active battery system that works all the time,\u201d Beaman said.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year during the qualification of our battery system, we had a couple of design issues that we had to deal with. What we did when we failed a particular qual test is we went in and instituted a redesign effort on that particular battery to be able to meet all the requirements, but at the same time we took a parallel path with another battery.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a battery that\u2019s used on the Booster flight safety system. We wanted to make sure that if we had a problem with qualification in the future, we had a viable parallel path to fly either one of the batteries.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have met with the range, the people with the [Space Launch Delta 45] for the Eastern Range, [and] they have accepted our dual-path approach,\u201d Beaman added. \u201cThe [primary battery] that we planned on flying all the time has successfully passed its qualification, and should we have an issue in the future, we have a backup position with this secondary battery. So we\u2019ve successfully completed the qualification activities on both of those batteries, and now it\u2019s just a matter of closing out the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n The safety system and batteries are independent of the Core Stage power system and the batteries it uses to operate the vehicle. \u201cIt is a dedicated battery, and you have to have that because the whole purpose of that is you want it to work in adverse conditions,\u201d Beaman said. \u201cIt\u2019s a flight safety system that\u2019s designed to protect the public, and you do not want it tied to anything else other than its intended purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the DCR, Beaman\u2019s office continues to prepare for the final reviews before launch. They are also supporting ongoing flight analysis and joint simulations across the EGS, Orion, and SLS Programs. \u201cThe mission certification that I talked about, my office is responsible for that, so we will review our data prior to having our [final reviews],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll look at the final mission analysis [and] the flight readiness analysis cycles, we\u2019ll look at the individual [SLS hardware] elements [and] the work that they\u2019ve done, so it\u2019s a buildup of that. [Also] at the Kennedy Space Center, [they are] not only building up the hardware down there but [conducting] launch simulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Credit: NASA\/Glenn Benson & Ben Smegelsky.<\/p>\n (Photo Caption: In early July, the Artemis 1 ICPS is moved under a lifting beam carried by one of the heavy-lift cranes in the Vehicle Assembly Building towards the partially integrated stack. Primarily used as the upper stage for ULA\u2019s Delta IV launch vehicle, it will be used in the SLS Block 1 as an in-space lunar transfer stage.)<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cWe just completed one last week [and] we have one in a couple of more weeks, so there\u2019s quite a few launch simulations that exercise the infrastructure systems,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have the Huntsville Operations Support Center, the (SLS Engineering Support Center), at Marshall where a lot of the data is looked at during launch countdown, so we\u2019ll do launch simulations of that infrastructure as well as exercise our people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe think it\u2019s really important. A lot of times you\u2019ll hear football coaches talk about [how] you need to practice like you play\u2013we do the same thing in our business. We practice through launch simulations, and we make it look just like a launch, and we introduce problems so our team can practice solving those problems, so when we come to the actual launch day, we\u2019re locked and ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Multi-level Flight Readiness Review for launch and mission<\/p>\n Artemis 1 is the first integrated test flight of the government\u2019s beyond-Earth ESD (Exploration Systems Development) division, which plans on the EGS launching an SLS Block 1 vehicle carrying an uncrewed Orion spacecraft from Launch Complex 39B. The SLS will then place Orion on a multi-day, trans-lunar trajectory that passes approximately 100 kilometers above the surface of the Moon.<\/p>\n All three programs in the ESD division under NASA\u2019s human exploration directorates\u2013EGS, Orion, and SLS\u2013have reached the stage of pre-flight preparations where they are completing their final independent design reviews and are preparing for the final FRR (Flight Readiness Review). The FRR will certify that the organizations are individually ready and jointly ready as a team for Artemis 1.<\/p>\n \u201cFor this test flight we completed our design certification reviews, and what we\u2019re in the process of doing now is finalizing some of the testing and the paperwork that\u2019s required to commit to flight readiness,\u201d Cathy Koerner, NASA\u2019s Orion Program Manager, said in an October 22 media teleconference. \u201cWe will start that process here in the next few weeks, actually, [so] that we\u2019re ready to support whenever the integrated stack is ready to support a launch.\u201d<\/p>\n Artemis 1 will be the second in a series of three test flights for the Orion Program, which will see an initial crewed operating capability on the Artemis 2 mission. The EFT-1 (Exploration Test Flight-1) mission in December 2014 tested an uncrewed Orion Crew Module with a simulated Service Module on a short Earth orbit mission.<\/p>\n Artemis 1 combines an upgraded\u2013but still uncrewed\u2013Orion Crew Module with the first active Service Module, which allows the spacecraft to navigate into the mission\u2019s cislunar Distant Retrograde Orbit. The Service Module will also power Orion\u2019s return to Earth from the Moon. \u201cThis being a test flight, a lot of the mission activities and the data analysis and the things that we get out of this flight will feed into our design and certification readiness for the Artemis 2 mission when that happens,\u201d Koerner added.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we\u2019re anxious to see this mission be successful and get the test data back from this flight and fold that into our readiness for the next, crewed mission.\u201d Artemis 2 will phase in all the Orion systems needed for a four-person crew from life support, to computer display-and-command stations, to radios for voice communications.<\/p>\n Credits: NASA\/Frank Michaux.<\/p>\n (Photo Caption: The Artemis 1 SLS vehicle is seen stacked in the VAB in mid-September prior to special umbilical and modal tests run prior to the upcoming first launch. A simulator of the Orion launch stack\u2019s mass and center of gravity was fitted on top of the launch vehicle for the tests.)<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cFrom a ground systems standpoint, we really kind of DCR [Design Certification Review] our ground systems, system by system,\u201d Mike Bolger, NASA\u2019s EGS Program Manager, said in the October 22 media teleconference. \u201cWe\u2019ve completed 75 out of 76 [reviews], we\u2019ve got one that\u2019s coming up here in a few weeks related to [the] Pad ECS (Environmental Control System), so we\u2019re in really good shape\u2013everything\u2019s on track for that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve accomplished all four of our operational readiness reviews, with the most recent one being our operational readiness review for integrated test and checkout, which is the sequence of tests that we\u2019re getting ready to get into now. So we\u2019re in a really good position to move forward with the testing that we\u2019ve got in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar to the design certification of Artemis 1\u2019s launch vehicle, certification of flight readiness will be a multi-level series of meetings from the major flight and ground systems components. It will culminate in an agency-level FRR meeting\u2013perhaps only a week before the first launch attempt.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a building block approach, so each one of the elements will have their flight readiness review, and then they will provide a certificate or an endorsement of flight readiness for their hardware,\u201d Beaman said, referring to the SLS process. \u201cSo it\u2019ll identify what they\u2019ve done, and if anything is left to be done it documents that as a constraint, so you make sure that you do it [before launch].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEach one of the elements will go through [their own review], and that includes flight software. Then I will have a Systems Engineering and Integration review that ties the different analyses and processes that have happened up to that point together, and then after that, there will be [an SLS] program-level flight readiness review.\u201d<\/p>\n After the EGS, Orion, and SLS Programs hold their program-level reviews, ESD will hold a division-level review. ESD is responsible for cross-program integration between the spacecraft, launch vehicle, and ground systems. This will be one of the aspects of the FRR at the ESD level.<\/p>\n The process will culminate in an agency-level flight readiness review to assess NASA\u2019s overall readiness to support the launch, the mission, and recovery of the spacecraft at its conclusion. \u201cWe\u2019re in essence presenting to the [NASA] Administrator and recognized technical authorities that we\u2019re ready to fly,\u201d Beaman noted.<\/p>\n If the agency gives the go-ahead to proceed at the FRR, they will conclude by endorsing an official launch date for Artemis 1.<\/p>\n Lead image: Two views of the completed Artemis I stack inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.<\/em> Credit: NASA\/Radislav Sinyak<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" NASA\u2019s SLS (Space Launch System) program is preparing to serve its role in the agency\u2019s first human spaceflight mission to the moon in nearly 50 years\u2013Artemis 1. After completing a DCR (Design Certification Review) in late September, the program engineering groups are now organizing the data to certify SLS\u2019s initial configuration for flight in a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[304,1700,3718,190,624],"class_list":["post-24814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-artemis","tag-artemis-1","tag-em-1","tag-nasa","tag-sls"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24814"}],"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=24814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31564,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24814\/revisions\/31564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}See Also<\/h4>\n
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