![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Z44.jpg\")
This included pathfinder work at Metalex, while machining on the EM-1 pressure vessel involved the first pathfinder aft bulkhead being built at Ingersoll Machine Tools.<\/p>\nThe Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) Orion is now being welded together at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans ahead of its 2018 flight with the maiden launch of the Space Launch System (SLS). Orion is also in the process of completing its all-important paperwork, as the Critical Design Review (CDR) process continues ahead of its key meeting in October.<\/p>\n
EM-1 Orion:<\/p>\n
The construction of the EM-1 Orion \u2013 tasked with an unmanned mission 70,000 kilometers past the Moon \u2013 has been progressing across the country to prepare for the assembly of the spacecraft, as overviewed in L2\u2019s EM-1 Processing Update Section.<\/p>\n
This included pathfinder work at Metalex, while machining on the EM-1 pressure vessel involved the first pathfinder aft bulkhead being built at Ingersoll Machine Tools.<\/p>\n
The pathfinder forward bulkhead was constructed at Janicki Industries, while the pathfinder three-piece cone panel was also created.<\/p>\n
The pathfinder and EM-1 crew module barrels were both being fabricated at Votaw with the pathfinder going through a final machine pass. The backbone panel was also in fabrication at Votaw in April.<\/p>\n
The EM-1 cone panel D-E was set up at Aero Pacific and began machining on April 6, while the last mock cone panel was \u2018in weld\u2019 at MAF ahead of shipment to Pacific Coastal Aerospace.<\/p>\n
The processing information cited May 1 as the historic milestone for the EM-1 Crew Module shell \u201cfirst weld\u201d. However, it took until September until NASA confirmed this historic milestone had begun.<\/p>\n
![\"2015-09-09-000932\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/2015-09-09-000932-350x254.jpg\")
A release on Tuesday noted that two sections of the Orion spacecraft\u2019s primary structure were welded together on September 5. No reason for the delay from May 1 was provided.<\/p>\n
Spaceflight news subscription (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n The primary structure of Orion\u2019s crew module is made of seven large aluminum pieces that must be welded together in detailed fashion.<\/p>\n The first weld connects the tunnel to the forward bulkhead, which is at the top of the spacecraft and houses many of Orion\u2019s critical systems, such as the parachutes that deploy during reentry.<\/p>\n Orion\u2019s tunnel, with a docking hatch, will allow crews to move between the crew module and other spacecraft.<\/p>\n \u201cThe team has done tremendous work to get to this point and to ensure we have a sound building block for the rest of Orion\u2019s systems.\u201d<\/p>\n The milestones for the EM-1 Orion mirror the path taken by the EFT-1 spacecraft. However, the EM-1 Orion will sport a number of improvements based on the experiences of the 2014 test flight.<\/p>\n *Click here for more Orion News Articles*<\/p>\n The EFT-1 Orion\u2019s \u201cfirst weld\u201d was marked as a major milestone in NASA\u2019s transition back to Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) exploration for human space flight, with the Agency citing the 2011 milestone as the first time NASA had pieced together a \u201chuman\u201d space vehicle since the birth of Shuttle orbiter Endeavour.<\/p>\n Friction welding creates a seamless, leak-proof bond that has proven stronger and higher in quality than can be achieved with conventional welding.<\/p>\n Engineers have undertaken a meticulous process to prepare for welding. They have cleaned the segments, coated them with a protective chemical and primed them. They then outfitted each element with strain gauges and wiring to monitor the metal during the fabrication process.<\/p>\n The EFT-1 vehicle \u2013 which has now been stripped down \u2013 recently arrived at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company headquarters in Littleton, Colorado.<\/p>\n While in Colorado, engineers will perform final decontamination on the crew module, will continue post-flight analysis of select components, and will evaluate a new acoustic technology called Direct Field Acoustic (DFA) testing.<\/p>\n EFT-1\u2019s flight and the ongoing post-flight evaluations are being fed into Orion\u2019s Critical Design Review (CDR), ahead of its key board meeting \u2013 scheduled for October 22.<\/p>\n A Readiness Assessment of the GSDO (Ground Systems Development and Operations) CDR began on September 3, with the GSDO CDR Kickoff scheduled for October 6-8.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery day, teams around the country are moving at full speed to get ready for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), when we\u2019ll flight test Orion and SLS together in the proving ground of space, far away from the safety of Earth,\u201d added Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters .<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re progressing toward eventually sending astronauts deep into space.\u201d<\/p>\n (Images: Via L2 SLS and Orion sections \u2013 including exclusive Orion materials since its CEV era onwards, totalling GBs of content).<\/p>\n To join L2 and directly support the site\u2019s running costs, click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) Orion is now being welded together at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans ahead of its 2018 flight with the maiden launch of the Space Launch System (SLS). Orion is also in the process of completing its all-important paperwork, as the Critical Design Review (CDR) process continues ahead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30163,"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":[3718,7866,640],"class_list":["post-39252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-em-1","tag-maf","tag-orion"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39252"}],"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=39252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"2015-09-09-001024\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/2015-09-09-001024-350x251.jpg\")
\u201cEach of Orion\u2019s systems and subsystems is assembled or integrated onto the primary structure, so starting to weld the underlying elements together is a critical first manufacturing step,\u201d noted Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/Z38.jpg\")
As with the EFT-1 Orion, the EM-1 Orion is welded together using an innovative new friction stir welding process, developed especially for Orion construction as part of MAF\u2019s own transition from constructing External Tanks to producing both Orion and SLS hardware.<\/p>\n![\"2014-12-10](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/2014-12-10-17_20_53-EFT-1-Orion-NSF-Exclusive-Access-USS-Anchorage-Imagery-350x253.jpg\")
EFT-1\u2019s successful trip into space provided engineers with a proof of concept for the structural integrity of the capsule, with post flight checkouts showing the vehicle to be in excellent shape \u2013 although there is ongoing interest into the larger-than-expected amount of MMOD damage suffered by the EFT-1 Orion during its test mission last year.<\/p>\n![\"2015-09-09-001343\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/2015-09-09-001343-350x229.jpg\")
The evaluation of DFA testing will determine if the method can produce enough energy to simulate the acoustic loads Orion will experience during launch and ascent on the SLS rocket.<\/p>\n