{"id":39780,"date":"2013-08-24T00:17:54","date_gmt":"2013-08-23T16:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/orion-rallying-call-as-eft-1-closes-in-on-t-12-months\/"},"modified":"2013-08-24T00:17:54","modified_gmt":"2013-08-23T16:17:54","slug":"orion-rallying-call-as-eft-1-closes-in-on-t-12-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/orion-rallying-call-as-eft-1-closes-in-on-t-12-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Orion rallying call as EFT-1 closes in on T-12 months"},"content":{"rendered":"

NASA brought out the big guns this week to rally the Orion workforce with an address aimed at highlighting the \u201chuge amount of progress\u201d that has been made on the spacecraft, urging workers to avoid getting \u201cdistracted\u201d by budget uncertainties. Orion is moving ever-closer to its first trip into space, with the Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) still on track for September, 2014.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Orion\u2019s Troublesome Childhood:<\/p>\n

Orion, which started life as the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), suffered from a series of design changes throughout its early life as part of the Constellation Program (CxP).<\/p>\n

While the changes were part of the natural evolution of any new spacecraft, the main challenges were associated with the launch vehicle to which it was married, the Ares I.<\/p>\n

\"ServiceWith \u201cmass reserves\u201d at a premium, shortfalls in Ares I\u2019s performance forced Orion to shed weight in a painful and obstructive series of exercises, almost immediately causing the CEV to reduce its diameter size by 0.5 meters , soon followed by its Service Module being stripped down by up to 50 percent of its original mass.<\/p>\n

Provided with the name \u201cOrion\u201d, engineers at Lockheed Martin \u2013 the vehicle\u2019s prime contractor \u2013 were told to further reduce the spacecraft\u2019s mass, resulting in a cull of the amount of propellant the vehicle would carry during International Space Station (ISS) missions \u2013 the initial role for Orion.<\/p>\n

\"OrionIn what seemed to be a never-ending series of demands, Orion lost its ability to use an air bag system to land on terra firma, reverting to Apollo-style water landings.<\/p>\n

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Other advanced systems \u2013 part of the \u201cApollo on Steroids\u201d ideal of creating a super capsule far more capable than its predecessor \u2013 were also removed from the vehicle.<\/p>\n

With frustrations growing between Ares I \u2013 which also claimed it was being hindered by the design changes \u2013 and Orion, project managers held a summit meeting in 2007 and decided they would strip Orion down to a \u201cminimum requirement\u201d spacecraft, thus allowing Ares I some breathing space to work within several thousand pounds of mass reserves.<\/p>\n

\"OrionKnown as the Zero Base Vehicle (ZBV) effort, Orion underwent a mass \u2018scrubbing\u2019 process to reduce it to a minimum weight, ahead of the reapplication of some of the deleted capability, element by element. The project noted it was using the Block 2 \u201cLunar Orion\u201d for this exercise, as much as the results were to be fed into the Block 1 \u201cISS Orion\u201d.<\/p>\n

With CxP starting to show signs it was going to have slip in its schedule, an All Hands meeting at the end of 2007 referenced the need for \u201cteamwork and chemistry,\u201d with then-Ares program manager Steve Cook warning \u201cFailure is an option during development,\u201d while a System Definition Review (SDR) Board meeting noted major \u201cred\u201d risk in controlling Orion\u2019s weight to match Ares I performance.<\/p>\n

In 2008, the Orion Vehicle Engineering Integration Working Group (OVEIWG) began to reinstall some of the \u201ccritical capability\u201d back on to the vehicle, without breaching strict mass requirements. Some engineers joked the Group was providing the role of Ken Mattingly, when he juggled limited amps as he created a power up sequence for the crippled Apollo 13 capsule via testing in a simulator.<\/p>\n

\"OpeningIronically, it was Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz who issued a stirring speech in an internal video (available in L2) to the Constellation workforce that year, noting how the Apollo workforce \u201chad to learn to leave our egos at the door and become a team, so we became one.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the middle of 2008, a new Design Analysis Cycle (DAC) was called for \u2013 in tandem with efforts to resolve Thrust Oscillation (TO) issues \u2013 resulting in a major slip to the vehicle\u2019s Preliminary Design Review (PDR) to 2009.<\/p>\n

With the additional stresses of reduced budget funding for Constellation, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) called for the Review of United States Human Space Flight Plans Committee to take place in 2009.<\/p>\n

Better known as the Augustine Commission, the review highlighted CxP\u2019s critical issues, ultimately resulting in its cancellation by the Obama administration via the FY2011 Budget Proposal.<\/p>\n

Click here for Orion News Articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/orion\/<\/p>\n

Orion\u2019s Second Life:<\/p>\n

Orion was saved from the cull \u2013 albeit in stages, including a near-pointless role as a very expensive lifeboat for the ISS \u2013 before the 2010 Authorization Act refocused Orion on Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) missions.<\/p>\n

\"FirstThe first physical sign of Orion\u2019s new life was seen at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), as the Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) vehicle saw its first panels welded together.<\/p>\n

With NASA representing the start of construction as \u201cthe first new NASA spacecraft built to take humans to orbit since space shuttle Endeavour left the factory in 1991,\u201d the EFT-1 Orion enjoyed a successful build in New Orleans, prior to heading to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for outfitting.<\/p>\n

The launch date for EFT-1 has slipped a few times, moving from its 2013 launch date, to September, 2014.<\/p>\n

\"EFT-1However, all elements of the mission have remained on track for some time, with the Delta IV-Heavy tasked with lofting the EFT-1 Orion on a multi-hour mission set for shipping next March.<\/p>\n

The test will allow NASA to evaluate Orion\u2019s performance and integrity, in preparation for the spacecraft\u2019s future deep-space expeditions.<\/p>\n

Orion will be lofted to altitude of more than 3,600 miles, prior to a return to Earth on a high-speed re-entry at more than 20,000 mph, with the results feeding into Orion\u2019s key Critical Design Review (CDR), set for the middle of 2015.<\/p>\n

Orion Rallying Call:<\/p>\n

While Orion is showing signs of holding to its schedule, at least for EFT-1 and the first two missions with the Space Launch System (SLS) \u2013 notably the only two SLS missions that are currently on the books \u2013 funding concerns are never too far away from Orion\u2019s doorstep.<\/p>\n

Only just this month, NASA\u2019s Office of the Inspector General issued a depressing report about schedule and cost concerns related to long-term funding for Orion.<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n