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Via the approval of the 2010 Authorization Act, Orion returned to its primary role as an exploration spaceship, with a role focused on Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) missions as far away as Mars.<\/p>\n
This role for Orion was always in the planning, even during the Constellation Program. The spacecraft was initially set to fly to the ISS on the Ares I launch vehicle, prior to evolving into a Block II vehicle for long duration flights into deep space.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/A33.jpg\" "\\"A33\\"")
December 17, 2017 is the current date for Orion\u2019s maiden flight into deep space, launching atop of the Space Launch System (SLS) for an uncrewed mission to the Moon. An article this coming week will overview the mission, which is being called EM-1 (Exploration Mission -1).<\/p>\nHowever, Orion will taste the coldness of space in early 2014, on a multi-hour mission that will see the spacecraft \u2013 known as EFT-1 \u2013 carry out a major milestone for NASA\u2019s exploration aspirations.<\/p>\n
Launched atop of a Delta IV-H launch vehicle, Orion will be boosted by the United Launch Alliance\u2019s Delta Upper Stage into two orbits at a high-apogee, prior to separating and re-entering at over 20,000mph \u2013 mirroring the high energy entry profile of an Orion returning from deep space.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Z516.jpg\" "\\"Z5\\"")
This mission will mark the first time in decades that a NASA spacecraft \u2013 designed for human crews \u2013 will have been sent to such a distance away from the planet.<\/p>\nThe \u201chighest\u201d the space shuttle orbiters ever ventured away from Earth in their 30 year career was during the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing missions \u2013 usually around 350 nms in altitude \u2013 the last of which was conducted by Atlantis and her crew during STS-125. The shuttle record was held by Discovery, when she flew to 378 nms during STS-103\u2019s HST servicing mission.<\/p>\n
With the mission involving numerous test milestones, the key data will come from how the heatshield\/Thermal Protection System (TPS) will behave \u2013 data which will then be fed into Orion\u2019s Critical Design Review (CDR), scheduled for around one year after EFT-1.<\/p>\n
Click here for Orion articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/orion\/<\/p>\n
The Orion tasked with the EFT-1 mission is already deep into its construction milestones, with work progressing on the timeline at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Z323.jpg\" "\\"Z3\\"")
Most of the work taking place this month relates to the \u201cbarrel\u201d \u2013 or base \u2013 of the EFT-1 Orion, as the vehicle\u2019s construction in New Orleans presses towards the 85 percent mark.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) team completed the Gore Assembly to the Barrel pathfinder weld and the Center Panel to the Aft Structural Assembly Pathfinder Welds. The closeout weld will be the next pathfinder weld in preparation for final closeout weld operations on the EFT-1 flight unit,\u201d noted the latest Orion status presentation (L2 \u2013 Link to Presentation).<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Launch Abort System (LAS) Adapter Cone Mandrel has been completed and delivered to MAF. LAS Mid Ring Deck is being fabricated in the Fiber Placement Machine at MAF.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once the construction work has been completed, the \u201cbare\u201d Orion will be sent to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for outfitting work.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/A73.jpg\" "\\"A73\\"")
Over in Denver, Lockheed Martin \u2013 the prime contractor for Orion \u2013 have their teams completing test evaluations on the Ground Test Article (GTA) Orion, following on from a long list of specialist testing on the spacecraft\u2019s ability to cope with the pressures of launch and on-orbit operations.<\/p>\nThese developmental tests have been taking place since last year, not only with Orion, but also elements of the Orion stack \u2013 such as the Launch Abort System and supporting hardware.<\/p>\n
The tests have included evaluations via what is known as the \u201cshake and bake\u201d test \u2013 which took place at Lockheed Martin\u2019s Waterton facility in Denver \u2013 exposing the GTA Orion through a series of procedures which simulated the sound pressure levels that the vehicle is expected to encounter during launch, levels which can exceed 160 decibels.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Z418.jpg\" "\\"Z4\\"")
This month Lockheed Martin began \u201cmultipoint random vibration\u201d testing on the GTA Orion, again working to ensure the components of the vehicle will not come across any hidden surprises in the many environments it will be expected to survive in.<\/p>\n\u201cThe Multipoint Random Vibration testing has begun on the Orion Crew Module Ground Test Article at the Lockheed Martin vertical test facility in Denver,\u201d noted the Orion status update (L2). \u201cThe testing started with a low frequency (<20 Hz) and low force runs to obtain the rigid body modes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing the initial test, the team continued testing low force runs ranging from 70 to 100 Hz to find the isolation plate modes. The testing is planned to take 17 days but could be extended.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Z79.jpg\" "\\"Z7\\"")
However, all eyes will be on the sky over Arizona on Wednesday, as engineers prepare to conduct the latest PTV drop test for Orion\u2019s parachute system.<\/p>\nUPDATE: TEST WAS A SUCCESS!<\/p>\n
This Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) test on the second generation PTV will be hoping for a better outcome than the PTV (first generation) test back in 2008, which suffered a major failure, resulting in the vehicle crashing to the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) team continued preparation activities for the first Generation II Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) air drop, scheduled for Feb. 29,\u201d noted the latest Orion status update (L2).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Z616.jpg\" "\\"Z6\\"")
\u201cAccomplishments included rigging of the CPAS Parachute Separate System (CPSS) Mid-Air Release Mechanism and recovery system; final PTV avionics tray, backshell panel and ballast installations; and completion of PTV and CPSS electromagnetic interface testing.\u201d<\/p>\nThe boilerplate Orion mock up vehicle and PTV system consists of eight parachutes, with another 10 parachutes required to drag the test vehicle out of the C-17 aircraft via a sledge or pallet system \u2013 which it has already been mated with during preparations \u2013 at 25,000 feet, providing the correct orientation, altitude and speed, whilst also allowing for the pallet to land safely on the ground under its own dedicated parachutes.<\/p>\n
However, some changes \u2013 which are yet to be made public \u2013 have been made to the set-up of the system since the 2008 failure, hopefully mitigating the potential for problems during deployment.<\/p>\n
(Images: Via L2 and NASA). L2\u2019s new Orion and Future Spacecraft specific L2 section includes, presentations, videos, graphics and internal updates on Orion and other future spacecraft.<\/p>\n
(L2 is \u2013 as it has been for the past several years \u2013 providing full exclusive future vehicle coverage, available no where else on the internet. To join L2, click here: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Orion Parachute Test Vehicle (PTV) is on track for its drop test on February 29 at the US Proving Grounds in Yuma, Arizona. The vehicle has completed processing prior to boarding the C-17 aircraft for the test of the parachute system. Elsewhere, the Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) Orion is continuing construction in New Orleans, while […]<\/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":[9062,3688,640,9063],"class_list":["post-40191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cpas","tag-eft-1","tag-orion","tag-ptv"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40191"}],"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=40191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40191\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}