SLS - space launch system (3-я попытка)

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2017/10/23/new-umbilical-fitted-for-mobile-launcher-to-support-nasas-deep-space-exploration-missions/

или

https://blogs.nasa.gov/groundsystems/2017/10/23/new-umbilical-fitted-for-mobile-launcher-to-support-nasas-deep-space-exploration-missions/

New Umbilical Fitted for Mobile Launcher to Support NASA's Deep Space Exploration Missions
Posted on October 23, 2017 at 2:29 pm by Linda Herridge.
          

High up on the mobile launcher tower at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, construction workers assist as a crane moves the Core Stage Inter-tank Umbilical (CSITU) into place for a fit check of the attachment hardware. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

Engineers lifted and installed a third umbilical on the mobile launcher at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a fit check. The tower on the mobile launcher will be equipped with several connections or launch umbilicals like this one. After the fit check was completed, the umbilical was lowered down and will be installed permanently at a later date.

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The umbilicals will provide power, communications, coolant and fuel. They will be used to connect the mobile launcher to the agency's Space Launch System (made up of the core stage, twin solid rocket boosters, and the interim cryogenic propulsion stage) and the Orion spacecraft mounted on top of SLS.

An area on the SLS between the liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen tanks is known as the core stage inter-tank. The core-stage inter-tank umbilical is the third in a series of five new umbilicals for the mobile launcher. Its main function is to vent excess gaseous hydrogen from the rocket's core stage. This umbilical also will provide conditioned air, pressurized gases, and power and data connection to the core stage.

The Orion service module umbilical and the core stage forward skirt umbilical were previously installed on the tower. The service module umbilical will connect from the mobile launch tower to the Orion service module. Prior to launch, the umbilical will transfer liquid coolant for the electronics and purge air/gaseous nitrogen for environmental control. The SLS core stage forward skirt is near the top of the core stage, and the forward skirt umbilical provides connections and conditioned air/gaseous nitrogen to the core stage of the rocket. All these umbilicals will swing away from the rocket and spacecraft just before launch.

Several other umbilicals were previously installed on the mobile launcher. These include two aft skirt purge umbilicals, which will connect to the SLS rocket at the bottom outer edge of each booster and provide electrical power and data connections, remove hazardous gases, and maintain the right temperature range with a nitrogen purge in the boosters until SLS lifts off from the launch pad.

The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy is preparing ground support equipment, including the launch umbilicals, for NASA's deep space exploration missions.

This entry was posted in Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, Journey to Mars, Kennedy, Space Launch System on October 23, 2017 by Linda Herridge.

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[Искандер]

Вообще отправлять многоразовые дорогущие двигатели в последний полёт, при том что могли ещё летать и летать, наверное очень прикольно. Перед этим тестировать их в удовольствие от попила.
Когда Маск таки домайстрячит BFR, потребуются ой какие большие аргументы для продолжения использования SLS.
Сверхтяжелая РН может быть либо многоразовой либо с коротким временем жизни от 2-х до пары десятков полётов.

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 2 ч. назад

ARTICLE: Crew Access Arm arrives as SLS Mobile Launcher takes shape - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/10/crew-access-arm-arrives-sls-mobile-launcher/ ...

Спойлер

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Crew Access Arm arrives as SLS Mobile Launcher takes shape

[silentpom]

Искандер пишет:
ообще отправлять многоразовые дорогущие двигатели в последний полёт,

за двигатели уже уплачено давно, они почти бесплатные. а если и за реальные деньги - в стоимости всей РН это не так уж и много

[tnt22]

http://astronautical.org/events/vonbraun/

Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium

October 24-26, 2017
Huntsville, Alabama

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 10 ч. назад

May will only give "2019" as date for EM-1 launch, says he expects NASA to codify a more precise date in next few weeks. #vonbraun

10 ч. назад

That 2019 date will almost certainly be late 2019, though. NASA told Congress this summer no earlier than October 2019.

9 ч. назад

Moderator Dale Thomas says 2019 will be "awesome" because of launches of SLS and JWST. [Both delayed to 2019, though...] #vonbraun

[tnt22]

http://astronautical.org/events/vonbraun/

Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium

October 24-26, 2017
Huntsville, Alabama

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 10 ч. назад

Mike Bolger: expect to have the Mobile Launcher work completed by next April, move it to the pad for tests. #VonBraun

[tnt22]

http://astronautical.org/events/vonbraun/

Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium

October 24-26, 2017
Huntsville, Alabama

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 9 ч. назад

John Honeycutt: all 4 RS-25 engines for EM-1 all ready to go, in storage to be integrated on core stage. #VonBraun

9 ч. назад

Honeycutt: now that RS-25s won't be reused, making design changes for expendable versions. On target for 30% cost reduction. #VonBraun


9 ч. назад

Honeycutt: all the SLS core stage structural test articles completed and being prepped for tests. #VonBraun

[tnt22]

http://astronautical.org/events/vonbraun/

Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium

October 24-26, 2017
Huntsville, Alabama

Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 9 ч. назад

Honeycutt: working towards a schedule now that sees EM-1 core stage completed and rolled out of Michoud in Dec. 2018. #VonBraun


9 ч. назад

Hill: delivery of Orion service module and completion of SLS core stage "neck and neck" for critical path for EM-1. #VonBraun

[Штуцер]

Не вижу страховки или монтажного пояса:

[silentpom]

может когда-то было, но документ интересный. куча анализов разных вариантов слс 
https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/140637main_ESAS_06.pdf

[tnt22]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/10/sls-rocket-advancing-but-its-launch-date-may-slip-into-2020/

SLS rocket advancing, but its launch date may slip to 2020

Best case is December 2019, but problems often arise at this stage.
ERIC BERGER - 10/26/2017, 4:45 PM

NASA will soon set a new date for the maiden flight of its massive Space Launch System rocket, which will send the Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon. Previously, this flight had been scheduled for 2018, but NASA officials acknowledged earlier this year that the launch date would slip into 2019.

Now, there is the possibility of further delays, although NASA isn't saying this publicly just yet. On Wednesday, at the Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, a key official said that a 2019 date is still on the table because Marshall Space Flight Center expects to deliver the rocket's core stage to the launch site in Florida by the end of 2018.

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Noting a recent Agency Program Management Council meeting, during which launch dates are decided, Marshall director Todd May said, "2019 is where we think we can get that done." NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, should release an official launch date within the next few weeks, May added.

Work to be done

During a NASA safety meeting earlier this month, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel noted that there are three main items on the "critical path" before the SLS rocket can make its maiden launch. First, Marshall must deliver a fully tested core stage—the main liquid hydrogen and oxygen tanks and RS-25 rocket engines. The European Space Agency must also complete and then test the service module to power the Orion spacecraft in deep space. And much work remains to finalize and test software to manage launch systems at Kennedy Space Center.

"This is a critical point," said a member of the advisory board, engineer Donald McErlean. "The SLS continues to advance, and there are challenges that exist that no one would be surprised about in a program as advanced and complex as this. But the work to overcome those challenges is in progress."

For his part, May said this hard work will be the highlight for many engineers at NASA and its hundreds of contractors and subcontractors working to bring the big SLS rocket to the launch pad. "This is the fun part," May said Wednesday. "It's the hard part, but it's also the really fun part for the team."

"Risk informed" date

Recently, the managing editor of the NASASpaceFlight.com, Chris Bergin, suggested that NASA managers are deciding between a "best case" launch date of December 2019 for the SLS rocket and a "risk informed" date in the second quarter of 2020. Bergin is a reliable source of inside information about NASA, and sources subsequently confirmed this information to Ars.

It is physically possible for NASA to make a launch date in 2019, but historically, things can (and often do) go wrong in the assembly and testing of major launch systems. While it is possible to beat the odds or resolve problems quickly, there is no guarantee that will happen between now and a 2019 launch date.

The issue now confronting NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, is whether to set a more politically palatable launch date in 2019 knowing that it could easily slip into 2020. Moreover, should Lightfoot issue a public launch date of 2020, it would release the pressure now on NASA and its contractors, allowing managers to relax and guaranteeing an earlier date is not reached. Therefore, the smart money is on a launch date in 2019, with an eventual slip into 2020.

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[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 22 мин. назад

Two @NASA_SLS booster segments were transferred to storage yesterday, making 7 of the 10 #EM1 segments ready for shipment when requested.

[tnt22]

http://spacenews.com/decision-on-em-1-launch-date-still-pending/

Decision on EM-1 launch date still pending
by Jeff Foust — October 26, 2017

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA is still up to a month away fr om setting a new target launch date for the first flight of the Space Launch System, but agency officials said they still expected it to take place in 2019.

NASA has not set a new date for Exploration Mission (EM) 1, which will launch an uncrewed Orion spacecraft on a test flight into lunar orbit and back, since announcing in May that it would delay the flight to 2019 after deciding not to put a crew on the mission.

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NASA managers said it could take up to a month before finalizing a new target launch date for EM-1. Credit: NASA

In September, the agency said in a statement that it would announce a new target date for EM-1 in October, citing the need to account for a range of issues, including progress on the European-built Orion service module and shutdowns at NASA centers from hurricanes in August and September.

However, an update in October is increasingly unlikely. "Within a few weeks, I think [NASA Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot] intends to codify whatever that date is going to be," Todd May, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, said in remarks at the American Astronautical Society's Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium here Oct. 25.

Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development at NASA, offered a similar assessment. "Probably in the next month, maybe sooner," he said in an interview.

During a panel discussion at the conference, Hill said two key elements of the EM-1, delivery of the Orion service module and completion of the core stage of the SLS, were driving the schedule for the mission. "Those are our two critical paths right now, and they're kind of neck-and-neck for getting to a launch date," he said.

The service module, being built by Airbus Defence and Space in Bremen, Germany, is in advanced phases of assembly, according to Mark Kirasich, NASA's Orion program manager. The last components of the module should be in plance by March or April next year. He expected the service module to be delivered to the Kennedy Space Center "some time in the summer of next year" to be integrated with the crew module already there.

The SLS core stage has suffered welding problems that have slowed its construction. "It's our big new development," said John Honeycutt, NASA SLS program manager. The flight core stage will be completed next year while pathfinder units undergo testing.

"The big milestone for the public is when that core stage gets integrated and rolled out of the factory" at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and is shipped to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for testing, he said. "We're working to a scheduled today that shows that we get the core stage out of the factory in December 2018."

Those schedules would allow for an EM-1 launch in 2019, agency officials said. "2019 is wh ere we think we can that done," May said when asked when he thought the EM-1 launch would take place.

He was not more specific, but if NASA is able to maintain a 2019 launch for EM-1, it likely would be late in the year. NASA notified Congress in June that its estimated launch date for EM-1 was no earlier than October 2019, according to an Oct. 19 report by the Government Accountability Office.

Program managers, though, warned of the potential of additional problems that may crop up as the agency goes through the development and testing process of SLS and Orion, and associated ground systems at KSC, for the first time.

"We have learned that first-time events in manufacturing create challenges for us," Honeycutt said. "When we get to do them a second time, we usually do pretty good."

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[Блудный]

Смотрю я на это всё пригорюнившись и вспоминаю "Спейсфлайт" середины 80-х. Там картинки рисовали интересные, с подписью "Джарвис". В принципе, кроме денег ничего больше не требовалось - все имелось, действующее. Плюс лет пять работы максимум.

"Нормальные герои всегда идут в обход".

[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 2 ч. назад

Our launch abort motor for @NASA_SLS launch abort system has completed acceptance hydro-testing in preparation for its next test fire

[tnt22]

Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 21 мин. назад

ARTICLE: Europa Clipper's launch date dependent on SLS Mobile Launcher readiness - https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/europa-clippers-launch-dependent-sls-ml-readiness/ ... By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF) (Awesome Europa Clipper departing after launch from SLS Block 1B render via @kogavfx for NSF L2.)

Europa Clipper's launch date dependent on SLS Mobile Launcher readiness

P.S.

Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 2 мин. назад

SLS's Mobile Launcher is overweight & needs 3 years of mods post EM-1. All flight schedules after EM-1 are dependant on ML readiness. #NASA

[tnt22]

https://blogs.nasa.gov/groundsystems/2017/11/03/crew-access-arm-for-space-launch-system-arrives-at-kennedy/

Crew Access Arm for Space Launch System Arrives at Kennedy
Linda Herridge
Posted on November 3, 2017


Two heavy-lift cranes are used to tilt and lower the Orion crew access arm onto a work stand in a storage location Oct. 17, 2017, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The access arm was transported fr om Precision Fabricating and Cleaning in Cocoa, Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

When astronauts depart for missions to deep space, they will cross the Crew Access Arm about 300 feet above the ground to board their spacecraft. The access arm was delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Oct. 17, 2017, to install on the mobile launcher in preparation for the first flight of the Space Launch System rocket, or SLS, and the Orion spacecraft.

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The SLS will be the largest rocket in the world and will be stacked with Orion inside the historic Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, on the mobile launcher and rolled out to the pad prior to launch. The access arm will be one of 11 connection points to the rocket and spacecraft from the tower on the mobile launcher. After technicians install the arm, the mobile launcher will be rolled into the VAB for validation and verification tests.

For the first launch without crew, the access arm will provide a bridge to Orion for personnel and equipment entering the spacecraft during processing and prelaunch integrated testing while in the VAB and at the launch site. The arm is made up of two major components: the truss assembly and the environmental enclosure, or the white room. The arm will provide entry and emergency egress for astronauts and technicians into the Orion spacecraft. On future human missions, astronauts outfitted with newly designed space suits will enter the white room, wh ere they will be assisted by technicians into the spacecraft for launch. The arm will retract before launch, and the other connections will release at liftoff, allowing the rocket and spacecraft to safely clear the launch pad.

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[Искандер]

silentpom пишет:

Искандер пишет:
ообще отправлять многоразовые дорогущие двигатели в последний полёт,

за двигатели уже уплачено давно, они почти бесплатные. а если и за реальные деньги - в стоимости всей РН это не так уж и много

С таким подходом SLS долго летать не будет.

[tnt22]

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 27 мин. назад

Techs paint photogrammetric markings on #EM1 booster aft exit cone prior to its shipment to @NASAKennedy for first flight of @NASA_SLS

P.S.

Orbital ATK‏Подлинная учетная запись @OrbitalATK 21 мин. назад

These checker-board markings are on all booster segments & will provide visual reference points for tracking during launch & separation

[tnt22]

SSC Engineer Spotlight: David Carver

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 6 нояб. 2017 г.

Hear about RS-25 engine testing from one of the engineers who works at Stennis Space Center.

(3:10)

SSC Engineer Spotlight: Dawn Davis

NASA Stennis

Опубликовано: 6 нояб. 2017 г.

Hear about RS-25 engine testing from one of the engineers who works at Stennis Space Center.

(3:43)