Orion

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/gao-warns-of-orion-cost-and-schedule-concerns/

GAO warns of Orion cost and schedule concerns
by Jeff Foust -- July 28, 2016
 
NASA has an internal goal of flying the first crewed Orion mission in August 2021, a date an agency analysis concluded it has only a 40 percent chance of making. Credit: NASA
 
WASHINGTON -- NASA has a less than 50 percent chance of achieving its goal of launching the first crewed Orion mission in August 2021, and pressing towards that goal could result in additional budget and schedule problems, a U.S. Government Accountability Office report warned.
NASA, in a review of the program in September 2015 known as Key Decision Point C (KDP-C), concluded Orion would be ready for that first crewed mission, known as Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2), by April 2023. That review was set at the 70 percent joint confidence level, meaning the program has a 70 percent chance of being ready by that date.
At that time, and in subsequent statements, agency officials have said they are working to a more aggressive internal goal of August 2021 for the EM-2 mission. "Right now, we're holding EM-2 to an August '21 launch date," Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, said at a July 25 meeting of the NASA Advisory Council's human exploration and operations committee in Cleveland.
However, the same joint confidence level analysis shows that NASA has only a 40 percent chance of having Orion ready for EM-2 by that August 2021 date, according to the GAO report. That is below NASA policy that sets a minimum confidence level of 50 percent for program goals.
"Therefore, the program's cost and schedule is aggressive beyond agency policy, and may increase the risk that the program goes over budget and does not meet its schedule," the GAO report states.
The GAO also raised questions with NASA's budgeting for Orion. While the agency is still working towards an August 2021 goal, it is requesting funding that is consistent instead with the 2023 date from the KDP-C review. "As a result, NASA relies on the Congress to appropriate more funds than requested to stay on its internal Orion schedule," the report argued.
Congress has provided additional funding for Orion in recent years, but the GAO cautioned that it was "unrealistic" for NASA to expect to receive more than requested in future years. "Nevertheless, the program's internal goal would require appropriation levels of--on average--$75 million above the level of funding it plans to request to meet its committed baseline, which NASA identified in KDP-C documents, each year through at least fiscal year 2019," the report concludes.
The GAO was also concerned with how the Orion program was managing cost reserves that would be used to deal with problems during its development. The program has decided to spend most of the funds it has received in recent years to support ongoing work, setting side very little in reserves to deal with problems. That approach means, the report said, "any time a significant technical issue arises, the program has had to reorder efforts or defer work.
That could, the GAO warned, cause problems in the future for Orion, which "may find itself in a similar situation to that experienced by the Constellation [and] JWST programs, which had minimal cost reserves in early years to handle technical challenges that manifested and forced the programs to defer work."
The GAO recommended that NASA prepare an updated joint confidence level analysis of Orion to provide revised estimates "in adherence with cost and schedule estimating best practices."
NASA, in a response included in the report from Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said it didn't believe an updated analysis was warranted. "To date, as the GAO correctly noted, Orion continues to perform within the boundaries of the program cost and schedule commitment made at KDP-C," he wrote.
NASA did agree on a second recommendation, to examine the cost of deferred work on Orion relative to its reserves. Gerstenmaier wrote that the work deferred to date because of limited reserves involved "task-level" items rather than major program elements. "These task-level deferrals, typically of several months duration, do not impact major program milestones or the critical path and have proven to be an effective aggressive management technique," he wrote.
A second GAO report, also published July 27, examined NASA's Space Launch System and Exploration Ground Systems programs. Both programs, the report concluded, are overcoming issues and making progress towards the EM-1 launch, planned for between September and November 2018, but have limited cost and schedule reserves.
In the case of ground systems, the GAO said that projects to modify the Vehicle Assembly Building and a mobile launch platform had already used up their entire schedule margin. "As a result, any future delays would have to be accommodated by using the overall program's schedule reserve," the report stated, of which there is only two months remaining to support a November 2018 launch.
NASA plans to evaluate the status of SLS, Orion and ground systems during a "build to synchronization" review scheduled for this summer, according to the report. However, the GAO said that cost and schedule issues will not be a major topic of the review, which will focus primarily on technical issues involved with bringing the three programs together for the EM-1 launch.
"By not re-evaluating the cost and schedule reserves, both programs may continue to make decisions that result in reduced knowledge to meet a schedule that is not realistic," the GAO concluded.

[Garixon]

В НАСА уточнили сроки высадки астронавтов на астероид

НАСА подтвердило новый срок запуска миссии ARM (Asteroid Redirect Mission), предполагающей взятие гигантского образца у астероида и транспортировку его на лунную орбиту. Об этом сообщает издание NASASpaceFlight.
Запуск аппарата ARM запланирован на декабрь 2021 года, а высадка астронавтов на фрагмент астероида -- на 2026-й. Наиболее вероятным кандидатом на выполнение функции носителя является разрабатываемая сверхтяжелая ракета SLS (Space Launch System). Вместе с ARM к астероиду планируется отправить полезную нагрузку массой около 50 килограммов, созданную партнерами.
В феврале было принято решение о переносе сроков миссии ARM. В марте сообщалось, что высадка астронавтов может быть назначена на 2026 год (изначально планировалось осуществить это в 2023-м).
Миссия ARM включает отправку к астероиду космического аппарата и транспортировку с его помощью фрагмента на окололунную орбиту. Осколок астероида в дальнейшем должны при помощи пилотируемого корабля Orion посетить астронавты. Миссия ARM предполагает отработку технологии полета к Марсу.

[azeast]

http://ria.ru/science/20160804/1473619607.html#ixzz4GNnsEZG5

Макет строящегося американского космического корабля Orion с двумя астронавтами-манекенами будет спущен на воду 25 августа в рамках тестового приводнения для испытания надежности аппарата, сообщило НАСА в четверг.
"Испытательная капсула, оснащенная тепловым экраном, прошедшим испытание в ходе первого тестового полета, раскачиваясь как маятник, опустится в бассейн глубиной 6 метров", -- говорится в сообщении ведомства. Планируется, что испытание пройдет в четверг 25 августа ориентировочно в 22.30 мск. Испытание станет частью осуществляемой НАСА серии водных тестов корабля для того, чтобы обеспечить лучшую защиту экипажа при будущих полетах.
Как отмечают в НАСА, предстоящее испытание позволит НАСА "оценить, как корабль может вести себя во время приводнения на парашютах при разной силе ветра и высоте волн".
Внутри корабля будут находиться два манекена -- женский, весом 68 килограмм, и мужской, весом около ста килограммов, облаченные в оснащенные датчиками скафандры. "Эти датчики позволят получить важные данные, которые помогут НАСА оценить, влиянию какой силы члены экипажа будут подвергаться во время приводнения в океан (при возвращении корабля по окончании космического полета)", -- говорится в сообщении ведомства.

[Nilk]

Внутри корабля будут находиться два манекена -- женский, весом 68 килограмм, и мужской, весом около ста килограммов

Без манекенов афроамериканца и инвалида, я считаю, выходит не очень политкорректно 

[mihalchuk]

Nilk пишет:

Внутри корабля будут находиться два манекена -- женский, весом 68 килограмм, и мужской, весом около ста килограммов

Без манекенов афроамериканца и инвалида, я считаю, выходит не очень политкорректно  

А к тому, что манекены мужской и женский - претензий нет?

[Nilk]

А к тому, что манекены мужской и женский - претензий нет?

Я тут подумал, что если мужской манекен негр и к тому же гей, а женский лесбиянка и инвалид, то всё вроде должно быть в норме 

[Garixon]

НАСА выбрало партнеров для строительства жилых домов на Марсе

НАСА определилось с партнерами, вместе с которыми собирается осваивать Марс. Шесть компаний, выбранных агентством, в рамках программы NeXTstep займутся созданием наземных прототипов модулей, предназначенных для жизни астронавтов на Красной планете. Об этом в среду, 10 августа, сообщает издание The Verge.
Компании Bigelow Aerospace (Лас-Вегас), Boeing (Пасадена), Lockheed Martin (Денвер), Orbital ATK (Даллас), Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems (Луисвилл) и Colorado NanoRacks (Вебстер) должны в течение ближайших двух лет предоставить свои разработки.

Соглашения предусматривают создание фирмами как жилых модулей, так и коммуникационной инфраструктуры и двигательных систем. Общая сумма заключенных контрактов составляет 65 миллионов долларов. Партнеры при создании прототипов обитаемых комплексов должны оплатить не менее 30 процентов их стоимости из собственных средств.
Первое посещение Красной планеты входит в планы НАСА. С этой целью агентство с партнерами разрабатывает сверхтяжелую ракету SLS (Space Launch System) и пилотируемый корабль Orion. Первый полет к Марсу намечен на 2030-е годы.

[che wi]

Сейчас идёт трансляция Orion water drop test

s

[che wi]

Благополучно плюхнулся.

[Salo]

Lockheed Martin Подлинная учетная запись ‏@LockheedMartin
.@NASAKennedy bound. #Orion EM-1 heat shield ships to Florida. http://lmt.co/2cbdGbp 
 
  12:00 - 25 авг. 2016 г.  

[Salo]

NASA'S MANAGEMENT OF THE ORION MULTI-PURPOSE CREW VEHICLE PROGRAM
https://oig.nasa.gov/audits/reports/FY16/IG-16-029.pdf

[triage]

Тестирование САС от 31 августа

http://www.rocket.com/article/orion-jettison-motor-fires-ensure-crew-safety-journey-mars
Orion Jettison Motor Fires to Ensure Crew Safety for the Journey to Mars
SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 31, 2016 - Aerojet Rocketdyne, a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD), successfully tested its third development jettison motor for NASA's Orion spacecraft at its facility in Rancho Cordova, California. Orion is being built to take humans farther into space than ever before, and the jettison motor is a critical element for ensuring astronaut safety. Leaders from NASA and Lockheed Martin, the agency's prime contractor for the Orion spacecraft, visited Aerojet Rocketdyne to witness this key test.

 Скрытый текст:

"The first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft is just around the corner," said Roger McNamara, Lockheed Martin Launch Abort System director. "The Launch Abort System is such an important safety feature; it's great to see progress happening across the country and right here in Sacramento."

In the event of an emergency during launch or ascent, Orion is outfitted with a Launch Abort System (LAS) that can activate within milliseconds to propel the capsule away from danger and position the crew module for a safe ocean landing. The LAS consists of three solid rocket motors: the abort motor that pulls the crew module away from the launch vehicle; the attitude control motor that is used to steer the crew module following an abort; and Aerojet Rocketdyne's jettison motor, which separates the launch abort system from the crew module so that parachutes can be deployed for a safe splashdown.

Aerojet Rocketdyne's jettison motor is the only LAS motor that will be activated on Orion's next test flight, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which is scheduled for 2018. During the three-week EM-1 mission, Orion will travel about 40,000 miles beyond the moon and return to Earth.

"Reliability of the jettison motor is critical to the safety and execution of the mission. Unlike other launch abort system motors, the jettison motor operates every time," said Jim Paulsen, vice president of NASA programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "Astronaut safety and reliability of our exploration systems is paramount at Aerojet Rocketdyne. EM-1 is the first integrated flight of Orion and the new heavy lift Space Launch System rocket, and Aerojet Rocketdyne propulsion systems will be supporting the mission from liftoff to splashdown."

Today, the jettison motor fired for 1.5 seconds, which is all the time required to separate the launch abort system from the crew module so that parachutes can be deployed for a safe landing. Aerojet Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin acquired key data during this test, including pressure, temperature, thrust, acceleration and strain measurements.

"In today's test, the jettison motor generated more than 45,000 pounds of thrust, which is roughly enough thrust to lift two school buses off the ground," said Cheryl Rehm, Orion program manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne. "Data from this test will be used to confirm our test objectives and ensure our readiness to begin manufacturing our qualification and production flight motors."

Aerojet Rocketdyne is an innovative company delivering solutions that create value for its customers in the aerospace and defense markets. The company is a world-recognized aerospace and defense leader that provides propulsion and energetics to the space, missile defense and strategic systems, tactical systems and armaments areas, in support of domestic and international markets. Additional information about Aerojet Rocketdyne can be obtained by visiting our websites at www.Rocket.com and www.AerojetRocketdyne.com.

Third development jettison motor for NASA's Orion Launch Abort System fires for 1.5 seconds at Aerojet Rocketdyne's facility in Sacramento, California

[Oleg]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaorion
- много отличных фото со сборки Ориона

[Floppy Disk]

[Salo]

NASA Begins Tests to Qualify Orion Parachutes             
Posted by Doug Messier on October 8, 2016, at 1:24 am

An Orion test article descends under three main parachutes during the first evaluation to qualify the spacecraft's parachute system for flights with astronauts. (Credit: NASA)
 
YUMA, Ariz. (NASA PR) -- NASA successfully kicked off a series of tests Sept. 30 to qualify Orion's parachute system for flights with astronauts, a milestone that will help the agency safely return crew to Earth from deep-space missions.
In the skies above the Arizona desert, a C-17 aircraft dropped a dart-shaped test article out of its cargo bay from 35,000 feet, or more than 6.5 miles, in altitude over the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma to examine how the parachute system performed when conditions provided the highest dynamic pressure the parachutes have endured before.
As the test article fell from the sky, three small programmer parachutes initially deployed to reach the desired test conditions and were cut away to begin the Orion parachute deployment sequence. Two forward bay cover parachutes deployed to collect key data, and within seconds those parachutes were cut away and two drogue parachutes were deployed to stabilize and slow down the test article. The sequence continued when three pilot parachutes deployed to pull out the system's three orange and white main parachutes that are used to slow Orion to a safe landing speed.
The dart-shaped test article was used because it can get to a higher velocity than the capsule-shaped article typically used in testing. When returning from missions in space, the parachute sequence normally begins at an altitude of 24,000 feet with the main parachutes fully deployed at about 4,000 feet.
"The parachute system performed as we expected and getting to this new stage of qualification testing is a real landmark as we prepare for Orion missions with crew," said CJ Johnson, project manager for Orion's parachute system at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "We've had quite a few development tests up to this point to make sure we understand how the parachutes perform in various environments and potential failure scenarios, and this new series will give us confirmation of their performance for when the crew descends under the parachutes as they return from deep space destinations."
Seventeen engineering development tests have already been completed. To qualify the parachute system for flights with crew, a total of eight tests, including this one, will be conducted over the course of about two and a half years. A capsule-like mockup will be used for six of the remaining tests, while a dart-shaped article will be used for one remaining test. NASA also is providing parachute test performance data to the agency's Commercial Crew Program partners.
The next test of the parachute system is planned for October, when engineers will evaluate parachute performance when the capsule-shaped test article is dropped from 25,000 feet in altitude.
Orion will next venture into space during Exploration Mission-1 in 2018, an uncrewed mission atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket, and will travel more than 40,000 miles beyond the moon. The parachute system will be delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the end of this year for integration into the crew module for that test flight and will help the spacecraft slow down to a relatively gentle splashdown speed of about 17 mph in the Pacific Ocean after enduring reentry speeds of up to 25,000 mph as the spacecraft makes its way through Earth's atmosphere. The first mission with astronauts is currently targeted for as early as 2021.

[che wi]

Underway Recovery Test 5



https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/sets/72157644988382051

[Salo]

NASA creates working group to get Orion ESM back on schedule
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/11/nasa-working-group-orion-esm-schedule/

[Apollo13]

As Trump takes over, NASA considers alternatives to its Orion spacecraft

[Apollo13]

Nevertheless, three sources familiar with the RFI, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity, told Ars there is more to the request than a simple extension for Orion's primary contractor, Lockheed Martin. Perhaps most radically, the RFI may even open the way for a competitor, such as Boeing or SpaceX, to substitute its own upgraded capsule for Orion in the mid-2020s.

In a heated competition a decade ago, Lockheed Martin won the initial contract to design and develop the deep-space Orion spacecraft, which was supposed to fly its first crewed mission in 2014. While the contractor has had to manage several significant change requests, there is nonetheless growing frustration with Lockheed inside NASA. The agency has spent nearly $10 billion so far on Orion, and although there was an uncrewed test flight in 2014, the first human mission won't come for at least five more years.

As part of this, the RFI anticipates moving from the existing cost-plus model to a fixed-price contract.

"The NASA and Lockheed Martin team are approaching the end of Orion's development phase having successfully tackled many of the toughest engineering challenges associated with deep space travel," Mike Hawes, Lockheed Martin's Orion Program Manager, said in a statement to Ars. "Now, as outlined in Lockheed Martin's response to NASA's RFI, we've identified savings that will reduce the recurring production costs of Orion by 50 percent - and we aren't stopping there. We believe the cost savings we've defined in our response will enable decades of affordable human space exploration."
The RFI clearly leaves the door open to other alternatives, however. The original structure of NASA's contract with Lockheed Martin is such that NASA "owns" the design work when it is completed, so another contractor, if it could demonstrate a compelling cost advantage, could take over for Exploration Mission-3 and beyond.

Ars understands that there are also discussions in Gerstenmaier's office about issuing a similar RFI for the Space Launch System rocket, which has Boeing as its primary contractor. This would not be too great of a surprise, because at least two companies, SpaceX and Blue Origin, are privately developing heavy-lift alternatives that theoretically could offer significant savings to the large government rocket.

However one source told Ars that it may become necessary to choose either the Orion capsule or NASA rocket in the coming years as the space agency looks to pare back its budget, and this might necessitate going to a less expensive, more privately developed vehicle. "Look," this source said, "if you have to cancel a program, this is a responsible way of lining up a replacement."

[Salo]

Jeff Foust ‏@jeff_foust  3 ч.3 часа назад  
Williams: still think a one-flight-per-yer cadence for SLS/Orion makes sense after EM-2. Working on plans for missions through EM-8.