Orion

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 50 мин. назад

Very little margin in this schedule. This is the critical path for SLS. "It's kinda an aggressive schedule."

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Jeff Foust‏ @jeff_foust 29 мин. назад

Hill: EM-2 launch planned for mid-2022; another SLS Block 1 would be used for Europa Clipper in 2023 if that spacecraft is ready.

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https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/testing-verifies-communications-for-orion-missions-beyond-the-moon

Aug. 29, 2018

Testing Verifies Communications for Orion Missions Beyond the Moon



Engineers recently completed a series of tests of the Orion communications system to ensure the spacecraft and mission controllers in Houston can flawlessly communicate through NASA's satellite networks in space and on the ground when Orion and its crew are far from Earth on missions to the Moon and beyond.

The most recent evaluations in the series, known as SpaceCom, took place in mid-August and involved testing between a lab at Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin's facility near Denver that replicates Orion's computer, wiring and avionics systems configurations, and NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston. Spacecraft telemetry, files, commands and video were sent and received through the Deep Space Network (DSN) to and from mission control. The DSN is typically used for communications with deep space robotic spacecraft but has not been used for human spaceflight missions since the Space Shuttle Program.

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The testing included communications during Exploration Mission-1 scenarios such as from the pre-launch countdown through the point at which Orion data is relayed through the DSN, operations in lunar orbit, handover between the DSN and the Space Network during Orion's trajectory from the Moon back toward Earth, and post-splashdown operations. Previous testing as part of the SpaceCom series also verified communications through the Space Network satellites and Near Earth Network ground station at Cape Canaveral, and also included support from personnel at the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center to very they can receive data from the Space Launch System rocket. The testing also marked a busy time for communications tests for deep space human exploration missions – engineers at the SLS Engineering Support Center at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, recently concluded voice tests to ensure teams across the country included flight controllers in Houston, launch controllers in Florida and engineer teams at several locations including in Huntsville can communicate by voice.

The testing was the final checkout of communications between Orion and NASA's networks before testing with the vehicle for EM-1 is conducted in the fall at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Last Updated: Aug. 30, 2018
Editor: Mark Garcia

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-media-to-witness-final-orion-parachute-test-in-arizona-desert

Aug. 31, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-129

NASA Invites Media to Witness Final Orion Parachute Test in Arizona Desert


The three main orange and white parachutes help a test version of NASA's Orion spacecraft safely descend to the ground in Arizona. On Sept. 12, NASA engineers will test the Orion parachute system at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma for the final time to qualify them for missions with astronauts.
Credits: NASA/James Blair

NASA is inviting media to view the final test of the Orion spacecraft's parachute system on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. This test is the last in a series of eight to qualify the parachutes for crewed Orion missions to the Moon and beyond.

Media will have the opportunity to view the test at the desert drop zone and participate in on-location interviews with Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich, astronauts Randy Bresnik and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, and key program officials. Media also will be able to take a close look at the engineering model used for the test.
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The Orion test capsule will be dropped from an altitude of more than six miles to verify the spacecraft's system of 11 parachutes, forward bay covers, cannon-like mortars and pyrotechnic devices successfully work in sequence to slow the capsule's descent.

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To date, tests have evaluated Orion's parachute performance during normal landing sequences, as well as several failure scenarios, and a variety of potential environmental and weather conditions to ensure astronauts can return safely from deep space missions.

Orion parachute engineers also have provided considerable insight and data to NASA's Commercial Crew Program partners. NASA has improved computer modeling of how the system works in various scenarios and helped partner companies understand certain elements of parachute systems. In some cases, NASA's work has provided enough information for the partners to reduce the need for some developmental parachute tests.

The parachutes for Orion's upcoming uncrewed flight test on NASA's Space Launch System rocket, Exploration Mission-1, already are loaded into the capsule at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Last Updated: Aug. 31, 2018
Editor: Karen Northon

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https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/sls/multimedia/big-voice-test-prepares-new-support-center-for-first-sls-launch.html

Aug. 29, 2018

'Big Voice Test' Prepares New Support Center for First SLS Launch


 Back to Gallery

Engineers Fred Whisnant and Jennifer Vollmer check out communication systems during a big voice test Aug. 21, 2018, at the Space Launch System (SLS) Engineering Support Center in the Huntsville Operations Support Center at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The test verified that all systems are "go" when it comes to voice communications for the first integrated flight of the SLS deep space rocket and the Orion spacecraft: Exploration Mission-1. During the test, participants used headsets and voice loops to communicate with 13 locations across America including, NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Air Force's Patrick Air Force and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, as well as many NASA contractor sites around the country. The support center allows experts who designed and built SLS to work together, saving agency resources by minimizing the need for travel to the Kennedy launch site. Leading up to launch, the Marshall team along with teams from Johnson and Kennedy will conduct numerous tests to verify video, data and other systems in the new mission support room. This week, in addition to the voice tests, Orion completed a series of tests to ensure the spacecraft and mission controllers at Johnson can flawlessly communicate through NASA's satellite networks in space and on the ground when Orion and its crew are far from Earth on missions to the Moon and beyond. These tests will culminate in full-up mission simulations to ensure engineers and technicians from across the country are virtually connected during the countdown, launch and flight of the world's most powerful rocket and the Orion spacecraft.

Image credit: NASA/Tyler Martin

Last Updated: Aug. 30, 2018
Editor: Lee Mohon

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AstroHardin ♱‏ @AstroHardin 3 ч. назад

For those of you that like flight hardware, here's the abort motor for Orion's Launch Abort System (LAS) inside the Launch Abort System Facility at Kennedy Space Center. #NASA

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NASA Kennedy / KSC‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASAKennedy 8 мин. назад

Here at Kennedy where @NASAGroundSys refurbished Pad 39B, the mobile launcher will undergo fit checks. Using a "clean pad" concept, the umbilicals on the mobile launcher will provide "life support" to the @NASA_SLS rocket and @NASA_Orion spacecraft.

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https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-to-broadcast-final-parachute-test-for-orion-spacecraft

Sept. 11, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-136

NASA to Broadcast Final Parachute Test for Orion Spacecraft


NASA successfully tested the Orion spacecraft's parachute system on March 16, 2018, at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona, during which engineers integrated a partial system failure into the test protocol for the first time. For its final test on Sept. 12, 2018, an Orion test capsule will be dropped from a C-17 aircraft at an altitude of more than six miles to verify the spacecraft's complex parachute system provides a safe landing on Earth.
Credits: NASA/ James Blair

NASA will air the final test Wednesday, Sept. 12, of the parachute system for its Orion spacecraft, which will carry astronauts to the Moon and beyond. Live coverage of the test from the U.S. Army's Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona will begin at 10:15 a.m. EDT on NASA Television, the agency's website, and the Orion Facebook page.

Viewers can ask questions of NASA experts, including Orion Program Manager, Mark Kirasich, astronaut Randy Bresnik and Orion parachute engineers, on social media during the event using #AskNASA.

An Orion test capsule will be dropped from a C-17 aircraft at an altitude of more than six miles to verify the spacecraft's complex system of 11 parachutes, cannon-like mortars, and pyrotechnic devices work in sequence to slow the capsule's descent for a safe landing on Earth.

To date, such tests have evaluated Orion's parachute performance during normal landing sequences, several failure scenarios, and a variety of potential aerodynamic conditions, to ensure the safe return of astronauts from deep space missions.

Last Updated: Sept. 11, 2018
Editor: Katherine Brown

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Orion Spacecraft‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_Orion 23 ч. назад

The Orion team is in Yuma, Arizona for the final drop test to qualify Orion parachutes for human flight.

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Orion Spacecraft‏Подлинная учетная запись @NASA_Orion 10 сент.

Orion parachute test vehicle is loaded on the @usairforce C-17 plane at the Yuma airport ahead of the September 12 drop test.



10 сент.

Loading complete! The parachute test vehicle is installed in the C-17. Orion is ready for the final qualifying drop test.




Mark Kirasich‏ @MarkKirasich 5 ч. назад

Inside the C-17 Globemaster III with the team and parachute test vehicle! Go Orion!

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