Orion Hardware Processing

[rdale]

Good pictures of the Ground Test Article (GTA) at http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_10022009.pdf

Still testing dry landings?

http://spaceflightsystems.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_09252009.pdf

[renclod]

Still testing dry landings?

Yes... for a special case of pad abort when the wind would push the CM back to the beach.

Pad abort must be >95% survivable...

[robertross]

Thanks for the link rdale. Yes, some nice pictures in there.

So they are doing glove tests of the controls. Would be nice to see a picture of that! (I have this image of Homer pushing the keys on his phone when he gained weight to go on disability...funny episode). I know it won't be like that.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Webcam image of Orion mockup in O&C Highbay:

[renclod]

http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_10162009.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_10232009.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_10302009.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_12112009.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_12182009.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_01082010.pdf just in.

A translucent heat shield substrate ?!
 (made by LM, composite)

[renclod]

Article in Rendezvous (Jan.12,2010) featuring Orion.

http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/417052main_rendezvous_v4n1.pdf

Orion Rising
Constellation's design for the future is fast becoming reality

It’s really exciting to be building Orion now,” Mark Geyer, Orion project manager, said. “You can get your hands on the hardware and watch it take shape, see smoke and fire tests all over the place, get the team energized. There’s a time when you need to go do these trades, and there’s a time when you say, ‘We need to just go build it – let’s go.’”

Like the rest of the Constellation Program – and the rest of the agency – the Orion project is waiting to hear what decision will result from the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans led by Norm Augustine. But unlike the other elements, the Orion project has the advantage of knowing that just about any scenario will need a capsule to get astronauts into space, and Orion can be that capsule.

“A lot of our design applies regardless,” Geyer said. “All the options from the Augustine committee include Orion. Everything I hear says they want Orion for either the moon or certainly deep space. And there are very similar requirements regardless, so none of our work is wasted.”

Add to that the fact that Constellation’s marching orders are to proceed with the current plan until a final decision is made, and Orion hasn’t wasted any time waiting around.

“It’s very reasonable that we may end up staying with the current plan,” Geyer said. “So we’re still full steam ahead on the current architecture.”

The preliminary design review, held in August, helped cement the path forward. The preliminary design review is one of a series of checkpoints in the design life cycle of a complex engineering project before hardware manufacturing can begin. As the review process progresses, details of the vehicle's design are assessed to ensure the overall system is safe and reliable for flight and meets all NASA mission requirements. By the end, the basis for proceeding to the critical design phase is established.

Before Orion reached that milestone, the program had already been through more than 300 technical reviews, 100 peer reviews and 18 subsystem design reviews, all of which led up to the preliminary design review board.

“It’s a difficult process,” Geyer said. “And it should be. Because it really says that the design is sound, and it’s time to go cut more metal and get into our big tests. And if the design is not sound, you’re going to waste a lot of money. Now we can move forward building hardware, proceed to the big tests and prepare for the the critical design review.”

Maturing the technology, refining the decisions

All of the big decisions have now been made. For instance, Orion selected the Avcoat ablator system for thermal protection, the same heat shield used for the Apollo capsules and on parts of the shuttle in its earlier flights. The alternative was Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator, or PICA, which was used on the Stardust mission.

One of the main differences between the two is that PICA is manufactured in blocks, while Avcoat is applied directly to the heat shield substructure and attached to the capsule as one unit. After three years of study and tests, the team of engineers working on the project determined that not only did the Avcoat’s single-unit construction mean there would be no gaps in its protection, but the material was also the lighter choice and had fewer technical issues.

The choice of landing sites was also decided primarily by simplicity and weight – although getting the crew out of the capsule following a water landing might seem more complicated, the landing system that would support a land-based return is actually less reliable and a great deal heavier, making water landings the obvious choice. That decision then led to a reusability trade study last year that determined that even with water landings planned, much of the more expensive hardware inside the Orion capsule – for example, the fundamental avionics hardware – will be salvageable. And though the actual capsule structure will not be, it’s not a big cost driver.

“So we’ll go ahead and build the crew module’s primary structure new every time,” Geyer said.

Other decisions, such as the use of phased array antennas for the communications architecture and the choice of a 120-volt power system over a 28-volt system, were made with an eye to the future. Neither makes a major difference to the Orion project, but the 120-volt power system, for example, will save a lot of weight for the overall lunar architecture and a lot of future headaches if the lunar systems are consistent throughout the various elements.

A single architecture

The one decision left open after the preliminary design review was which parachute system to use in landing. Before the review, Orion chose a system with fewer components, and therefore, the project thought, increased reliability and safety. But as work continued, it became evident that the system was actually less reliable because of its complexity. So an integrated design assessment team was formed to look into alternatives or possible changes to the existing system.

The team’s eventual recommendation, which was accepted in November, was to go with a parachute system similar to the one used by Apollo. It keeps the original parachute design, but uses a single attachment point for the drogue and main parachutes and a mortar deployment for the pilot chutes. The shape of the forward bay, where the parachutes are packaged, was changed slightly to increase the volume, enabling the packing density of the parachutes to decrease and alleviate some risk in the previous design.

With all of these major decisions made, the Orion team is now able to focus all of its efforts on a single architecture.

“Before it was parallel development, so we had to do double the work, in essence,” Geyer said. “Now you get more and more detailed on the ones you picked, making sure you have all the details on that particular design. So we are seeing the Orion design mature very quickly now.”

And gathering those details leads to actually building the systems designed by the team. The program is now buying pumps and fans for the environmental control and life support system; and the Operations and Checkout Facility in Florida – the factory where Orion elements will be built – was opened up last year. Tooling is showing up there, and the timetable for building the facility’s first element has been moved up by six months. Meanwhile, at the Michoud Assembly Facility, the first flight-like ground test article is already well into fabrication, and structural testing will take place later this year.

Putting Orion and its systems to the test(s)

Then there are the tests – and they are taking place all over the country. Vibration testing on a ground test article of the crew module built at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will be taking place in an acoustics chamber in Denver. A crane and pool are being built at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia to test how Orion will hit the water at different wave heights and wind speeds. At the Alliant Techsystems plant in California, Orion’s round solar arrays will be deployed for the first time. And on STS- 134, space shuttle Endeavour will compare the performance of Orion’s rendezvous and docking system to that of its own as it closes in on the International Space Station for the second to last visit of the shuttle program.

“We’ll do a lot of modeling on the ground, but what we’ve found is, there are some things you cannot reproduce on Earth,” Geyer said. “For instance, you don’t really understand the lighting that you’re going to see in space until you get there.”

Of course, the main event for Orion this year will be the Pad Abort-I flight test – the first in a series of launch abort system tests – this spring at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range. A crew module the actual size, shape and weight of an Orion capsule will be propelled away from the launch pad by a six-second firing of its launch abort system abort motor, reaching an altitude of about 1 mile before the crew module is reoriented, the abort system is jettisoned and the parachutes deployed. In all, the entire flight will take about 90 seconds before touchdown.

Having recently seen just how awe-inspiring a flight test can be at the Ares I-X launch, Geyer said he can’t wait to see Orion in action. It won’t be quite the same experience – it won’t be as large or visible for as long – but he still expects it to be a crowd pleaser.

“I think people will be excited by how fast it is and how dramatic that first abort motor is,” Geyer said. “It goes from zero to 600 in 2.5 seconds – it will be impressive. And all the advanced maneuvering that the vehicle will do – I think it will get a lot of people’s attention. It really is a very complex operation with a lot of moving parts and a lot of extremely detailed timing operations.”

Proving an unflown critical system

That’s not to say, however, that the test is just a fancy pyrotechnics show. The launch abort system is a crucial element in improving crew safety, and making it work correctly isn’t easy. If it isn’t done correctly, it can tear the vehicle apart. The system has to get the module to the correct height, fly it through a very rigid flight path and then deploy 12 parachutes, and unlike the Ares I-X with its shuttle-heritage solid rocket booster segments, this system has never been flown before.

“This is definitely, I think, the most complex phase of anything we will ever fly,” Geyer said. “The nominal is much easier to coordinate. We’re really testing out in a no-kidding flight test the most extreme environment we’re going to see. And we’re doing it before critical design review. That takes quite a bit of effort. It will be very exciting.”

The ramp up of all of that activity should provide a nice counterpoint to the bittersweet wrap up of the shuttle program that will be going on at the same time, Geyer said.

“I’ve seen a lot of shuttle launches, and they’re really exciting with the crew and their important missions,” he said. “But then to see something different and have it fly … It’s very emotional. It’s very cool.”

[Ronsmytheiii]

[renclod]

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2010/0301_ss_orion.html

Lockheed Martin Orion Team Fabricates World’s Largest Heat Shield Structure

Innovative high-temperature material system to provide better crew protection
DENVER, March 1st, 2010 -- The Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT]-led team developing the Orion crew exploration vehicle achieved a major technology milestone by completing fabrication of the world’s largest heat shield structure. The shield is five meters (16.4 feet) in diameter and is critical to the protection of the spacecraft and its crew from the extreme temperatures experienced during re-entry. The work was completed at Lockheed Martin’s composite development facility in Denver, Colo.

The crew exploration vehicle is at the height of its development phase, which has spurred several new technologies and innovations such as a cutting edge high-temperature composite material system. The new system was developed by the Lockheed Martin Orion thermal protection system team in partnership with TenCate Advanced Composites, a leading supplier of aerospace thermoset and thermoplastic prepregs. TenCate’s composite materials are used in commercial aircraft, radomes, satellites, general aviation, oil and gas, medical and high-end industrial applications.

“In addition to the technology advancement, we achieved a $10 million cost savings and improved the project schedule by 12 months through the innovative tooling, materials and fabrication processes the team put into action,” explained Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager.

The new resin system was developed over an 18-month period during which thousands of coupons were tested in extreme environments that simulated a ballistic re-entry from a lunar mission. The team verified that the thermal insulator on the outside of the composite material can be thinner due to the higher temperature capability, resulting in improved mass optimization of the Orion spacecraft.

The new resin system enables much simpler and more efficient manufacturing techniques compared to other high temperature resin systems. This resin system has the potential to be used in a wide range of commercial applications including aircraft, automobiles, launch vehicles, payload fairings, and re-entry vehicles.


The expansive heat shield will be applied to the Orion ground test article, which is the first full-sized, flight-like test article for Orion being built at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. The ground test article is designed to serve as a production pathfinder to validate the flight vehicle production processes and tools. When completed, the crew module will be tested on the ground in equivalent flight-like environments, including static vibration, acoustics and water landing loads. This early high fidelity testing is necessary to correlate sizing models for all subsystems on the vehicle.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Lockheed Martin Orion Project office is based in Houston, Texas, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The team includes major subcontractors Aerojet, Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation and United Space Alliance; and an expansive network of minor subcontractors and small businesses working at 88 facilities in 28 states across the country.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.



Media Contact:  Linda Singleton, 281-283-4219, 832-526-8089 or [email protected]

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/removalfrommold_1.jpg
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/emovalfrommold_2.jpg
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/removalfrommold_3.jpg
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/removalfrommold_4.jpg
http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/ssc/Orion/removalfrommold_5.jpg

[renclod]

http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_02052010.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_02122010.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_02192010.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_02262010.pdf
http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/Orion/documents/ORION_WEEKLY_03052010.pdf

Next Attitude Control Motor demonstration motor test at Elkton, MD. on March 17th.

[renclod]

Correction: apparently the giant translucent frisbee is the aft bulkhead, not the heat shield structure !

[robertross]

Correction: apparently the giant translucent frisbee is the aft bulkhead, not the heat shield structure !

Good to know. Thanks.

[Lobo]

Ummmm.....I thought Orion was cancelled?

[Jorge]

Ummmm.....I thought Orion was cancelled?

As of the start of FY11 (October 1, 2010), yes.

[Harold KSC]

Lobo. Just running off the funded fumes of whatever they've already paid for. Mainly contractor work, such as Lockheed.

Don't get excited, there's nothing to be excited about.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Ummmm.....I thought Orion was cancelled?

Government furnished Orion yes, but Lockheed martin is proceeding with a commercial, LEO optimized design.

[renclod]

Work on new Orion spacecraft continues at Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center, though program's future is uncertain

http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2010/03/work_on_new_orion_spacecraft_c.html

=============

from twitter:

"Gene Kranz speaking to us [NASA Glenn Research Center] today.

Gene Kranz's message to us: stay focused on your mission; others, like himself, will worry about fighting for the NASA budget."

[tamarack]

Work on new Orion spacecraft continues at Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center, though program's future is uncertain
http://www.cleveland.com/science/index.ssf/2010/03/work_on_new_orion_spacecraft_c.html
...

Good article. Two things stood out to me:
"Later this year, Lockheed Martin should finish the first Orion test-production model, Cleon Lacefield, vice president and Orion program manager, said via e-mail. ...
Orion is so far along that Lacefield predicts with an accelerated schedule it could be ready as early as 2013 for demonstration flights, two years sooner than expected.
and
'There's lots of opportunities for things that have been invested in to [still] be utilized,' said Jim Muncy of XCOR Aerospace, a California commercial space firm. 'Lockheed Martin could very well turn around and say, you know, if we were allowed the flexibility to come up with cost-saving approaches, we could do a version of Orion on a fixed-price basis, with a commercial crew.' "

[renclod]

3 welds 2 go 4 Orion GTA

http://www.universetoday.com/2010/03/30/3-welds-to-go-for-1st-orion-pathfinder-vehicle/

[Nascent Ascent]

Wow.

I'm impressed with how much has been accomplished. At this point it's clear that so much design and hardware work has been done it makes zero sense to cancel or otherwise derail Orion.

At this stage I would say that Orion is very close to where Dragon is in its progress to flying a manned crew.

[William Barton]

So could LM finish Orion for $1bln (roughly half of the CCDEV money available) between now and 2013? And if not, would they be willing to kick in the rest? Or would that "fixed price" be entirely paid by the taxpayers?

The other question I have is, how does that "pathfinder vehicle" compare to the Dragon qualification unit SpaceX is going to attempt to orbit on the first Falcon 9 test flight (for lack of a better payload)?