NASASpaceFlight.com Forum

SLS / Orion / Beyond-LEO HSF - Constellation => Orion and Exploration Vehicles => Topic started by: Chris Bergin on 09/08/2015 11:23 pm

Title: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/08/2015 11:23 pm
A thread for the processing of EM-1 Orion ahead of the 2018 mission.

Orion Forum Section:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=38.0

Orion News Articles:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/orion/

L2 Orion:
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?board=29.0

All three of those links go back 2006, back in the CEV days. Been a long road of this little spacecraft!

Please use the Orion forum section for discussion etc. Let's try and keep this thread just for updates on the construction and processing.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/08/2015 11:24 pm
And let's kick it off with the first welds:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/09/em-1-orion-assembly-cdr-process-continues/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: clongton on 09/09/2015 05:24 pm
Great to see Orion coming together. Thanks for the report. I'd be interested in the high rate of MMOD damage, to compare it with what Apollo suffered on its round trip to the moon.

I like the way the spacecraft is being put together in large sections. My question is whether or not each of those major sections is a solid piece of aluminum that has been machined out or were they themselves constructed of component pieces?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: DaveS on 09/15/2015 10:11 pm
Late called teleconference announced by NASA concerning Orion progress:

Sep. 15, 2015
M15-138
NASA to Hold Teleconference to Discuss Orion Spacecraft Progress
NASA officials will hold a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 16 to discuss the agency’s progress on the Orion spacecraft, which will carry humans on missions into deep space.

Participants in the teleconference will be Robert Lightfoot, NASA associate administrator, and William Gerstenmaier, the agency’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations.

To participate, reporters must contact Kathryn Hambleton or Stephanie Schierholz at 202-358-1100, [email protected] or [email protected], and provide their media affiliation no later than 11 a.m. Wednesday.

The teleconference will stream live on NASA’s website at:

http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:03 pm
The presser is about Key Decision Point-C (KDP-C)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:09 pm
September 16, 2015
RELEASE 15-185
NASA Completes Key Milestone for Orion Spacecraft in Support of Journey to Mars

NASA’s mission to send astronauts to deep space destinations where no other human has traveled has taken another important step forward with the completion of a critical milestone for the Orion spacecraft currently in production. 

Agency officials have completed a rigorous technical and programmatic review, confirming continued support of the program and establishing NASA’s commitment to the program’s technical, cost, and schedule baseline. This is the first time NASA has reached this level of progress for a spacecraft designed to take humans into deep space beyond the moon, including to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and on the journey to Mars.

“Our work to send humans out into the solar system is progressing,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Orion is a key piece of the flexible architecture that will enable humanity to set foot on the Red Planet, and we are committed to building the spacecraft and other elements necessary to make this a reality.”

A successful test of an uncrewed Orion capsule, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), flew in December 2014, providing important data that allowed engineers to identify risks associated with deep space flight and re-entry and use that knowledge to improve the design of Orion for its next test flights, Exploration Missions 1 and 2 (EM-1 and EM-2).

Performance data has helped to improve manufacturing processes, as well. Engineers have already incorporated many of these improvements into elements of the EM-1 design, including the crew compartment or pressure vessel, which now is in fabrication and assembly at companies across the country. The vessel is comprised of seven panels or sections, and the first two of these were welded together last week. When complete, this capsule will launch on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the first fully integrated flight test, EM-1.

Astronauts will fly on Orion for the first time on EM-2. That mission will build on the results of the EM-1 flight with additional requirements that the Orion capsule includes fully integrated environmental control and life support systems; controls; and communications designed specifically for the human operation; and advanced launch and re-entry spacesuits for the crew. The recent review, culminating in what is known within NASA as Key Decision Point C (KDP-C), includes all of these technological advancements, and approval represents agency support for this work and the Orion program plan.

The decision commits NASA to a development cost baseline of $6.77 billion from October 2015 through the first crewed mission (EM-2) and a commitment to be ready for a launch with astronauts no later than April 2023. The commitment is consistent with funding levels in the president’s budget request. Conservative cost and schedule commitments outlined in the KDP-C align the Orion Program with program management best practices that account for potential technical risks and budgetary uncertainty beyond the program's control.

“As we take these steps to develop the capabilities we need to send astronauts deep into space, we’re also aligning how we manage our human exploration systems development programs to ensure we are prepared for unforeseen future hurdles,” said Robert Lightfoot, NASA associate administrator. “We’re committing to this funding and readiness level to stay on the journey we’ve outlined to get to Mars.”

Orion engineers now are executing a rigorous review of the spacecraft’s engineering design and technical progress of the vehicle systems and subsystems. This critical design review (CDR) will demonstrate Orion is ready to proceed to full-scale fabrication, assembly, integration and testing. NASA’s SLS Program recently completed this milestone, and its Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program will begin its review this fall.

“The Orion Program has done incredible work, progressing every day and meeting milestones to prepare for our next missions,” said William Gerstenmaier, the agency’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters. “The team will keep working toward an earlier readiness date for a first crewed flight, but will be ready no later than April 2023, and we will keep the spacecraft, rocket and ground systems moving at their own best possible paces.”

In the coming months, Orion will complete its CDR; see the arrival of a test version for the European Space Agency-provided service module at NASA’s Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio; perform a series of parachute tests; and complete the welding of the crew pressure vessel. Although Orion’s readiness date for EM-1 was not formally part of the KDP-C milestone commitment, engineers continue to work toward a commitment for SLS and GSDO to be ready for the uncrewed mission in fall 2018, and NASA will set an integrated launch date after GSDO’s critical design review is completed.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:13 pm
Real aim for the first crewed flight remains August 2021.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:18 pm
Items such as structural test articles and software development are the potential threats to the schedule. Now noting the Service Module is an item, but they said the EM-1 SM is coming in soon and that lays the path for EM-2. EM-1 is still on track.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:19 pm
Machined panels on Orion have been a problem. They "unbend" themselves over time and they have to redo that process.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:31 pm
Gerst dances around the question about how far Orion will travel on Mars missions (because Orion's unlikely to be able to go to Mars).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 05:47 pm
Mr. Lightfoot mentions an ISS resupply mission as an option for one Orion mission. That would be a crazy use of SLS/Orion. Please no! That's just silly use of SLS and Orion.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 09/16/2015 10:34 pm
Article for KDP-C:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/09/orion-passes-kdp-c-cautious-2023-crew-debut/

Decided to cover some of the history way back to CEV (some from an old article as it covered the Ares I woes) and then into the KDP-C.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Tea Party Space Czar on 09/18/2015 04:00 pm
We are now starting to see the pressure being exuded by these programs.  Thank you for writing that article Chris.  There are so many more questions but I think the article speaks for itself.

Respectfully,
Andrew Gasser
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: rayleighscatter on 09/18/2015 09:08 pm
Mr. Lightfoot mentions an ISS resupply mission as an option for one Orion mission. That would be a crazy use of SLS/Orion. Please no! That's just silly use of SLS and Orion.
Did he say Orion & SLS or just Orion? Sending Orion up unmanned on a cheaper rocket and then putting it through its paces on orbit and letting it loiter in the extreme environment for 2 or 3 years before going home and see how it fares doesn't seem like a terrible idea.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Scylla on 10/11/2015 05:00 pm
Aerojet Rocketdyne Subsystems for the Orion Spacecraft Complete Major Review
http://www.rocket.com/article/aerojet-rocketdyne-subsystems-orion-spacecraft-complete-major-review

The Jettison Motor and Crew Module Reaction Control System for NASA's Orion Spacecraft Are on Track for a 2018 Launch After Completing Critical Design Reviews

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Oct. 9, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aerojet Rocketdyne (NYSE:AJRD) announces the critical design review (CDR) completion for the jettison motor and the crew module reaction control system (RCS) on the Orion spacecraft. These two major subsystems that Aerojet Rocketdyne is building for Lockheed Martin and NASA are critical for ensuring astronaut safety and mission success.

With the successful CDR completion on the programs, Aerojet Rocketdyne is now able to begin manufacturing hardware for installation into Orion for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which is slated for launch readiness in 2018 and will be the first flight to the proving ground of deep space.

"Astronaut safety is paramount and the jettison motor and the crew module reaction control system will ensure that the crew begins their mission into deep space and lands at the completion without harm," said Julie Van Kleeck, vice president of Aerojet Rocketdyne's Advanced Space & Launch Programs business unit.

The jettison motor is a solid rocket motor that separates the launch abort system from the Orion spacecraft about five seconds after fairing separation, allowing the crew to continue safely on their way into deep space. In addition to its normal operations, the jettison motor serves a double duty if an anomaly occurs. Designed to assist crew escape, the jettison motor is one of three solid rocket motors on the launch abort system that will rapidly pull the capsule away from the stack in the event of an emergency.

The RCS on the crew module the company is providing for Orion is equally important to crew safety. The crew module RCS provides the only course control authority after separation from the service module. It ensures that the heat shield is properly oriented, the crew module is stable under the parachutes and that the vehicle is in the correct orientation for splashdown. The RCS started a redesign in October 2013 based on modeling and simulation demonstrations theorizing different operational environments for the system, which the Exploration Flight Test-1's (EFT-1) mission in December 2014 confirmed.

"Our crew module reaction control engines are critical to the entire Orion landing sequence," said Samuel Wiley, Aerojet Rocketdyne program director for Human Space. "The successful EFT-1 flight demonstrated the RCS technology and now we are expanding the engine capabilities to support future flights into deep space."

The crew module RCS that Aerojet Rocketdyne is now manufacturing for delivery to Lockheed Martin next year is significantly enhanced from the system flown on EFT-1. Design changes include: increasing the structural capability of the engines and support structure; increased engine nozzle temperature capability to withstand more severe aero-thermal environments during re-entry of the crew module into Earth's atmosphere; and reducing overall mass of the system. The successful CDR also verified the new design and confirmed the use of cutting-edge additive manufacturing technology in the fabrication of engine components.

"Successful critical design reviews for the jettison motor and the crew module reaction control system represent the culmination of several years of disciplined engineering and development work that required perseverance and dedication to meet the level of rigor necessary for human space flight programs," added Van Kleeck. "Sending humans beyond deep space is becoming increasingly closer as progress on Orion and the Space Launch System (SLS) continues for the 2018 launch."

EM-1 will be the first time the SLS is integrated with the Orion spacecraft. The mission will send Orion into lunar distant retrograde orbit - a wide orbit around the moon that is farther from Earth than any spacecraft built for humans has ever traveled.

In support of the EM-1 mission, the company recently completed the first verification test series of the RS-25 engine, the former space shuttle main engine, for flight aboard the SLS. The test series is verifying the engine's higher performance, new operating environments and certifying a new controller on the engine. Aerojet Rocketdyne, the prime contractor for the RS-25 engine, will continue testing of flight engines and controllers at NASA's Stennis Space Center through next year in preparation of the first flight of SLS.

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.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/14/2015 05:47 am
October 13, 2015
RELEASE 15-207

NASA Appoints Mark Kirasich to Serve as Orion Program Manager
 
NASA has appointed Mark Kirasich to be manager of the agency’s Orion Program. The Orion spacecraft is being developed to send astronauts to deep space destinations, such as an asteroid and ultimately to Mars, launching on the agency’s Space Launch System rocket.

Kirasich has been deputy Orion Program manager since 2006. He now will be responsible for oversight of design, development and testing of the Orion spacecraft, as well as spacecraft manufacturing already under way at locations across the country and in Europe for the ESA (European Space Agency).

“Mark brings a wealth of knowledge about NASA’s human spaceflight efforts to the Orion Program manager position,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate in Washington. “By overseeing the team and the work needed to send Orion to deep space, and working directly with our international partner ESA to provide the spacecraft’s service module, his leadership will be essential to enabling humans to pioneer farther into the solar system and continue our journey to Mars.”

Kirasich began his NASA career in 1983 at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston as a member of the space shuttle flight operations team, quickly advancing to the position of lead space shuttle payload officer in mission control. In 1996, he was selected as a flight director in charge of planning and executing NASA human spaceflight missions, serving in that capacity for multiple space shuttle missions and International Space Station expeditions.

“I have seen first-hand Mark’s impact on the Orion Program, and previously in key operations leadership roles at Johnson, and I look forward to having him help us extend the success of Orion’s 2014 flight test forward,” said Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa.

Kirasich succeeds Mark Geyer, who became Johnson’s deputy director in August.

A native of Chicago, Kirasich received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering in 1982 from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering in 1983 from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He is the recipient of numerous awards including NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and Space Flight Awareness Award, and a Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation.

Across the country, elements of the Orion spacecraft are coming together for the first integrated mission with the Space Launch System. At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, welding began in September on the next Orion destined for space. Next month, NASA will see the arrival of a test version of Orion’s service module, provided by ESA, for testing and analysis at the agency’s Plum Brook Station, near Sandusky, Ohio.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 10/16/2015 10:50 pm
Second Weld for Orion’s Primary Structure
Posted on October 16, 2015 at 4:19 pm by Mark Garcia

Engineers at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans continue to weld together the primary structure of the Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission-1. Technicians recently joined the spacecraft’s barrel section, which is the round middle part of the spacecraft, to the aft bulkhead, which is the bottom portion of the crew module. Orion’s primary structure is composed of seven large pieces that are put together in detailed order. Orion’s three cone panels next will be welded together. Once completed, the structure will be shipped from Michoud to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where Orion’s systems and subsystems will be integrated and processed before launch atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

Photo: NASA / Radislav Sinyak

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2015/10/16/second-weld-for-orions-primary-structure/ (https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2015/10/16/second-weld-for-orions-primary-structure/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: sdsds on 10/17/2015 04:54 am
That's a great photo of the weld in progress! I don't think we get to see much of the actual flight hardware, but a bit of it is visible down inside the weld tool fixture (see attached). Am I correct in thinking the weld is being performed upside down, i.e with the aft bulkhead above the barrel section? And then, is that bit that looks different along the seam (closer to the camera than the weld apparatus) a section of the seam which has already been welded?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Coastal Ron on 10/17/2015 06:05 am
That's a great photo of the weld in progress! I don't think we get to see much of the actual flight hardware, but a bit of it is visible down inside the weld tool fixture (see attached). Am I correct in thinking the weld is being performed upside down, i.e with the aft bulkhead above the barrel section? And then, is that bit that looks different along the seam (closer to the camera than the weld apparatus) a section of the seam which has already been welded?

It does look like they flipped it upside down to have top access to the weld.  And yes, it looks like that short weld is a tack weld.  They'll likely do that all the way around the perimeter to make sure everything lines up properly before starting the final continuous weld.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/17/2015 02:55 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/17/2015 02:56 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/23/2015 08:12 pm
NASA Tests Crew Recovery for Orion

Published on Oct 23, 2015
NASA tested crew recovery procedures Oct. 6-8 in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Team members from NASA's Orion and Ground Systems Development and Operations Programs demonstrated and evaluated techniques for crew recovery.


https://youtu.be/ZbApD6niDiA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 10/28/2015 12:38 am
NASA’s Orion Marks Progress With Design Review
October 26, 2015 - Mark Garcia

On Oct. 21, NASA held a review to evaluate the design readiness of the Orion spacecraft, the latest in a series of key milestones on the journey to Mars. The results of this review, known as a Critical Design Review, at the Program level will be briefed to agency leaders in the coming months.

The Orion spacecraft is being developed to send astronauts to deep space destinations, such as an asteroid and on the journey to Mars launching on the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

“The Orion team across the country put in many long hours preparing for and participating in this review,” said Mark Kirasich, Orion Program manager. “Every aspect of the spacecraft design was closely scrutinized.”

The Critical Design Review was carried out over the past 10 weeks by engineers at NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Clearing the Critical Design Review means that the Orion design is mature and ready to move ahead with full-scale fabrication, assembly, integration and testing. The review was supported by engineers working with the SLS and Ground Systems Development and Operations programs and in the Exploration Systems Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington, alongside an independent Standing Review Board.

The evaluation included a review of common aspects of the spacecraft for Exploration Mission (EM)-1 and the spacecraft for EM-2, the first Orion mission with astronauts, such as the spacecraft’s structures, pyrotechnics, launch abort system, guidance, navigation and control and software, among many other elements. Systems unique to EM-2 will be addressed at a later critical design review for the mission in the fall of 2017.

“This is an exciting time for Orion,” Kirasich continued. “We are making strong progress manufacturing the Exploration Mission-1 Orion vehicle. Our dedicated team is making human space exploration a reality.”

Across the country, elements of the Orion spacecraft are coming together for the first integrated mission with SLS and the ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center. At NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, welding began in September on the next Orion destined for space. Next month, NASA will see the arrival of a test version of Orion’s service module, provided by ESA, for testing and analysis at the agency’s Plum Brook Station, near Sandusky, Ohio.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-orion-marks-progress-with-design-review (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-s-orion-marks-progress-with-design-review)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 11/20/2015 08:45 am
Welding of the cone section of the EM-1 pressure vessel was completed earlier this month:

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/orion-ingenuity-improves-manufacturing-while-reducing-mass (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/orion-ingenuity-improves-manufacturing-while-reducing-mass)

Quote from: NASA
Technicians have finished welding together three cone panels that make up a section of the Orion crew module that will fly beyond the moon on Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 11/20/2015 09:00 am
Remember the times that Orion was referred to as 'Apollo on steroids'?

Well, guess what just happened? Starting to look like an Apollo CSM a little more... :)

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/engineers-refine-thermal-protection-system-for-orion-s-next-mission

Quote from: NASA
For these future Orion missions, a silver, metallic-based thermal control coating will also be bonded to the crew module’s thermal protection system back shell tiles. The coating, similar to what is used on the main heat shield, will reduce heat loss during phases when Orion is pointed to space and therefore experiencing cold temperatures, as well as limit the high temperatures the crew module will be subjected to when the spacecraft faces the sun. The coating will help Orion’s back shell maintain a temperature range from approximately -150 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit prior to entry and also will protect against electrical surface charges in space and during re-entry.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 12/09/2015 10:48 pm
NASA’s Exploration Mission-1

Published on Dec 9, 2015
NASA is hard at work building the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System rocket and the ground systems needed to send astronauts into deep space. The agency is developing the core capabilities needed to enable the journey to Mars. On Exploration Mission-1, the spacecraft will travel thousands of miles beyond the moon over the course of about a three-week mission.

https://youtu.be/Mo8IkHM8fGE
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: dks13827 on 12/13/2015 03:17 pm
Nearly 3 years until a pretty good mission will launch.  Wish it was sooner than that.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 12/16/2015 10:22 pm
NASA Arc Jet Facility History

Published on Dec 16, 2015
NASA researchers used the Arc Jet Facility at Johnson Space Center for over 40 years to provide researchers with the data necessary to develop spacecraft protective systems. From the dawn the space race, through the development of the Orion spacecraft, the Arc Jet facility allowed researchers the opportunity to test and refine spacecraft material and structural designs to determine what could withstand the extreme temperature, physical and chemical changes required to penetrate the atmosphere and return safely to earth. As NASA progresses on the Journey to Mars, the groundwork laid by Arc Jet researchers will prove invaluable.

https://youtu.be/BAcoHQaLWTw
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 12/18/2015 09:37 pm
Orion 2015 Progress Toward Exploration Mission-1

Published on Dec 18, 2015
This video shows many hardware milestones reached in 2015 to send NASA’s Orion spacecraft to deep space on Exploration Mission-1, a flight that will take the uncrewed spacecraft thousands of miles beyond the moon in the first integrated mission with NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

https://youtu.be/SN_L2KwB6kE
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: sdsds on 01/15/2016 09:55 pm
Jan. 15, 2016
Engineers Mark Completion of [Orion EM-1] Pressure Vessel
http://www.nasa.gov/feature/engineers-mark-completion-of-orion-s-pressure-vessel
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/21/2016 08:04 am
 
January 20, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-005

Media Invited to See NASA’s Orion Crew Module for its Journey to Mars

NASA’s Orion crew module will be available to media at two NASA locations Jan. 26th and in early February, as engineers continue to prepare the spacecraft to send astronauts deeper into space than ever before, including to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and on the journey to Mars.

At 10:30 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 26, the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans will host a media viewing and facility tour of the spacecraft’s recently completed pressure vessel, the underlying structure of the crew module, before it ships to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

To attend the event at Michoud, reporters must contact Chip Howat at 504-257-0478 or [email protected] by 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25. International media accreditation for this event is closed.

The Orion pressure vessel provides a sealed environment for astronaut life support in future human-rated crew modules. Technicians at Michoud began welding together the seven large aluminum pieces of Orion’s primary structure in precise detail last September. At Kennedy, Orion will be outfitted with the spacecraft’s systems and subsystems, processed and integrated with NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) ahead of their first joint exploration mission, or EM-1.

Michoud also is where the massive core stage of SLS is being manufactured. Reporters will be able to view tooling and newly manufactured hardware for SLS, and hear about mission progress from personnel across NASA.

Individuals available for interviews during the tour include:
•Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington
•Mike Sarafin, EM-1 mission manager at NASA Headquarters
•Mark Kirasich, Orion program manager at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston
•Scott Wilson, Orion production manager at Kennedy
•John Honeycutt, SLS program manager at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama
•Steve Doering, SLS core stage manager at Marshall
•Mike Bolger, Ground Systems Development and Operations program manager at Kennedy
•NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio
•Mike Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin
•Jim Bray, crew module director for Lockheed Martin

Orion will depart Michoud on or about Feb. 1 and travel to Kennedy aboard NASA’s Super Guppy airplane. Additional details for Orion’s arrival at Kennedy, including media accreditation, are forthcoming.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion
 
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/22/2016 03:47 pm
January 22, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M1-16

Media Invited to Orion Crew Module Arrival Events at Kennedy Space Center

Media representatives are invited to attend two events at Kennedy Space Center in Florida marking the arrival of the Orion crew module pressure vessel that will fly atop the Space Launch System rocket on the first integrated flight test, Exploration Mission-1, (EM-1). Delivery of this major Orion hardware marks an important milestone as NASA continues making progress on its journey to Mars. 

At 3 p.m. EST, Monday, February 1, Orion’s recently completed pressure vessel, or underlying structure of the crew module, is scheduled to arrive at Kennedy’s Landing Facility aboard NASA’s Super Guppy cargo aircraft. Members of the news media will have the opportunity to photograph the arrival and unloading of the spacecraft.

At 10 a.m. EST, Wednesday, February 3, media may view the spacecraft in the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility and conduct interviews with NASA and Lockheed Martin representatives.

NASA and Lockheed Martin are tracking several milestones for Orion in 2016. The processing of Orion for flight at Kennedy will include outfitting the crew module with the spacecraft’s heat-shielding thermal protection systems, avionics and other subsystems including electrical power storage and distribution, thermal control, cabin pressure control, command and data handling, communications and tracking, guidance, navigation and control, reaction control system propulsion and flight software and computers.

To attend the event, media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

International media accreditation for this event is closed. U.S. must apply for accreditation by 4 p.m. January 29. Two forms of government-issued identification are required to receive a badge, one of which must be a photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. Badges will be available for pick up at the Kennedy Badging Office on State Road 405 east of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Hours for the Kennedy Badging Office are 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Questions concerning accreditation may be addressed to Jennifer Horner at 321-867-6598 or [email protected].

For the February 1 event, media should arrive at the press site by 2 p.m. for transportation to the landing facility.

Media should arrive at the press site by 9 a.m. for transportation to the event Feb. 3.

For both events, all participants must be dressed in full-length pants and shirts with sleeves, and wear flat shoes that cover the feet entirely.

Dates and times are subject to change. Updates for events are available at 321-867-2525.

The Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 02/02/2016 02:58 am
Short article marking the pressure vessel's arrival at KSC:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/02/em-1-orion-pv-arrives-at-ksc/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 02/02/2016 10:29 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Archibald on 02/02/2016 03:42 pm
Wait, that's a Super Guppy ? With Orion similar shappe to an Apollo - back to the 60's !  :)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AS-503 on 02/02/2016 03:44 pm
Wait, that's a Super Guppy ? With Orion similar shappe to an Apollo - back to the 60's !  :)

Hehe....but without 1960's funding levels where will she go? and what will she do?  ;)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 02/02/2016 07:26 pm
Orion Loaded into Work Stand at Kennedy
‎02 ‎February ‎2016, Mark Garcia

Orion is lowered onto a work stand in the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Engineers loaded the Orion pressure vessel, or underlying structure of the crew module, into a work stand in the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 2. The pressure vessel’s seven large pieces were welded together at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans between September 2015 and January 2016. It will fly thousands of miles beyond the moon on Exploration Mission-1.

The pressure vessel provides a sealed environment to support astronauts and is key for future human-rated crew modules. The Orion team will test the pressure vessel to make sure it’s structurally sound and then begin outfitting it with the spacecraft’s other systems and subsystems. Over the next 18 months, more than 100,000 components will arrive to Kennedy for integration into Orion. Check out more photos (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaorion/) of Orion’s trip to Kennedy.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2016/02/02/orion-loaded-into-work-stand-at-kennedy/ (https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2016/02/02/orion-loaded-into-work-stand-at-kennedy/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 02/02/2016 11:38 pm
Lockheed: :)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Antilope7724 on 02/04/2016 09:44 am
Wait, that's a Super Guppy ? With Orion similar shappe to an Apollo - back to the 60's !  :)

It's a Super Guppy built under license in France and used by AirBus to transport large assemblies between their various factories. AirBus was using 2 U.S. built Super Guppys and built 2 more under license. They were using 4 at one time. NASA now has Super Guppy Turbine N941NA (formerly F-GEAI), serial number 0004 built in 1983. AirBus replaced its Super Guppy's with the jet powered AirBus Beluga oversize transport aircraft modified from its A300 jet airliner. NASA obtained the french Super Guppy as compensation in return for launching ESA items to the ISS on the Space Shuttle.

http://jsc-aircraft-ops.jsc.nasa.gov/guppy/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Spacelines_Super_Guppy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_Beluga

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Spacelines_Pregnant_Guppy

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 02/04/2016 12:02 pm
New and Improved Orion Crew Module Arrives at Kennedy Space Center

Milestone Marks First Major Delivery of Exploration Mission -1 Flight Hardware 

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ,  Feb. 3, 2016  /PRNewswire/ -- The  Lockheed Martin  (NYSE: LMT) and NASA Orion team has secured the 2,700 lb.  Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) Orion crew module into its structural assembly tool, also known as the "birdcage." The crew module is the living quarters for astronauts and the backbone for many of Orion's systems such as propulsion, avionics and parachutes.

"The structure shown here is 500 pounds lighter than its Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) counterpart," said  Mike Hawes , Lockheed Martin Orion vice president and program manager. "Once the final structural components such as longerons, bolts and brackets are added, total crew module structural weight savings from EFT-1 to EM-1 will total 700 pounds."

From experience gained by building test articles, building and flying EFT-1, and now building the EM-1 crew module, the  Lockheed Martin  team is learning how to shed weight, reduce costs and simplify the manufacturing process - all in an effort to improve the production time and cost of future Orions.

"Our very talented team in  Louisiana  has manufactured a great product and now they have passed the baton to  Florida ," said Hawes. "This is where we assemble, test and launch, and the fun really begins."

At  Kennedy Space Center , the crew module will undergo several tests to ensure the structure is perfectly sound before being integrated with other elements of the spacecraft. First it will undergo proof-pressure testing where the structural welds are stress tested to confirm it can withstand the environments it will experience in space. The team will then use phased array technology to inspect the welds to make sure there are no defects. Additional structural tests will follow including proof-pressure testing of the fluid system welds and subsequent x-ray inspections.

Once the crew module passes those tests it will undergo final assembly, integration and entire vehicle testing in order to prepare for EM-1, when Orion is launched atop  NASA's  Space Launch System (SLS) for the first time. The test flight will send Orion into lunar distant retrograde orbit - a wide orbit around the moon that is farther from Earth than any human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled. The mission will last about three weeks and will certify the design and safety of Orion and SLS for future human-rated exploration missions.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: b0objunior on 02/12/2016 04:34 am
Orion EM-1 heatshield coming along nicely.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 02/17/2016 07:31 pm
Orion Spacecraft Arrives for Exploration Mission-1

Published on Feb 17, 2016
On Feb. 1, 2016, the pressure vessel for an Orion spacecraft arrived at the Shuttle Landing Facility operated by Space Florida at Kennedy. Late in 2018, this spacecraft will lift off atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on the vehicle's maiden voyage.

https://youtu.be/8dbjoLCmxRU
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 02/29/2016 05:50 pm
Part of this relates to EM-1 LAS:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/02/industry-forward-exploration-hardware/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 03/09/2016 12:05 am
Engineers Test New Acoustics Method on Flown Orion
March 7 - Mark Garcia

Engineers at Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s facility near Denver are assessing a new acoustic test method on the space-flown Orion crew module.

Direct Field Acoustic testing uses more than 1,500 customized, high-energy speakers configured in a circle around the vehicle. This test simulates the intense acoustic loads Orion will experience during launch and ascent on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.  If this test method passes all necessary evaluations it will be used to verify Orion’s ability to withstand SLS acoustic loads during its next mission, Exploration Mission-1.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2016/03/07/engineers-test-new-acoustics-method-on-flown-orion/ (https://blogs.nasa.gov/orion/2016/03/07/engineers-test-new-acoustics-method-on-flown-orion/)


Orion Crew Module Direct Field Acoustic Test

Direct Field Acoustic (DFA) Testing was successfully completed on the Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) Crew Module (CM) at the Lockheed-Martin (LM) Waterton Reverberant Acoustic Lab (RAL). DFA Testing is an alternative method for spacecraft module acoustic qualification and acceptance verification that is being investigated for use in the Orion program. Its portability would allow testing at KSC and eliminate the transportation risks and associated cost and schedule of performing this verification activity off-site. Two configurations were tested; one representing the future reverberant acoustic comparison test and one representing the future configuration for Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) CM. A mock-up of the Service Module (SM) without the fairings will also be tested to gather volumetric data to decide viability of performing DFA Testing on the Static Test Article (STA) SM in the 2016 Fall. Data will be used to develop predictive algorithms for future tests.

Photo Credits: Dusty Volkel / Lockheed Martin
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 03/15/2016 08:22 pm
Orion Solar Array Wing Passes First Test

Published on Mar 15, 2016
An international team of engineers deployed an Orion solar array wing at NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio on Feb. 29. The deployment of the 24-foot wing qualification model was an important first step in verifying Orion’s power system for the spacecraft’s first flight atop the agency’s Space Launch System rocket. The mission, known as Exploration Mission-1 or EM-1, will venture tens of thousands of miles beyond the moon.

See story and photos: http://go.nasa.gov/1Uw6wLD

https://youtu.be/Zvon9nqBA2Q

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Retired Downrange on 04/04/2016 12:28 am
Video of controls testing in mock-up Orion:

At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineer Heather Paul and astronaut Chris Cassidy put on spacesuits to test out the next generation controller for the Orion spacecraft – NASA’s deep space vehicle that will take humans on the #JourneyToMars.

The testing is providing data teams will use to make any adjustments needed to ensure future Orion crews can interact appropriately with the spacecraft’s control system when they’re inside their spacesuits during deep space missions.

http://spacecoastdaily.com/2016/04/video-look-at-nasas-next-generation-controller-for-orion-spacecraft/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 04/09/2016 12:33 am
Orion Drop Test Series Begins

NASA Langley Research Center

Published on Apr 8, 2016
APRIL 7, 2016 – Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, kicked off a series of nine drop tests of a representative Orion crew capsule with crash test dummies inside to understand what the spacecraft and astronauts may experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean after deep-space missions.

The high-fidelity capsule, coupled with the heat shield from Orion's first flight in space, was hoisted approximately 16 feet (4.9 meters) above the water and vertically dropped into Langley’s 20-foot-deep (6.1 meters) Hydro Impact Basin.

The crash test dummies were instrumented to provide data and secured inside the capsule to help provide information engineers need to ensure astronauts will be protected from injury during splashdown.

Each test in the series simulates different scenarios for Orion’s parachute-assisted landings, wind conditions, velocities and wave heights the spacecraft may experience when touching down in the ocean.


https://youtu.be/0c5doik_o78
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 04/28/2016 09:02 pm
Orion Crew Module for Exploration Mission-1 Lifted to Test Stand

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/orion-crew-module-for-exploration-mission-1-lifted-to-test-stand

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Johnnyhinbos on 04/29/2016 10:44 am
So that's actual flight hardware and not a test article?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: b0objunior on 04/30/2016 04:17 am
So that's actual flight hardware and not a test article?
Yup.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 05/12/2016 12:34 am
Orion Passes the Pressure Test
May 11, 2016 - Linda Herridge, KSC

Engineers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida recently conducted a series of pressure tests of the Orion pressure vessel. Orion is the NASA spacecraft that will send astronauts to deep space destinations, including on the journey to Mars. The tests confirmed that the weld points of the underlying structure will contain and protect astronauts during the launch, in-space, re-entry and landing phases on the Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1), when the spacecraft performs its first uncrewed test flight atop the Space Launch System rocket.

The Orion pressure vessel contains the atmosphere that a crew would breathe during a mission. It also will provide living and working space for the crew, and withstand the loads and forces experienced during launch and landing.

In late April, Orion was lifted by crane from its assembly and tooling stand and moved to a test stand inside the proof pressure cell. The assembly and tooling stand is called the birdcage because it closely resembles a birdcage, but on a much larger scale.

To prepare for the test, technicians attached hundreds of strain gauges to the interior and exterior surfaces of the vehicle. The strain gauges were attached to provide real time data to the analysts monitoring the changes during the pressurization. The analysts were located in the control room next to the pressure cell. The large doors were closed and sealed and Orion was pressurized to over the maximum pressure it is expected to encounter on orbit.

Lockheed Martin, the manufacturer of the Orion crew module, ran the test at incremental steps over two days to reach the maximum pressure. During each step, the team pressurized the chamber and then evaluated the data to identify changes for the next test parameter. The results revealed the workmanship of the crew module pressure vessel welds and how the welds reacted to the stresses from the pressurization.

“We are very pleased with the performance of the spacecraft during proof pressure testing,” said Scott Wilson, NASA manager of production operations for the Orion Program. “The successful completion of this test represents another major step forward in our march toward completing the EM-1 spacecraft, and ultimately, our crewed missions to deep space.”

“It gives the team a lot of pride to see Orion coming together for EM-1,” said Ed Stanton, a systems engineer for Orion Production Operations in the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program.

Orion was tested inside the proof pressure cell in the high bay of the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building. After being moved back to the birdcage assembly stand, technicians will begin the intricate work of attaching hundreds of brackets to the vessel’s exterior to hold the tubing for the vehicle’s hydraulics and other systems.

Future tests include a launch simulation and power on. Orion also will be sent to NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station facility in Sandusky, Ohio, for acoustics and vibration tests. The uncrewed Orion will be outfitted with most of the systems needed for a crewed mission.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft atop will roar into space from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B. EM-1 will send Orion on a path thousands of miles beyond the moon over a course of three weeks, farther into space than human spaceflight has ever travelled before. The spacecraft will return to Earth and safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. This mission will advance and validate capabilities required for human exploration of Mars.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/orion-passes-the-pressure-test (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/orion-passes-the-pressure-test)

Photo caption:  Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians prepare the Orion pressure vessel for a series of tests inside the proof pressure cell in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/12/2016 01:10 am
Orion Exploration Mission-1 Crew Module Pressure Tested

Date: 11-May-2016 1:03 PM

Spacecraft Approved for Assembly of Secondary Structures 

 CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ,  May 11, 2016  /PRNewswire/ -- The  Lockheed Martin  (NYSE: LMT) and NASA Orion team has successfully proof-pressure tested the Orion spacecraft's  Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1) crew module. The crew module is the living quarters for astronauts and the backbone for many of Orion's systems such as propulsion, avionics and parachutes.

In order to certify the structural integrity of the crew module it was outfitted with approximately 850 instruments and subjected to 1.25 times the maximum pressure the capsule is expected to experience during its deep space missions. That means about 20 pounds per square inch of pressure was distributed over the entire inner surface of the spacecraft trying to burst it from within. As a next step, the team will use phased array technology to inspect all of the spacecraft's welds in order to ensure there are no defects.

Once the primary structure of the crew module has been verified, the team will begin the installation of secondary structures such as tubes, tanks and thrusters. Once those pieces are in place, the crew module will be moved into the clean room and the propulsion and environmental control and life support systems will be installed.

"Our experience building and flying Exploration Flight Test-1 has allowed us to improve the build and test process for the EM-1 crew module," said  Mike Hawes , Lockheed Martin Orion vice president and program manager. "Across the program we are establishing efficiencies that will decrease the production time and cost of future Orion spacecraft."

During EM-1 Orion will be launched atop  NASA's  Space Launch System (SLS) for the first time. The test flight will send Orion into lunar distant retrograde orbit - a wide orbit around the moon that is farther from Earth than any human-rated spacecraft has ever traveled. The mission will last about three weeks and will certify the design and safety of Orion and SLS for future human-rated exploration missions.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: mike robel on 05/12/2016 02:42 am
Hmmm. Do we not have the technology to cast the pressure shell rather than weld it? 
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Zed_Noir on 05/12/2016 04:13 am
Hmmm. Do we not have the technology to cast the pressure shell rather than weld it?

[ sarcasm ]
Because that was the way it was done in the past.  ::)
[ /sarcasm ]
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: MKremer on 05/12/2016 10:15 am
Hmmm. Do we not have the technology to cast the pressure shell rather than weld it? 
No, but maybe in another couple of decades a 3D printed pressure vessel of the same or larger sizes will be possible.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: SWGlassPit on 05/13/2016 04:23 pm
Hmmm. Do we not have the technology to cast the pressure shell rather than weld it?

Casting is not a very good technique to use when you're dealing with items that are fracture-critical (like, say, pressure vessels).  Objects that are cast will have microvoids from the shrinkage of the metal as it cools, and the grain structure of the resulting metal is not easily controlled, which means that the material properties of the resulting piece vary throughout the geometry.  This leaves portions that are more brittle than others as well as unpredictable regions of residual stresses built up, none of which you want when your product HAS to work.

It's far better to start from a rolled blank or a forging and form it into shape before machining the final geometry from it.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 06/14/2016 07:19 pm
Orion Swing Drop at NASA Langley Research Center - June 7, 2016

NASA Langley Research Center

Published on Jun 14, 2016
A test version of the Orion spacecraft is pulled back like a pendulum and released, taking a dive into the 20-foot-deep Hydro Impact Basin at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

https://youtu.be/8sR2jKIzef4?t=001

https://youtu.be/8sR2jKIzef4
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: gongora on 07/10/2016 11:56 pm
Orion parachute testing (https://www.army.mil/article/171108/nasa_parachute_drop_at_us_army_yuma_proving_ground_aborted)
Quote
YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. -- Conducting an individual test can be an unbelievably complicated undertaking, particularly when dealing with an expensive one-of-a-kind system. Late June's test of the parachutes destined for use aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft is a case in point, for it involved a vast number of complex moving parts that had to mesh together in a precise, carefully planned and thought-out manner.

These included several aircraft flying out of Edwards Air Force Base, California, additional aircraft from Laguna Army Airfield, ground tracking stations at several points at Yuma Proving Ground, and an exceptionally wide variety, dozens, of technical experts.

The parachute system for Orion is a complex system of its own, composed of 11 different parachutes which operate to slow down the spacecraft and bring it to a safe earth landing. The system's three primary parachutes are made of tough nylon and are the size of football fields.

Though NASA has conducted 17 previous parachute drops at the proving ground, planners say each deployment is slightly different.

"The parachutes are packed under thousands of pounds of pressure. It takes over a week to pack a main parachute," said Koki Nachin, NASA chief engineer for the capsule parachute assembly system. "In the final qualification phase, which we are in now, we will demonstrate that the parachute system works as expected within the predicted range of performance."

According to Nachin, NASA plans for an unmanned Orion mission to go into lunar orbit in 2018, with the first astronaut flight occurring in 2022.

Ellen Ochoa, former astronaut and current director of NASA's Johnson Space Center, was on hand to witness what was to be the eighteenth drop at Yuma Proving Ground, but it was ultimately aborted due to an oxygen system problem aboard the C-17 aircraft carrying the parachutes and payload. ...
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: rcoppola on 07/27/2016 05:48 pm
GAO Orion Report just out:

http://gao.gov/products/GAO-16-620
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/28/2016 03:14 pm
GAO Orion Report just out:

http://gao.gov/products/GAO-16-620

Here's Eric Berger's write-up: http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/07/a-new-independent-review-of-the-orion-spacecraft-is-pretty-damning/ (http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/07/a-new-independent-review-of-the-orion-spacecraft-is-pretty-damning/), title as per URL address and summary line:

Quote
The capsule is over budget and may need seven more years before flying crews.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: rayleighscatter on 07/29/2016 10:34 pm
TPS tile bonding for EM-1 is now taking place.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Khadgars on 07/30/2016 02:51 am
Nice to see flight hardware coming together
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/03/2016 04:26 pm
Astronauts Test Orion Docking Hatch For Future Missions

Engineers and astronauts conducted testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations. The testing, shown here with astronauts Stephanie Wilson, Karen Nyberg and Rick Mastracchio (L to R), was done to evaluate the equipment used during egress to ensure that a fully suited crew member carrying survival equipment can get out of the spacecraft through the docking hatch if necessary.

While the crew will primarily use the side hatch for entry and exit on Earth and the docking hatch to travel between Orion and a habitation module on long-duration deep space missions, the crew will need to be able to exit out of the docking hatch if wave heights in the Pacific Ocean upon splashdown are too high. The work is being done to help ensure all elements of Orion's design are safe and effective for the crew to use on future missions on the journey to Mars.

Image Credit: NASA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 08/04/2016 03:35 am
Orion Backstage: Up the Hatch with Astronauts

NASA Johnson

Published on Aug 3, 2016

Engineers and astronauts conducted testing in a representative model of the Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to gather the crew's feedback on the design of the docking hatch and on post-landing equipment operations.

The testing, shown here with astronauts Stephanie Wilson, Karen Nyberg and Rick Mastracchio (L to R), was done to evaluate the equipment used during egress to ensure that a fully suited crew member carrying survival equipment can get out of the spacecraft through the docking hatch if necessary.

While the crew will primarily use the side hatch for entry and exit on Earth and the docking hatch to travel between Orion and a habitation module on long-duration deep space missions, the crew will need to be able to exit out of the docking hatch if wave heights in the Pacific Ocean upon splashdown are too high. The work is being done to help ensure all elements of Orion's design are safe and effective for the crew to use on future missions on the journey to Mars.

https://youtu.be/X-I0katihQo?t=001

https://youtu.be/X-I0katihQo
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/04/2016 03:24 pm
August 04, 2016
MEDIA ADVISORY M16-093

NASA Invites Media to Orion Water Drop Test, Update on Journey to Mars
 
 
Media are invited to watch engineers test a mockup of NASA’s Orion spacecraft in a simulated ocean splashdown Thursday, Aug. 25, at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

The test is planned for 3:30 p.m. EDT, but due to the nature of the testing, the exact time of the drop could change. Prior to the test, media will get a poolside update on the tests, as well as overall progress made in preparing Orion for NASA’s Journey to Mars.

Briefing participants will include:
•Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development, NASA Headquarters
•Dave Bowles, Langley director
•Lara Kearney, manager, Orion Crew and Service Module, NASA’s Johnson Space Center
•Mike Hawes, Orion program manager, Lockheed Martin

The deadline for U.S. citizens to apply for media access is noon Wednesday, Aug. 24. Interested media should contact Sasha Ellis by email at 757-864-5473 or [email protected]. Media must arrive by 2:30 p.m. at the Langley badge and pass office on the day of the test. Accreditation for international media is closed.

Orion has been undergoing a series of water impact tests in the center’s Hydro Impact Basin to help engineers understand how to best protect the crew and spacecraft when they return to Earth from deep space missions. The test capsule, coupled with the heat shield from Orion’s first spaceflight, will swing like a pendulum into Langley’s 20-foot-deep basin. Inside the capsule will be two test dummies – one representing a 105-pound woman and the other, a 220-pound man -- outfitted in spacesuits equipped with sensors. These sensors will provide critical data that will help NASA understand the forces crew members could experience when they splash down in the ocean.

Water impact testing is helping NASA evaluate how the Orion spacecraft may behave when landing under its parachutes in different wind conditions and wave heights. During Orion’s next flight test, Exploration Mission-1, the uncrewed spacecraft will launch on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket, travel more than 40,000 miles beyond the moon, and return at speeds of up to 25,000 mph.

To learn more about Langley's many contributions to Orion, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/1vKhx1j
 
For more information on Orion, visit:
 
http://www.nasa.gov/orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 08/27/2016 12:58 pm
And Orion's bath time is complete:
http://nasa.tumblr.com/post/149509180299/splish-splash-orion-takes-a-bath
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 08/28/2016 04:09 pm
Heat Shield has arrived at KSC!

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/08/orions-heat-shield-kennedy-em-1/

By Chris Gebhardt.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 08/29/2016 07:43 am
Heat Shield has arrived at KSC!

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2016/08/orions-heat-shield-kennedy-em-1/

By Chris Gebhardt.
Great article again Chris G, per the usual.

Minor nit: the final image in the article is of a backshell TPS panel and has little to do with the scope of this article: the primary heatshield.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 08/29/2016 08:43 am
TPS tile bonding for EM-1 is now taking place.

More info on this here: http://www.nasa.gov/feature/tile-bonding-begins-for-orion-s-first-mission-atop-space-launch-system-rocket (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/tile-bonding-begins-for-orion-s-first-mission-atop-space-launch-system-rocket)

Interesting quote with regards to the reusability of Orion components:
Quote from: Bob Granath
Quote from:  Joy Huff
The fact that Orion lands in the ocean, requires we replace the tiles after each mission. The tiles are waterproofed to protect them from fresh water, such as rain. But during re-entry the waterproofing material burns out of the tiles so they do absorb salt water while in the ocean and that adds contaminants that would make their reuse impossible.
Installing TPS tiles will be a part of preparation for each mission. The work taking place now will help perfect the process.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Oli on 08/29/2016 01:37 pm
Interesting quote with regards to the reusability of Orion components:

Which suggests the rest of the vehicle can be reused. Interesting.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 08/29/2016 03:13 pm
Interesting quote with regards to the reusability of Orion components:

Which suggests the rest of the vehicle can be reused. Interesting.
That's exactly why I found the quotes interesting.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Space Ghost 1962 on 08/29/2016 04:46 pm
Significant reprocessing.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: A_M_Swallow on 08/29/2016 05:01 pm
Significant reprocessing.

Any chance the significant reprocessing will cost less than half the cost of a new capsule?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 08/29/2016 06:19 pm
Significant reprocessing.
I see you master the British art of understatement.

From my sources:
After having landed in the ocean, and having spent a good number of hours floating in salt water the spacecraft will have to be stripped back to the bare pressure hull to get rid of the salt. None of the RCS engines, tankage and plumbing can be re-used due to a high likelyhood of salt water immersion into the innards of the RCS system. The same applies to just about everything else outside the pressure hull. Re-use of the backshell panels requires replacement of the tiles and re-certification of the carrier panels themselves and the backshell carrier structure. The same applies to the primary heatshield carrier structure. The folks over at SpaceX can testify to this having almost completed their efforts to "re-use" a flown Dragon 1. That particular "re-use" is basically a re-use of the pressure hull and certain stuff located inside the pressure hull. Just about everything else has been replaced with brand-new items. Re-use of Orion, if any, will walk pretty much the same path.

According to my sources the re-use of significant elements of Orion is not a serious option right now given the low projected flight-rate. The big exception is a subset of the avionics. For the rest it's cheaper to just build a brand new spacecraft.
Things could have been very different if the original plan had been followed: land Orion on land. But heck, the performance issues with Ares I threw a wrench in those plans.
For the reasons above Boeing has chosen land as the primary landing surface for CST-100 and a set of similar reasons is one of the driving forces behind SpaceX wanting to land Dragon 2 propulsively on land.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Archibald on 08/31/2016 07:13 pm
Glad to see the Guppy is still there, just like in the old Apollo days. Good aircrafts never dies. "Hey, you little Orion,stop bragging about. I carried your grandpa Apollo in his infancy."
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Jim on 08/31/2016 07:34 pm
Glad to see the Guppy is still there, just like in the old Apollo days. Good aircrafts never dies. "Hey, you little Orion,stop bragging about. I carried your grandpa Apollo in his infancy."

Not this Guppy.  This is an ex Airbus Super Guppy Turbine.  The original NASA Super Guppy was retired 20 years ago or so.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 08/31/2016 07:35 pm
If Orion can hit a 100 mile landing ellipse, it could land in lake superior if salt water corrosion is a problem. Helicopter recovery could reduce the time spent in water by quite some time.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 08/31/2016 09:01 pm
Orion Ground Test Article drop test Aug. 25, 2016

NASA Langley Research Center

Published on Aug 25, 2016
Engineers at NASA's Langley Research Center conducted a splashdown test of the Orion Crew Module Ground Test Article on Aug. 25, 2016. The goal of this series of tests to gather data on simulated splashdowns in stressful landing scenarios. Video credit: NASA/Gary Banziger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaV_ADVwUnE?t=001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaV_ADVwUnE
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 09/03/2016 12:03 am
Orion Jettison Motor Test

SciNews

Published on Sep 2, 2016
Aerojet Rocketdyne successfully tested its third development jettison motor for NASA’s Orion spacecraft, at its facility in Rancho Cordova, California, on 31 August 2016. The jettison motor is part of Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS), assuring the separation of the crew module from the LAS so that parachutes can be deployed for a safe splashdown.

https://youtu.be/cyfsSMpGsJQ?t=001

https://youtu.be/cyfsSMpGsJQ
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 09/29/2016 03:01 am
Divers Train for Orion Recovery at NASA's Johnson Space Center

 
NASAKennedy

Published on Sep 28, 2016
A team of U.S. Navy divers practiced Orion underway recovery techniques Sept. 20-22 in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to prepare for the first test flight of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft with the agency's Space Launch System rocket during Exploration Mission 1. The training will prepare the recovery team, Ground Systems Development and Operations and Orion manufacturer Lockheed Martin Underway Recovery Test 5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California in October.

https://youtu.be/AM40S4kJETI?t=001

https://youtu.be/AM40S4kJETI
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/13/2016 06:30 pm
Orion Vibe Test

NASA Glenn Research Center

Published on Oct 13, 2016
A full-scale test version of the Orion service module undergoes vibration tests on the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker system at NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station. The tests are designed to ensure the service module can withstand the intense vibrations it will experience when it launches and travels into space aboard the powerful Space Launch System rocket. (no audio)

https://youtu.be/SX3P-foK_mw?t=001

https://youtu.be/SX3P-foK_mw
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/13/2016 06:31 pm
Orion Backstage: Navy diver Beau Lontine prepares for Orion recovery

NASA Johnson

Published on Oct 13, 2016
When NASA’s Orion returns to Earth after traveling more than 40,000 miles beyond the moon during its next mission and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, a team from the U.S. military will help secure Orion and safely return it back to land. U.S. Navy diver Beau Lontine and a team from the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force and NASA practiced Orion recovery techniques in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston, the facility where astronauts train for spacewalks. The evaluations help the team prepare for an upcoming series of tests off the Coast of San Diego in October where they’ll check out the hardware and operations they’ll use to secure Orion after its first test flight of Orion with the agency’s Space Launch System rocket in late 2018. The testing all helps pave the way for Orion flights with astronauts.

https://youtu.be/QR0orgqkLi0?t=001

https://youtu.be/QR0orgqkLi0

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 10/20/2016 11:38 pm
Orion Spacecraft Heat Shield Leaves NASA Langley

NASA Langley Research Center

Published on Oct 20, 2016
Inside the shrink wrap is the heat shield from Orion's first flight in space. After a series of water impact tests, the heat shield left NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be assessed for future needs.

https://youtu.be/cjWLVEdYOYc?t=001

https://youtu.be/cjWLVEdYOYc
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 11/08/2016 05:11 pm
Photo taken October 24, 2016 so a little dated, but posted for posterity.

KSC-20161024-PH_DNG01_0007

Tile blocks have been prefitted around the heat shield for the Orion crew module inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The heat shield is one of the most critical elements of Orion and protects it and the future astronauts inside from searing temperatures experienced during reentry through Earth's atmosphere when they return home. For Exploration Mission-1, the top layer of Orion's heat shield that is primarily responsible for helping the crew module endure reentry heat will be composed of approximately 180 blocks, which are made of an ablative material called Avcoat designed to wear away as it heats up. Orion is being prepared for its flight on the agency's Space Launch System for Exploration Mission-1 in late 2018. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA's Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 12/15/2016 12:45 am
Orion Backstage: NASA's Super Guppy Takes on Heavy Lifting for Orion

NASA Johnson

Published on Dec 14, 2016
NASA's David Elliott and a team of pilots and engineers who operate the agency's Super Guppy aircraft are responsible for transporting some of the biggest elements of spacecraft to locations around the country. The Super Guppy has played an important role carrying pieces of Orion, such as the primary structure of the crew module, to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for outfitting and processing in advance of its 2018 mission that will take the uncrewed spacecraft, launched atop the Space Launch System rocket, about 40,000 miles beyond the moon.

https://youtu.be/pNQ9CTJ7Mxc?t=001

https://youtu.be/pNQ9CTJ7Mxc
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 12/21/2016 03:05 pm
From Metal To Masterpiece: Orion's 2016 Progress

NASA Johnson

Published on Dec 21, 2016
From the beginning of assembly work on the Orion crew module at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to testing a range of the spacecraft systems, engineers made headway in 2016 in advance of the spacecraft’s 2018 mission beyond the moon. Highlights include: crew module pressure vessel manufacturing; testing to ensure the safety of Orion and its crew upon splashdown in the ocean; testing of procedures to recover Orion after its missions; outfitting and assembly work on the crew module at Kennedy and on the European service module at Airbus Defence & Space in Germany; and service module testing at NASA Glenn's Plum Brook Station in Ohio.

https://youtu.be/3gCvSPTJyHQ?t=001

https://youtu.be/3gCvSPTJyHQ
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: A_M_Swallow on 01/16/2017 01:13 am
Time to publish a new study showing that Orion on SLS can get astronauts to and back from a Deep Space Habitat at a Moon-Earth Lagrange Point.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 01/17/2017 02:09 pm
Propulsion Qualification Model update
Posted on 17 Jan 2017 by julien

OHB in Sweden is assembling, integrating and doing initial testing of the European Service Moudle Propulsion Qualification Model (PQM) that represents the propulsion system for testing purposes. It is much heavier than the final module as it will not be launched into space. It serves an important role in the development of the Orion spacecraft as it allows engineers to show that everything works as planned.

[...]

The assembly was completed in January in Stockholm, Sweden and the model is packed up and ready for shipment to the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico (USA).

There it will be tested extensively including “hot-firing” where the auxiliary engines will be fired for real in tests ran by Airbus DS.

http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2017/01/17/propulsion-qualification-model-update (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2017/01/17/propulsion-qualification-model-update)

Photo caption: Packed and ready for shipping. PQM container.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 02/20/2017 04:18 pm
European Orion functional model arrives in USA for combined testing
Posted on 20 Feb 2017 by laylan

Like modern aircraft with fly-by-wire technology, spacecraft depend on reliable electrical systems to calculate scenarios and command hardware to react for a safe and successful journey. For NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will be heading beyond the Moon and back, the avionics have an enormous amount of data to process and hardware to control.

ESA is supplying the European Service Module for Orion that provides propulsion, electrical power, water and thermal control as well as maintaining the oxygen and nitrogen atmosphere for the astronauts in the crew capsule. All these functions need to be finely controlled – there is little room for error in human spaceflight: the European Service Module avionics manages the module’s hardware and the data exchange services based on instructions from the Orion flight computers in the Crew Module that are designed and developed by NASA and its contractors.

Orion has 33 engines that need to fire at precise moments to stay on course. Propellant is pushed by helium to the spacecraft’s thrusters with computers calculating timing and fuel levels. The service module has 14 fuel and supply tanks that change the spacecraft’s characteristics as the liquids empty and slosh about during Orion’s mission – each change requires new calculations and adapting thruster firings.

Testing all scenarios virtually

A functional simulator includes the replica models of the service module’s electronic units, and hardware such as valves, sensors, motors, batteries and power generation that can be programmed to reproduce any condition encountered during the missions in space.

The simulator was constructed in Les Mureaux, France and will be used to test the electrical and functional design of the service module, reproducing mission scenarios and verifying that the module will react correctly to any unexpected events that could occur.

After testing in Les Mureaux at the Airbus Defense and Space site, the functional model was shipped to Denver, USA, where it will be connected to a complete Orion spacecraft functional test facility. The avionics, the crew module and the European service module will go through another round of even more complex testing to ensure the two systems work together as planned, running virtual scenarios over and over again to ensure the software copes with all possible conditions. Unlike on your phone or computer a quick internet-update to remove any bugs is not an option when travelling in space between Earth and the Moon.

The first Orion mission is planned for 2018 without passengers, but the second will include astronauts. The crew capsule computers will work with the service module’s avionics to keep a safe environment for the astronauts as well – reacting to sensors in the capsule as well as from the astronauts themselves.

“Together with the test article that was formally handed to NASA this month, this is the second part of the system to start testing complete Orion systems” says ESA’s Philippe Deloo. "The project is coming together quickly  and it is immensely satisfying for the hundreds of people working on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to push forward to the next phases and milestones of space exploration.”

The test campaign in Denver will run till mid-2018.

http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2017/02/20/european-orion-functional-model-arrives-in-usa-for-combined-testing/ (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2017/02/20/european-orion-functional-model-arrives-in-usa-for-combined-testing/)

Photo Caption: (both) Orion Lab with foreign partners from Airbus. Credit: NASA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 02/23/2017 06:34 pm
February 23, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-022
NASA Invites Media to Next Test of Orion Spacecraft Parachutes
 
Orion Capsule Parachute Assembly System (CPAS) drop test using the Parachute Test Vehicle at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Dec. 2012.

Credits: NASA

NASA is inviting media to attend a test of the Orion spacecraft’s parachutes on Wednesday, March 8, at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Orion is scheduled for its second airdrop test, in a series of eight, to qualify the parachute system for crewed flights.

Media will have the opportunity to interview Orion engineers, see the model up close and view the test from the drop zone. To attend, media must contact Laura Rochon at [email protected] by 1 p.m. EDT on Thursday, March 2.

During the test, an engineering model of the Orion spacecraft will be dropped from a C-17 aircraft flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet. This test will simulate a descent sequence astronauts might experience if they have to abort a mission after liftoff. The test sequence begins under simulated abort conditions when Orion is traveling at the relatively slow speed of about 130 mph, as compared to 310 mph for a normal end of mission Earth re-entry.

The team will focus on two primary aspects of system performance in this scenario: deployment of Orion’s two drogue parachutes at low speeds, and deployment of its three main parachutes in preparation for landing.

Orion’s parachutes are critical to the safe return of the spacecraft to Earth, whether during an abort sequence or at the end of a successful deep space mission. They help stabilize and slow the crew module to about 20 mph, enabling a safe splashdown in the ocean.

Orion is built to take astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before. The spacecraft will carry astronauts to space, provide emergency abort capabilities, sustain the crew during their mission and provide safe re-entry through Earth’s atmosphere.

Find more information about Orion at:

https://www.nasa.gov/orion

-end-
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: calapine on 02/24/2017 09:57 pm
Feb. 24, 2017
Orion Spacecraft Progress Continues With Installation of Module to Test Propulsion Systems

On Feb. 22, engineers successfully installed ESA’s European Service Module Propulsion Qualification Module (PQM) at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico that was delivered by Airbus – ESA’s prime contractor for the Service Module. The module will be equipped with a total of 21 engines to support NASA’s Orion spacecraft: one U.S. Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engine, eight auxiliary thrusters and 12 smaller thrusters produced by Airbus Safran Launchers in Germany. The all-steel PQM structure is used to test the propulsion systems on Orion, including “hot firing” of the OMS engine and thrusters.

Orion will travel more than 40,000 miles beyond the moon to test the spacecraft that will carry humans farther into the solar system than ever before. NASA will use the proving ground of space near the moon to establish the deep-space mission operations needed to for long-duration missions. These missions will incrementally decrease our reliance on the Earth for in-space operations and enable future missions on the journey to Mars.

Editor: Sarah Loff  Image Credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak
-- end ---
https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/orion-spacecraft-progress-continues-with-installation-of-module-to-test-propulsion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 02/26/2017 11:12 am
[Nominally for EM-2, but maybe seat will end up being used/tested in EM-1]

NASA Simulates Orion Spacecraft Launch Conditions for Crew
Uploaded on February 25, 2017

In a lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers simulated conditions that astronauts in space suits would experience when the Orion spacecraft is vibrating during launch atop the agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket on its way to deep space destinations. A series of tests occurring this month at Johnson will help human factors engineers assess how well the crew can interact with the displays and controls they will use to monitor Orion’s systems and operate the spacecraft when necessary.
 
Test subjects wore modified advanced crew escape suits that are being developed for astronauts in Orion, and sat in the latest design of the seat atop the crew impact attenuation system. This was the first time this key hardware was brought together to evaluate how launch vibrations may impact the astronaut’s ability to view the displays and controls. While Orion’s late 2018 mission will be uncrewed, engineers are hard at work performing all the necessary evaluations to make sure the spacecraft is ready for crewed missions beginning as early as 2021.
 
Image Credit: NASA/Rad Sinya

https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/32297570993/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/32297570993/)

[Photo taken Jan 19, 2017]
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 02/27/2017 02:35 pm
A set of ESA Flickr images

Orion Service Module (https://www.flickr.com/photos/esa_events/sets/72157632540363196)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: renclod on 03/09/2017 07:30 am
NASA Orion Spacecraft Parachute Test March 8th 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut3-Fu4oXFI

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 03/09/2017 10:42 pm
alternate view from above...

NASA Orion parachute test, 8 March 2017

SciNews

Published on Mar 9, 2017
An engineering model of NASA's Orion spacecraft was dropped from a C-17 aircraft, flying at an altitude of 25,000 feet, to test the spacecraft’s parachutes. This was its second airdrop test, in a series of eight, to qualify the parachute system for crewed flights. The test was performed at the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, on 8 March 2017.
Credit: NASA
NASA’s Orion spacecraft second airdrop test
Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona
8 March 2017

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf_fwzHDycA?t=001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf_fwzHDycA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 03/22/2017 01:33 am
Orion Test Article Pyroshock Test

NASA Glenn Research Center

Published on Mar 21, 2017
Orion test article underwent pyro shock tests, which simulated the shock the service module will experience as it separates from the SLS during launch.

https://youtu.be/mQsIzwrfM0A?t=001

https://youtu.be/mQsIzwrfM0A
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 04/26/2017 04:22 pm
Quote
Orion's structural test article arrives @LockheedMartin in Colorado for testing. Thanks @NASA #superguppy for the ride.

https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/857261965500063744 (https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/857261965500063744)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 04/28/2017 02:01 pm
Quote
Test Fire of Orbital ATK’s Attitude Control Motor for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft

Published on 28 Apr 2017

On April 27, 2017, Orbital ATK successfully completed a test fire of the company’s attitude control motor (ACM) for NASA’s Orion crew exploration vehicle. The ACM will steer the capsule’s launch abort system and crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency. The capsule, developed by Lockheed Martin, is expected to launch aboard NASA’s Space Launch System for a test flight in 2018. Learn more about the ACM here: bit.ly/2q75Ce3

https://youtu.be/YPJNWoMklfQ (https://youtu.be/YPJNWoMklfQ)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/04/2017 01:51 pm
Quote
NASA Kennedy / KSC‏Verified account @NASAKennedy 5m5 minutes ago

Transferred to the Vehicle Assembly Building, the #Orion spacecraft's heat shield will be integrated with the Orion ground test article.

https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/860128383216345089 (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/860128383216345089)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ELinder on 05/30/2017 04:13 pm
Orion developmental training mockup in Building 9 at NASA JSC as seen on the Level 9 Tour a few weeks ago.

Erich
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/08/2017 02:50 pm
Quote
Orbital ATK‏ Verified account @OrbitalATK 2m2 minutes ago

T-minus one week! Next Thursday we will test fire the launch abort motor for @NASA_Orion Launch Abort System

https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/872826448758931456 (https://twitter.com/OrbitalATK/status/872826448758931456)

Edit to add video from tweet
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/12/2017 11:15 pm
Quote
QM-1 Static Ground Test of the Launch Abort Motor for Orion Launch Abort System

This summer, NASA and Orbital ATK will conduct the QM-1 Static Ground Test of the Launch Abort Motor for NASA’s Orion spacecraft’s Launch Abort System, which will greatly enhance crew safety on missions to explore deep space.

          What: Vertical ground test firing of QM-1 launch abort motor

          When: June 15, 2017, 1:00 p.m. MDT

          Where: Orbital ATK facility in Promontory, Utah

A public viewing area is available along State Road 83 North approximately 20 miles west of Corinne, Utah (see map – follow directions to Promontory). Please note: We recommend you arrive at the viewing site an hour prior to the test.

Please Note: Drones are NOT allowed to fly over Orbital ATK property.

http://www.orbitalatk.com/rocket-test/ (http://www.orbitalatk.com/rocket-test/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 02:44 pm
Quote
TODAY, 1:45pm CT: @NASA & @OrbitalATK will test the Launch Abort Motor for @NASA_Orion! Watch live: http://facebook.com/nasaorion

https://twitter.com/nasa_sls/status/875344649623351296 (https://twitter.com/nasa_sls/status/875344649623351296)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 05:36 pm
Quote
Final preparations for @NASA_Orion launch abort motor test fire are underway at our Promontory, Utah facility

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875402759230562304 (https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875402759230562304)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 06/15/2017 06:50 pm
Well NASA's desperate attempt to get its quote of Facebook likes means it's only on Facebook and the stream isn't working.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 07:00 pm
Quote
T-minus 60 seconds - motor is committed

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875427438217404417 (https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875427438217404417)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 07:02 pm
Quote
Looks like the abort system engine test was successful.  #orbitalatk

https://twitter.com/spcplcyonline/status/875428081808420864 (https://twitter.com/spcplcyonline/status/875428081808420864)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 07:03 pm
Quote
Test fire is complete! @NASA_Orion

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875428216759918592 (https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875428216759918592)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 07:05 pm
Hmm, don't get this on NASA TV:

Quote
Launch abort system motor fires, creating a plume of emojis.

https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/875428347786006528 (https://twitter.com/jeff_foust/status/875428347786006528)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 08:16 pm
Quote
3, 2, 1, Fire! First images from our remote cameras of today's launch abort motor test for @NASA_Orion

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875444728438718464 (https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/875444728438718464)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/15/2017 08:57 pm
https://youtu.be/5pBUUDs4yG0 (https://youtu.be/5pBUUDs4yG0)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 06/16/2017 06:34 am
NASA and Industry Team Successfully Test Orion Launch Abort Motor

Orbital ATK-Developed Launch Abort Motor Test Qualifies Motor for Flight, Ensures Astronaut Safety

Dulles, Virginia 15 June 2017 – Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, along with NASA and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), successfully performed a ground firing test of the abort motor for NASA’s Orion spacecraft Launch Abort System (LAS) at Orbital ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah. The launch abort motor is a major part of the LAS, which provides a tremendous enhancement in spaceflight safety for astronauts.

“We at Orbital ATK are very proud to work with NASA and Lockheed Martin on the Orion Launch Abort System, and to provide a motor that is so integral to astronaut safety,” said Charlie Precourt, Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK’s Propulsion Systems Division and former NASA astronaut. “The importance of our crews’ safety and well-being can’t be stressed enough.”

The mission for Orion’s LAS is to safely jettison the spacecraft and crew out of harm’s way in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during initial launch ascent. Today’s abort motor test, Qualification Motor-1 (QM-1), was the culmination of a series of component tests conducted over the past few years in preparation for qualification. The test will confirm the motor can activate within milliseconds and will perform as designed under high temperatures.

The abort motor, which stands over 17 feet tall and spans three feet in diameter, has a manifold with four exhaust nozzles. It was fixed into a vertical test stand with its nozzles pointing skyward. Upon ignition, the abort motor fired for five seconds with the exhaust plume flames reaching up to 100 feet in height. The high-impulse motor was specifically developed so the majority of its propellant would be expended in the first three seconds, burning three times faster than a typical motor of this size and delivering the thrust needed to pull the crew module safely away from its launch vehicle. The motor reached 400,000 pounds of thrust in one eighth of a second, as expected. This is enough thrust to lift 66 large SUVs off the ground.

This milestone brings Orion one step closer to its first flight atop NASA’s Space Launch System, Exploration Mission-1, and to eventually enabling humans to explore beyond the Moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. More analysis will be performed in the coming weeks, but all initial test results appear to be nominal.
 
Orbital ATK’s next major abort motor milestones include the QM-2 launch abort motor test firing scheduled for late next year in Utah, and the Ascent Abort-2 Flight Test (AA-2) scheduled to take place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in 2019. Previous large-scale tests of the launch abort motor include a development motor test in 2008 and a test of the complete LAS in 2010.

Orbital ATK is responsible for the launch abort motor through a contract to Lockheed Martin – Orion’s prime contractor. The Orion LAS program is managed out of NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. Orbital ATK produces the abort motor at its Magna, Utah, facility and the attitude control motor at its Elkton, Maryland, facility. The company also manufactures the composite case for the abort motor at its facility in Clearfield, Utah.

http://www.orbitalatk.com/News-Room/release.asp?prid=262
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 06/19/2017 06:31 pm
Feature article by Philip Sloss who was there at the event for NSF:
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/06/qualifying-life-saver-las-two-tests-em-2/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: darkenfast on 06/20/2017 03:34 am
Great article, as always!  Does anyone know how much a complete LAS system (including fairing) will cost?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 06/21/2017 11:06 am
Orbital ATK Completes Key Milestone In NASA's Orion Launch Abort System Qualification Effort

Test Data Reveals Added Security for Future Manned Missions

Elkton, Maryland 20 June 2017 -- Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense technologies, today announced that is has completed analysis of the critical components demonstrated in the Orion Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor (ACM) test conducted at the company’s Elkton, Maryland, facility.  Results from the test indicate the motor’s HT-11 ‘High Thrust’ test was fully successful.

The ACM consists of a solid propellant gas generator and eight equally-spaced valves capable of providing 7,000 lbs. of thrust in any direction. The HT-11 test used a three-valve version of the ACM to verify the latest design improvements. Orbital ATK recently completed a physical review of all test hardware and an analysis of all test data to confirm that the improvements performed as expected. This key milestone clears the way for the ACM to enter into the qualification phase of the program. Three qualification units will undergo additional static testing in 2018 and 2019, also at Orbital ATK’s controllable propulsion center of excellence in Elkton.  Founded in 1948, the 550-acre facility employs more than 400 employees, principally engaged in engineering and manufacturing. It is recognized as an AIAA Historic Aerospace Site.

“For decades, Orbital ATK has been an important component of Maryland’s thriving aerospace industry and of America’s accomplishments in space,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Mike Gill. “This collaboration between NASA, Lockheed Martin, and Orbital ATK not only illustrates the strength of aerospace in Maryland, but also advances space exploration far beyond our horizon.”

The launch abort system (LAS), which is being developed by Lockheed Martin for NASA’s Orion spacecraft, will protect the astronaut crew on the launch pad and during ascent. Orion is being built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. NASA is building a flexible, reusable and sustainable capability and infrastructure beyond the moon that will last multiple decades and support missions of increasing complexity. Orbital ATK is providing key propulsion subsystems for the LAS, including an advanced ACM to safely control the LAS during the main abort phase and to reposition the capsule for descent and parachute release.

http://www.orbitalatk.com/News-Room/release.asp?prid=265
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/11/2017 09:21 am
Orion Structural Test Article at Structural Test Lab
 

The Orion Crew Module Structural Test Article undergoes structural testing at Lockheed Martin in Denver, Colorado.

Photos: Lockheed Martin
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/13/2017 09:39 pm
Quote
View from Platform 34 in the #VAB where Orion will top off the @NASA_SLS when they stack up for their first flight around the moon.

https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/885506758621487105 (https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/885506758621487105)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/07/2017 01:27 pm
August 07, 2017
MEDIA ADVISORY M17-026

NASA Invites Media to See Astronauts’ Windows on the Universe

Media are invited to see the first completed structural piece of NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will send astronauts beyond the moon, at AMRO Fabricating Corp., in South El Monte, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 9 at 11 a.m. PDT.

The completed piece includes the frame for the windows through which crew will view the moon and Earth from their deep-space vantage point on Exploration Mission-2 in the early 2020s.

Leaders developing Orion and NASA Astronaut Lee Morin will be available for interviews.

U.S. media interested in participating must contact Laura Kinto at [email protected] by noon on Tues., Aug. 8. International media accreditation for this event is closed but phone interviews can be accommodated. AMRO is located at 1430 Adelia Ave. in South El Monte.

AMRO is manufacturing three of the seven sections that make up the Orion pressure vessel, the underlying structure of the crew module that will house astronauts during their deep space missions in the spacecraft. The completed window panel will be shipped in the coming weeks to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans in preparation for welding with other sections. AMRO also fabricates several sections of the core stage for NASA’s powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. More than 350 small businesses and companies across California have supported the Orion program since its inception, and more than 600 suppliers in the state support NASA’s deep space exploration programs.

Orion and SLS are two of the foundational elements of NASA’s new exploration systems that will send humans on a series of missions beyond the moon. Orion’s first crewed mission will take humans farther into space than ever before.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

For Astronaut Lee Morin’s biography, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/2hoJWdl
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/22/2017 11:47 am
News Release Issued: Aug 22, 2017 (6:00am EDT)

Lockheed Martin Powers-up Next Orion Spacecraft for First Time

Brain and Heart Brought to Life on NASA's Deep Space Exploration Ship

DENVER, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Engineers at Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and NASA breathed life into the next Orion crew module when they powered up the spacecraft for the first time at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Designed for human spaceflight, this Orion will be the first to fly more than 40,000 miles beyond the Moon during its nearly three-week Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), a feat that hasn't been possible before.

"Orion was designed from the beginning to take humanity farther into space than we've ever gone, and to do this, its systems have to be very robust and reliable," said Mike Hawes, vice president and Orion program manager at Lockheed Martin. "Over the last year, we've built great momentum in assembling the crew module for EM-1. Everyone on the team understands how crucial this test campaign is, and more importantly, what this spacecraft and mission means to our country and future human space flight."

The initial power-on event was the first time the vehicle management computers and the power and data units were installed on the crew module, loaded with flight software and tested. Evaluating these core systems, thought of as the "brain and heart" of the Orion capsule, is the first step in testing all of the crew module subsystems.

Although astronauts will not fly in this capsule on this flight, a large majority of the subsystems and avionics are the same design that astronauts will rely on during following missions with Orion into the solar system. Launching on NASA's Space Launch System—the most powerful rocket in the world—the EM-1 flight is critical to confirming the Orion spacecraft and all of its interdependent systems operate as designed in the unforgiving environment of deep space. 

With the successful initial power on behind them, engineers and technicians will now continue integrating the 55 components that make up the spacecraft avionics suite, connecting them with nearly 400 harnesses. Over the course of the next two to three months, as each system is installed, they will perform thorough functional tests to ensure Orion is ready to move to the all-important environmental testing phase.

NASA's Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle is the world's first human-rated spacecraft designed for long-duration, deep space exploration. Orion will transport humans to interplanetary destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including the Moon and eventually Mars. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for Orion, and is responsible for the design, build, testing, launch processing and mission operations of the spacecraft. Orion is managed out of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 08/24/2017 11:27 am
Update on schedule threats, related to Orion, from the most recent ASAP meeting minutes (publically available):

Quote from: ASAP
The second critical path flows through the European Service Module (ESM). Delivery is well behind the original schedule. The total Program is out of schedule margin and thus any slip in a critical path item results in a slip in the final integrated schedule. Unlike the core stage, where much of the work is under NASA’s control, the ESM is being delivered by Airbus and is out of NASA’s direct control of program execution. It is governed by a series of fixed-price contracts in Europe, over which even Airbus has little schedule control.

The third critical path item is Orion software, which is progressing from flight-software build to integrated-software testing. There is only one integrated test lab for the avionics software, hence it is a natural bottleneck to schedule flow. The Program works this on a continuous basis, but every piece of software must go through the Software Integration Lab (SIL), and it will remain a bottleneck in terms of any schedule acceleration.

Note: the first critical path item relates to the core stage of SLS being behind schedule. But that's for a different thread.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/30/2017 09:01 pm
Hmm, does 'positive results' = success/as expected or as required?

Quote
We are excited to announce that analysis from June’s qualification test of @NASA_Orion launch abort motor shows positive results

https://twitter.com/orbitalatk/status/902935644703510528
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 09/04/2017 10:24 pm
Update on schedule threats, related to Orion, from the most recent ASAP meeting minutes (publically available):

Quote from: ASAP
The third critical path item is Orion software, which is progressing from flight-software build to integrated-software testing. There is only one integrated test lab for the avionics software, hence it is a natural bottleneck to schedule flow. The Program works this on a continuous basis, but every piece of software must go through the Software Integration Lab (SIL), and it will remain a bottleneck in terms of any schedule acceleration.
Would expanding the SIL widen the bottleneck?  Is it a plausible solution?  Is it possible without a substantial budget increase?
***

Wasn't ISS USOS software a schedule-buster at one time?  If so, how did they fix the problem?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 09/18/2017 09:52 pm
NASA | Exploration Mission-1 – Pushing Farther Into Deep Space


NASA.gov Video
Published on Sep 18, 2017

In the next eight minutes, you’ll experience a twenty-five-and-a-half-day mission from roll-out to recovery of the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket, launching from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This uncrewed mission will be the first in a planned series of exploration missions beyond the moon, signaling what astronauts who dare to operate in deep space will experience on future flights.

https://youtu.be/XcPtQYalkcs?t=001

https://youtu.be/XcPtQYalkcs
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: penguin44 on 10/28/2017 06:55 pm
I love having a visual representation of what has been explained in releases thus far. The only thing that caught my eye was service module fairing sep. It looks like the fairing passed very close to the core stage.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 11/01/2017 08:41 pm
Orion Forward Bay Cover Timelapse

LockheedMartinVideos
Published on Nov 1, 2017

On its next flight, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), NASA's Orion will come screaming into the atmosphere from the Moon at a whopping 24,700 mph. The aeroshell – composed of critical heat shield and back shell components – protects the capsule from harm during extreme conditions of re-entry.

Then, a series of 11 parachutes deploy 24,000 ft. above the ground and carry Orion to a soft water landing. However, in order for that to happen, a portion of the back shell must jettison off at precisely the right time, revealing the drogue parachutes and the three main, 300-lb. parachutes that slow Orion’s speed.

This piece of hardware is called the forward bay cover – and this crucial component for EM-1 was recently moved from its home in Denver to Orion’s Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
There, it will be integrated with Orion in preparation for the spacecraft’s 2019 test flight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqRN3b-vq0c?t=001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqRN3b-vq0c

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/08/2017 10:41 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/08/2017 10:44 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: mike robel on 11/08/2017 01:43 pm
8 guys watching three guys lowering something with a rope.  depressing.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Khadgars on 11/08/2017 02:05 pm
8 guys watching three guys lowering something with a rope.  depressing.

No need for a pointless slight in an update thread.

NASA | Exploration Mission-1 – Pushing Farther Into Deep Space


NASA.gov Video
Published on Sep 18, 2017

In the next eight minutes, you’ll experience a twenty-five-and-a-half-day mission from roll-out to recovery of the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System rocket, launching from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This uncrewed mission will be the first in a planned series of exploration missions beyond the moon, signaling what astronauts who dare to operate in deep space will experience on future flights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPtQYalkcs?t=001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPtQYalkcs

First time watching that video, which I thought was really well done.  Gives you a real sense of the mission. ;)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 11/08/2017 06:40 pm
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-completes-review-of-first-sls-orion-deep-space-exploration-mission
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 11/08/2017 09:09 pm
Orion Evacuation Evaluation

NASA Johnson
Published on Nov 8, 2017


The latest in a series of tests to evaluate how well astronauts and ground crew can get out of the Orion spacecraft in an emergency on the launch pad was completed recently at NASA/Johnson Space Center’s Space Vehicle Mockup Facility.  Data gathered in a series of test runs will help engineers evaluate the design of the capsule and refine procedures to make sure everyone will be evacuated as quickly as possible in cases where the launch abort system is not required to be activated, such as crew illness or the presence of fire or toxins in the crew cabin.  The first crewed test flight of Orion and the Space Launch System is targeted for the early 2020s.

https://youtu.be/MIYfox8wjPk?t=001

https://youtu.be/MIYfox8wjPk
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 11/09/2017 03:07 pm
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Orion/The_road_to_Orion_s_launch
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 11/20/2017 07:06 pm
A round up:

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/11/orion-spacecraft-calmer-seas-all-hands-review/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 11/30/2017 02:02 am
Spotlight Space: How to Build a Spaceship

LockheedMartinVideos
Published on Nov 29, 2017

We’re going behind the scenes to spotlight the latest space technology. NASA’s Orion spaceship will take people to the moon, deep space and Mars. In this episode, we’ll take you inside the factory at the Kennedy Space Center where we’re building NASA’s Orion spacecraft. As leaders in space technology, Lockheed Martin is developing the latest spacecraft and satellites to explore the universe.

https://youtu.be/XSqaA6qgx1w?t=001

https://youtu.be/XSqaA6qgx1w
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 12/04/2017 10:17 am
Technicians assist as the Orion crew module for Exploration Mission-1 is moved toward the thermal chamber in the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew module will undergo a thermal cycle test to assess the workmanship of critical hardware and structural locations. The test also demonstrates crew module subsystem operations in a thermally stressing environment to confirm no damage or anomalous hardware conditions as a result of the test. The Orion spacecraft will launch atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on its first uncrewed integrated flight. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 12/16/2017 08:51 pm
Update on schedule threats, related to Orion, from the most recent ASAP meeting minutes (publically available):

Quote from: ASAP
The third critical path item is Orion software, which is progressing from flight-software build to integrated-software testing. There is only one integrated test lab for the avionics software, hence it is a natural bottleneck to schedule flow. The Program works this on a continuous basis, but every piece of software must go through the Software Integration Lab (SIL), and it will remain a bottleneck in terms of any schedule acceleration.
Would expanding the SIL widen the bottleneck?  Is it a plausible solution?  Is it possible without a substantial budget increase?
***

Wasn't ISS USOS software a schedule-buster at one time?  If so, how did they fix the problem?

Can anyone here address my Orion software questions?
***

Have there been any improvements in the software engineering?  Or is this still something that will delay EM-1?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: collectSPACE on 12/27/2017 05:38 pm
EM-1 now has a mission patch (http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-122617a-exploration-mission-em1-patch.html).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Welsh Dragon on 12/27/2017 05:56 pm
Now that's elegant.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/27/2017 06:30 pm
This visual could work for EM-2 as well...
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: john smith 19 on 12/27/2017 06:37 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPtQYalkcs?t=001

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcPtQYalkcs

What a really nice video. I especially liked the whole parachute landing sequence. I wonder if they used the actual parachute sims data to drive the rendering.

Most helpful is it give you some idea of what the 14 years (since the start of CxP) and the $23Bn spent (excluding what was spent on CxP before it was cancelled in 2009, although there were at least $2Bn cancellation costs on that) looks like. 

Allowing for inflation it's probably quite a bargain if you're trying to duplicate Apollo 8.

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Lars-J on 12/27/2017 10:16 pm
What a really nice video. I especially liked the whole parachute landing sequence. I wonder if they used the actual parachute sims data to drive the rendering.

Most helpful is it give you some idea of what the 14 years (since the start of CxP) and the $23Bn spent (excluding what was spent on CxP before it was cancelled in 2009, although there were at least $2Bn cancellation costs on that) looks like. 

Allowing for inflation it's probably quite a bargain if you're trying to duplicate Apollo 8.

Yes, it is a very nicely done video.

But duplicating Apollo 8? Not quite... You are going to have to wait for EM-2 for that. (EM-1 will go slightly further than Apollo 8 but it lacks crew)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/28/2017 06:18 am
EM-2 will duplicate Apollo 13.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: envy887 on 12/28/2017 03:22 pm
EM-2 will duplicate Apollo 13.

EM-1 will insert into lunar orbit, which Apollo 13 did not do. Hopefully it won't have any unplanned explosions either.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/28/2017 05:06 pm
EM-2 will not insert into lunar orbit.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: envy887 on 12/28/2017 05:25 pm
EM-2 will not insert into lunar orbit.

Heh, that's what I get for not reading.

But I was under the impression that EM-2 would also go to lunar orbit, although that seems to have changed. Why isn't Orion delivering the PPE? I though that was the whole point of co-manifesting payloads with Orion.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: russianhalo117 on 12/28/2017 05:46 pm
EM-2 will not insert into lunar orbit.

Heh, that's what I get for not reading.

But I was under the impression that EM-2 would also go to lunar orbit, although that seems to have changed. Why isn't Orion delivering the PPE? I though that was the whole point of co-manifesting payloads with Orion.
SLS may launch PPE with Orion, but PPE can place itself into its NRHO without the need of Orion tagging along as PPE does not have any habitable volume that needs outfitting. The PPE delivery scenario is only preliminarily defined at this point.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: john smith 19 on 12/29/2017 07:33 am
EM-2 will duplicate Apollo 13.
A statement that many people will read with very mixed feelings.  :(

Is there any final word on wheather it will carry a crew, or is that still TBD?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 12/29/2017 04:44 pm
EM-2 will not insert into lunar orbit.

Heh, that's what I get for not reading.

But I was under the impression that EM-2 would also go to lunar orbit, although that seems to have changed. Why isn't Orion delivering the PPE? I though that was the whole point of co-manifesting payloads with Orion.
SLS may launch PPE with Orion, but PPE can place itself into its NRHO without the need of Orion tagging along as PPE does not have any habitable volume that needs outfitting. The PPE delivery scenario is only preliminarily defined at this point.

The reason PPE doesn't need Orion tagging along is not because it doesn't have habitation outfitting requirements. PPE has its own propulsion system. Other elements of the DSG don't. Theoretically, PPE could go grab the element rather than Orion bringing the element to it. Of course, without attitude control on the other elements, that might be difficult, although it is probably easier than plucking a boulder off an asteroid. According to the link below, some versions of the PPE don't have the arm which would make such a scheme likely impossible.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/imp-ppb.html
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/29/2017 06:17 pm
A statement that many people will read with very mixed feelings.  :(

Is there any final word on wheather it will carry a crew, or is that still TBD?

Officially there will be a crew on EM-2, but I guess the final determination will be made once it is known to which extent EM-1 has met its test objectives.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: john smith 19 on 12/30/2017 04:41 pm
A statement that many people will read with very mixed feelings.  :(

Is there any final word on wheather it will carry a crew, or is that still TBD?

Officially there will be a crew on EM-2, but I guess the final determination will be made once it is known to which extent EM-1 has met its test objectives.
That sounds very pragmatic, but a bit alarming given how much time, money and effort has already spent on making their rocket "safe."
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AncientU on 01/03/2018 11:34 am
A statement that many people will read with very mixed feelings.  :(

Is there any final word on wheather it will carry a crew, or is that still TBD?

Officially there will be a crew on EM-2, but I guess the final determination will be made once it is known to which extent EM-1 has met its test objectives.
That sounds very pragmatic, but a bit alarming given how much time, money and effort has already spent on making their rocket "safe."

It is really no safer than any other new rocket and crew capsule.  Hubris of an organization whose fathers once built a Moon rocket is all that keeps the charade going of astros being safe.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Khadgars on 01/04/2018 06:20 pm
A statement that many people will read with very mixed feelings.  :(

Is there any final word on wheather it will carry a crew, or is that still TBD?

Officially there will be a crew on EM-2, but I guess the final determination will be made once it is known to which extent EM-1 has met its test objectives.
That sounds very pragmatic, but a bit alarming given how much time, money and effort has already spent on making their rocket "safe."

It is really no safer than any other new rocket and crew capsule.  Hubris of an organization whose fathers once built a Moon rocket is all that keeps the charade going of astros being safe.

I'm not sure what this statement has to do with EM-1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates, your opinions on NASA as a whole are better fit for Policy section.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 01/07/2018 06:30 am
NASA lookahead for 2018:

Quote
Jan. 5, 2018
NASA Deep Space Exploration Systems Look Ahead to Action-Packed 2018

Engineers preparing NASA’s deep space exploration systems to support missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond are gearing up for a busy 2018. The agency aims to complete the manufacturing of all the major hardware by the end of the year for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), which will pave the road for future missions with astronauts. Planes, trains, trucks and ships will move across America and over oceans to deliver hardware for assembly and testing of components for the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket while teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida prepare the Ground Systems infrastructure. Testing will take place from the high seas to the high skies and in between throughout the year and across the country, not only in support of EM-1, but also for all subsequent missions.

Orion

Early in the year, engineers at Kennedy will bolt Orion’s heat shield to the crew module. The heat shield will endure temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit, half as hot as the surface of the Sun, when Orion returns from its missions near the Moon. Mating the heat shield is a crucial step before the service module arrives from Europe in the middle of the year. Once the powerhouse for the spacecraft arrives, technicians will outfit it for mating with the crew module and stack the elements together, joining propulsion lines, avionics and other connections. After the major elements are stacked together, technicians will verify that the integrated crew and service module work as expected and hardware is responding as intended before shipping the stack to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio for testing in 2019.

NASA engineers and the U.S. Navy will head out to sea off the coast of California in January to evaluate how they plan to recover Orion after the EM-1 test flight. In Yuma, Arizona, engineers will perform three remaining tests to qualify Orion’s parachutes for missions with crew, and at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, workers will continue tests to verify the propulsion system for Orion’s European Service Module works as planned. At the Denver facility of Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin, a structural test article will undergo pressure, acoustic, pyrotechnic and other testing to help ensure Orion can stand up to vibrations, loads, sounds and blasts associated with separation events in flight.

Work is already well underway and will continue for the Orion spacecraft that will carry astronauts on Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2). Workers are welding the primary elements of Orion’s structure at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and will ship the completed vessel to Kennedy by the end of 2018. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers will review the life support and crew survival systems, and astronauts and test subjects will continue evaluations of the crew interface. NASA engineers are preparing a test version of the spacecraft and separation ring for a mid-air test of Orion’s launch abort system. A precursor to the EM-2 crewed flight of Orion, the test, called Ascent Abort 2, will validate the operations of the launch abort system in a dynamic flight environment.

Space Launch System

SLS engineers will move at full throttle to complete building rocket hardware that will roar off the launch pad. Michoud will see a surge of activity, as five major structural pieces of SLS come together to form the 212-foot-tall core stage. The four RS-25 engines that will produce two million pounds of thrust upon launch will be attached to the stage. Engineers will ship the integrated hardware on the Pegasus barge to NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, for the final test in 2019 before launch, called the “green run” test, when all four engines roar to life and drain the core stage tanks of more than 700,000 gallons of propellant in a mere eight minutes. The brains of the rocket, the core stage avionics and flight computers, will complete qualification and functional testing and be readied for the green run.

Solid rocket booster segments made by Orbital ATK in Utah will ride the rails to Kennedy and join booster parts, such as the aft and forward skirts. Two launch adapters made at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama will also arrive at Kennedy. Pegasus will take the 30-foot-tall launch vehicle stage adapter, and NASA’s Guppy cargo airplane will carry the Orion stage adapter. The Orion stage adapter not only connects the Orion vehicle to the SLS, but will also be loaded with 13 small satellites.

SLS testing will continue as the core stage structural test articles for the liquid hydrogen tank, intertank, and liquid oxygen tank arrive at Marshall and are loaded into towering test stands to be pushed, pulled and twisted to simulate flight. Meanwhile, engineers are working on the design of the Exploration Upper Stage and preparing drawings and engineering products for a Critical Design Review in late 2018. Plans call for using the Exploration Upper Stage on EM-2 as part of the first crewed flight test. SLS teams will also continue to build core stage components and other rocket parts for EM-2 and test engines in support of future missions with crew.

Ground Systems

Workers at Kennedy will continue to ready NASA’s modernized spaceport in Florida for blast off of the rocket and spacecraft. In the spring, the mobile launcher will be rolled out to Launch Pad 39B ahead of a fit check that will verify all physical connections between the launcher and pad systems fit before rolling it into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for testing. This includes the major interfaces such as mount mechanisms and ignition overpressure and sound suppression water pipes, as well as smaller interfaces like gaseous nitrogen and helium supply lines and access platforms. After testing in the VAB is complete, the mobile launcher will roll back to the pad for several months of full system testing. Over the summer, critical software updates used for command and control to support EM-1 will be completed and teams will prepare for crewed missions.

Ground systems engineers will begin launch pad preparations for launch processing in support of EM-2 by fabricating umbilicals that will service the Exploration Upper Stage engines while the rocket is on the pad. Workers will also start construction for a massive holding tank for liquid hydrogen that will be pumped into the core stage of SLS.

All the work by NASA and its contractors helps set the stage for an even busier 2019, when Orion and SLS will be integrated, tested, and rolled out to the launch pad — one of the final steps before EM-1. That initial test flight of the SLS -- launched from NASA’s modernized spaceport in Florida -- will send Orion beyond where any spacecraft built for humans has ventured. All of this foundational work in 2018 and 2019 will enable NASA’s efforts to build a flexible, reusable and sustainable infrastructure that will last multiple decades and support missions into deep space of increasing complexity.

Last Updated: Jan. 5, 2018
Editor: Melanie Whiting

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-deep-space-exploration-systems-look-ahead-to-action-packed-2018 (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-deep-space-exploration-systems-look-ahead-to-action-packed-2018)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 01/10/2018 04:02 am
January 09, 2018
MEDIA ADVISORY M18-006
NASA Invites Media to View Orion Test Capsule, Recovery Hardware

Media are invited to see a test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the hardware that will be used to recover the spacecraft upon its return from space, and talk with team members involved in the recovery operations at 9 a.m. PST Thursday, Jan. 25, at U.S. Naval Base San Diego.

In preparation for Exploration Mission-1
, NASA and the U.S. Navy will conduct testing Jan. 17-23 for recovery of the agency’s Orion spacecraft from the sea following its first uncrewed flight on the Space Launch System rocket. This test is part of a series to demonstrate and evaluate the processes, procedures and hardware for recovery operations
.

Media interested in attending must contact U.S. Naval Base San Diego Public Affairs at [email protected] or 619-556-7359 by Thursday, Jan. 18. All media must arrive no later than 8 a.m. at the naval base’s Pass and Decal building, located north of the intersection at 32nd Street and Harbor Drive.

Orion is America’s exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to deep space destinations, including the Moon, Mars and beyond.

For more information about Exploration Ground Systems, visit:

https://go.nasa.gov/groundsystems

For more information about Orion, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/orion

-end-
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 01/20/2018 08:20 pm
Exploration Mission-1 Identifier
Kathryn Hambleton - Jan. 19, 2018

The Exploration Mission-1 (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-ins-and-outs-of-nasa-s-first-launch-of-sls-and-orion) artwork showcases the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft and lifting off from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The triangular shape represents the three main programs that comprise NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems: Orion, SLS, and Exploration Ground Systems, and is a classic shape for NASA mission emblems dating back to the shuttle era. 

Several elements within the design carry symbolic meaning for this historic flight. The silver highlight surrounding this patch gives nod to the silver Orion spacecraft, including the European service module that will be voyaging 40,000 miles past the Moon in deep space. The orange rocket and flames represent the firepower of SLS. The setting is historic Launch Pad 39B, represented by the three lightning towers. The red and blue mission trajectories encompassing the white full Moon proudly emphasizes the hard work, tradition, and dedication of this American led-mission while also embracing NASA’s international partnership with ESA (European Space Agency) as both agencies forge a new future in space.

The Exploration Mission-1 emblem was designed in collaboration by the creative team working for the Deep Space Exploration Systems programs, which includes Orion, SLS, and Exploration Ground Systems, located at NASA Headquarters in Washington, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Johnson Space Center in Houston, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and Kennedy. Because the maiden mission of SLS and Orion is uncrewed, the program teams had the rare opportunity to conceive the mission identifier. Exploration Mission-2, which will fly with crew, will have an insignia designed by NASA’s Astronaut Office with the help of the crew that will fly aboard the most capable deep space system to take flight.

Learn more about Deep Space Exploration Systems. (https://www.nasa.gov/content/j2m-getting-to-mars-sls-and-orion)

Learn more about Exploration Ground Systems. (https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/ground/index.html)

Learn more about Exploration Mission-1. (https://www.nasa.gov/EXPERIENCE-EM1)

Learn more about NASA enterprise and mission insignia: Emblems of Exploration. (https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/emblems_of_exploration_detail.html)

https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/exploration-mission-1-identifier (https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/exploration-mission-1-identifier)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 01/21/2018 07:11 am
This logo was already on Collectspace last month... how did they get it ?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 01/30/2018 04:28 pm
Quote
A look inside the @NASA_Orion stage adapter that will fly on #NASASLS! The brackets inside will hold 13 CubeSats that will do their own deep-space research.

https://twitter.com/nasa_sls/status/958387444713492480
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 01/30/2018 06:44 pm
https://youtu.be/WKvLu3oyXJk (https://youtu.be/WKvLu3oyXJk)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 02/15/2018 11:43 am
Orion Stage Adaptor Complete
Posted on 15 Feb 2018 by julien

The stage adaptor that will connect the Space Launch System to Orion for its first mission is nearing completion. At the top, the Orion stage adaptor connects to Orion’s spacecraft adaptor, which sits directly below the European Service Module. At the bottom, the Orion stage adopter connects to the interim cryogenic propulsion stage that will give Orion its boost towards the Moon. But the Orion stage adaptor has another trick up its sleeve: holding and launching 13 cubesats and housing an avionics unit.

The 13 CubeSat 6U payloads are each the size of a large shoebox and weigh about 14 kg. They will hitch a ride to deep space safely stowed in the Orion stage adaptor and will include NASA research experiments and spacecraft developed by industry, international, and academic partners.

The CubeSats will be deployed after Orion separates from the Space Launch System. The Orion stage adaptor diaphragm (in black in these photos) provides a barrier to launch vehicle gases — such as hydrogen — from entering the Orion spacecraft, where astronauts will ride to lunar orbit on the second Exploration mission. The diaphragm is constructed of multiple layers of carbon-fibre with epoxy. The Orion stage adaptor measures about  5.5 m in diameter and 1.5 m tall.

http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2018/02/15/orion-stage-adaptor-complete/ (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2018/02/15/orion-stage-adaptor-complete/)


Photo Captions:

Top: The Orion stage adaptor flight hardware ready to travel to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credits: NASA

Bottom: Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, flip the Orion stage adaptor to install the adaptor’s diaphragm. Credits: NASA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 02/20/2018 04:23 am
and now a commercial from our vendors.  ;)

Without Limits

Aerojet Rocketdyne
Published on Feb 19, 2018

https://youtu.be/EU50_9LkOic?t=001

https://youtu.be/EU50_9LkOic
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 03/03/2018 12:43 pm
Lockheed Martin technicians test the fitting of the Orion spacecraft's heat shield back shell panels inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The back shell panels serve as the outer layer of the spacecraft and will protect it against the extreme temperatures of re-entry from deep space. Orion is being prepared for its first integrated uncrewed flight atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission-1 from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center.

Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 04/25/2018 07:23 pm
Photos of solar wing panel testing
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/25/2018 05:35 pm
Quote
.@LockheedMartin engineers assemble Orion's crew module at @NASAKennedy Operations and Checkout building. Orion will travel 450,000 km away from Earth on Exploration Mission-1.

https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/1000030510884753410
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 05/27/2018 06:56 pm
A selection of more Orion EM-1 images released by Lockheed.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Mark S on 05/29/2018 11:13 pm
A selection of more Orion EM-1 images released by Lockheed.

For some reason, the first photo *F77.jpg gives me the impression of Batman. All it needs is ears, LOL.

Cool photos, thanks!
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/30/2018 06:18 pm
Orion STA Short Stack
 
The Orion structural test article short stack, consisting of the service module and crew module, are being prepared for a model vibration test in a test chamber at Lockheed Martin near Denver. The structural test articles are structural twins of the flight Orion and are used to perform various test to how the structures will perform during launch, flight and landing.

Photo: Lockheed Martin
 
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/30/2018 06:19 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: TheFallen on 08/17/2018 04:16 am
The heat shield has now been installed on the Orion EM-1 capsule:

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/heat-shield-install-brings-orion-spacecraft-closer-to-space
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/17/2018 01:33 pm
High Res.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 08/26/2018 07:04 pm
ARTICLE: Orion elements coming together for EM-1 -
https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2018/08/orion-elements-together-em-1/

- By Philip Sloss
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 08/31/2018 05:20 pm
Preparing America for Deep Space Episode 18 On The Move

NASA Johnson
Published on Aug 31, 2018

Big progress continues to be made in 2018 for NASA’s Orion, Space Launch System (SLS), and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) programs. Teams across America and in Europe are developing and building the spacecraft, rocket, and infrastructure necessary to send humans to deep space destinations including the Moon and beyond. Some major milestones include: Orion – Orion tank integration, Engine Gimbal System Test, and Solar Wing Test in Bremen, Germany, Structural Test Article Testing in Littleton, CO, and Exploration Mission-3 Machining in Fountain Valley, CA and Brea, CA. SLS – Application of thermal protection to Launch Vehicle Stage Adapter, Intertank Structural test article lifted to test stand at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), Orion stage adapter loaded onto Super Guppy at MSFC and shipped to Kennedy Space Center (KSC). LOX Flight Hardware move to Area 6 at Michoud Assembly Facility and LH2 Structural Test Article move for thermal protection system processing at MAF. EGS – Flame Deflector Installation at Pad 39B (KSC), Crawler-Transporter 2 move to Pad 39B, Crawler lifts the Mobile Launcher, Water Deluge Test at Pad 39B.
For HD copy: https://archive.org/details/ jsc2018m000717_PreparingAmericaforDeepSpaceEpisode18_On The Move_MXF.mxf

https://youtu.be/ezhKIPfEZII?t=001

https://youtu.be/ezhKIPfEZII
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: SciNews on 09/18/2018 05:41 pm
ESA: Orion’s first Service Module integration complete
http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Orion/Orion_s_first_Service_Module_integration_complete
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: bolun on 01/25/2019 04:50 pm
https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/Radiation_for_dummies

Radiation_for_dummies

Quote
Meet Helga and Zohar, the dummies destined for a pioneering lunar flyby to help protect space travelers from cosmic rays and energetic solar storms.

These two female phantoms will occupy the passenger seats during Orion’s first mission around the Moon, going further than any human has flown before.

Fitted with more than 5600 sensors, the pair will measure the amount of radiation astronauts could be exposed to in future missions with unprecedented precision.

The flight test will take place during NASA’s Exploration Mission-1, an uncrewed trip to the vicinity of the Moon and back to Earth. 

Quote
The two phantoms simulate adult female torsos. Both Helga and Zohar are made up of 38 slices of tissue-equivalent plastics that mimic the varying density of bones, soft tissue and lungs. Similar dummies are used in hospitals to quantify the right dose of radiation for cancer therapies.

Quote
The only difference between the twin dummies is that Zohar will be wearing a radiation protection vest, while Helga will travel unprotected from spaceborne radiation.

This vest is called AstroRad, and has been developed by a start-up company sponsored by the Israel Space Agency.

Quote
Made of polyethylene to better block harmful protons, AstroRad will cover Zohar’s upper body and uterus. Comparing the radiation dose she receives with that of Helga, scientists aim to understand how to better protect future crews.

Credits: DLR & Lockheed Martin/StemRad
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AnalogMan on 01/26/2019 04:55 pm
A 2019 lunar agenda for Orion
Posted on 25 Jan 2019 by Nadjejda
   
The year 2019 comes packed with new beginnings and final tests for the European Service Module, which will power and propel NASA’s Orion spacecraft that is expected to be fully assembled by June.

The second half of the year will also see the signing of a contract with European industry to build and deliver the third European Service Module. During its third trip to the Moon, Orion will carry the first habitable element of the space gateway – a structure that will ultimately allow astronauts to live and work in lunar orbit.

The Crew Module Adapter and the European Service Module, now a single unit, are back at their original workstation at the operations and checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. There, engineers are busy checking electrical connections and installing micrometeoroid and debris protection.

Work between ESA, Airbus and Lockheed Martin is running according to schedule. The agenda for the first European Service Module (ESM-1) is as follows:

•  Mid-February: Orion’s Service Module initial power on and tests.

•  Second quarter: Mating of Orion’s service and crew modules.

•  May: Ascent Abort flight test AA-2.

•  July: Orion transfer to Plum Brook Station test facility.

•  Third quarter: Thermal vacuum, thermal balance, electromagnetic compatibility and interference tests at
    Plum Brook Station.

•  End of third quarter: Orion returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

•  Early 2020: Qualification, acceptance and transfer of ownership of the first European Service Module to NASA.

•  First quarter 2020: Turnover of Orion to NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems for launch preparation.

http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2019/01/25/a-2019-lunar-agenda-for-orion/ (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2019/01/25/a-2019-lunar-agenda-for-orion/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 01/27/2019 09:44 pm
Could you clarify for me what the European Service Module has to do with Ascent Abort flight test AA-2 ???
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 01/27/2019 10:00 pm
Could you clarify for me what the European Service Module has to do with Ascent Abort flight test AA-2 ???
Not directly related but both have to be successful (ESM on EM-1 and LAS on AA-2) to be ready for the first crewed Orion mission (EM-2)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: AegeanBlue on 02/22/2019 08:31 pm
The first Orion flight will include a radiation dosimeter made by a Greek startup. Interview with the founder and CEO Dr Marianthe Frangopoulou is here in Greek:

http://www.capital.gr/sunenteuxi/3345057/kai-omos-i-ellada-pigainei-sto-diastima?fbclid=IwAR1MPUggqgG3nfFhny405MFeatTiLPhWak6CLaQPq64DQtsPj-3TsmTej_0

Per the article the flight will be in September next year and will have three radiation dosimeters: one from NASA, one from DLR and one from her company Herado.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/22/2019 10:12 am
The Orion crew module for the first uncrewed flight test, called Artemis 1, is moved from an assembly work station to the direct field acoustic test center inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 13, 2019. Orion will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket from Launch Pad 39B. The spacecraft will travel thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/22/2019 10:13 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/14/2019 05:44 pm
A selection of images from NASA Kennedy

Quote
Workers offload the abort motor for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission from a heavy transport truck inside the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on June 6, 2019. The abort motor, manufactured by Northrop Grumman, will be integrated with Orion subcomponents and prepared for Artemis 1. The abort motor is one of three motors located on the tower of the Launch Abort System (LAS). The LAS is designed to pull the Orion capsule and its crew away to safety if an emergency occurs during ascent of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. During Artemis 1, the uncrewed Orion spacecraft will launch atop the SLS from Launch Pad 39B at Kennedy. Orion will embark on an approximately three-week mission that will take the spacecraft thousands of miles past the Moon. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Chris Bergin on 07/01/2019 03:49 pm
Latest pics:

https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1145719437674373120
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ddspaceman on 07/05/2019 03:05 am
https://twitter.com/jhutt75/status/1146783571035770880

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Yeknom-Ecaps on 07/08/2019 02:54 pm
The Orion crew module for the first uncrewed flight test, called Artemis 1, is moved from an assembly work station to the direct field acoustic test center inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 13, 2019. Orion will launch atop the Space Launch System rocket from Launch Pad 39B. The spacecraft will travel thousands of miles past the Moon on an approximately three-week test flight. Orion will return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, where it will be retrieved and returned to Kennedy.

Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

jacqmans - do you have a location where you saw this quote? The Orion crew module pictures don't seen to match the acoustic test center move described in the quote.

Have been trying to find out when the Orion crew module acoustic test actually took place. There is a twitter video about the acoustic test on May 10th but the quote says it was moved into test chamber on the 13th.

https://twitter.com/NASA_Orion/status/1126864471329202176

and here is a May 2nd twitter post about acoustic testing.

https://twitter.com/MarkKirasich/status/1124092031675052032

I'm confused .... any clarification appreciated.

Thanks.


Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: seawolfe on 07/08/2019 03:01 pm
https://twitter.com/jhutt75/status/1146783571035770880



That's mighty small!   :o  :-[   ::)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 07/12/2019 05:21 pm
 Final assembly for first Orion spacecraft starting during Apollo week (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2019/07/12/final-assembly-for-first-orion-spacecraft-starting-during-apollo-week/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/22/2019 02:13 pm
News Release Issued: Jul 20, 2019 (3:02pm EDT)

Lockheed Martin Completes NASA's Orion Spacecraft Capsule for Artemis 1 Mission to the Moon


KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., July 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The goal of humans again walking on the Moon is one giant leap closer. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed building the capsule for NASA's Orion spacecraft. The crew module capsule for the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission to the Moon has been stacked on top of the Orion service module, which was also recently finished.

On the anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, the Lockheed Martin-built Orion capsule for the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon is declared finished.

Vice President Mike Pence made the announcement today at a ceremony in front of the Orion spacecraft in the aptly-named Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The event and announcement commemorated the 50-year anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing.

Lockheed Martin's President, Chairman and CEO Marillyn Hewson also provided remarks at the ceremony, in addition to NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Kennedy Space Center's Director Robert Cabana and Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis.

The Orion spacecraft is like none other in its design and capability.

"Orion is a new class of spaceship, uniquely designed for long-duration deep space flight, that will return astronauts to the Moon and eventually take the first humans to Mars, and bring them all back safely." said Lisa Callahan, vice president and general manager of Commercial Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. "Orion will accelerate scientific discovery of our solar system and will be the cornerstone of the defining space achievement of this era."

Since the crew module pressure vessel arrived in Florida, technicians and engineers from Lockheed Martin, NASA and supporting contractors have meticulously assembled the capsule into its finished state. The work included installing the capsule's avionic computers, harnesses, propulsion system and its 12 engines, 11 parachutes, its large 16-foot-diameter heat shield, forward bay cover and numerous other systems and components.

"Throughout assembly, the team tested and validated the many systems a hundred different ways to ensure they will operate as designed in the harshness of deep space," said Mike Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin. "The Artemis 1 flight will test the design and workmanship of the capsule and its service module during the three-week mission out around the Moon and back. We're excited for this mission as it paves the way for the first crewed mission in 2022, Artemis 2."

The crew module and service module were stacked together earlier in the week in the Final Assembly and System Testing (FAST) cell where they are now being fully integrated, including connecting the physical retention bolts and the umbilical lines between the two modules. The FAST cell is also where the Apollo spacecraft were integrated.

The combined stack will then be powered up and undergo a series of integrated systems tests. In September, the combined stack will be shipped to NASA's Plum Brook Station in Ohio, where it will go through environmental testing in a large thermal vacuum chamber as well as testing for electromagnetic interference and compatibility.

Once Orion returns to Kennedy at the end of the year, the spacecraft will go through final preparations before Lockheed Martin delivers it to ground systems for launch processing in early 2020.

More information about Orion:
Lockheed Martin Orion page: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/orion
NASA Orion page: https://www.nasa.gov/orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 07/23/2019 07:29 pm
Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft CSM
here's a higher definition image of the CSM but one thing that's easy to notice is the lack of solar panels and some panels on Orion and the ESM. It seems that some parts were removed from the ESM and the Orion heatshield seems to be sticking out which means that it's not fully placed into the crew module adapter.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ddspaceman on 08/19/2019 11:09 pm
https://twitter.com/Astro_Maker/status/1162732703885778944
https://twitter.com/Astro_Maker/status/1163425275864133632

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/21/2019 09:49 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/08/2019 04:13 pm
Hot fire testing of Orion's propulsion system progress:

Quote
"Main engine, auxiliary engines and attitude control engines are needed and controlled in different situations. In July, we qualified propulsion subsystems, for which all engines were ignited in several situations. In August, we tested the main engine and ran it together with the auxiliary engines for more than 10 minutes. In doing so, we simulated the launch into Earth orbit following a mission abort."

https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/news/en/2019/10/successful-hot-firing-tests-for-orion.html

https://twitter.com/AirbusSpace/status/1181577739012313088
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/28/2019 08:11 pm
Quote
NASA Kennedy
KSC-20190821-PH-KLS01_0016

In this view from above inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, work is underway Aug. 21, 2019, to integrate segments of the launch abort system for the agency’s uncrewed flight test, Artemis I. During crewed launches of the Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket, the LAS will protect the crew module and astronauts aboard to safety if an emergency occurs during launch. . Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

https://flic.kr/p/2hBQNjZ
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 11/08/2019 07:26 am
https://twitter.com/MarkKirasich/status/1192587547467304960
Orion getting ready for Plum Brook!
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 11/08/2019 12:31 pm
Higher res photo & context:

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1192786357854363652

Quote
📷 Great photo of @NASA_Orion and the European Service Module (#ESM)  for the #Artemis1 mission at @NASAKennedy, getting ready to ship to @NASAglenn Plum Brook Station for thermal/vacuum testing (pic: NASA/@MarkKirasich) See more 👉 esa.int/Science_Explor… #ForwardToTheMoon
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 11/12/2019 02:46 am
Orion is about to head to Plum Brook
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: bitbyte2015 on 11/12/2019 07:26 pm
Super guppy is now landing at Houston
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/13/2019 11:17 am
Orion Moved from Assembly Stand Ahead of Shipment to Ohio for Tests

The Orion crew and service module stack for Artemis I was lifted out of the Final Assembly and Test (FAST) cell on Monday, November 11. The spacecraft has been stationed in the FAST cell since July for mating and closeout processing. The service module and crew module were moved separately into the cell, stacked and connected together for the mission. After lifting out of the cell, Orion will be attached to a tool called a verticator that rotates the stack from its vertical configuration to a horizontal configuration for transport to NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it will undergo full environmental testing to certify the complete vehicle for flight. Once the vehicle returns to Kennedy in several months, it will return to the FAST cell for installation of final panels left off for environmental testing purposes and the service module’s four solar arrays.

Credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/13/2019 11:18 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/13/2019 11:19 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Rondaz on 11/13/2019 05:36 pm
Progress toward the launch of #Artemis I — our @NASA_Orion 🛰️ has completed final assembly and systems testing. The @NASA_SLS 🚀 core stage is nearing completion, as technicians attach the RS-25 engines to propulsion and avionics systems.

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1194677302904459265
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: bitbyte2015 on 11/16/2019 05:40 am
Super Guppy landed at KSC a few hours ago. Suspect they'll start loading tomorrow.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 11/16/2019 12:08 pm
Why the rush... I do not think they will load on a week end.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Eric Hedman on 11/16/2019 04:21 pm
Why the rush... I do not think they will load on a week end.
Why not?  If it ships over the weekend the people at Plum Brook can get started first thing Monday morning.

When I worked for Harnischfeger just out of college, they would often ship new factory cranes over the weekend so we could get started on installation and setup on Monday mornings.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 11/16/2019 05:49 pm
Supposed to be wheels up on Tuesday if things go well so I’m sure things will be very busy this weekend.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 11/18/2019 03:59 pm
So ? any news ?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Khadgars on 11/24/2019 05:01 pm
Yes, leg one of the flight to  Robins Air force Base complete.  Leg 2 to Campbell Army Airfield up next.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 11/30/2019 03:14 am
See  "Orion headed to NASA Plum Brook" (https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=49475.0) thread for transport updates and discussion (KSC to Plum Brook).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 12/02/2019 09:01 pm
Quote
Dec. 2, 2019

Orion Spacecraft for Artemis I Prepared for Thermal Test at NASA's Plum Brook Station

NASA’s Orion spacecraft–the crew module and European-built service module—is being lifted into a thermal cage and readied for its move on Tuesday into the vacuum chamber at NASA’s Plum Brook Station for testing. Testing begins with a 60-day thermal test, where the spacecraft will be subjected to temperatures ranging from -250 to 300-degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it can withstand the harsh environment of space during Artemis missions. These extreme temperatures simulate flying in-and-out of sunlight and shadow in space using Heat Flux, a specially-designed system that heats specific parts of the spacecraft at any given time. Orion will also be surrounded on all sides by a set of large panels, called a cryogenic-shroud, that will provide the cold background temperatures of space.

Image credit: NASA / Marvin Smith, Alcyon Technical Services

Last Updated: Dec. 2, 2019
Editor: Kelly Sands

https://www.nasa.gov/glenn/image-feature/2019/orion-spacecraft-for-artemis-i-prepared-for-thermal-tests-at-nasa-plum-brook

Edit to add:

https://twitter.com/nasa_orion/status/1201620720146669568

Quote
#Artemis I Orion spacecraft is at @NASAglenn's Plum Brook Station for the final stretch of major testing before integration with @NASA_SLS for launch. nasa.gov/feature/glenn/…
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 12/03/2019 08:19 am
https://youtu.be/gIVS99gcgWM
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Rondaz on 12/03/2019 01:30 pm
The @NASA_Orion spacecraft, the Crew Module and European Service Module, is seen here being lifted into a thermal cage and readied for its move today into the vacuum chamber at NASA’s Plum Brook Station for testing

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1201803320236658693
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: LaunchedIn68 on 12/03/2019 02:53 pm
I was curious as to why they flew the Super Guppy and cargo in to the NMUSAF at Dayton OH, and not the larger runway over at Wright-Patterson AFB?  Was there something else aboard that was destined for the museum?  There is a video from the cockpit on YT showing the approach to the old closed runways (in very good condition though!).  Impressive.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/04/2019 02:37 pm
http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2019/12/04/preparing-thermal-vacuum-test-at-plum-brook/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: rdale on 12/04/2019 06:47 pm
https://twitter.com/MarkKirasich/status/1202312068394835968
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Rondaz on 12/05/2019 12:09 am
#Artemis I Orion spacecraft is at @NASAglenn's Plum Brook Station for the final stretch of major testing before integration with @NASA_SLS for launch.

https://twitter.com/NASA_Orion/status/1201620720146669568
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 12/06/2019 12:19 pm
Thermal enclosure for Orion

The Orion spacecraft with European Service Module at NASA’s Plum Brook Station. The first Orion will fly farther from Earth on the Artemis I mission than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before – but first it will undergo testing to ensure the spacecraft withstands the extremes of spaceflight.

Here at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA, Orion is being put into a thermal cage in preparation of getting its first feel of space in the world’s largest thermal vacuum chamber.

Orion will be subjected to temperatures at Plum Brook ranging from –115°C to 75°C in vacuum for over two months non-stop – the same temperatures it will experience in direct sunlight or in the shadow of Earth or the Moon while flying in space.

In the picture, Orion is being placed in a cage, called the Thermal Enclosure Structure (TES), that will radiate infrared heat during the tests inside the vacuum chamber.

The tests that will be run over the next few months will show that the spacecraft works as planned and adheres to the strictest safety regulations for human spaceflight. The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressurisation tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.

Credits: ESA–S. Corvaja
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 12/07/2019 08:46 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G99L5RRjEKA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 12/07/2019 12:19 pm
https://youtu.be/1A3BzxlxccE

Quote
Published on 7 Dec 2019
Interview with ESA’s European Service Module test campaign manager Pierre Boisvert held at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA. The first Orion spacecraft will fly farther from Earth on the Artemis I mission than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before – but first it will undergo testing to ensure the spacecraft withstands the extremes of spaceflight.

Orion will be subjected to temperatures at Plum Brook ranging from –115°C to 75°C in vacuum for over two months non-stop – the same temperatures it will experience in direct sunlight or in the shadow of Earth or the Moon while flying in space.

Behind the interview, Orion is being placed in a cage, called the Thermal Enclosure Structure (TES), that will radiate infrared heat during the tests inside the vacuum chamber.

The tests that will be run over the next few months will show that the spacecraft works as planned and adheres to the strictest safety regulations for human spaceflight. The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressurisation tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 01/04/2020 12:20 am
Duration of current thermal vacuum test at Plum Brook
SLS core stage declared ready for launch in 2021 (https://spacenews.com/sls-core-stage-declared-ready-for-launch-in-2021/), dated December 10, 2019
At the NASA Michoud event on Monday, December 9:
Quote
Mark Kirasich, NASA Orion program manager, said that the spacecraft should start a 63-day thermal vacuum test there by the end of the week.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 02/10/2020 03:57 am
From the Solar Orbiter launch coverage, interview with KSC Director Bob Cabana:
After the conclusion of the testing at Plum Brook, Orion returns to KSC in April.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 02/14/2020 07:52 am
Thermal-vacuum testing at Plum Brook finished (http://blogs.esa.int/orion/2020/02/13/thermal-vacuum-testing-at-plum-brook-finished/)

zubenelgenubi: Attached previously embedded image.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Steven Pietrobon on 02/15/2020 12:28 am
Next is EM testing.

"The thermal-vacuum test finished on February 9. The spacecraft and test setup will now be reconfigured for electromagnetic testing, planned to start in the last week of February. "
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 02/16/2020 07:54 am
https://youtu.be/5MG9Lof1m_o

Quote
European Space Agency, ESA

A timelapse video of the Orion spacecraft with European Service Module getting ready for thermal vacuum testing at NASA’s Plum Brook Station. The first Orion will fly farther from Earth on the Artemis I mission than any human-rated vehicle has ever flown before – but first it will undergo testing to ensure the spacecraft withstands the extremes of spaceflight.

Here at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA, Orion is being put into a thermal cage in preparation of getting its first feel of space in the world’s largest thermal vacuum chamber.

Orion will be subjected to temperatures at Plum Brook ranging from –115°C to 75°C in vacuum for over two months non-stop – the same temperatures it will experience in direct sunlight or in the shadow of Earth or the Moon while flying in space.

Orion is being placed in a cage, called the Thermal Enclosure Structure (TES), that will radiate infrared heat during the tests inside the vacuum chamber.

The tests that will run for two months will show that the spacecraft works as planned and adheres to the strictest safety regulations for human spaceflight. The European Service Module has 33 thrusters, 11 km of electrical wiring, four propellant and two pressurisation tanks that all work together to supply propulsion and everything needed to keep astronauts alive far from Earth – there is no room for error.

Learn more about Orion: http://bit.ly/ESAOrion

Directed by Stéphane Corvaja/ESA
Edited by Manuel Pédoussaut/Zetapress
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 02/26/2020 06:17 pm
https://twitter.com/NASA_Langley/status/1232697949689393158
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 03/02/2020 04:37 pm
Jurczyk: Artemis I to Launch in Mid-Late 2021 (https://spacepolicyonline.com/news/jurczyk-artemis-i-to-launch-in-mid-late-2021-hls-contracts-within-weeks/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 03/03/2020 06:11 am
Orion is headed home.

Quote
NASA’s Orion spacecraft, a critical part of the agency’s Artemis I mission, has completed its three-month test campaign at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where it was subjected to the extreme temperatures and electromagnetic environment it will experience in its upcoming test mission to the Moon.

Media are invited to two events at Plum Brook Station prior to the spacecraft’s return to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will begin preparations for launch:

On Monday, March 9, from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT, media will have the opportunity to view the Orion spacecraft, consisting of its crew and service modules, inside the Space Environments Complex before it is prepared for departure. This opportunity is for photographs and video of the spacecraft only.
On Saturday, March 14, beginning at 11 a.m. EDT, NASA will celebrate the completion of testing and departure of the spacecraft from Plum Brook Station. During this event, the spacecraft will be covered in its transportation fixture. The following officials will discuss NASA’s Artemis program, the importance of the completed tests, and the next steps for Orion:
                        - Members of the Ohio congressional delegation

                        - Jim Morhard, NASA deputy administrator

                        - Marla Pérez-Davis, NASA’s Glenn Research Center director

                        - Mark Kirasich, Orion program manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center

                        - Sunita Williams, astronaut, Johnson

Media interested in attending should contact Jimi Russell at [email protected] or 216-433-2894 by 4:30 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 5. All dates and times are subject to change. NASA will provide any schedule updates as soon as possible.

Artemis I will be an uncrewed flight test around the Moon, the first in a series of progressively more complex missions that ultimately will land the first woman and next man on the lunar South Pole by 2024. NASA will then use what it learns on the Moon to prepare to send astronauts to Mars.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-invites-media-to-view-orion-spacecraft-for-first-artemis-lunar-mission
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 03/04/2020 07:52 am
Interference testing (http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/03/Interference_testing)

Quote
Radio frequency testing has begun on the first Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon for the Artemis 1 mission, just two weeks after thermal and environmental tests were completed at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/04/2020 08:21 am
Interference testing (http://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/03/Interference_testing)

Quote
Radio frequency testing has begun on the first Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon for the Artemis 1 mission, just two weeks after thermal and environmental tests were completed at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA.

Image attached
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 03/05/2020 05:25 pm
 INTERFERENCE TESTING AT PLUM BROOK (https://blogs.esa.int/orion/2020/03/05/interference-testing-at-plum-brook/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/07/2020 09:35 am
Some more testing photos released by ESA from NASA

Quote
Orion interference testing
Testing one, two and now, three.
 
Radio frequency testing has begun on the first Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon for the Artemis 1 mission, just two weeks after thermal and environmental tests were completed at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA.
 
Electromagnetic compatibility or EMC testing is routine for spacecraft. All electronics emit some form of electromagnetic waves that can cause interference with other devices. Think of the buzz that speakers give out right before an incoming call on a mobile phone.
 
Spacecraft electronics can cause similar interference, but out in space such interference can have disastrous consequences, so all systems must be checked before launch.
 
EMC tests often take place in a special shielded room constructed of metal walls and doors and foamy spikes (aka absorbers) that block out unwanted external electromagnetic radiation, like ESA’s Maxwell chamber at its technical site in the Netherlands.
 
Though not an EMC chamber, Plum Brook’s thermal vacuum chamber is made of aluminium that does provide electromagnetic shielding, making it a suitable substitute.
 
To test electronics, the spacecraft will simulate a flight in realistic conditions with most of its subsystems and equipment powered and in operational mode.
 
The electronics are first tested for compatibility in this electromagnetic shielded chamber. Equipment will be switched on to test whether they do potentially disturb one another.
 
In the second round of tests, electromagnetic fields will be applied using antennas around the spacecraft to test the susceptibility to interference from external sources. The Orion capsule is equipped with electromagnetic field sensors to take measurements as the disturbance frequencies are injected into the chamber.
 
While all subsystems are a potential source of radio frequency noise, of particular interest are the transmitters that intentionally generate radio frequencies. These can easily disturb other equipment sensitive to electromagnetic noise, like GPS receivers, tele-command modules and other communication elements.
 
ESA experts are on site monitoring all tests alongside NASA colleagues as Orion moves closer to its first flight without a crew around the Moon.
 
Find more in depth coverage of all things Orion on the blog.
 
Credits: NASA
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 03/09/2020 05:23 pm
Orion CSM testing in Plum Brook is now complete.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: HeartofGold2030 on 03/09/2020 10:50 pm
Wasn’t there supposed to be an Orion media event at Plum Brook today from 10 to 11 a.m. EDT?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 03/10/2020 09:54 am
March 09, 2020
MEDIA ADVISORY M020-06

Artemis I Spacecraft Returns to Kennedy after Successful Ohio Tests

Media are invited to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to watch the arrival of the Orion spacecraft for Artemis I. The crew and service module stack will be offloaded from NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after its return flight home from NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. The offloading activity will happen the morning of March 24 at the Launch and Landing Facility at Kennedy, operated by Space Florida. Arrival and offloading are dependent on favorable weather conditions and are subject to change.

The recently completed spacecraft spent the last several months in the world’s premier space environments test facility undergoing thermal vacuum and electromagnetic environment testing to certify the vehicle for Artemis missions to the Moon. Engineers and technicians at Kennedy stand ready to welcome the spacecraft back and begin performing final processing and integration for the launch of the Artemis I mission.

Accreditation for this activity is open to U.S. media only. To receive credentials for this event, media must apply online by Tuesday, March 17. All media accreditation requests must be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

Learn more about NASA’s Artemis I mission at:

https://www.nasa.gov/artemis-1
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 03/16/2020 11:59 am
Tests complete for Orion

The first Orion spacecraft that will fly around the Moon as part of Artemis to return humans to the lunar surface has finished its space-environment tests at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio, USA. The vehicle – that can transport up to four astronauts – consists of the European Service Module, the Crew Module and connecting adapter and all elements have now been given the stamp of approval for spaceflight after being subjected to the vacuum, extreme temperatures and electro-magnetic interference it will encounter during its trip to the Moon.

Orion arrived at Plum Brook Station – the only centre large enough to test the spacecraft – on 26 November and passed two months of thermal-vacuum tests subjecting the spacecraft to temperatures ranging from –175°C to 75°C in vacuum.

After passing the trial by temperature, Orion went through electromagnetic interference testing to ensure the electronics worked well together – the European Service Module has over 11 km over wiring to gather information and send commands to its 31 engines, propellant tanks, solar wings and more.

Orion is a key component of Artemis 1, an uncrewed test flight around the Moon that paves the way for the Artemis 3 mission which will land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface by 2024. ESA is designing and supplying the European Service Module for Orion – the bottom part of the spacecraft in the picture – that provides electricity, water, oxygen and nitrogen as well as keeping the spacecraft at the right temperature and on course.

Orion will now ship to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where it will be further prepared for launch, including assembling the solar panels and more individual tests.


Credits: NASA–Marvin Smith
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/17/2020 07:09 pm
https://twitter.com/nasaexplores/status/1240001636514312193

Quote
SUCCESS!

Here a test version of Orion is secured into the well deck of a Navy ship. This was a part of the Underway Recovery Test-8 in the Pacific Ocean for #Artemis I.

The Landing and Recovery team met all its objectives. #wearegoing

More: go.nasa.gov/2WgWg1Y

Attached image from https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/test-version-of-orion-capsule-recovered-in-the-pacific-ocean
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 03/18/2020 03:06 am
Transport of the Artemis I Orion CSM back to Florida is postponed until further notice due to CV19
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 03/18/2020 04:49 am
Transport of the Artemis I Orion CSM back to Florida is postponed until further notice due to CV19
source?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 03/19/2020 08:56 pm
Transport of the Artemis I Orion CSM back to Florida is postponed until further notice due to CV19
source?
Back on for next week.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 03/20/2020 12:24 am
https://spacenews.com/orion-completes-testing-at-plum-brook/
by Jeff Foust, March 15, 2020

Quote
[Thermal vacuum and electromagnetic environment testing] tests were “extremely successful,” said Jules Schneider, director of assembly, test and launch operations for Orion at Lockheed Martin, in an interview.

Paraphrased further information:
Thermal vacuum testing performed in 47 days, vs. planned 63 days.

Electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing performed in 13 days, vs. planned 8 days.

After return to KSC, Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, there is work that is expected to take 2 to 4 months.
That includes removing instrumentation used for the Plum Brook testing at Plum Brook; and installing hardware, such as the fairing around the Orion service module.

This work is considered "essential" and will continue even during the institution of mandatory telework [which, as of the March 17 announcement by Administrator Bridenstine, is now the current Stage 3 situation at KSC].

Quote
The formal handover to the spacecraft to exploration ground systems contractor Jacobs is currently scheduled for June, and will mark the end of Lockheed’s work on the spacecraft under its contract. Jacobs will then be responsible for launch preparations, such as fueling the spacecraft and later integrating the spacecraft with the SLS.

Re: Orion testing for subsequent Artemis missions:
Quote
Later Orion spacecraft will undergo thermal and vacuum tests in separate chambers at KSC: thermal testing at ambient pressures and vacuum testing at ambient temperatures. In that case, the crew module and service module will perform thermal testing separately, but will be integrated for vacuum tests.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 03/20/2020 04:10 pm
https://twitter.com/nasagroundsys/status/1241038330877349889

Quote
🌊 March 2020 - Underway Recovery Test-8 Highlights. Teams worked with a test version of @NASA_Orion on the Pacific Ocean in practice to recover astronauts NASA will send on #Artemis I around the Moon with splashdown off the coast of California.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 03/20/2020 10:43 pm
https://spacenews.com/orion-completes-testing-at-plum-brook/
by Jeff Foust, March 15, 2020

Paraphrased further information:
After return to KSC, Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, there is work that is expected to take 2 to 4 months.
That includes removing instrumentation used for the Plum Brook testing at Plum Brook; and installing hardware, such as the fairing around the Orion service module.

This work is considered "essential" and will continue even during the institution of mandatory telework [which, as of the March 17 announcement by Administrator Bridenstine, is now the current Stage 3 situation at KSC].

Is this plan contradicted, given this news, from Facing pandemic, NASA shutters rocket factory, halts SLS and Orion testing (https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/20/facing-pandemic-nasa-shutters-rocket-factory-halts-sls-and-orion-testing/), by Stephen Clark, dated March 20, 2020.  The main thrust of the article is the March 19 announcement that NASA Stennis Space Center and Michoud Assembly Facility are on Stage 4 as of today:

Quote
“NASA will temporarily suspend production and testing of Space Launch System and Orion hardware,” Bridenstine said. “The NASA and contractors teams will complete an orderly shutdown that puts all hardware in a safe condition until work can resume. Once this is complete, personnel allowed onsite will be limited to those needed to protect life and critical infrastructure.

Is the upcoming Orion work at KSC included in, or excluded from, the work stoppage?  I think it is excluded, but the article doesn't say so explicitly.
***

EDIT/ADD later on March 20
From March 20, 2020, RELEASE 20-031, NASA Leadership Assessing Mission Impacts of Coronavirus
Quote
Work on the agency’s Artemis program continues with limited production of hardware and software for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. SLS and Orion manufacturing and testing activities at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility and Stennis Space Center are temporarily on hold. The Artemis 1 Orion spacecraft will be shipped from the agency’s Glenn Research Center to its Kennedy Space Center...
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 03/20/2020 11:18 pm
https://spacenews.com/orion-completes-testing-at-plum-brook/
by Jeff Foust, March 15, 2020

Paraphrased further information:
After return to KSC, Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, there is work that is expected to take 2 to 4 months.
That includes removing instrumentation used for the Plum Brook testing at Plum Brook; and installing hardware, such as the fairing around the Orion service module.

This work is considered "essential" and will continue even during the institution of mandatory telework [which, as of the March 17 announcement by Administrator Bridenstine, is now the current Stage 3 situation at KSC].

Is this plan contradicted, given this news, from Facing pandemic, NASA shutters rocket factory, halts SLS and Orion testing (https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/20/facing-pandemic-nasa-shutters-rocket-factory-halts-sls-and-orion-testing/), by Stephen Clark, dated March 20, 2020.  The main thrust of the article is the March 19 announcement that NASA Stennis Space Center and Michoud Assembly Facility are on Stage 4 as of today:

Quote
“NASA will temporarily suspend production and testing of Space Launch System and Orion hardware,” Bridenstine said. “The NASA and contractors teams will complete an orderly shutdown that puts all hardware in a safe condition until work can resume. Once this is complete, personnel allowed onsite will be limited to those needed to protect life and critical infrastructure.

Is the upcoming Orion work at KSC included in, or excluded from, the work stoppage?  I think it is excluded, but the article doesn't say so explicitly.
Orion will be delivered to KSC next and placed in a safe configuration. Then work will stop until further notice.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woog on 04/07/2020 10:19 pm
some newly released images from plum brook
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 04/08/2020 03:00 pm
Artemis I Orion at Operations and Checkout Building
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 06/26/2020 11:42 pm
Quote
June 25, 2020

Orion’s ‘Twin’ Completes Structural Testing for Artemis I Mission
Before NASA astronauts fly the Orion spacecraft on Artemis missions to the Moon and back, engineers needed to thoroughly test its ability to withstand the stresses of launch, climb to orbit, the harsh conditions of deep space transit, and return to Earth. NASA designed Orion from the beginning specifically to support astronauts on missions farther from Earth than any other spacecraft built for humans.

In June 2020, engineers completed testing on a duplicate of Orion called the Structural Test Article (STA), needed to verify the spacecraft is ready for Artemis I -- its first uncrewed test flight. NASA and its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, built the STA to be structurally identical to Orion’s main spacecraft elements: the crew module, service module and launch abort system.

The STA testing required to qualify Orion’s design began in early 2017 and involved 20 tests, using six different configurations -- from a single element, to the entire full stack -- and various combinations in between. At completion, the testing verified Orion’s structural durability for all flight phases of Artemis I.

“The STA has been an invaluable source for our engineers to prove out the integrity of Orion’s design,” said Stefan Pinsky, Lockheed Martin’s test manager for the Orion structural test article. “Over the course of testing, planning for the configuration and hardware moves of the three large primary Orion elements is a complex process that can sometimes seem like a giant game of Tetris.”

STA tests included loads testing to ensure the spacecraft structures can withstand intense loads at launch and entry; acoustic and modal testing to evaluate how Orion and its components tolerate intense vibrational forces; pyrotechnic shock testing that recreates the powerful pyrotechnic blasts needed for critical separation events during flight, such as module separation events and fairing jettisons; and a lightning test to evaluate potential flight hardware damage if the vehicle was exposed to a lightning strike prior to launch.

At Lockheed Martin in Denver, teams worked round-the-clock for days at a time to prepare the tests, execute, tear down then reconfigure the STA for the next test, culminating in 330 actual days of testing. During some test phases, engineers pushed expected pressures, mechanical loads, vibration and shock conditions up to 40 percent beyond the most severe conditions anticipated during the mission, analyzing data to confirm the spacecraft structures can withstand the extreme environments of space.

While the team was pushing the physical limits of testing with the STA, the actual Orion vehicle for Artemis I recently underwent rigorous testing at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Ohio to certify it can withstand the extreme temperatures and electromagnetic conditions it will endure during its first mission around the Moon and back. The vehicle is now being readied at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for its integration with the Space Launch System rocket prior to its maiden flight.

The STA campaign will continue beyond Artemis I, incorporating structural loads testing on Orion’s launch abort system, and crew module water impact tests to support NASA’s Artemis II mission -- the first flight around the Moon with astronauts. For Artemis III, the mission that will see the first female and next male astronaut land on the surface of the Moon, the STA will be used for testing to include the spacecraft docking system.

“It’s a tremendous achievement for our teams to be able to successfully test this number of STA configurations to validate the structural robustness of the vehicle across the range of conditions that the spacecraft will experience on lunar missions under the Artemis program,” said Howard Hu, NASA’s acting Orion program manager. “These results give us continued confidence that Orion is ready for its first Artemis flight to the Moon next year.”

Last Updated: June 25, 2020
Editor: Aimee Crane

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/orion-s-twin-completes-structural-testing-for-artemis-i-mission

2nd & 3rd Photo captions:

Quote
The Orion STA, in its “full stack” launch configuration -- the crew module, service module and launch abort system, as well as the spacecraft adapter and jettisonable fairings -- was lifted into a reverberant acoustic chamber at Lockheed Martin for acoustic testing.

Quote
The Orion STA forward bay cover jettison testing is in progress at Lockheed Martin near Denver.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: sdsds on 08/13/2020 10:14 pm
Lots of detail in this photo. (From: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/nasa-begins-installing-orion-adapter-for-first-artemis-moon-flight).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 08/14/2020 10:36 am
Technicians at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida work to install the spacecraft adapter (SA) cone to the Artemis I Orion spacecraft inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on Aug. 10, 2020. This is one of the final major hardware operations the spacecraft will undergo during closeout processing prior to being integrated with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in preparation for the first Artemis mission. The spacecraft adapter cone connects the bottom portion of Orion’s service module to the top part of the rocket known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Orion will fly on the agency’s Artemis I mission – the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will ultimately lead to the exploration of Mars.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 09/01/2020 08:38 pm
Quote
NASA’s Orion Program has completed the System Acceptance Review and Design Certification Review to certify the Artemis I spacecraft is fit for flight, ready to venture from Earth to the lunar vicinity, and return home for landing and recovery.

The review examined every spacecraft system, all test data, inspection reports, and analyses that support verification, to ensure every aspect of the spacecraft has the right technical maturity.

In effect, the review gives the stamp of approval to the entire spacecraft development effort and is the final formal milestone to pass before integration with the Space Launch System rocket.

In addition to spacecraft design, the review certified all reliability and safety analyses, production quality and configuration management systems, and operations manuals.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/09/01/orion-program-completes-key-review-for-artemis-i/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 09/02/2020 08:22 am
Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida work to safely return the Artemis I Orion spacecraft to the FAST cell after completing the installation of the spacecraft adapter (SA) cone inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on Aug. 20, 2020. This is one of the final major hardware operations the spacecraft will undergo during closeout processing prior to being integrated with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in preparation for the first Artemis mission. The spacecraft adapter cone connects the bottom portion of Orion's service module to the top part of the rocket known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS). Orion will fly on the agency's Artemis I mission -- the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon that will ultimately lead to the exploration of Mars.

Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 09/02/2020 10:43 am
Artemis I Orion certification complete!

https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1300925406804148224
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 09/22/2020 03:52 am
Quote
Quite a reach! As part of an inspection, teams at @NASAKennedy extended one of @NASA_Orion spacecraft's solar array wings that will be used during the first #Artemis mission. More about the spacecraft's solar panels HERE
https://twitter.com/NASA_SLS/status/1306998924331438084

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/09/17/orion-spreads-its-wings/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA_SLS&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=99927151

Quote
Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians have extended one of the Artemis I solar array wings on Sept. 10, 2020. Prior to installation on the Orion spacecraft, the team performed an inspection to confirm proper extension and to ensure all of the mechanisms functioned as expected. The pictured solar array is one of four panels that will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet. The array is a component of Orion’s service module, which is provided by the European Space Agency and built by Airbus Defence and Space to supply Orion’s power, propulsion, air and water.
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/09/17/orion-spreads-its-wings/?utm_source=TWITTER&utm_medium=NASA_SLS&utm_campaign=NASASocial&linkId=99927151
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 09/29/2020 07:10 am
Artemis I crew seat

Lockheed Martin technicians at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans complete the final assembly of the crew seat for the Artemis I flight. The seat will hold a mass simulator and measure launch and landing loads during the flight which will see Orion travel 40,000 miles past the Moon. The seat will also be reused on Artemis II, Orion's first crewed flight.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 09/30/2020 06:10 pm
Artemis I Rocket and Spacecraft Receive “Worm” Welcome (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/artemis-i-rocket-and-spacecraft-receive-worm-welcome)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/01/2020 01:31 am
NASA photos of solar wing installation
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: freddo411 on 10/01/2020 02:14 am
Will those huge Airbus logos be visible once Orion is in space?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ncb1397 on 10/01/2020 02:21 am
Will those huge Airbus logos be visible once Orion is in space?

Given that they say remove before flight, likely not.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: woods170 on 10/01/2020 09:08 am
Will those huge Airbus logos be visible once Orion is in space?

Given that they say remove before flight, likely not.

Correct. Those red panels are remove-before-flight covers to protect the solar arrays during ground processing. They will be removed shortly before installation of the Orion fairing panels.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/01/2020 10:16 am
ESA and NASA logos on Artemis I rocket and Orion
01/10/2020

The space agency logos for the next spacecraft to head to the Moon have been added to Orion as part of the Artemis programme.


The new ESA logo and NASA’s ‘worm’ logo will be along for the ride on the first full mission of the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, have started to apply the historic logos on the Artemis I rocket and spacecraft.

ESA’s logo reflects our European nature and our pioneering activities in space. It incorporates the only element of ESA’s name common to all languages of Member States - the letter ‘e’ for European, which is symbol of cooperation and human dimension. Europe is represented by a circular ‘e’, superimposed on the globe that represents our planet Earth. The white dot represents a satellite in orbit. This symbol also incorporates the visionary side of space exploration and today is synonymous with a united Europe in space.

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Orion/ESA_and_NASA_logos_on_Artemis_I_rocket_and_Orion
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 10/01/2020 10:17 am
Artist's impression of the Space Launch System rocket fairing with ESA and NASA logos. The new ESA logo and NASA’s  ‘worm’ logo will be along for the ride on the first full mission of the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, have started to apply the historic logos on the Artemis I rocket and spacecraft.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 10/11/2020 08:33 am
Teamwork Makes the Wings Work (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/teamwork-makes-the-wings-work)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 10/20/2020 09:51 pm
 https://twitter.com/kathylueders/status/1318265681402617863?s=21 (https://twitter.com/kathylueders/status/1318265681402617863?s=21)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 10/21/2020 06:33 am
https://twitter.com/Cathy_Koerner/status/1318679824664195072?s=20 (https://twitter.com/Cathy_Koerner/status/1318679824664195072?s=20)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 10/29/2020 02:45 pm
https://twitter.com/jimbridenstine/status/1321840394930286593

Quote
Teams have applied @NASA insignia and American flag to the backshell panel of @NASA_Orion’s crew module as the spacecraft is prepared for the #Artemis I mission around the #Moon. Looking forward to seeing a view of Orion from space during the mission!
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 11/04/2020 09:39 pm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/50567566011/

Quote
KSC-20201028-PH-JBS01_0137
The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I mission is in view inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay on Oct. 28, 2020, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The NASA insignia, also called the “meatball,” and the American Flag have been applied to the Orion crew module back shell. Attached below Orion are the crew module adapter and the European Service Module (ESM) with spacecraft adapter jettison fairings installed. Recently, teams from across the globe installed the four solar array wings, which are housed inside the protective covering of the fairings. The fairing panels will encapsulate the ESM to protect it from harsh environments such as heat, wind, and acoustics as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the Space Launch System rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/06/2020 10:27 am
November 05, 2020
MEDIA ADVISORY M020-15

NASA Invites Media to View Orion as It Advances on the Path to the Pad for Artemis I

NASA invites media to capture images of the agency’s Orion spacecraft on its “path to the pad” journey. Orion will depart from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building en route to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orion testing and assembly will be complete in early December, and the spacecraft will then undergo ground processing and integration in facilities across the center in preparation for the Artemis I launch next year.

A limited number of media will be permitted to view and photograph Orion first inside the O&C building on Dec. 5 – uncovered for the final time before it is wrapped in protective materials for transport to the MPPF – and then from viewing areas outside on Dec. 7 during the move. Interviews with program executives and subject matter experts will be available on both days.

After its arrival at the MPPF, teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and contractor Jacobs will equip the spacecraft with propellants and commodities needed for its mission. Integration of ground system elements and the launch abort system will then take place at the Launch Abort System Facility next year. Finally, the spacecraft will move to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for stacking on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket ahead of its inaugural flight in support of the Artemis I mission.

The agency is following COVID-19 guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the agency’s chief health and medical officer, and will immediately communicate any updates that may impact media access for these activities.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and SLS as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA aims to land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024 and establish sustainable lunar exploration by the end of the decade.

The media accreditation deadline is Nov. 13 for international media already in the U.S. and Nov. 20 for United States citizens.

All media accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

For questions about media accreditation, email [email protected]. For other questions, contact Kennedy’s newsroom at [email protected].

For more information about the Artemis program, visit:

www.nasa.gov/artemis
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 11/06/2020 03:33 pm
Bye bye, European Service Module, see you in space

06/11/2020

Technicians have finished encapsulating the European Service Module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will travel around the Moon on the first Artemis mission.

Like most spacecraft Orion will be launched inside protective fairings on top of its Space Launch System rocket. The spacecraft adapter jettison fairings have now been installed that protect the European Service Module during launch and are ejected shortly after liftoff.

The next time the European Service Module will be visible it will be in space, when the four 7-m-long solar wings unfold to start generating power for the spacecraft. The three fairings are each around 4 m square, the size of a small room, after launch they will be blown away by small pyrotechnic explosions revealing the four solar panels and the European Service Module underneath.

Above the European Service Module is the Crew Module where up to four astronauts will live and work on a typical two-week flight to the Moon and back. The first mission, Artemis I, will be uncrewed and is set to launch next year.

With the spacecraft jettisonable adapters installed at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, the European Service Module will not be easily visible on Earth again, although technicians can access the module to service it and fill the tanks with fuel, helium, nitrogen and ammonia for the cooling system and other consumables.

The final assembly activities for the spacecraft include installation of the forward bay cover, which protects the upper part of Orion including its parachutes throughout its mission, final adjustments of the main parachutes, securing and testing of electrical connections, along with closure and latching of the side hatch.

As each area of the spacecraft is closed out, it will undergo final inspections to complete production. The spacecraft will then begin its path to the pad, including stops along the way to be fuelled and integrated with its launch abort system and, ultimately, the SLS rocket for launch.

In December the European Service Module will be officially handed over to NASA’s launch preparation teams with ESA in a supporting role for Exploration Ground Support, during the mission and for post-flight analysis. will no longer be responsible for the hardware as the spacecraft heads into final preparations for launch – a milestone for the hundreds of people involved who worked securely and tirelessly to make humankinds next-generation exploration vessel.

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: gordo on 11/30/2020 10:30 pm
What’s the news on this PDU redundancy failure in the Service Module?  To fix sounds like a de-mate and significant ( 12months) delay....ouch. 

Crazy to have systems and components deep inside a vehicle that are not accessible easily for R&R.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: whitelancer64 on 11/30/2020 11:14 pm
What’s the news on this PDU redundancy failure in the Service Module?  To fix sounds like a de-mate and significant ( 12months) delay....ouch. 

Crazy to have systems and components deep inside a vehicle that are not accessible easily for R&R.

Story is from the Verge.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/30/21726753/nasa-orion-crew-capsule-power-unit-failure-artemis-i

*edit* NASA blog post about the issue.

https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/11/30/update-on-orion-final-assembly-and-transfer/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: ddspaceman on 11/30/2020 11:15 pm
https://twitter.com/NASASpaceflight/status/1333554834004455426

Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 12/01/2020 03:04 pm
Moderator:  Orion Artemis 1 updates here.

Discussion of same here (https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=37310.500).
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 12/01/2020 07:58 pm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaorion/50668967786/

Quote
Hardware has Orion’s Parachutes ‘Covered’ for Artemis I Mission
Affixed to the top of Orion for the Artemis I mission is the shiny, newly installed forward bay cover. This critical piece of hardware will protect the top part of Orion’s crew module as the capsule blazes back through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of more than 25,000 mph. After reentry, jettison mechanisms will generate enough thrust to push the cover away from the spacecraft and allow the three main parachutes to unfurl, stabilizing and slowing the capsule to 20 mph or less for a safe splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
 
Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 12/04/2020 11:56 pm
https://twitter.com/ChrisG_NSF/status/1334940292018003970
Quote
With SLS's first two SRB segments now on the Mobile Launcher, stacking of the remaining 8 segments could start Monday... or be delayed as the GreenRun heads toward Wet Dress on Dec. 7th and a new issue with Orion surfaces.

Article from Philip Sloss: New Artemis 1 schedule uncertainty as NASA EGS ready to continue SLS Booster stacking (https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2020/12/artemis-1-schedule-uncertainty-sls-booster-stacking/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 12/17/2020 08:07 pm
 https://youtu.be/u4kRwhH8VDI (https://youtu.be/u4kRwhH8VDI)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jadebenn on 12/17/2020 11:36 pm
https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2020/12/17/artemis-i-orion-progress-update/

NASA has decided to not make an attempt to replace the PDU with a redundant channel failure and will proceed with launch processing.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/15/2021 03:26 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/15/2021 03:59 pm
Orion Artemis I handover 1-14-21_03

Lockheed Martin  photos
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:40 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:43 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:45 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:46 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:50 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 01/17/2021 12:51 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 02/24/2021 08:00 am
NASA “Meatball” Insignia and ESA Logo Added to Artemis I Fairings (https://blogs.nasa.gov/artemis/2021/02/23/nasa-meatball-insignia-and-esa-logo-added-to-artemis-i-fairings/)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 04/06/2021 08:37 am
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50960670816_12ac67ebf1_c_d.jpg)

Flickr has a series of new images of the Artemis I configuration with all the decals.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: hektor on 05/14/2021 06:09 pm
https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/1392868842246914049?s=20 (https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/1392868842246914049?s=20)
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/18/2021 08:26 am
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/10/2021 04:20 pm
https://twitter.com/nasagroundsys/status/1413876452408373250

Quote
The @NASA_Orion has made it to the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF) at @NASAKennedy, where teams will add the launch abort system atop the spacecraft. Check out these photos of its journey, starting out at the Multi-Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) early this morning.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/13/2021 08:15 am
More NASA photos
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 07/23/2021 06:58 pm
https://twitter.com/cathy_koerner/status/1418638760565161990

Quote
The team at @NASAKennedy has attached the launch abort tower to the @NASA_Orion spacecraft. We will attach ogive fairings to encapsulate the crew module ahead of moving the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking atop @NASA_SLS.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: cplchanb on 07/26/2021 01:31 pm


Quote
The team at @NASAKennedy has attached the launch abort tower to the @NASA_Orion spacecraft. We will attach ogive fairings to encapsulate the crew module ahead of moving the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking atop @NASA_SLS.

really curious on why they chose not to install the actual LA rocket motors since this all the equipment and vehicles installed are going to be used on Artemis 2. What if there was a failure to the core stage? Orion would have no chance of jetison and recovery if that happens.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: dlapine on 07/26/2021 06:53 pm


Quote
The team at @NASAKennedy has attached the launch abort tower to the @NASA_Orion spacecraft. We will attach ogive fairings to encapsulate the crew module ahead of moving the spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking atop @NASA_SLS.
really curious on why they chose not to install the actual LA rocket motors since this all the equipment and vehicles installed are going to be used on Artemis 2. What if there was a failure to the core stage? Orion would have no chance of jetison and recovery if that happens.


So the Artemis 1 test isn't using a functional LA tower? Interesting. Are they at least using mass simulators to cover the weight of the solid LA rocket motors?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 07/29/2021 02:48 pm
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and contractor Jacobs integrated the launch abort system (LAS) with the Orion spacecraft inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 23, 2021. Launching later this year, Artemis I will be a test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Although there will be no crew the Artemis I, the launch abort system will collect flight data during the ascent to space and then jettison from the spacecraft. Next, technicians will install four panels, or ogives, that make up the fairing assembly and protect the spacecraft from heat, air, and acoustic environments during its entry into orbit. Once final checkouts are complete, Orion will join the Space Launch System for integration.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: FutureSpaceTourist on 08/24/2021 07:47 pm
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasakennedy/51399613356/

Quote
KSC-20210820-PH-KLS01_0004
Technicians and engineers with Exploration Ground Systems and Jacobs connect the ogive fairings for Orion’s Artemis I mission to the launch abort system (LAS) inside the Launch Abort System Facility high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 20, 2021. The ogives are four protective panels that will shield the crew module from the severe vibrations and sounds it will experience during launch. During Artemis missions, the 44-foot-tall LAS will detach from the spacecraft when it is no longer needed. Launching in 2021, Artemis I will be an uncrewed test of the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under Artemis, NASA aims to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon and establish sustainable lunar exploration. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 09/03/2021 12:51 pm
3/4 ogives on. Should be ready to roll to the VAB soon, even if the URRT and modal testing will keep it waiting for a bit until stacking is possible.

https://twitter.com/NASAGroundSys/status/1433520741237104642
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 09/03/2021 02:33 pm
Final ogive going on this weekend. Then a couple of weeks for closeouts and a few tests. Once URRT/IMT are complete in the VAB, MSO and OSA STA will we de-stacked and flight OSA and Orion can be stacked.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Steven Pietrobon on 09/04/2021 06:38 am
Attaching the photo from the tweet, as the buildup looks pretty sweet.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: cplchanb on 09/04/2021 03:10 pm
Final ogive going on this weekend. Then a couple of weeks for closeouts and a few tests. Once URRT/IMT are complete in the VAB, MSO and OSA STA will we de-stacked and flight OSA and Orion can be stacked.

im honestly curious on what type of testing are they doing that requires weeks and weeks? its not like they have to retest the functioning of the module from scratch do they? does testing the ability to jetison the panels takes weeks?
Even taking 3 DAYs+ per panel seems awefully long. Its like they secure a panel and then just break for 2 days...Why does it take that long?  Despite being behind schedule, there seems to be no sense of urgency to make time back up on all fronts. 
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Markstark on 09/04/2021 04:20 pm
Final ogive going on this weekend. Then a couple of weeks for closeouts and a few tests. Once URRT/IMT are complete in the VAB, MSO and OSA STA will we de-stacked and flight OSA and Orion can be stacked.

im honestly curious on what type of testing are they doing that requires weeks and weeks? its not like they have to retest the functioning of the module from scratch do they? does testing the ability to jetison the panels takes weeks?
Even taking 3 DAYs+ per panel seems awefully long. Its like they secure a panel and then just break for 2 days...Why does it take that long?  Despite being behind schedule, there seems to be no sense of urgency to make time back up on all fronts.
I could’ve been clearer perhaps. There aren’t weeks of testing. There are weeks of closeouts (remaining fasteners, detailed parts, RTV, etc) and few days of testing (RF testing, hatch (s) testing and vehicle leak testing post closeouts).

There’s more to installing these panels than putting on a few bolts.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Phil Stooke on 09/05/2021 03:43 am
A bit of an update on the 13 cubesats (not sure if this is the right thread for it, but it is part of EM-1).  One is certainly off the flight - the Cornell University double spacecraft (in one cubesat envelope) mission.  They were delayed and will be looking for another ride later.  (Source: the just-completed LEAG annual meeting).  Another might not make it - Lunar Flashlight, an important science mission but very tight on time and may also need to find a separate ride (same source).  Luckily some of the various CLPS flights may offer secondary flight opportunities, as may the Japanese ispace mission targeted for late next year.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 09/09/2021 09:05 am
LAS ogives all installed. Into closeouts, to then stack with the (Cubesat-loaded) flight OSA, and roll out to the VAB to meet SLS!

Edit to add:
https://twitter.com/NASA_Orion/status/1435717741764304898
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: theonlyspace on 10/07/2021 01:12 pm
Are there pictures of what a Orion Capsule layout  looks like inside? Pictures of the controls panels?
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Jim on 10/07/2021 01:37 pm
Final ogive going on this weekend. Then a couple of weeks for closeouts and a few tests. Once URRT/IMT are complete in the VAB, MSO and OSA STA will we de-stacked and flight OSA and Orion can be stacked.

im honestly curious on what type of testing are they doing that requires weeks and weeks? its not like they have to retest the functioning of the module from scratch do they? does testing the ability to jetison the panels takes weeks?
Even taking 3 DAYs+ per panel seems awefully long. Its like they secure a panel and then just break for 2 days...Why does it take that long?  Despite being behind schedule, there seems to be no sense of urgency to make time back up on all fronts. 

Because they are not working on it every day.  Orion is not the pacing item.  The techs and engineers can do other work.  Orion and SLS are not like Apollo where the individual contractors do the work on their hardware.  Once Orion leaves the O&C production area, Jacobs TOSC performs all the work on it.  Same with SLS hardware once it arrives at the launch site. Jacobs TOSC workers are not limited to one area.  They could be supporting Orion fueling in the MPPF, ISS or other work in the SSPF, supporting facility ops at the PHSF for an LSP mission or SLS stacking ops in the VAB.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: The Phantom on 10/08/2021 10:25 pm
Final ogive going on this weekend. Then a couple of weeks for closeouts and a few tests. Once URRT/IMT are complete in the VAB, MSO and OSA STA will we de-stacked and flight OSA and Orion can be stacked.

im honestly curious on what type of testing are they doing that requires weeks and weeks? its not like they have to retest the functioning of the module from scratch do they? does testing the ability to jetison the panels takes weeks?
Even taking 3 DAYs+ per panel seems awefully long. Its like they secure a panel and then just break for 2 days...Why does it take that long?  Despite being behind schedule, there seems to be no sense of urgency to make time back up on all fronts.

There is NO retesting going on. Work on the Orion stack is almost purely mechanical in nature at this point. There is a considerable amount of hands-on work involved in the installation and closeout of the LAS/Ogive panel assembly.

To quote Kirk: "Calm yourself, doctor."
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/18/2021 12:46 pm
Orion should be rolling out to the VAB today tomorrow per the latest shared timeline. Keeping an eye out for updates. Any media having been called to take photos and cover the event, which may give us a heads up for whether it's still on for today?

Latest schedule also called for having it stacked with SLS within tomorrow Wednesday EST...
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: OrionBlvd on 10/18/2021 08:40 pm
Live NASA feed of the Orion Spacecraft rolling out from the LASF to the VAB, should take place later tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V59zFVke32Q
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/18/2021 10:46 pm
Orion should be rolling out to the VAB today tomorrow per the latest shared timeline. Keeping an eye out for updates. Any media having been called to take photos and cover the event, which may give us a heads up for whether it's still on for today?

Latest schedule also called for having it stacked with SLS within tomorrow Wednesday EST...

And there we go! Orion is in the open!

https://mobile.twitter.com/NASA_Orion/status/1450214663342460930
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: slobber91 on 10/19/2021 05:08 am
NASA KSC webcast showing that Orion + LAS has rolled out of the LASF
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: slobber91 on 10/19/2021 06:19 am
From the KSC webcast:  Orion with its eventual destination in the background...
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: slobber91 on 10/19/2021 06:27 am
...and on the way to the VAB
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/19/2021 10:01 am
Slow and steady...

https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1450385484514004996 (https://twitter.com/StephenClark1/status/1450385484514004996)


https://twitter.com/NASAKennedy/status/1450383843010220035


First Orion-SLS meetup!
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: slobber91 on 10/19/2021 10:35 am
Orion VAB arrival snapshots from the KSC webcast:
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: eeergo on 10/20/2021 09:19 am
Orion is being stacked on the SLS, completing the Artemis I vehicle. I propose further updates leading up to launch should now move into the main HLV thread: https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=49381.new#new

https://twitter.com/esa/status/1450743589655437313

https://blogs.nasa.gov/kennedy/2021/10/20/lift-underway-to-top-mega-moon-rocket-with-orion-spacecraft/
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: Steven Pietrobon on 10/21/2021 07:33 am
Image from the above tweet.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: zubenelgenubi on 10/22/2021 03:48 am
Moderator:
Further Artemis I updates should be posted in the following thread.
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=49381.0

We'll leave this thread open for quoting purposes.
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: jacqmans on 05/31/2023 02:25 pm
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: catdlr on 11/07/2023 09:49 pm
Super Guppy Arrives in Alabama to Drop Off Artemis I Heat Shield

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Nov 7, 2023
NASA's Super Guppy arrives in Alabama on Nov. 6, 2023, carrying the heat shield that protected Orion’s crew module during its flight on Artemis I. The one-of-a-kind, turboprop-powered aircraft ferried the heat shield from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Huntsville Regional Airport for transport to the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Technicians at Marshall will use the center’s specialized milling tool to remove the heat shield’s outer layer of ablative material, a protective coating called Avcoat, as part of routine post-flight analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkInIl6zVfM
Title: Re: EM-1/Artemis 1 Orion Construction and Processing Updates
Post by: rdale on 01/09/2024 06:31 pm
The Orion spacecraft conducted the Artemis I flight around the Moon from November 16 through December 11, 2022. After the flight, the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Hypervelocity Impact Technology (HVIT) Group performed a Micrometeoroid and Orbital Debris (MMOD) analysis using the Bumper 3 risk assessment tool to predict the number of small impacts that would likely have occurred during the mission. Separately, the same group inspected the Orion capsule for hypervelocity impact damage features. The results of the inspection were compared to those of the analysis to aid in improving the analysis, including the environment models. The comparison showed that Bumper analysis predictions were generally within one integer value of the damage found, which is considered high accuracy. As this was the first large, non-ablative returned surface from a lunar mission, this effort extends the MMOD community’s insight beyond low Earth orbit into cis-lunar space.