This is only the first step. Just wait, there will be more announcements like this.
NASA is no longer a USA prestige interest.
Quote from: mr. mark on 01/19/2013 06:46 pmNASA is no longer a USA prestige interest.Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. Go ANYWHERE around the world, say "NASA" and the hearer will immediately think "America".
Quote from: clongton on 01/19/2013 09:27 pmQuote from: mr. mark on 01/19/2013 06:46 pmNASA is no longer a USA prestige interest.Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong. Go ANYWHERE around the world, say "NASA" and the hearer will immediately think "America".Agreed. I'm curious Clongton about your opinions regarding the ESA SM and the fact that NASA will be providing all of the fairings and other load bearing structures for it. NASA will also have, according to the presser, all the information from the SM should they want to create it themselves.
Quote from: Blackstar on 01/19/2013 06:39 pmThis is only the first step. Just wait, there will be more announcements like this.A Russian-supplied Lagrange station/protoDSH would not surprise me too much. (Well, maybe a little.)
Quote from: ChileVerde on 01/19/2013 09:00 pmQuote from: Blackstar on 01/19/2013 06:39 pmThis is only the first step. Just wait, there will be more announcements like this.A Russian-supplied Lagrange station/protoDSH would not surprise me too much. (Well, maybe a little.) Heh heh heh...Maybe that. Maybe something else. Just wait...
Meditating on SM-1 and portions of SM-2 just now, the obvious occurred to me: EM-1 and EM-2 are very different missions. In particular, EM-2 will have a crew and EM-1 won't and therefore SM-1 will not need to have functioning ECLSS-related equipment, whereas SM-2 will. So perhaps ESA will deliver SM-1 with a mass mock-up of the ECLSS stuff and SM-2 will have real ECLSS (and perhaps other mission-specific equipment) added by NASA?Just a thought.
For example if it fails to provide a required burn and the Orion spacecraft is stranded, and cannot return to Earth. Will ESA then be required to provide a second SM?
Quote from: simpl simon on 01/20/2013 08:07 pmFor example if it fails to provide a required burn and the Orion spacecraft is stranded, and cannot return to Earth. Will ESA then be required to provide a second SM?That's one failure mode that couldn't be laid at the ESA's door - the MPS on the service module will be a reconditioned shuttle OMS engine.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2222/1The benefits (and limitations) of space partnershipsby Jeff FoustMonday, January 21, 2013<snip>[The ESA/NASA service module] cooperation, though, has its limitations. One aspect not immediately clear from the agency announcements about the agreement is that it covers only one service module. That module will be flown on the EM-1 mission, the first Orion/SLS mission planned for launch in 2017. Production of service modules for later missions, including the first crewed Orion mission, EM-2 in 2021, remains undecided.ESA will provide spare parts for the EM-1 module that could be used for later missions, said NASA Orion program manager Mark Geyer. However, Gerstenmaier said no decision has been made on who will produce the service module for the EM-2 and later missions, raising the possibility that the component could revert back to NASA.“We really haven’t defined that at this point,” Gerstenmaier said. “We’re protected both ways.” That includes maintaining ownership of the relevant intellectual property regarding the service module so that NASA could manufacture future modules if needed. “We’ve really made no decisions about those future flights. We think it’s important to set this up on the first flight and then plan for that transition” for the second and future flights.<snip>