UK steps up, as ESA commit to ATV Service Module on NASA's Orion

[Proponent]

That's interesting, LAS is ejected before the core throttle down.

I'll bet the abort procedure calls for shutting the core down, so it wouldn't really matter much whether the core was at full thrust or not as of the moment the abort was initiated.

[jacqmans]

Press Release
N°36-2014

Paris, 6 November 2014

Call for Media: Signing of the Orion Service Module industrial contract

ESA has awarded a contract to Airbus Defence and Space to develop and build the service module for Orion, NASA's new crewed spacecraft. It is the first time that Europe will provide system-critical elements for a US space project.   

To celebrate the signing of the contract, you are cordially invited to a press briefing on Monday 17 November at 14:00 CET at the State Representative Office of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, located at Hiroshimastrasse 24, 10785 Berlin,
Germany.

The press conference will feature: 

-- Brigitte Zypries, Parliamentary State Secretary and Federal Govern-ment Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy,
-- Mark S. Geyer, NASA Orion Program Manager,
-- Martin Günthner, Senator for Business, Labour and Ports of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen,
-- Thomas Reiter, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight and Operations,
-- Rolf Densing, Director of ESA Space Programmes at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) (invited), 
-- Bart Reijnen, Head of Orbital Systems and Space Exploration at Airbus Defence and Space.


Registration
Please sign up for the press conference via Airbus Defence and Space by email: [email protected] or telephone: +49 421 539 5326 before 11 November. 
About the European Space Agency 
The European Space Agency (ESA) provides Europe's gateway to space. 

ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. 

ESA has 20 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxem-bourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom,
of whom 18 are Member States of the EU. Two other Member States of the EU, Hungary and Estonia, are likely soon to become new ESA Member States. 

[hektor]

ESA commissions Airbus Defence and Space as prime contractor for US space capsule Orion service module

[bolun]

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-media-accreditation-for-orion-service-module-event

NASA has opened media accreditation for a Nov. 30 event marking the arrival of a full-size test version of the service module, provided by ESA (European Space Agency), for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

[woods170]

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-opens-media-accreditation-for-orion-service-module-event

NASA has opened media accreditation for a Nov. 30 event marking the arrival of a full-size test version of the service module, provided by ESA (European Space Agency), for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.

Don't expect to see anything that even remotely resembles a finished service module. This test version is the Structural Test Article of the SM. Major structures only, with most 'add-on' hardware being represented by mass-simulators.

[bolun]

Orion ESM structural test model

A look at the propulsion side of the Orion European Service Module (ESM) structural test model. Airbus Defence and Space is preparing to deliver the ESM structural test model to NASA. The model is an exact copy of the flight model, only without the functionality. It will determine whether the structural and weight specifications have been met, and whether the module lives up to NASA’s crew safety requirements. Testing will take place at NASA’s Plum Brook Station test centre in Ohio, USA.

The design of the ESM is based on the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), the European supply craft for the International Space Station. It is a cylindrical module with a diameter of 4.5 metres and a total length – main engine excluded – of 2.7 metres. It is fitted with four solar array ‘wings’ with a span of 18.8 metres. Besides propulsion and power, the ESM is also equipped with oxygen tanks to supply the crew.

http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2015/11/Orion_ESM_structural_test_model

Image credit: Airbus Defence and Space

[Alpha_Centauri]

Better image of the test model from above;

https://mobile.twitter.com/airbusds/status/662926207323869184

Image credit: Airbus Defence and Space

[simpl simon]

For more photos visit Airbus DS at:
https://airbusdefenceandspace.com/newsroom/news-and-features/orion-esm-structural-test-model-ready-for-shipment/

[SgtPoivre]

https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/worldwide/space/press-release/thales-alenia-space-ships-orion-service-module-test-model-nasa

https://airbusdefenceandspace.com/structural-test-model-of-orion-esm-delivered-to-nasa/

So... Who delivered it ?

[simpl simon]

Airbus is prime contractor, so formally they delivered it.

[b0objunior]

Look at the video in the link below, great to see the thing actual late construction and assembly phase. Question, the test article will not fly, right? So, if I understand correctly, they will build two of these. Another question I have, if this one doesn't fly, will they start constructing the next before or after the testing is done? I ask this because it seems that it took quite a while to build this one. Thanks!!!

http://bcr.airbusdefenceandspace.com/bcr/BroadcastPlayer.php?id=1_egsiq1qq

[woods170]

Look at the video in the link below, great to see the thing actual late construction and assembly phase. Question, the test article will not fly, right? So, if I understand correctly, they will build two of these. Another question I have, if this one doesn't fly, will they start constructing the next before or after the testing is done? I ask this because it seems that it took quite a while to build this one. Thanks!!!

http://bcr.airbusdefenceandspace.com/bcr/BroadcastPlayer.php?id=1_egsiq1qq

It didn't actually take a long time to build this one. The work done before actual assembly of this STA took a lot longer.
This STA will obviously not fly. Most, if not all, of the components of this STA lack flight-certification. It's for testing purposes only.
Construction of flight-article components has begun on long-lead articles but the ESM is yet to go thru CDR.

[hektor]

Orion's European module ready for testing

[hektor]

Nice images and talking heads

[redliox]

Orion's European module ready for testing

I have to admit, when assembled, the test module looks like it will be useful not to mention what I'd hope the actual module will be like.  I earnestly hope ESA finishes its CDR and gets to building the real deal asap.  I suppose now it's on NASA to double-check for kinks in the hookups.

[woods170]

Orion's European module ready for testing

I have to admit, when assembled, the test module looks like it will be useful not to mention what I'd hope the actual module will be like.  I earnestly hope ESA finishes its CDR and gets to building the real deal asap.  I suppose now it's on NASA to double-check for kinks in the hookups.

Emphasis mine. I hear a Yank talking... Seems like NASA has a lot more convidence in this than you do.

Having said that, checking out the hard-interfaces is part of the STA testing and is a joint responsibilty of the LockMart and Airbus folks as Airbus is a sub-contractor to LockMart for the ESM. NASA is the overall customer. NASA doesn't do the double-checking, the contractors do.
The ESM CDR is being pursued per schedule and long-lead items for 'the real deal' are already in production.

[Raj2014]

In a video of the ESM, I noticed there was an antenna connected? Can someone confirm if this is true? Here is the video, .

[Jim]

In a video of the ESM, I noticed there was an antenna connected? Can someone confirm if this is true? Here is the video,

Yes, just like Apollo

[Raj2014]

In a video of the ESM, I noticed there was an antenna connected? Can someone confirm if this is true? Here is the video,

Yes, just like Apollo

Is it a high gain antenna? Will Orion EM-1 also have phased array antennas? Will they both be used for communications? How come no one has corrected the images of the Orion Spacecraft with the ESM missing the antenna?

[woods170]

In a video of the ESM, I noticed there was an antenna connected? Can someone confirm if this is true? Here is the video,

Yes, just like Apollo

Is it a high gain antenna? Will Orion EM-1 also have phased array antennas? Will they both be used for communications? How come no one has corrected the images of the Orion Spacecraft with the ESM missing the antenna?

For your information: the graphic of the Orion-ESM, as shown at the beginning of the video, is utterly and completely incorrect.

It shows a very weird mash-up of the original Orion 606/607 (LockMart) Orion SM and the X-wing style ESM solar arrays.
For instance: It shows the 8 auxilliary engines mounted on extended mounts whereas the real ESM has them mounted on the bottom panel of the ESM.
Also, the real ESM has two clusters of RCS engines per 'side'  of the ESM, opposed to one cluster shown in the graphic.
Further, the X-wing solar arrays are shown mounted on the CMA, while in reality they will be mounted near the bottom of the ESM. The original Ultraflex arrays of the 606/607 design were to be mounted near the CMA, you can even see the original mounting points on the graphic in between two X-wing arrays.

Also notable is the presence of the large Orion Main Engine (OME) originally intended for the 606/607 configuration. The ESM will sport a modified shuttle OMS engine which has a considerably smaller nozzle extension.

And there is bunch more errors in the graphic. Most notably the antenna. The one shown is incorrect and representative of the original 606/607 LockMart design.

In short: someone took a 606/607 graphic, threw out only the Ultraflex arrays, replaced them with X-wings, and presto! A completely ridiculous graphic is born. What a crappy piece of work this is.