exploration systems development
TRANSCRIPT
EXPLORAT IONSYSTEMSDEVELOPMENTC O M B I N E D M O N T H LY R E P O RT
May 2019
Orion:Getting Flight Ready, Across the Board
SLS:Accelerating Core Stage Production
EGS:First Run for Record Simulation
www.nasa.gov
ORION
4 Getting Flight Ready, Across The Board
7 Inspiring Youth In Columbus, OH
7 Orion Announces New CSM And VIO Managers
8 Supplier Spotlight: Gretna
SPACE LAUNCH SYSTEM
10 Core Stage Components Come Together
11 Rocket Science In 60 Seconds
11 I Am Building SLS: Jeff Adams
12 Astronaut, Officials Visit Michigan Supplier Futuramic
13 Lunar IceCube Team Completes Safety Review, Views Test Hardware
13 Spaceflight Partners: Tayco Engineering, Inc.
EXPLORATION GROUND SYSTEMS
15 Ascent Abort-2 Preparations ‘A Really Good Test Run’ For Artemis 1
16 Orion Flight Test Article Ready For Ascent Abort-2
17 Supplier Spotlight: Precision Mechanical, Inc.
18 Concrete Base Poured For LH2 tank
18 Space Technology Day
ORIONM A Y 2 0 1 9
Getting Flight Ready,Across the BoardIn preparation for the Ascent Abort-2 flight test, the Launch Abort System and test crew module were transported 21.5 miles to the launch pad, while engineers made progress on other pieces of Orion hardware for Artemis 1 and beyond.
GETTING FLIGHT READY, ACROSSTHE BOARD
In preparation for the Ascent Abort (AA)-2 flight test, the Launch Abort System (LAS) and test crew module were transported 21.5 miles to the launch pad, while engineers made progress on other pieces of Orion hardware for Artemis 1 and beyond.
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the AA-2 LAS and test crew module were moved from the Launch Abort
System Facility to Launch Complex 46 at the neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in preparation for its July 2 launch. The team then began work to stack all of the test elements, including the booster, together on the pad getting it flight ready.
4 May 2019ESD Combined Report
In the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) at NASA’s Kennedy, Orion’s Artemis 1 crew module recently underwent Direct Field Acoustics Testing where it was exposed to maximum acoustics levels that the vehicle will experience
in space. Spacecraft response and sound pressure data were collected with microphones, strain gauges and accelerometers. The max decibel level was -12dB.
Also at the O&C, Orion’s Artemis 1 service module moved across the air bearing floor to the lift station inside the
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assembly bay, where it underwent installation and fastening to prepare it for its own acoustics testing. Just as the crew module underwent testing, the service module was surrounded with speakers and exposed to the acoustic levels that it will experience on its journey into deep space.
At Lockheed Martin’s Littleton, Colorado facility, the forward bay cover on the Orion’s Structural Test Article underwent testing to validate the jettison mechanisms and the structural stress models used in designing the crew module. The tested forward bay cover protects the parachutes during flight and initiates their deployment upon return.
Learn more about the forward bay cover: https://lmt.co/2QA4wVT
INSPIRING YOUTH IN COLUMBUS, OH
Orion, Space Launch System (SLS), Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and other NASA programs all participated in the first-ever Center of Science and Industry (COSI) Science Festival in Columbus, Ohio. Only 140 miles away from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, the teams were able to reach more than 10,000 students and
families as the festival brought science and education to their city in the four day, free event. The Orion, SLS and EGS teams were able to inform attendees of the progress occurring around the country, and in their own state of Ohio, as well as the exciting missions yet to come.
ORION ANNOUNCES NEW CSM AND VIO MANAGERS
In May, the Orion Program named Debbie Korth as the new Crew and Service Module manager and Jim Geffre as the new Vehicle Integration Office manager. Korth brings her experience in human spaceflight hardware development, including the full breadth of project management phases that involve all aspect of program schedule and budget. Geffre brings his experience with cross-program integration, vehicle systems performance, systems engineering and integrated spacecraft design architecture.
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SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT GRETNA
Located in Houston, Gretna Machine Shop is a women and minority owned manufacturing company that provides Orion with numerous secondary structure brackets and assembly parts. Created in 1981 by their parents, sisters Nubia and Nancy Pérez now oversee the HUBZone company of 75 employees, 12 of which work directly on pieces manufactured for Orion. Recently, the sisters made the decision to expand their capabilities to not only serve the thriving oil and gas industry
in Houston, but also serve the aerospace industry, which led them on the path to their first space-related contract with Orion. While building their relationship with Lockheed Martin and NASA, and seeing the excitement their employees have shown since starting to work on the spacecraft that will deliver the first woman and next man to the Moon, Gretna is eager to see what future contributions they can make in the aerospace industry.
FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF NASA’S NEW SPACECRAFT FOR HUMAN EXPLORATION:
Twitter twitter.com/NASA_Orion
Facebook facebook.com/NASAOrion
Flickr flickr.com/NASAOrion
Tumblr NASAOrion.tumblr.com
WHAT IS ARTEMIS? Learn about Artemis, the namesake for Orion’s flights that will push the boundaries of human exploration forward to the Moon.
Read here: https://go.nasa.gov/2HOMOeG
SPACELAUNCHSYSTEMH I G H L I G H T S
M A Y 2 0 1 9
A MAJOR MILESTONE
FOR AMERICA’S ROCKET
www.nasa.gov
The SLS core stage’s “forward join” (forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and intertank) was connected to the liquid hydrogen tank to assemble most of the massive core stage that will propel the rocket on the Artemis 1 mission to the Moon.
CORE STAGE COMPONENTS COME TOGETHER
NASA and lead contractor Boeing achieved a significant milestone in manufacturing the first large, complex core stage that will help power the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on upcoming missions to the Moon.
Crews recently joined the rocket’s massive liquid hydrogen tank with the “forward join” – the forward skirt, liquid oxygen tank and intertank. And with the torquing of 360 bolts, four-fifths of the SLS’s 212-foot core stage is
assembled and ready to be joined to the engine section. When the core stage is complete, it will be the largest rocket stage the agency has built since the Saturn V stages that first sent humans to the Moon 50 years ago. SLS will be capable of sending NASA’s Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Read the full story: go.nasa.gov/2XtDK44
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WHAT’S NEW IN SLS SOCIAL MEDIA
ROCKET SCIENCE IN 60 SECONDS
What is the SLS? How will NASA’s most powerful rocket move astronauts to the Moon – to stay – in 2024? Rocket Science in 60 Seconds gives you an inside look at work being done at NASA to explore deep space.
Watch the latest Rocket Science video here: bit.ly/2ZcoBEY
I AM BUILDING SLS: JEFF ADAMSFor Jeff Adams, building rockets is a family affair. He spent part of his childhood in Titusville, Florida, watching historic Apollo launches while his father worked for Boeing fueling the first stages of the Saturn launch vehicles. Today, Jeff is a civil engineer with SLS’s logistics engineering and transportation team, which moves full-scale test hardware from Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Marshall Space Flight Center for structural testing.
Read the full story: go.nasa.gov/2WziSve
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SLS ON THE ROAD
ASTRONAUT, OFFICIALS VISIT MICHIGAN SUPPLIER FUTURAMICJosh Cassada presents a Silver Snoopy Award to Matthew Ososky, a 40-year employee of Futuramic. Silver Snoopy Awards are presented by astronauts to individuals who make outstanding contributions to the human space flight program.
Learn more about how Futuramic is getting SLS ready for launch: go.nasa.gov/2MlHNi1
Astronaut Josh Cassada presented a Space Flight Awareness Supplier Award to Futuramic employees. Futuramic is one of 78 Michigan companies supporting NASA’s return to the Moon by supplying parts for SLS.
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LUNAR ICECUBE TEAM COMPLETES SAFETY REVIEW, VIEWS TEST HARDWAREWith the completion of its Phase 3 safety review in May, Morehead State University’s Lunar IceCube secondary payload is one step closer to integration with the SLS vehicle and launch to the Moon as part of Artemis 1, the first flight of SLS and Orion. Following the checkpoint meeting, the team viewed the enormous SLS liquid hydrogen fuel tank and intertank structural test articles. One of 13 secondary payloads manifested on Artemis 1, Lunar IceCube will search for water on the Moon in solid, liquid and vapor forms.
Read more about Lunar IceCube: go.nasa.gov/2cePSTM
SPACEFLIGHT PARTNERS: Tayco Engineering, Inc.NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 20
LOCATION: Cypress, California
WHAT THEY DO FOR SLS: Tayco Engineering designs and manufactures multiple components for SLS, including temperature sensors and heaters.
FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF NASA’S NEW LAUNCH VEHICLE FOR DEEP SPACE:Twitter twitter.com/NASA_SLS Facebook facebook.com/NASASLS
National Aeronautics andSpace Administration
EXPLORATIONGROUNDSYSTEMSH I G H L I G H T S
M A Y 2 0 1 9
AA-2 Preps Good Test Run for Artemis 1
www.nasa.gov
The test version of Orion attached to the Launch Abort System for the Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test exits the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 22, 2019. The flight test article will make the 21.5 mile trek to Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The launch is planned for July 2 and is a critical safety test that helps pave the way for Artemis missions near the Moon, and will enable astronauts to set foot on the lunar surface by 2024. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
ASCENT ABORT-2 PREPARATIONS ‘A REALLY GOOD TEST RUN’ FOR ARTEMIS 1
NASA is gearing up for a test of the system that will help keep astronauts safe when traveling to the Moon aboard agency’s Orion spacecraft. The Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test will put Orion’s launch abort system (LAS) to work in a high-flying, fast-paced trial without crew aboard.
The test paves the way for Artemis 2, the first flight of astronauts aboard Orion and the powerful new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on a mission to carry humans around the Moon for the first time in half a century. Following Artemis 2, NASA will send the first woman and next man to step foot on the Moon in 2024. For NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) and Jacobs Test and Operations Contract (TOSC) teams, preparations for AA-2 also have provided invaluable opportunities to prepare for Artemis 1, the uncrewed first flight of SLS and Orion.
“AA-2 is really a ‘first-flow’ mission,” said Sean Arrieta, NASA EGS element operations manager in the Launch Abort System Facility (LASF), where the Orion crew module flight test article was integrated with the protective payload fairing and launch abort tower. This process marked the first time both elements were prepared using the same sequence and procedures that will be used going forward, providing valuable experience for the team.
The entire test will last about three minutes, but the teamwork and lessons honed during the months leading up to it will benefit Artemis missions for years to come.
Currently slated for July 2, the AA-2 flight test will lift off from Space Launch Complex 46 at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an abort test booster provided by Northrop Grumman. The booster will send a test version of the Orion spacecraft with the launch abort system to an altitude of about six miles traveling at more than 1,000 miles per hour. The abort motor will quickly whisk the crew module away from the booster, and the attitude control motor will maneuver the assembly into position to jettison the crew module.
Read the complete story at https://go.nasa.gov/2Xosciy.
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ORION FLIGHT TEST ARTICLE READY FOR ASCENT ABORT-2
The flight test article for Orion’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test passes by the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on its 21.5-mile-trek to Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 22, 2019. Photo credit: NASA/Frank Michaux
The 46,000-pound flight test article that will be used for a test of Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) was lifted and mated to its transportation pallet inside the Launch Abort System Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 18, 2019. The flight test article includes the Orion test article, a separation ring created for this test, and the LAS. This operation marked the completion of the flight test article integration and checkout operations necessary for NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test scheduled for July.
AA-2 will demonstrate the abort system can activate, steer the spacecraft, and carry astronauts to a safe distance if an emergency arises during Orion’s climb to orbit as the spacecraft faces the greatest aerodynamic pressure during ascent. AA-2 is an important test to verify Orion’s design to safely carry astronauts on deep space missions as NASA works to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024
FLIGHT TEST ARTICLE MOVES TO LAUNCH PAD 46Engineers rolled a test version of the Orion spacecraft integrated with the Launch Abort System for the Ascent Abort-2 flight test from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Abort System Facility to Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in preparation for its launch this summer.
The team will stack all the AA-2 elements together at the launch pad over the next several weeks. During the fight, planned for July 2, a test version of Orion will launch on a booster to more than six miles in altitude, where Orion’s launch abort system will pull the capsule and its crew away to safety if an emergency occurs during ascent on the Space Launch System rocket. The test helps pave the way for Artemis missions at the Moon and will enable astronauts to set foot on the lunar surface by 2024.
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SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHTPRECISION MECHANICAL, INC.
Precision Mechanical is based in Cocoa, Florida. The company has about 100 workers at Kennedy Space Center, including 56 drivers and more than 40 others on site to perform logistics, testing, inspection and pouring concrete.
The company poured the concrete foundation for the new liquid hydrogen sphere at Launch Pad 39B. About 100 truckloads of concrete, approximately 1,050 cubic years were transported to the center to form the foundation. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing upgrades and improvements to Pad B.
The foundation will support the new storage facility that will hold 1.25 million gallons of liquid hydrogen propellant for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. SLS is designed to send Orion on Artemis 1, an approximately three-week test mission thousands of miles beyond the Moon.
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Construction workers pour the concrete base for the new liquid hydrogen tank at Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The storage facility will hold 1.25 million gallons of the propellant for the agency’s Space Launch System rocket designed to boost the agency’s Orion spacecraft, sending humans to the Moon. Exploration Ground Systems is overseeing upgrades to the pad. Photo credit: NASA
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, at the podium, speaks to members of the news media at the NASA News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on May 23, 2019. At left is Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana. News media were at the center for an Apollo 11 Media Day. They toured several facilities, including the Vehicle Assembly and Launch Complex 39B for a look back at the Apollo missions and a look ahead to NASA’s new Moon 2024 initiative, the Artemis 1 mission and the Gateway lunar outpost. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine speaks to students, faculty, engineers and area business leaders at Florida Institute of Technology on Thursday, May 23, 2019. Bridenstine delivered the keynote address at the Melbourne, Florida, campus during the university’s Space Technology Day. Among the key topics Bridenstine discussed was NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon, including the lunar Gateway, which will serve as an orbiting outpost for astronauts. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
www.nasa.gov
NP-2019-06-1847-KSC
FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF NASA’S EGS PROGRAM:
NASA EGS Blog blogs.nasa.gov/groundsystems
Twitter twitter.com/NASAGroundSys
Facebook facebook.com/NASAGroundSystems/