Fwd: Orion begins final assembly for test flight

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: May 25, 2014 2:07:00 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Orion begins final assembly for test flight

 

Orion begins final assembly for test flight

James Dean, Brevard 12:09 a.m. EDT May 25, 2014

 

(Photo: Boeing)

At Kennedy Space Center, Lockheed Martin personnel have begun attaching a test version of NASA's Orion exploration capsule to the largest spacecraft heat shield ever built.

The step marks the start of Orion's final assembly for its first test flight into orbit, planned in December from Cape Canaveral on a Delta IV Heavy rocket.

"This team has done a great job keeping us on track for Orion's first test flight," said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager.

Additional steps include joining the crew module with the service module, connecting both to an adapter that will fit on the rocket, fueling of the spacecraft and adding a launch-abort system.

Exploration Flight Test-1 will send Orion more than 3,000 miles from Earth, setting up a 20,000 mph re-entry through the atmosphere exposing the capsule to 4,000-degree heat.

Launch of Exploration Flight Test-1 had been planned in the fall, but NASA gave up its launch slot to a Department of Defense mission. NASA has said it hopes to have Orion ready if an earlier launch date becomes available, but the mission is tentatively targeting Dec. 4.

Boeing shows off capsule interior

Boeing will visit Kennedy Space Center on June 9 to discuss its CST-100 crew capsule, a contender to launch NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.

A media invitation offers a "boarding pass" to experience a capsule mockup and preview the "Commercial Crew Processing Facility" in which flight vehicles will be assembled in a renovated space shuttle hangar and engine shop.

The first ISS flights are targeted for 2017.

But Boeing recently also unveiled a capsule interior designed for non-NASA crews who would represent the real arrival of commercial spaceflight.

Rather than the utilitarian jumble of buttons and switches familiar in the shuttle and other spacecraft cockpits, an image shows sleek, cushioned seats, curving consoles and a soothing blue sky scene that "helps passengers maintain their connection with Earth," according to a press release.

Boeing said the design built on its experience with commercial airliners, such as the Boeing 787

"We are moving into a truly commercial space market and we have to consider our potential customers — beyond NASA — and what they need in a future commercial spacecraft interior," said Chris Ferguson, a former shuttle astronaut who directs Crew and Mission Operations for Boeing's Commercial Crew Program.

Those commercial astronauts could launch to private space stations planned by Bigelow Aerospace, which recently showed off a full-scale model of its BA-330 station.

SpaceX launch is planned June 11

Next up: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket hopes to send six commercial satellites into orbit on June 11.

Contact Dean at 321-252-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com

 

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