Mon, Feb 06, 2012
Achieves Two Key Milestones For CCDev Program
United Launch Alliance (ULA) says it has completed two key
milestones leading toward the certification of the Atlas V launch
vehicle for human spaceflight. ULA has successfully completed the
third and fourth milestones of its Commercial Crew Development
(CCDev) Unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA). In December, ULA
conducted a series of detailed reviews that reflected the
culmination of efforts involving technical experts and
representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).
ULA Atlas V File Photo
A Tailored System Requirements Review (TSRR) was successfully
conducted which summarized months of work with ULA and NASA. The
team reviewed the detailed evidence that demonstrates how the
existing, flight-proven Atlas V meets the intent of NASA's Human
Spaceflight Certification requirements. The team paid particular
emphasis to requirements traceability, verification and
certification planning. Because Atlas V is already certified to fly
the nation's most complex exploration and national security
missions, ULA was able to provide a wealth of detailed system and
sub-system analysis, qualification, certification, and flight data
resulting from 28 successful missions.
"The TSRR was the result of an extensive effort with NASA and
our commercial spacecraft partners during which we cooperatively
reviewed the details of Atlas V design, analyses and operations,"
said George Sowers, ULA's vice president of business development
and advanced programs. "This was the first time that we were able
to share detailed Atlas V design and flight data with NASA Human
Spaceflight experts."
A Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) Review also was conducted
to evaluate safety-critical launch vehicle systems. This included
the details of existing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
data, Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) results, explosion
modeling analyses, system hazard analyses and fault coverage
assessments. The PSA leveraged similar data developed in support of
Atlas V launches of critical NASA missions including Pluto New
Horizons, Juno and the Mars Science Laboratory.
As NASA moves forward with the Commercial Crew development
Program, ULA plans to offer human-certified Atlas launch services
to meet the needs for the crew transportation system providers.
"The Commercial Crew Development Program is on a path to create a
robust commercial crew transportation capability to low-Earth orbit
(LEO). ULA looks forward to continued work with our spacecraft
customers and NASA to develop an early U.S. crew space
transportation capability providing safe, reliable, and
cost-effective access to LEO and the International Space Station,"
Sowers said.
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