Two Years Added To Design Phase, Other Changes
In an announcement Saturday, NASA revealed the agency has
modified its contract with Lockheed Martin to design, test, and
build the Orion crew exploration vehicle... a move that will push
the first delivery of an Orion capsule to December 2013 from
August 2011.
According to NASA, two years were added to the design phase of
the Orion vehicle; two test flights of Orion's launch abort system
were added; and production of a pressurized cargo carrier for the
International Space Station (ISS) were removed from the initial
design phase.
A fourth component of the contract modification provides for use
of surplus raw materials for Orion; surplus raw materials such as
aluminum-lithium ingots are currently used in the construction of
space shuttle fuel tanks.
"NASA and Lockheed have been working together as a team during
the past six months to iron out many critical design and schedule
details," said Skip Hatfield, manager the Orion Project at NASA's
Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This contract update will
synchronize our spending plan with the rest of the Constellation
Program."
The update is the result of a NASA request for engineering
change proposal issued Dec. 15, 2006. Lockheed Martin's proposal
was received March 7, 2007. The contract modification was signed
April 20.
Under new terms, the first manned Orion flight is now
scheduled for March 2015... which will leave NASA without manned
spaceflight capability for nearly five years, after the retirement
of the space shuttles in 2010.
As ANN reported in February, even as
Orion hasn't left the drawing board, NASA has already extended
one of its missions... with agency officials saying the new
capsules will continue to fly to the International Space Station
until 2020... four years longer than originally planned.
The modification reflects continuing progress on Orion's
development, including program formulation and systems assessments
addressing the rocket, ground infrastructure, and all other
elements necessary for a successful first launch. The period of
performance now matches the evolving NASA budget landscape,
according to the release.
"The Orion team has made some critical decisions that will
maximize the performance and flexibility of this spacecraft," said
Jeff Hanley, manager of the Constellation Program at Johnson. "This
spacecraft will be a cornerstone of America's human exploration of
the solar system by a new generation of explorers, and these
changes and additional tests will ensure that it is robust enough
to accomplish its missions."
Meanwhile, work progresses as planned on the contract. NASA and
Lockheed Martin have completed Orion's systems requirements review
and are moving toward a systems design review scheduled in
August.
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