Lockheed-Martin Designed Spacecraft On Its Way To Colorado
The first Orion crew module spacecraft structure was shipped out
Thursday from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, LA,
on its way to Lockheed Martin's Denver, CO. facilities. There, it
will undergo a series of rigorous tests to confirm Orion's ability
to safely fly astronauts through all the harsh environments of deep
space exploration missions.
Orion Spacecraft Being Readied For Shipping
Soon after the spacecraft arrives in Denver, it will be
integrated with the heat shield and thermal protection backshell
before undergoing environmental testing. This crew module will also
go through a series of simulated landing scenarios at Langley's new
Hydro Impact Basin. The Langley facility will be used to test,
validate and certify water landings for all human-rated spacecraft
for NASA.
"This is a significant milestone for the Orion project and puts
us on the right path toward achieving the President's objective of
Orion's first crewed mission by 2016," said Cleon Lacefield,
Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. "Orion's
upcoming performance tests will demonstrate how the spacecraft
meets the challenges of deep-space mission environments such as
ascent, launch abort, on-orbit operations, high-speed return
trajectory, parachute deployment, and water landings in a variety
of sea states."
Orion Abort System Test
Built to spaceflight specifications, this Orion ground test
vehicle has already validated advanced production processes,
equipment and tools required to manufacture the Orion crew module
space flight hardware. Data collected from the testing and
pathfinding operations will be incorporated to enhance design,
requirements, tooling, processes, inspection and test that will
ultimately result in a safe, reliable and affordable human-rated
space exploration vehicle. Orion has passed critical human-rating
milestones, including a flawless flight test of its launch abort
system and the successful phase one safety review, which validated
that the spacecraft meets many of NASA's stringent requirements for
safe human spaceflight.
The Orion spacecraft will be comprised of a crew module for crew
and cargo transport; a service module for propulsion, electrical
power and fluids storage; a spacecraft adapter for securing it to a
launch vehicle, and a launch abort system that will significantly
improve crew safety.
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