Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana gave a spirited defense of NASA’s turn toward commercial space operations earlier this week, saying the space agency would not block a proposed commercial launch complex on land it controls at the Shiloh site:

“If it works out that that’s the right thing to do, we’ll make sure that the land is available for them to do that,” he said.

Asked if NASA was an advocate for the proposed Shiloh launch complex, Cabana said it was a state initiative.

“Space Florida feels that they need that site for a launch pad,” he said. “And if they can prove that that’s what is required and it’s supported, I support it.”

Meanwhile, NASA is also trying to interest companies in its two pads at Launch Complex 39, one of which is mothballed and the other being readied for NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.

“The goal here is to bring commercial companies to the Cape in the best way possible,” Cabana said. “And I will do whatever is required to get those companies utilizing assets, what we have here, to make commercial operations a reality at the Cape.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has began an environmental assessment of the site, which includes the former citrus community of Shiloh.The commercial launch complex would be used by SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Blue Origin also has expressed an interest in using the site for its reusable launch vehicles.

SpaceX also is considering locations in Texas, Georgia and Puerto Rico. The Texas site, located near Brownsville, is generally considered to be the front runner. The FAA has completed a preliminary environmental impact statement on site that recommends approving the land for use as a launch site. The Texas Legislature also has approved a bill allowing for the closing of a local beach on launch day.

The location of 150-acre Shiloh site could pose a significant obstacle to building a launch complex there:

Shiloh is surrounded by the healthiest part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally celebrated mosaic of heavy industry and delicate environment that contains Kennedy Space Center in its southern half and some of the country’s richest bird life in the northern extent that includes Shiloh….

With a federal assessment of the launch-complex proposal now unfolding, some of the state’s most-active environmental groups have made it a priority to defeat Space Florida’s plans by ensuring that future rocket launches continue to take place at KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station….

Clay Henderson, an Audubon activist and founder of the Friends of Canaveral, a seashore-conservation group, said local opinion about Shiloh may be swayed by recent job losses. But nationwide opinion about a national treasure is what matters most, he said.

He is pushing for the U.S. Interior Department, overseer of federal refuges and parks, to take a formal role in the Shiloh assessment and not leave that task to the FAA only.

“We have no confidence FAA will address any environmental concerns,” Henderson said. “They never met a bird they didn’t want to kill.”

The Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are under the jurisdiction of the Air Force’s Eastern Test Range, which is viewed as slow and bureaucratic. Commercial launches from these facilities are also subject to being bumped by national security flights.

SpaceX likes the Shiloh site because it would be outside the Eastern Test Range’s jurisdiction. The company would launch commercial payloads from there but continue to launch government missions from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Dream Chaser cockpit simulator. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

HAMPTON, Va. (NASA PR) – A group of NASA astronauts will be at NASA’s Langley Research Center this week to fly in a simulator that is being used to help evaluate the subsonic handling characteristics of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems’ Dream Chaser spacecraft.
The simulation is of an approach to — and landing at — Edwards Air Force Base in California — the final 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and 60 seconds of a future Dream Chaser flight. The astronauts will evaluate how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions as well as assess its guidance and navigation performance.

NASA Langley developed the flight control laws that are being used in its motion-based Research Flight Deck simulator, while Draper Laboratory engineers in Houston, Texas, and Cambridge, Mass., developed the guidance and navigation system software.

Reporters are invited to observe a simulation on Thursday, May 16, at 2 p.m.

The Dream Chaser is based on Langley’s Horizontal Lander (HL-20) lifting body vehicle design. HL-20 was a successor to the earlier HL-10 lifting body reentry vehicle concept developed by Langley during the 1960s, but was influenced by a Soviet era space plane design. Langley engineers had devised a development plan for the HL-20 in the 1980s and 90s, creating pilot landing scenarios in simulators, testing designs in wind tunnels and even building a full-scale model — with the help of universities — to study crew challenges.

The control laws being used in the current simulation were refined for the HL-20, but Langley engineers say they date back to research done during the development of the Space Shuttle in the 1970s.

SNC is developing its Dream Chaser Space System under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers.

NASA Langley has collaborated with SNC in the design and development of the Dream Chaser Space System for six years.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:

www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

For more information about NASA’s Langley Research Center, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/langley

SNC’s Dream Chaser test flight craft is hauled across the bed of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on May 15. (Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida)

By Candrea Thomas
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser flight vehicle arrived at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway landing systems.

The tests are part of pre-negotiated, paid-for-performance milestones with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is facilitating U.S.-led companies’ development of spacecraft and rockets that can launch from American soil. The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Tests at Dryden will include tow, captive-carry and free-flight tests of the Dream Chaser. A truck will tow the craft down a runway to validate performance of the nose strut, brakes and tires. The captive-carry flights will further examine the loads it will encounter during flight as it is carried by an Erickson Skycrane helicopter. The free flight later this year will test Dream Chaser’s aerodynamics through landing.

Meanwhile, on the east coast, several NASA astronauts will be at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., this week to fly simulations of a Dream Chaser approach and landing to help evaluate the spacecraft’s subsonic handling. The test will measure how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions and assess its guidance and navigation performance.

“Unique public-private partnerships like the one between NASA and Sierra Nevada Corporation are creating an industry capable of building the next generation of rockets and spacecraft that will carry U.S. astronauts to the scientific proving ground of low-Earth orbit,” said William Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for human exploration and operations in Washington. “NASA centers around the country paved the way for 50 years of American human spaceflight, and they’re actively working with our partners to test innovative commercial space systems that will continue to ensure American leadership in exploration and discovery.”

The Dream Chaser Space System is based on Langley’s Horizontal Lander HL-20 lifting body design concept. The design builds on years of analysis and wind tunnel testing by Langley engineers during the 1980s and 1990s. Langley and SNC joined forces six years ago to update the HL-20 design in the Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle. In those years SNC has worked to refine the spacecraft design. SNC will continue to test models in Langley wind tunnels. Langley researchers also helped develop a cockpit simulator at SNC’s facility in Louisville, Colo., and the flight simulations being assessed at the center.

NASA is partnered with SNC, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and The Boeing Company to meet CCP milestones for integrated crew transportation systems under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. Advances made by these companies under their funded Space Act Agreements ultimately are intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial companies.

While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar system.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Credit: Paramount Pictures

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – The director, a writer and some actors in the film “Star Trek Into Darkness” will join NASA as it hosts a Google+ Hangout from noon to 12:45 p.m. EDT, May 16, about how work aboard the International Space Station is turning science fiction into reality.

Google+ Hangouts allow as many as 10 people or groups to chat face-to-face, while thousands more can tune in to watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube.
The hangout also will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Participating in the hangout will be NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy, who currently is living and working aboard the space station; astronauts Michael Fincke and Kjell Lindgren at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; director J.J. Abrams, screenwriter and producer Damon Lindelof; and stars of the film, Chris Pine, Alice Eve and John Cho.

The participants will ask questions of each other and take questions from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City (home of the space shuttle Enterprise), the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, and social media followers.

Cassidy will provide insights about life aboard the station. Crews conduct a variety of science experiments and perform station maintenance during their six-month stay on the outpost. Their life in weightlessness requires different approaches to everyday activities such as eating, sleeping and exercising.

NASA’s social media followers may submit video questions prior to the hangout. Several video questions will be selected and answered by astronauts and the movie cast. Unique and original questions are more likely to be selected.

The deadline to submit video questions is 3 a.m. Wednesday, May 15. To be considered, video clips must be no longer than 30 seconds and uploaded to YouTube and tagged with #askNASA. Submitters should introduce themselves and mention their location before asking their question.

NASA also will take questions submitted leading up to and during the event by fans on YouTube, Google+, Twitter and Facebook using #askNASA. On the morning of the event, NASA will open a thread on its Facebook page where questions may be posted.

The hangout may be viewed live on NASA’s Google+ page, the NASA Television YouTube channel, or NASA TV. To join the hangout, and for updates and opportunities to participate in upcoming hangouts, visit the NASA’s Google+ page at:

http://www.google.com/+NASA

For information about connecting and collaborating with NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/connect

 For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

In 2005, Fincke made a guest appearance on the series finale of the television series “Star Trek: Enterprise.” For more information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/Astros_on_StarTrek.html

For more information on Cassidy, Fincke and Lindgren, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cassidy-cj.html

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/fincke.html

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lindgren-kn.html

For information about the space station, research in low-Earth orbit, NASA’s commercial space programs and the future of American spaceflight, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

Dream Chaser flight vehicle prepares for
shipment to NASA Dryden.(Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

Sparks, NV, May 13, 2013 (SNC PR) – Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems has completed assembly and testing of the Dream Chaser® spacecraft in preparation for shipping the flight vehicle from SNC’s Space Systems headquarters in Louisville, Colo., to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Upon arrival at NASA Dryden, the Dream Chaser will continue a series of tests, including runway tow, ground resonance, and a captive carry flight. These tests will be completed before the Dream Chaser flight vehicle’s first autonomous free flight Approach and Landing Test (ALT).

“NASA Dryden has always played a vital role in the testing of American flight vehicles,” said Mark Sirangelo head of SNC’s Space Systems “As the Dream Chaser program takes flight, this unique opportunity to conduct our tests at the same location as the Space Shuttle begin its flight brings great pride to our team. We are one step closer to returning U.S. astronauts on a U.S. vehicle to the International Space Station and in doing so continuing the long standing and proud legacy that was the Space Shuttle program.”

The flight tests will help SNC to determine the glide and landing characteristics of the Dream Chaser, the only lifting body vehicle funded under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. A similar program was completed for the iconic Space Shuttle in 1977 at NASA Dryden when the Space Shuttle Enterprise conducted an ALT as a critical flight test milestone.

In describing the test series Jim Voss, SNC’s vice president of Space Exploration Systems said, “This will be the first full scale flight test of the Dream Chaser lifting body and will demonstrate the unique capability of our spacecraft to land on a runway. Other flight tests will follow to validate the aerodynamic data used to control the vehicle in the atmosphere when it returns from space. This is a huge step forward for the SNC and NASA teams towards providing our nation with safe and reliable transportation to the International Space Station.”

About Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Space Systems business area headquartered in Louisville, Colo., designs and manufactures advanced spacecraft, space vehicles, rocket motors and spacecraft subsystems and components for the US Government, commercial customers as well as for the international market. SNC’s Space Systems has more than 25 years of space heritage in space and has participated in over 400 successful space missions through the delivery of over 4,000 systems, subsystems and components. During its history, SNC’s Space Systems has concluded over 70 programs for NASA and over 50 other clients.

For more information about SS visit www.sncspace.com.

About Sierra Nevada Corporation

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), headquartered in Sparks, Nev., is one of America’s fastest growing private companies based on its significant expansion and reputation for rapid, innovative, and agile technology solutions in electronics, aerospace, avionics, space, propulsion, micro-satellite, aircraft, communications systems and solar energy. Under the leadership of CEO Fatih Ozmen and President Eren Ozmen, SNC employs over 2,500 people in 30 locations in 16 states. SNC’s six unique business areas are dedicated to providing leading-edge solutions to SNC’s dynamic customer base.

SNC is also the Top Woman-Owned Federal Contractor in the United States. Over the last 30 years under the Ozmen’s leadership, SNC has remained focused on providing its customers the very best in diversified technologies to meet their needs and has a strong and proven track record of success. The company continues to focus its growth on the commercial sector through internal advancements and outside acquisitions, including the emerging markets of renewable energy, telemedicine, nanotechnology, cyber and net-centric operations.

For more information on SNC visit www.sncorp.com.

The Morpheus vehicle. (Credit: Kris Kehea)

JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, TX (NASA PR) — The roar of a 5,000 pound rocket engine has returned to the Johnson Space Center. The Morpheus team has completed the build-up of our “Bravo” vehicle, conducted numerous integrated tests, and has now stepped into our flight test program. We are picking up where we left off – in fact we never stopped working.

We have completed our first major milestone in conducting a 50-second static hot fire of the main engine in the vehicle, including simultaneous demonstration of thrust vector control (TVC) and integrated methane reaction control system (RCS) jet firings. Thrust vector control is used to balance and fly the vehicle, while the RCS jets are used to keep the vehicle pointed in the correct direction. We will step into dynamic tethered flights soon, in preparation for our return to KSC this summer.

The knowledge and insight we gained over the 27 test firings of the previous vehicle are fully incorporated into the testing we’re beginning now. Although a hardware failure led to the loss of the original vehicle last August, the failure and our internal investigation gave us valuable insight into areas that needed improvement. The vehicle may look largely the same as the previous version, but there are numerous changes that have been incorporated. We have now implemented 70 different upgrades to the vehicle and ground systems to both address potential contributors to the test failure, and also to improve operability and maintainability.

Over the past eight months, team members have redesigned and implemented cost-effective improvements such as advanced engine performance capabilities (while recovering and reusing some primary engine components from the previous vehicle), enhanced communication protocols, redundant instrumentation where appropriate, increased structural margins, and mitigated launch vibroacoustic environments.

We are still a lean development, rapid prototype project with specific objectives for testing technologies in relevant flight environments. We continue to carry vehicle risks with us into every test – but they are informed risks. We choose to not spend the time and money to eliminate all risks because we would not be able to afford any of the testing we do. And we will continue to learn and advance through each test, successful or otherwise.

The Orion crew module is secured on the static load test fixture in preparation for a series of tests that will simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. (Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

by Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

Completely surrounded by a massive 20-foot-high structure called the crew module static load test fixture, the Orion crew module is being put through a series of tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission.

Orion is NASA’s new exploration spacecraft, designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. During its first flight test next year, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), it will travel 3,600 miles into space and return to Earth. This will allow NASA to evaluate Orion’s performance in preparation for future deep space journeys.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems began static loads testing May 3 on the Orion EFT-1 crew module inside the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Technicians will use hydraulic cylinders to slowly apply pressure to various areas of the vehicle to simulate the loads it will be exposed to at different phases of the mission.

The tests will run throughout May and June, with different phases simulating launch, ascent, launch abort, launch abort system separation, reentry and landing. Lockheed Martin is conducting the tests based on a set of prototype flight requirements.

“We perform these tests to ensure the structural integrity of the crew module,” said Carlos Garcia, a test engineer in the Orion Production Office at Kennedy.

During the months and weeks leading up to the static tests, NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians configured Orion for its placement on the test fixture and staged the associated equipment and hardware that would be needed to verify Orion is one step closer to being flight ready.

The pressurized crew module will be put through a series of eight different load tests, each one taking up to three days to complete. Each test will focus on a different area of the crew module and require a different configuration of the hydraulic actuators that are attached to it.

“The first four tests represent the ascent regime and the last four represent the re-entry flight regime,” Garcia said.

One of the tests also will allow engineers to test repairs they made to cracks in the crew module’s aluminum bulkhead that occurred last November. The cracks appeared as the vehicle was being pressurized for a proof pressure test aimed at verifying the vehicle’s structural integrity and validating engineering models used to design it.

Repairs were made to the vehicle, and the series of tests provides an opportunity to repeat the proof pressure tests to ensure that they will hold, according to Garcia.

More than 1,600 strain gauges have been attached to Orion’s external surface and inside the crew module to verify the crew cabin structure. Cameras have been placed around Orion to record any movement during the load tests.

Several other sensors have been attached at various locations around and beneath Orion to measure any deflection or expansion during the repeat of the proof pressure test.

“The set of tests are critical to build the foundation for the future of spaceflight,” said Steve Cook, the Lockheed Martin Project Orion mechanical test engineer lead. “We learn from our successes and challenges.”

Lockheed Martin and NASA engineers will monitor the tests from the completely refurbished lower level of the high bay, called the “tunnel,” as its control room to fully execute the tests and compare the results with stress model predictions.

The Operations and Checkout Building serves as the final assembly and checkout facility for Orion.

EFT-1 is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in 2014. The agency’s Space Launch System rocket will begin launching Orion in 2017.

For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser shuttle. (Credit: Sierra Nevada)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., has completed its first major, comprehensive safety review of its Dream Chaser Space System. This is the company’s latest paid-for-performance milestone with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U.S. astronauts from American soil in the next few years.

The Integrated Systems Safety Analysis Review provided NASA with hazard reports and safety and reliability plans for the major components of the company’s integrated crew transportation system, including the Dream Chaser spacecraft, United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, and flight and ground systems.

“Safety review milestones are critical to ensuring safety and reliability techniques and methods are incorporated into space systems design,” said Ed Mango, NASA’s CCP manager. “NASA’s participation in these reviews provides our partners with critical design experiences from past human spaceflight activities.”

SNC is developing its Dream Chaser Space System under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers.

“Dream Chaser is making substantial progress toward flight with the help of our NASA team,” said Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC’s Space Systems. “The ability to openly exchange information through the work on these CCiCap milestones is invaluable for many reasons, such as communicating Dream Chaser development plans and receiving timely feedback from NASA, all of which help to improve our design and maximize safety and reliability. As we begin our flight test program we have a better and stronger program due to our partnership with NASA.”

A Dream Chaser engineering test craft is being prepared for shipment to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in California this month for its first free-flight test later this year at the center. The test will provide data on the winged spacecraft’s aerodynamic performance during approach and landing on a traditional runway.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

Editor’s Note: Sierra Nevada is running significantly behind on flight testing. The original plan was to conduct flights tests of the Dream Chaser engineering test article in April. The milestones and schedule is shown below.

Sierra Nevada Commercial Crew Milestones

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) –

The work under this firm fixed-price $20.7 million contract will begin in June and be completed in 18 months.

The mobile launcher is located at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Kennedy is expanding its capabilities to support the SLS rocket and ground support infrastructure. The modifications will enable the mobile launcher to meet vehicle processing deadlines and the launch manifest for SLS.

SLS’ first launch is scheduled for 2017. It will be a flight test to send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft into lunar orbit. NASA’s asteroid initiative, proposed in the agency’s budget request for fiscal year 2014, would use SLS and Orion to send astronauts to study a small asteroid that will have been redirected robotically to a stable orbit near the moon.

Midwest Steel Inc. of Detroit will be a major subcontractor to J.P. Donovan Construction.

For more information about NASA missions and programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

A test of the Saturn V first stage, S-1C-5, is conducted on Aug. 25, 1967, at Stennis Space Center. (Credit: NASA/SSC)

Stennis Space Center, MS (NASA PR) – Before NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) flies to space on its inaugural mission in 2017, it will fly in place at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, originally built to test Saturn rocket stages that propelled humans to the moon, is being completely renovated to test the SLS core stage in late 2016 and early 2017. The SLS stage, with four RS-25 rocket engines, will be installed on the stand for propellant fill and drain testing and two hot fire tests.

“These tests will help us understand how the spacecraft and engines behave and provide critical information for ensuring mission safety,” said Rick Rauch, manager of the B-2 Test Stand Restoration, Buildout and Test Project. “After all, if there are problems, it’s better to address them on the ground than in the air.”

An Apollo Saturn S-IC rocket stage is removed from the B-1/B-2 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center on Aug. 28, 1968. (Credit: NASA/SSC)

NASA is developing the SLS to send humans deeper into space than ever before — to places like an asteroid and Mars. The SLS will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft and other payloads from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The SLS program is managed at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The first test flight of SLS will be in 2017. The rocket will send an uncrewed Orion spacecraft around the moon.

Stennis engineers were asked early in the SLS development process to determine the cost of restoring the B-2 stand to the condition needed for green run testing of the spacecraft’s core stage. A green run is the first time the engines are assembled into a single configuration with the core stage and fired at nearly full-power. This will test the compatibility and functionality of the system to ensure a safe and viable design.

The team spent 18 months conducting structural, mechanical and electrical system evaluations to assess the work needed since Apollo- and space shuttle-era testing.

Once the decision was made to proceed with core stage testing, Stennis engineers began converting original hand-drawn facility blueprints into computer models so design work could be completed. The actual renovation work was divided into three phases: restoration, buildout and special test equipment.

“In the first phase, we are restoring the test facility to its original design condition, where it could be used to test any number of stages,” Rauch explained. “In the second phase, we will focus on building out the stand specifically to accommodate the SLS core stage. Then, in the third phase, we will complete the structural, mechanical and electrical interfaces required to test the core stage.”

The B-1/B-2 Test Stand is a dual-position, vertical, static-firing structure built at Stennis Space Center in the 1960s. (Credit: NASA/SSC)

Each phase involves assessment, design and contractor support. In the end, no area of the stand will be left untouched, including all structural areas, as well as supporting mechanical, electrical and piping systems. The fundamental design of the stand will not be changed since it originally was built to test rocket stages.

However, the SLS stage is different from the Saturn stages and the space shuttle main propulsion test article installed and fired on the stand in earlier years. It is taller, standing 212 feet. To lift the stage into place, the derrick crane atop the stand must be extended 50 feet. The stand’s weight and thrust takeout structures also must be modified, and a higher support frame must be erected. The process will involve repositioning an existing 1.2 million pound frame about 20 feet and building a new 100-foot-tall superstructure atop it.

“The teams at the Stennis Space Center are doing a great job preparing the B-2 facility,” said John Rector, SLS Stages Green Run test manager at Marshall. “We’re on track to begin testing there in 2016. It’s an exciting time for NASA as we establish a new national capability for future space exploration.” Demolition work began on several test stand levels late last summer. Structural restoration has begun. Work is to be completed in time for delivery of the SLS core stage in 2016, with installation and testing to follow.

A technician works on a reaction control system pod at the Aerojet facility in Redmond, Wash. The pod is one of eight that will be installed on the Orion crew module for Exploration Flight Test-1 and provide the critical maneuvers necessary for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.(Credit: Aerojet)

By Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

The last of eight reaction control system (RCS) pods for NASA’s Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) arrived this week at Kennedy Space Center’s Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) from the manufacturer, Aerojet, in Redmond, Wash.

“Arrival of the final reaction control system pod marks a significant milestone as we prepare NASA’s Orion crew module for its first flight test,” said Glenn Chinn, the deputy manager of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Program in Kennedy’s Orion Production Operations Office.

“The pods will provide the critical maneuvers necessary for Orion’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.”

The first set of pods arrived at Kennedy on Feb. 18, with subsequent pods arriving March 11, and April 5 and 19.

The right-roll thruster pod with two rocket engines was the last to arrive, and joined the other seven pods already in the facility. Included in the group are two pitch-up thruster pods with a single rocket engine; two pitch-down thruster pods, each with a single rocket engine; two right- and left-yaw pods, each with a single rocket engine, and a left roll thruster pod with two rocket engines.

Before the pods were delivered to Kennedy, Aerojet put each of them through a series of tests, including proof pressure and leak, engine vibration, rocket engine hot fire acceptance and electrical functional testing.

Astronaut Don Pettit watches as a technician works on the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at Kennedy Space Center on March 21. (Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis)

Lockheed Martin will unpack and visually inspect all of the pods. Then technicians will add short propellant line segments and line brackets to each.

Beginning in June, the pods will undergo additional proof pressure and leak testing, valve leak testing and rocket engine functional testing. Aerojet will support processing activities that involve the rocket engine pods with procedure reviews, and on-site engineering and assembly support during installation and testing on the crew module.

Aerojet Program Director for Human Space, Sam Wiley, said he can’t wait for the RCS pods to be installed onto the crew module.

“We put our heart into our products and the installation work will wrap up more than three years of design and development activities,” Wiley said. “We’re ready to support EFT-1 for flight.”

The pods and their engines will be installed in various locations on the Orion crew module.

Two of the single engine pods will be located in the crew module’s forward bay, with the remaining pods located in the aft bay. Together they will provide full attitude control during Orion’s re-entry and landing.

Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. The spacecraft will provide emergency abort capability, sustain crews during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep-space return velocities.

Orion’s first uncrewed test flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket.

MOJAVE, Calif. (Virgin Galactic PR) – Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, announced today that pilots Frederick “CJ” Sturckow and Michael “Sooch” Masucci have been selected to join its commercial flight team. As Virgin Galactic clears its final flight test program milestones with powered flight tests now under way, the necessary addition of new pilots will enable the company to meet the test schedule demands and prepare for subsequent commercial operations.

Sturckow, a veteran of four space shuttle missions and retired U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Colonel, is the first NASA astronaut to be hired into Galactic’s pilot corps. Masucci, a retired U.S. Air Force (USAF) Lieutenant Colonel, joins Virgin Galactic from XOJET Inc, a private airline company where he was a Citation X (CE750) Captain and Check Airman. Masucci and Sturckow will report to Chief Pilot David Mackay and Vice President of Operations Mike Moses at Virgin Galactic’s Mojave, Calif., location where they will conduct flight training and testing with Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo vehicles.

Sturckow has more than 26 years of military flight experience and has logged more than 1,200 hours in space. During his flight career, Sturckow logged over 6,500 flight hours, flew more than 60 different aircraft, and was chosen to attend the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). Selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps in December 1994, Sturckow flew on four space shuttle missions to the International Space Station. In 2009, after 25 years of active duty service, Sturckow retired from the USMC. Sturckow went on to serve as deputy chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office for the final shuttle missions, flying weather reconnaissance in the T-38 and Shuttle Training Aircraft for launch and landing.

“Viewing the Earth from space is such a unique and unforgettable experience,” Sturckow said. “I’m excited to be a part of the Virgin Galactic team that is revolutionizing access to space, making this opportunity a possibility for all.”

Masucci has more than 30 years of civilian and military operational and test flying experience with more than 9,000 flight hours in over 70 different airplane and glider types. A distinguished graduate of USAF pilot training in 1986, he completed USAF Test Pilot School in 1993 and went on to serve as a U-2 combat pilot in several important operations. He instructed in the F-16, T-38 and glider aircraft at the USAF Test Pilot School, while also serving as a Branch Chief. As a U-2 test pilot he was instrumental in the development and testing of the aircraft’s glass cockpit and power upgrade programs. In addition, Masucci has commanded USAF developmental and operational test units, as well as combat and training units.

“Virgin Galactic is truly a world-class organization with unique flight opportunities that you just won’t find anywhere else,” Masucci said. “I’m proud to be a part of this team and look forward to contributing to this revolutionary program.”

“I am pleased to have these two incredibly accomplished pilots join us during this important time as we embark on a series of important rocket-powered flight tests for SpaceShipTwo, ultimately testing the vehicle in space,” said Virgin Galactic President and CEO George Whitesides. “Their collective experience and outstanding performance in various demanding environments will make them invaluable assets to the Virgin Galactic team.”

Company continues to hire for ramp-up of commercial operations and spaceship manufacturing

If you have the passion to open commercial space travel to all, then Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company (TSC) want to hear from you. With open positions in production, engineering and more, TSC is looking for qualified applicants to build the Virgin Galactic fleet in Mojave, Calif. Virgin Galactic has technician and engineering openings, working at Spaceport America in New Mexico, as well as in Mojave and Pasadena, Calif. Qualified applicants should visit the careers section of both companies’ websites – Virgin Galactic careers and The Spaceship Company careers – to learn about these opportunities and submit applications.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. To date, the company has accepted more than $70 million in deposits from approximately 580 individuals, which is approximately 10% more than the total number of people who have ever gone to space. The new spaceship (SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier craft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic’s vehicle fleet by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles, which will be manufactured by Virgin Galactic in Mojave, Calif., share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers, or the equivalent scientific research payload, on suborbital space flights. The vehicles will allow an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience with astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space for tourist astronauts and a unique microgravity platform for researchers. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

An adapter for the Orion spacecraft under construction at the Marshall Center. (Credit: NASA/MSFC)

by Bill Hubscher
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

Welding engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., have had an extremely busy winter assembling adapters that will connect the Orion spacecraft to a Delta IV rocket for the initial test flight of Orion in 2014. The adapter later will attach Orion to NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), a new heavy-lift rocket managed and in development at the Marshall Center that will enable missions farther into space than ever before. The 2014 Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) will provide engineers with important data about the adapter’s performance before it is flown on SLS beginning in 2017.

In a high bay of Marshall’s Building 4755, expert welders using state-of-the-art friction stir welding machines worked on two separate adapters. For each adapter, a vertical welding machine stitched panels together to form a conical cylinder, then a circumferential welding machine attached a thicker, structural support ring at the top and the bottom.

“While the adapters are identical and are considered flight articles, only one will actually be used for EFT-1,” said Brent Gaddes, Spacecraft & Payload Integration Subsystem manager. “The other will undergo strenuous structural testing to ensure quality, while its twin will make the trip to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration into the rest of the test vehicle for launch.”

United Launch Alliance (ULA), which makes the Delta IV rocket in nearby Decatur, Ala., will deliver a full-size section of the rocket later this spring for engineers to test the fit of the adapter.

“You really don’t have the tools and the resources in one place anywhere else in the world,” said Justin Littell, a mechanical engineer with the welding group at the Marshall Center. “The work that we do here is exciting and I get to work with a great team. It’s amazing.”

The Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocket is seen as it launches from Pad-0A of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, Sunday, April 21, 2013. The test launch marked the first flight of Antares and the first rocket launch from Pad-0A. The Antares rocket delivered the equivalent mass of a spacecraft, a so-called mass simulated payload, into Earth’s orbit. Photo (Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls)

DULLES, Virg. (Orbital PR) – In the two weeks following the successful debut fight of the Antares rocket on April 21, the program’s technical team gathered and analyzed large volumes of data collected during the A-ONE mission’s countdown, ignition and lift-off, and flight sequence. This data is used to validate that the launch vehicle’s propulsion, navigation and other major subsystems, as well as the supporting ground systems, all performed as designed.

The Antares team’s conclusion was definitive: the rocket’s first- and second-stage performance was right on the mark; the stage and fairing separation events were performed exactly as planned; and the data gathered from the heavily instrumented mass simulator payload confirmed Orbital’s engineering models that predicted a benign launch environment for Cygnus and other future satellite payloads in terms of the thermal, acoustic, vibration, acceleration and other measurements captured during the flight.

“While the launch looked great to the casual observer, our team was hungry for data in order to validate our expectations for the rocket’s performance,” said Mr. Mike Pinkston, Orbital’s Antares Program Manager. “Comprehensive post-flight analysis is an absolutely critical step to understanding exactly how a launch vehicle has performed and whether there are any necessary adjustments to its main systems prior to the next launch. Having intensively reviewed the data for a couple weeks, our conclusion was the inaugural Antares flight really was as good as it looked.”

With the Antares Test Flight successfully completed, Orbital’s Antares and Cygnus teams are now focused on the Demonstration Mission to the International Space Station (ISS), the final milestone in the COTS joint program with NASA. Orbital currently expects to be ready to carry out the Demonstration Mission in August.

Orbital is swapping out one first stage AJ26 main engine for another unit that is already fully tested in order to further inspect and confirm a seal is functioning properly. The company expects the engine change-out process to add about three to four weeks to the schedule.

In addition, missions to the ISS must be carefully scheduled with NASA to fit into the pre-planned traffic pattern at the orbiting laboratory. A Japanese cargo ship, the HTV, is also scheduled for a mission to the ISS in August. If the HTV schedule slips, Orbital expects to be ready to go in August. If the HTV holds its schedule, Orbital’s Demonstration Mission could be planned for September.

Meantime, the Antares production team will keep pressing forward on the third Antares rocket that will launch the first of eight Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) missions. The CRS-1 mission is slated to take place in the fourth quarter of this year. For the CRS-1 mission, both AJ26 engines for that rocket have been fully tested and are already at Wallops.

In addition, the two major components of the Cygnus spacecraft to be used for CRS-1 are complete and will be mated and integrated at Wallops this fall. The Service Module is fully tested and ready to be shipped to Wallops from Orbital’s Dulles manufacturing facility, and the Pressurized Cargo Module is also complete and awaiting shipment to Wallops from Thales Alenia’s plant in Turin, Italy.