NASA : NASA's 'Spaceport of the Future' Reaches Another Milestone .- "Puerto espacial del futuro 'de la NASA alcanza otro hito

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., La NASA ha completado un hito importante en su viaje a Marte y está listo para comenzar otra fase de las obras de su puerto espacial del futuro, donde la próxima generación de astronautas que lanzará a Marte y otros destinos en el espacio profundo.

More information..........

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasas-spaceport-of-the-future-reaches-another-milestone

This artist concept depicts the Space Launch System rocket rolling out of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. SLS will be the most powerful rocket ever built and will launch the agency’s Orion spacecraft into a new era of exploration to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.

Credits: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center

 

NASA has completed a major milestone on its journey to Mars and is ready to begin another phase of work on its spaceport of the future, where the next generation of astronauts will launch to Mars and other deep-space destinations.

The agency recently wrapped up a comprehensive and successful review of plans for the facilities and ground support systems that will process the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“NASA is developing and modernizing the ground systems at Kennedy to safely integrate Orion with SLS, move the vehicle to the pad, and successfully launch it into space,” said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator of NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Division at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “Modernizing the ground systems for our journey to Mars also ensures long-term sustainability and affordability to meet future needs of the multi-use spaceport.”

Over the course of a few months, engineers and experts across the agency reviewed hundreds of documents as part of a comprehensive assessment. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program (GSDO), responsible for processing SLS and Orion for flight and ensuring all systems and facilities are ready, completed its critical design review (CDR) of the facilities and ground support systems plans in December 2015.

This was followed in January by the completion of an independent assessment by a Standing Review Board, a team of aerospace experts that assessed program readiness and confirmed the program is on track to complete the engineering design and development process on budget and on schedule. 

In the final step before actual fabrication, installation and testing of Kennedy's ground systems, the GSDO program and review board briefed the results of their assessments to NASA’s Agency Program Management Council, led by Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot.

Engineers are transforming Kennedy's launch infrastructure to support the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft. The heavy-lift rocket will be stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building on the mobile launcher and roll out to Launch Pad 39B atop a modified crawler transporter. The Orion spacecraft will be fueled with propellants in the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy prior to stacking atop the rocket. The launch team will use the new command and control system in the firing room as the clock counts down to liftoff of SLS’s first flight.

“The team is working hard and we are making remarkable progress transforming our facilities," said Mike Bolger, GSDO Program Manager. "As we are preparing for NASA's journey to Mars, the outstanding team at the Kennedy Space Center is ensuring that we will be ready to receive SLS and Orion flight hardware and process the vehicle for the first flight in 2018."

The council also heard the results of the Orion CDR, completed at the program level in October 2015. The evaluation assessed the primary systems of the spacecraft, including the capsule’s structures, pyrotechnics, Launch Abort System jettison, guidance, navigation and control and software systems among many other elements. 

For the spacecraft’s first mission on the SLS rocket, ESA (European Space Agency) is providing Orion’s service module, which powers, propels, cools and provides consumables like air and water in space. Results from ESA's service module design review, which began this month, will be assessed and incorporated into Orion development and integration plans later this summer. Systems unique to the first crewed flight will be addressed at a review in the fall of 2017.

Progress continues on Orion at NASA facilities across the country. The underlying structure of the crew module arrived at Kennedy in early February for outfitting, which is currently underway. Over the next 18 months, thousands of Orion components will arrive and be installed.

Meanwhile, a structural representation of the service module is being tested at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, where engineers conducted a successful solar array wing deployment test on Feb. 29 and are preparing for a variety of tests to confirm it can withstand the harsh conditions of launch. 

For more information on GSDO, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/groundsystems

For more information on Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov
Amber Philman
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
amber.n.philman@nasa.gov

Rachel Kraft
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-244-2611
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

Last Updated: March 31, 2016

Editor: Sarah Ramsey

Tags:  Ground Systems, Journey to Mars, Kennedy Space Center, Orion Spacecraft, Space Launch System,

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!

NASA : NASA Space Launch System’s First Flight to Send Small Sci-Tech Satellites Into Space .- NASA sistema de lanzamiento espacial Primer vuelo envíen el pequeño satélite Sci-Tech al espacio

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., La linterna lunar, volar como carga útil secundaria en el primer vuelo del sistema de lanzamiento espacial de la NASA, examinará la superficie de la luna para los depósitos de hielo e identificar los lugares donde se puede extraer recursos.

More information....

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-space-launch-system-s-first-flight-to-send-small-sci-tech-satellites-into-space

The Lunar Flashlight, flying as secondary payload on the first flight of NASA’s Space Launch System, will examine the moon’s surface for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted.

Credits: NASA

 

The first flight of NASA’s new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), will carry 13 CubeSats to test innovative ideas along with an uncrewed Orion spacecraft in 2018.

These small satellite secondary payloads will carry science and technology investigations to help pave the way for future human exploration in deep space, including the journey to Mars. SLS’ first flight, referred to as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), provides the rare opportunity for these small experiments to reach deep space destinations, as most launch opportunities for CubeSats are limited to low-Earth orbit.

“The 13 CubeSats that will fly to deep space as secondary payloads aboard SLS on EM-1 showcase the intersection of science and technology, and advance our journey to Mars,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman. 

The secondary payloads were selected through a series of announcements of flight opportunities, a NASA challenge and negotiations with NASA’s international partners.

“The SLS is providing an incredible opportunity to conduct science missions and test key technologies beyond low-Earth orbit," said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This rocket has the unprecedented power to send Orion to deep space plus room to carry 13 small satellites – payloads that will advance our knowledge about deep space with minimal cost.”

NASA selected two payloads through the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) Broad Agency Announcement:

• Skyfire - Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Denver, Colorado, will develop a CubeSat to perform a lunar flyby of the moon, taking sensor data during the flyby to enhance our knowledge of the lunar surface
• Lunar IceCube - Morehead State University, Kentucky, will build a CubeSat to search for water ice and other resources at a low orbit of only 62 miles above the surface of the moon

Three payloads were selected by NASA’s Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate:

• Near-Earth Asteroid Scout, or NEA Scout will perform reconnaissance of an asteroid, take pictures and observe its position in space
• BioSentinel will use yeast to detect, measure and compare the impact of deep space radiation on living organisms over long durations in deep space
• Lunar Flashlight will look for ice deposits and identify locations where resources may be extracted from the lunar surface

Two payloads were selected by NASA’s Science Mission Directorate:

• CuSP – a “space weather station” to measure particles and magnetic fields in space, testing practicality for a network of stations to monitor space weather
• LunaH-Map will map hydrogen within craters and other permanently shadowed regions throughout the moon’s south pole

Three additional payloads will be determined through NASA’s Cube Quest Challenge – sponsored by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate and designed to foster innovations in small spacecraft propulsion and communications techniques. CubeSat builders will vie for a launch opportunity on SLS’ first flight through a competition that has four rounds, referred to as ground tournaments, leading to the selection in 2017 of the payloads to fly on the mission.

NASA has also reserved three slots for payloads from international partners. Discussions to fly those three payloads are ongoing, and they will be announced at a later time.

On this first flight, SLS will launch the Orion spacecraft to a stable orbit beyond the moon to demonstrate the integrated system performance of Orion and the SLS rocket prior to the first crewed flight. The first configuration of SLS that will fly on EM-1 is referred to as Block I and will have a minimum 70-metric-ton (77-ton) lift capability and be powered by twin boosters and four RS-25 engines. The CubeSats will be deployed following Orion separation from the upper stage and once Orion is a safe distance away. Each payload will be ejected with a spring mechanism from dispensers on the Orion stage adapter. Following deployment, the transmitters on the CubeSats will turn on, and ground stations will listen for their beacons to determine the functionality of these small satellites.

For more information about the science missions and technology demonstrations to fly on EM-1, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/launching-science-and-technology.html 

For more information about NASA’s Journey to Mars, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/journeytomars

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

Kim Newton / Shannon Ridinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0371 / 256-544-3774
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov / shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Feb. 3, 2016

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  Ames Research Center, CubeSats, ESD (Exploration Systems Development), Journey to Mars, Orion Spacecraft, Space Launch System, Technology,

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!

NASA : Engineers Mark Completion of Orion’s Pressure Vessel .- Los ingenieros marcan la finalización de los recipientes a presión de Orión

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., Soldadura de aluminio siete piezas grandes de Orión, que comenzó en septiembre de 2015, aparejado un proceso meticuloso. Ingenieros preparados y equipados cada elemento con medidores de deformación y el cableado para controlar el metal durante el proceso. Las piezas se unen utilizando un proceso llamado soldadura por fricción-agitación del estado de la técnica, que produce lazos muy fuertes mediante la transformación de metales a partir de un sólido a un estado parecido al plástico, y luego usando una herramienta pivote giratorio para ablandar, remover y forjar un vínculo entre los dos componentes de metal para formar una unión soldada uniforme, un requisito vital de equipo espacial de próxima generación.

More information....

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/engineers-mark-completion-of-orion-s-pressure-vessel

 

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is another step closer to launching on its first mission to deep space atop the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. On Jan. 13, 2016, technicians at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans finished welding together the primary structure of the Orion spacecraft destined for deep space, marking another important step on the journey to Mars.

 

Welding Orion’s seven large aluminum pieces, which began in September 2015, involved a meticulous process. Engineers prepared and outfitted each element with strain gauges and wiring to monitor the metal during the process. The pieces were joined using a state-of-the-art process called friction-stir welding, which produces incredibly strong bonds by transforming metals from a solid into a plastic-like state, and then using a rotating pin tool to soften, stir and forge a bond between two metal components to form a uniform welded joint, a vital requirement of next-generation space hardware.

Image Credit: NASA

Last Updated: Jan. 27, 2016

Editor: Sarah Loff

Tags:  Image of the Day, Journey to Mars, Manufacturing and Materials, Orion Spacecraft,

NASA to Announce Science, Technology Missions for First Flight of Space Launch System

NASA Television will air the announcement of the selection of a fleet of small satellites to launch on the inaugural flight of the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS). The event, which is at 11 a.m. EST (10 a.m. CST) Tuesday, Feb. 2, from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will announce the CubeSats that will fly as secondary payloads and deploy to conduct science and technology demonstrations in deep space.

Following the event, which media are invited to participate in, NASA TV will air a demonstration of the Near-Earth Asteroid Scout (NEA Scout), a CubeSat that uses solar sail propulsion for low-cost exploration and reconnaissance of an asteroid.

The participants for both the announcement and demonstration are:

• NASA Deputy Administrator Dava Newman
• Todd May, Marshall Space Flight Center director (acting)
• Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development at NASA Headquarters in Washington
• Michael Seablom, chief technologist for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters
• Jim Cockrell, Cube Quest program administrator in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California
• Jitendra Joshi, technology integration lead for the Advanced Exploration Systems Division at NASA Headquarters

• Chris Crumbly, manager of the Space Launch System Spacecraft and Payload Integration/Evolution Office at Marshall
• Leslie McNutt, NEA Scout project manager at Marshall
• Les Johnson, NEA Scout solar sail principal investigator at Marshall

The event will include a brief question-and-answer session with media attending in person or by phone. To participate by phone, media must contact Kim Newton at 256-544-0371, 256-653-5173 or kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov by 1 p.m. (noon CST) on Monday, Feb. 1. During the broadcast, viewers can ask questions on social media using #AskNASA.

The primary goal of the first integrated launch of NASA’s SLS and Orion spacecraft is to demonstrate the agency’s new capability to launch future crewed, deep space missions, which include missions to an asteroid and Mars. As a bonus, SLS will carry 13 CubeSats on its first flight as secondary payloads. These small satellites will perform various in-space experiments and demonstrations to advance the technological capabilities needed to take humans farther into space than ever before. The secondary payloads were selected through a series of announcements of flight opportunities, a public contest, and negotiations with NASA’s international partners.

For NASA TV downlink information and schedules, and to view the news briefing, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1409
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov

Kim Newton / Shannon Ridinger
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0371 / 256-544-3774
kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov / shannon.j.ridinger@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Jan. 28, 2016

Editor: Allard Beutel

Tags:  Journey to Mars, Space Launch System,

NASA

Super Guppy Ready to Transport the Orion Spacecraft

      

NASA's Super Guppy aircraft readies to transport the Orion spacecraft pressure vessel for Exploration Mission-1 from the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The pressure vessel will fly on the first integrated launch of Orion and NASA's powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System. The test flight, which will fly without crew, will demonstrate the agency’s new capability to launch future deep space missions, which include missions to an asteroid and Mars.
The Super Guppy has a cargo compartment that is 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide and 111 feet long and can carry more than 26 tons. The aircraft has unique hinged nose that can open more than 200 degrees, allowing large pieces of cargo to be loaded and unloaded from the front.
Image Credit: NASA

Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2016

Editor: Steve Fox

Tags:  Image of the Day, Journey to Mars, Kennedy Space Center, Orion Spacecraft,

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/super-guppy-ready-to-transport-the-orion-spacecraft

NASA

 

Todd May Named Marshall Space Flight Center Director

Todd May, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

Credits: NASA

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has named Todd May director of the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. May was appointed Marshall deputy director in August 2015 and has been serving as acting director since the Nov. 13, 2015 retirement of Patrick Scheuermann.

As director, May will lead one of NASA's largest field installations, with almost 6,000 civil service and contractor employees, an annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion and a broad spectrum of human spaceflight, science and technology development missions.

"Todd’s experience and leadership have been invaluable to the agency, especially as we have embarked on designing, building and testing the Space Launch System, a critical part of NASA’s journey to Mars," said Bolden. "He brings his expert program management and leadership skills and sense of mission to this new role, and I look forward to having him at the helm of Marshall."

Since its inception in 2011, May led the Space Launch System (SLS) program through a series of milestones, including a successful in-depth critical design review. SLS, now under development, is the most powerful rocket ever built, able to carry astronauts in NASA's Orion spacecraft on deep space missions, including to an asteroid and ultimately on a journey to Mars.

May's NASA career began in 1991 in the Materials and Processes Laboratory at Marshall. He was deputy program manager of the Russian Integration Office in the International Space Station Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1994. May managed the successful integration, launch and commissioning of the station's Quest airlock in 1998. He also joined the team that launched the Gravity Probe B mission to test Einstein's general theory of relativity.

In 2004, May assumed management of the Discovery and New Frontiers Programs, created to explore the solar system with frequent unmanned spacecraft missions. He moved to NASA Headquarters in Washington in 2007 as a deputy associate administrator in the Science Mission Directorate. Returning to Marshall in June 2008, May was named Marshall's associate director, technical, a post he held until being named SLS program manager.

May earned a bachelor's degree in materials engineering from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, in 1990. His many awards include NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, NASA’s Outstanding Leadership Medal and the John W. Hager Award for professionalism in materials engineering. He has been named a Distinguished Engineer by Auburn. In 2014, he received Aviation Week's Program Excellence Award, as well as the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation’s Stellar Award in recognition of the SLS team’s many accomplishments.

A native of Fairhope, Alabama, May and his wife, Kelly, have four children and live in Huntsville.

For more information about NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/marshall

-end-

David Weaver
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
david.s.weaver@nasa.gov

Jennifer Stanfield
Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala.
256-544-0034
jennifer.stanfield@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Feb. 1, 2016

Editor: Karen Northon

Tags:  Marshall Space Flight Center,

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

Inscríbete en el Foro del blog y participa : A Vuelo De Un Quinde - El Foro!