www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2412.html
over 1 year ago
Technicians prepare to fit a special fixture around an Orion capsule inside the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy ...
Engineers in the Operations and Checkout Building
at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, perform avionics testing on the Orion
spacecraft being prepared for its first trip to space later this year.
Image Credit:
Lockheed Martin
NASA's Orion spacecraft has proven its mettle in a test designed to determine
the spacecraft's readiness for its first flight test -- Exploration Flight
Test-1 (EFT-1) -- later this year. EFT-1 will send the spacecraft more than
3,600 miles from Earth and return it safely.
The spacecraft ran for 26 uninterrupted hours during the final phase of a
major test series completed April 8 at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida. The test verified the crew module can route power and send commands
that enable the spacecraft to manage its computer system, software and data
loads, propulsion valves, temperature sensors and other instrumentation.
"This has been the most significant integrated testing of the Orion
spacecraft yet," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for NASA's
human exploration and operations at the agency's Headquarters in Washington.
"The work done to test the avionics with the crew module isn't just preparing us
for Orion's first trip to space in a few months. It's also getting us ready to
send crews far into the solar system."
In October 2013, NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers powered on Orion's main
computer for the first time. Since then, they have installed harnessing, wiring
and electronics. This was the first time engineers ran the crew module through
its paces to verify all system actuators respond correctly to commands and all
sensors report back as planned. More than 20 miles of wire are required to
connect the different systems being powered.
"Getting all the wiring right, integrating every element of the avionics
together, and then testing it continuously for this many hours is a big step
toward getting to deep space destinations," said Mark Geyer, Orion program
manager.
Engineers now are preparing the crew module for vibration testing, scheduled
for the week of April 14. In May, the heat shield will be installed and, shortly
thereafter, the crew module will be attached with the service module.
During EFT-1, an uncrewed Orion spacecraft will take a four-hour trip into
space, traveling 15 times farther from Earth than the International Space
Station. During its reentry into Earth's atmosphere, Orion will be traveling at
20,000 mph, faster than any current spacecraft capable of carrying humans, and
endure temperatures of approximately 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The data gathered
during the flight will inform design decisions to improve the spacecraft that
will one day carry humans to an asteroid and eventually Mars. EFT-1 is targeted
for launch in December.
For more information on Orion, visit:
Orion Spacecraft
Technicians prepare to fit a special fixture around an Orion capsule inside
the high bay of the Operations & Checkout Building at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. The fixture is designed to enable precise pre-launch
processing of the Orion spacecraft.
Orion will be the most advanced spacecraft ever designed and carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. It will sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space and emergency abort capability. Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.
Image Credit: NASA
Orion will be the most advanced spacecraft ever designed and carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. It will sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space and emergency abort capability. Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.
Image Credit: NASA
www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/mpcv/index.html
Orion is NASA's next exploration spacecraft, designed to carry astronauts to destinations in deep space, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have ..
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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