NASA : Preparing the Vehicle Assembly Building for NASA's Next Rocket .- Preparación del Edificio de Ensamblaje de Vehículos de la NASA, para el Siguiente Rocket (Cohetes)

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., Una vista desde abajo en la Bahía de alta 3 en el interior del Edificio de Ensamblaje de Vehículos en el Centro Espacial Kennedy de la NASA en Florida, muestra tres plataformas de trabajo instaladas para cohetes sistema de lanzamiento espacial (SLS) de la NASA. Las plataformas más bajas son las plataformas de trabajo a nivel de K. Por encima de ellos son las plataformas de trabajo J-nivel. Una grúa está bajando la segunda mitad de las plataformas J-nivel para la instalación de 112 pies sobre el suelo, o cerca de 11 pisos de altura.

More information...

http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/preparing-the-vehicle-assembly-building-for-nasas-next-rocket

A view from below in High Bay 3 inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, shows three work platforms installed for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The lower platforms are the K-level work platforms. Above them are the J-level work platforms. A crane is lowering the second half of the J-level platforms for installation about 112 feet above the floor, or nearly 11 stories high.

The newly installed platform will complete the second of 10 levels of work platforms that will surround and provide access to the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft for Exploration Mission 1. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is overseeing upgrades and modifications to VAB High Bay 3, including installation of the new work platforms, to prepare for NASA’s journey to Mars.

Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis

Last Updated: April 20, 2016

Editor: Sarah Loff

Tags:  Ground Systems, Image of the Day, Journey to Mars, Kennedy Space Center, Space Launch System,

Welding Wonder Completes Hardware for First Flight of NASA's SLS Rocket

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Flight hardware for the core stage of the world's most powerful rocket, NASA's Space Launch System, finishes final welding and is moved off the 170-foot-tall Vertical Assembly Center at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

The hardware is for the engine section, and is the first major SLS flight component to finish full welding on the Vertical Assembly Center. The engine section is located at the bottom of the rocket's core stage and will house the four RS-25 engines for the first flight of SLS with NASA's Orion spacecraft in 2018.

The SLS core stage will stand at more than 200 feet tall and store cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen that will feed the launch vehicle’s RS-25 engines. A qualification version of the engine section, which also has completed welding on the Vertical Assembly Center at Michoud, will be shipped later this year to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to undergo structural loads testing on a 50-foot test structure currently under construction.

 All welding for the core stage of the SLS Block I configuration -- including confidence, qualification and flight hardware -- will be completed this summer. Traveling to deep space requires a large vehicle that can carry huge payloads, and SLS will have the payload capacity needed to carry crew and cargo for those exploration missions, including Mars. 

Last Updated: April 18, 2016

Editor: Jennifer Harbaugh

Tags:  Journey to Mars, Space Launch System,

NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com

ayabaca@hotmail.com

ayabaca@yahoo.com

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NASA : NASA Completes Key Milestone for Orion Spacecraft in Support of Journey to Mars .- NASA Completa hito clave para Orion nave espacial en apoyo del viaje a Marte

Hola amigos: A VUELO DE UN QUINDE EL BLOG., La misión de la NASA para enviar astronautas a destinos del espacio profundo, donde ningún otro ser humano ha viajado ha dado otro importante paso adelante con la realización de un hito fundamental para la nave espacial Orion actualmente en producción.
Funcionarios de la agencia han completado una revisión técnica y programática rigurosa, lo que confirma el apoyo continuo del programa y establecer el compromiso de la NASA de técnica, el costo, y el horario de referencia del programa. Esta es la primera vez que la NASA ha alcanzado este nivel de progreso para una nave espacial diseñada para tomar los humanos en el espacio profundo más allá de la luna, incluyendo a un asteroide en órbita lunar y en el viaje a Marte.

More information.....

http://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-completes-key-milestone-for-orion-spacecraft-in-support-of-journey-to-mars 

Spacesuit engineers demonstrate how four crew members would be arranged for launch inside the Orion spacecraft, using a mockup of the vehicle at Johnson Space Center.

Credits: NASA/Robert Markowitz

 

NASA’s mission to send astronauts to deep space destinations where no other human has traveled has taken another important step forward with the completion of a critical milestone for the Orion spacecraft currently in production.  

Agency officials have completed a rigorous technical and programmatic review, confirming continued support of the program and establishing NASA’s commitment to the program’s technical, cost, and schedule baseline. This is the first time NASA has reached this level of progress for a spacecraft designed to take humans into deep space beyond the moon, including to an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and on the journey to Mars.

“Our work to send humans out into the solar system is progressing,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “Orion is a key piece of the flexible architecture that will enable humanity to set foot on the Red Planet, and we are committed to building the spacecraft and other elements necessary to make this a reality.”

A successful test of an uncrewed Orion capsule, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), flew in December 2014, providing important data that allowed engineers to identify risks associated with deep space flight and re-entry and use that knowledge to improve the design of Orion for its next test flights, Exploration Missions 1 and 2 (EM-1 and EM-2).

Performance data has helped to improve manufacturing processes, as well. Engineers have already incorporated many of these improvements into elements of the EM-1 design, including the crew compartment or pressure vessel, which now is in fabrication and assembly at companies across the country. The vessel is comprised of seven panels or sections, and the first two of these were welded together last week. When complete, this capsule will launch on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket on the first fully integrated flight test, EM-1.

Astronauts will fly on Orion for the first time on EM-2. That mission will build on the results of the EM-1 flight with additional requirements that the Orion capsule includes fully integrated environmental control and life support systems; controls; and communications designed specifically for the human operation; and advanced launch and re-entry spacesuits for the crew. The recent review, culminating in what is known within NASA as Key Decision Point C (KDP-C), includes all of these technological advancements, and approval represents agency support for this work and the Orion program plan.

The decision commits NASA to a development cost baseline of $6.77 billion from October 2015 through the first crewed mission (EM-2) and a commitment to be ready for a launch with astronauts no later than April 2023. The commitment is consistent with funding levels in the president’s budget request. Conservative cost and schedule commitments outlined in the KDP-C align the Orion Program with program management best practices that account for potential technical risks and budgetary uncertainty beyond the program's control.

“As we take these steps to develop the capabilities we need to send astronauts deep into space, we’re also aligning how we manage our human exploration systems development programs to ensure we are prepared for unforeseen future hurdles,” said Robert Lightfoot, NASA associate administrator. “We’re committing to this funding and readiness level to stay on the journey we’ve outlined to get to Mars.”

Orion engineers now are executing a rigorous review of the spacecraft’s engineering design and technical progress of the vehicle systems and subsystems. This critical design review (CDR) will demonstrate Orion is ready to proceed to full-scale fabrication, assembly, integration and testing. NASA’s SLS Program recently completed this milestone, and its Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program will begin its review this fall.

“The Orion Program has done incredible work, progressing every day and meeting milestones to prepare for our next missions,” said William Gerstenmaier, the agency’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters. “The team will keep working toward an earlier readiness date for a first crewed flight, but will be ready no later than April 2023, and we will keep the spacecraft, rocket and ground systems moving at their own best possible paces.”

In the coming months, Orion will complete its CDR; see the arrival of a test version for the European Space Agency-provided service module at NASA’s Plum Brook Station near Sandusky, Ohio; perform a series of parachute tests; and complete the welding of the crew pressure vessel. Although Orion’s readiness date for EM-1 was not formally part of the KDP-C milestone commitment, engineers continue to work toward a commitment for SLS and GSDO to be ready for the uncrewed mission in fall 2018, and NASA will set an integrated launch date after GSDO’s critical design review is completed.

For more information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

-end-

Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@nasa.gov
Rachel Kraft
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov

Last Updated: Sep. 16, 2015

Editor: Sarah Ramsey

Tags:  Orion Spacecraft

 NASA

Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui

ayabaca@gmail.com 

ayabaca@hotmail.com 

ayabaca@yahoo.com 

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