NASA's Orion powered on for the first time
Discussion
NASA's first-ever deep space craft, Orion, has been powered on for the first time, marking a major milestone in the final year of preparations for flight.
http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-orion-spacecraft...
http://www.nasa.gov/content/nasas-orion-spacecraft...
Simpo Two said:
Sooo... as the Orion has a crew capsule, and I am not fully up to speed, where is it ultimately intended to take them? Is there an objective/target?
The Orion IS a crew capsule.The great thing about the Orion is that it is capable of supporting up to seven astronauts for weeks in flights well beyond low earth orbit. It was originally designed as part of the now abandoned return to the moon programme of George W Bush. Therefore, it is capable of circumlunar flights - or flights to near earth asteroids. It is essentially, a multipurpose deep space manned spacecraft.
It looks like the first mission is going to take the capsule out to over 3,000 miles - 10 times further than any Space Shuttle could ever have done. They will then accelerate it back for re-entry at a speed much closer to that of a vehicle returning from (say) the moon i.e. something in the region of 25,000 mph.
Unlike Apollo, the Orion capsule will be reusable so it is important that the heat shield is tested at these types of speeds. Materials science has moved on an awful lot since the Apollo heat shield was designed.
Eric Mc said:
It looks like the first mission is going to take the capsule out to over 3,000 miles - 10 times further than any Space Shuttle could ever have done. They will then accelerate it back for re-entry at a speed much closer to that of a vehicle returning from (say) the moon i.e. something in the region of 25,000 mph.
OK so I can see the parallel with Apollo - but Apollo was working up to a manned moon landing. Does Orion have an objective or is it just going to boff astronauts 'a long way' into space and back like a giant tennis ball?Simpo Two said:
Eric Mc said:
It looks like the first mission is going to take the capsule out to over 3,000 miles - 10 times further than any Space Shuttle could ever have done. They will then accelerate it back for re-entry at a speed much closer to that of a vehicle returning from (say) the moon i.e. something in the region of 25,000 mph.
OK so I can see the parallel with Apollo - but Apollo was working up to a manned moon landing. Does Orion have an objective or is it just going to boff astronauts 'a long way' into space and back like a giant tennis ball?Simpo Two said:
OK so I can see the parallel with Apollo - but Apollo was working up to a manned moon landing. Does Orion have an objective or is it just going to boff astronauts 'a long way' into space and back like a giant tennis ball?
It's a multi purpose vehicle. Their objectives are Nasa Orion Page said:
Spacecraft to serve as the primary crew vehicle for missions beyond LEO
Capable of conducting regular in-space operations (rendezvous, docking, extravehicular activity) in conjunction with payloads delivered by the Space Launch System (SLS) for missions beyond LEO
Capability to be a backup system for International Space Station cargo and crew delivery
So to be able to go beyond LEO (i.e. visit an asteroid or ultimately Mars) but to also be able to be used for ISS deliveries and other LEO operations.Capable of conducting regular in-space operations (rendezvous, docking, extravehicular activity) in conjunction with payloads delivered by the Space Launch System (SLS) for missions beyond LEO
Capability to be a backup system for International Space Station cargo and crew delivery
Interesting footage of a test version of Orion being dropped from a C-17
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPATyyn39uM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPATyyn39uM
The main chutes are very similar to those employed on the Apollo Command Module.
The Apollo system consisted of three main chutes.
The sequence was that, once the capsule had descended through the atmosphere to an altitude of about 24,000 feet, three small drogue chutes were deployed to slow the craft down and stabilise it.
At an altitude of about 10,000 feet, the three main chutes were deployed - initially in a semi-reefed state and then fully inflating to allow the capsule to impact the ocean at a speed of around 20 mph.
On Apollo 15, one of the main chutes failed to fully deploy but the other two chutes performed properly and the capsule hit the water at only a slightly higher speed.
The Apollo system consisted of three main chutes.
The sequence was that, once the capsule had descended through the atmosphere to an altitude of about 24,000 feet, three small drogue chutes were deployed to slow the craft down and stabilise it.
At an altitude of about 10,000 feet, the three main chutes were deployed - initially in a semi-reefed state and then fully inflating to allow the capsule to impact the ocean at a speed of around 20 mph.
On Apollo 15, one of the main chutes failed to fully deploy but the other two chutes performed properly and the capsule hit the water at only a slightly higher speed.
Looks like the test flight (Exploration Flight Test-1 or EFT-1 in NASA speak) has been pushed back slightly from October to December to give more launch windows.
From NASA's Orion website:
Orion is marching ever closer to its first trip to space on a flight that will set the stage for human exploration of new destinations in the solar system.
The Orion team continues to work toward completing the spacecraft to be ready for a launch in September-October. However, the initial timeframe for the launch of Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) has shifted from September-October to early December to support allowing more opportunities for launches this year. Completing the spacecraft according to the original schedule will allow many engineers and technicians to continue transitioning to work on the Orion spacecraft that will fly atop the agency's Space Launch System. It will also ensure that NASA's partners are fully ready for the launch of EFT-1 at the earliest opportunity on the manifest.
To that end, the core and starboard boosters for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will launch Orion into space for the first time arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this month. That leaves just one booster still in production at the company's Decatur, Ala., facility. It's scheduled to arrive in April along with the rocket's upper stage, and will join the other boosters inside ULA's Horizontal Integration Facility for processing and testing.
Meanwhile, in the spacecraft factory at Kennedy Space Center - the Operations and Checkout Facility - Orion itself is making progress of its own.
After completing construction on the service module in January, engineers at Kennedy moved on to testing whether it could withstand the stresses that it will endure during launch and in space. The service module sits below Orion's crew module and above the rocket, and would normally provide power and in-space propulsion and house a number of other systems that aren't needed on this first flight. Despite being pushed and twisted in multiple directions, the service module came through the tests not only unscathed, but earlier than planned.
Once the service module testing was completed, it was the crew module's turn.
Almost all of the spacecraft's avionics components have been installed, and system by system, the engineers are powering them up. It's a methodical, deliberate process, in which each connector is checked individually before they're hooked up and the system turned on to make sure each battery, heater, camera and processor - to name a few - works on its own, before the entire system is turned on together. Otherwise, one faulty cable could damage an entire, one-of-a-kind system.
The process is called functional testing, and once it's complete and all 59 systems have been verified, the engineers will graduate to performance testing, in which all of the systems work together to operate the crew module as a whole. Ultimately, they'll be able to turn on all of the flight computers, radios and other systems at once and simulate the vehicle's sensors so that the spacecraft thinks its flying in space.
The crew module testing will wrap up in April, and then Orion's heat shield - the largest of its kind ever built - will be installed. With that in place, the crew module, service module and launch abort system will be ready to mate this spring. Its launch later this year will send Orion 3,600 miles above the Earth for a two-orbit flight that will give engineers the chance to verify its design and test some of the systems most critical for the safety of the astronauts who will fly on it in the future. After traveling 15 times farther into space than the International Space Station, Orion will return to Earth at speeds near 20,000 mph, generating temperatures of up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
From NASA's Orion website:
Orion is marching ever closer to its first trip to space on a flight that will set the stage for human exploration of new destinations in the solar system.
The Orion team continues to work toward completing the spacecraft to be ready for a launch in September-October. However, the initial timeframe for the launch of Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) has shifted from September-October to early December to support allowing more opportunities for launches this year. Completing the spacecraft according to the original schedule will allow many engineers and technicians to continue transitioning to work on the Orion spacecraft that will fly atop the agency's Space Launch System. It will also ensure that NASA's partners are fully ready for the launch of EFT-1 at the earliest opportunity on the manifest.
To that end, the core and starboard boosters for the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will launch Orion into space for the first time arrived at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this month. That leaves just one booster still in production at the company's Decatur, Ala., facility. It's scheduled to arrive in April along with the rocket's upper stage, and will join the other boosters inside ULA's Horizontal Integration Facility for processing and testing.
Meanwhile, in the spacecraft factory at Kennedy Space Center - the Operations and Checkout Facility - Orion itself is making progress of its own.
After completing construction on the service module in January, engineers at Kennedy moved on to testing whether it could withstand the stresses that it will endure during launch and in space. The service module sits below Orion's crew module and above the rocket, and would normally provide power and in-space propulsion and house a number of other systems that aren't needed on this first flight. Despite being pushed and twisted in multiple directions, the service module came through the tests not only unscathed, but earlier than planned.
Once the service module testing was completed, it was the crew module's turn.
Almost all of the spacecraft's avionics components have been installed, and system by system, the engineers are powering them up. It's a methodical, deliberate process, in which each connector is checked individually before they're hooked up and the system turned on to make sure each battery, heater, camera and processor - to name a few - works on its own, before the entire system is turned on together. Otherwise, one faulty cable could damage an entire, one-of-a-kind system.
The process is called functional testing, and once it's complete and all 59 systems have been verified, the engineers will graduate to performance testing, in which all of the systems work together to operate the crew module as a whole. Ultimately, they'll be able to turn on all of the flight computers, radios and other systems at once and simulate the vehicle's sensors so that the spacecraft thinks its flying in space.
The crew module testing will wrap up in April, and then Orion's heat shield - the largest of its kind ever built - will be installed. With that in place, the crew module, service module and launch abort system will be ready to mate this spring. Its launch later this year will send Orion 3,600 miles above the Earth for a two-orbit flight that will give engineers the chance to verify its design and test some of the systems most critical for the safety of the astronauts who will fly on it in the future. After traveling 15 times farther into space than the International Space Station, Orion will return to Earth at speeds near 20,000 mph, generating temperatures of up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
It is good to see a highly capable piece of hardware surviving the collapse of the Constellation programme, hopefully there will be more. I am pleased for the engineers and technicians that all their hard work will be flown although I do fear that Orion will have a limited set of roles in practice. The cost of the SLS may limit its role, I hope to be wrong.
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