Orion and Space Launch System
Orion and Space Launch System
Senate Letter to President: Hatch Urges Continued Support of Space Explorationin Letter to President Trump Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), the senior Republican in the United States Senate, led 23 of his colleagues in a letter to President Trump highlighting the importance of space exploration infrastructure, including the SpaceLaunch System (SLS), the Orion Spacecraft, and the Exploration Ground System (EGS). The letter calls for a renewed focus on deep space assets and urges the President to continue supporting these critical systems.
Orion Testing: Orion’s parachutes tested under launch abort conditions NASA exercised the descent parachute system for the Orion crew exploration capsule this week over the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Arizona. The test capsule, without crew, was dropped from a U.S. Air Force transport aircraft at an altitude of 25,000 feet to check out the chutes that would be deployed in the event of an Orion launch abort.
SLS Testing: New SLS engine controller tested in hold-down firing Engineers at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi completed a 500-second test firing Thursday of an RS-25 engine, one of the four that will power the first stage of theSpace Launch System (SLS), an essential part of U.S. human deep spaceexploration plans. The test included a new Honeywell/Aerojet Rocketdyne engine controller that will be assigned to the first SLS test launch, Exploration Mission-1, currently planned for late 2018 on a mission that will send an Orion capsule around the moon and back to Earth. (See also: NASA SLS rocket’s ‘upper part’ tests underway | Video; SLS upper stage arrives at the Caps as the LETF tests its umbilicals)
Citizens for Space Exploration – a pro-space, taxpayer, grassroots advocacy group 
(http://www.bayareahouston.com/content/c_s_e/c_s_e) – has traveled to Washington, D.C. the past 24 years to meet face-to-face with Members/staff of Congress to discuss the value of America’s investment in space exploration. In order to sustain that dialogue on a regular basis, Citizens distributes “Space Exploration Update” to Congressional offices on a weekly basis. The intent is to provide an easy, quick way to stay abreast of key human space exploration program and policy developments.