Orion and Space Launch System Update

Feb 1-12, 2016

  • Orion Pressure Vessel at KSC: NASA prepares Orion spacecraft for its first big mission
    The NASA/Lockheed Martin weight reduced Orion crew exploration capsule assigned to Exploration Mission-1 is now at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where it will undergo testing and final assembly. The first uncrewed test launch of Orion paired with the Space Launch System exploration rocket is planned for late 2018. The three week test flight will send the heavily instrumented capsule around the moon and back to Earth.
    (See also: KSC begins assembly of moon-bound Orion capsule; Lockheed says Orion still on schedule for 2018 mission)
  • Cube Sats for SLS: NASA picks tiny satellites to ride on giant rocket’s 1st flight
    NASA’s looking to 2018 for the inaugural launch of its Space Launch System exploration rocket on a test flight around the moon with an uncrewed Orion crew capsule. The SLS is powerful enough to launch additional payloads, an assortment of 13 science mission CubeSats announced by NASA on Tuesday. Some will observe the moon. One powered by a solar sail will attempt to survey an asteroid.
  • SLS Program Update: NASA’s Bill Hill talks SLS scheduling and Exploration Upper Stage
    As early as next week, NASA plans to kick off development of the Exploration Upper Stage, a more powerful second stage for the Space Launch System exploration rocket, according to Hill, NASA deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems Development. The powerful EUS would sit atop the core stage of the SLS to become part of Exploration Mission-2, the first crewed test flight of the powerful new exploration rocket, a mission that would send astronauts in an Orion capsule around the moon and back to Earth for an ocean splashdown and recovery. The space agency is aiming for an August 2021 lift off for EM-2.
    (See also: Boeing builds the most powerful rocket ever made; SLS engines prepare for Stennis tests AR affordability focus for new RS-25s)
  • Citizens for Space Exploration – a pro-space, taxpayer, grassroots advocacy group Citizens Space Explorateion_logo(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.