Exploring The Frontier Of Space
NASA and ATK have completed installing the first Space Launch System booster qualification motor, QM-1, in a specialized test stand in Utah. The largest solid rocket motor ever built for flight, QM-1 is now being prepared for its static-fire test, which is scheduled for March 11. “Testing before flight is critical to ensure reliability and […]
Reaching a pinnacle in its nine-year development program, NASA’s next-generation Orion deep-space exploration craft soared through a picture-perfect test flight today to mark a major milestone in NASA’s plans to return to human space exploration with sights firmly fixed on Mars. Exploration Flight Test-1 was Orion’s first mission and the first “real-life” test for many […]
A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket stands on the launch pad today, marking a critical and historic milestone of NASA’s plan to launch the first Orion spacecraft later this year. Overnight, workers from Delta IV manufacturer United Launch Alliance rolled the massive three-core booster – minus the upper stage and Orion – from […]
NASA and ATK successfully completed a static test of the launch abort motor igniter for the Orion crew capsule’s Launch Abort System (LAS). Conducted at ATK’s facility in Promontory, Utah, this test is the next step toward qualifying the igniter for production. ATK’s launch abort motor igniter for the Orion crew capsule’s Launch Abort System […]
Engineers took another step forward in preparations for the first test flight of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft, in December. The three primary core elements of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket recently were integrated, forming the first stage of the launch vehicle that will send Orion far from Earth to allow NASA […]
NASA is making steady progress on its Orion spacecraft, completing several milestones this week at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for the capsule’s first trip to space in December. Engineers finished building the Orion crew module, attached it and the already-completed service module to the adapter that will join Orion to its […]
With just six months until its first trip to space, NASA’s Orion spacecraft continues taking shape at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers began stacking the crew module on top of the completed service module Monday, the first step in moving the three primary Orion elements – crew module, service module and launch […]
This is NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate quarterly update highlighting progress made in early 2014 toward the flight test of Orion EFT-1 and ongoing work to upgrade the ground infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center as well as progress being made on the Space Launch System.
Lockheed Martin technicians and engineers attach the heat shield to the Orion crew module inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo credit: NASA/Daniel Casper NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers have installed the largest heat shield ever constructed on the crew module of the agency’s Orion spacecraft. […]
A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft safely landed during a simulation of two types of parachute failures May 1. In the test, conducted in Yuma, Ariz., the mock capsule was traveling about 250 mph when the parachutes were deployed. That is the highest speed the craft has experienced as part of the test series […]