23.07.2023
Artemis 2 moon astronauts visit splashdown zone for their Orion spacecraft
To paraphrase Neil Young, they'll fly out of the black and into the blue.
The Artemis 2 crew inside a replica of the Orion crew module during a tour of Naval Base San Diego on July 19, 2023. From left: NASA astronaut and pilot Victor Glover, Canadian Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Jeremy Hansen, NASA astronaut and commander Reid Wiseman, and NASA astronaut and mission specialist Christina Koch. (Image credit: U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joshua Samoluk)
The first lunar crew in half a century visited the spot where they'll splash down after their big mission.
The four Artemis 2 astronauts toured Naval Base San Diego on July 19 (one day before the 54th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing) ahead of a recovery test conducted by military personnel in the Pacific Ocean, NASA officials said in a recent update.
Both NASA and the Department of Defense will use a replica of the moonbound Orion spacecraft, called the Vehicle Advanced Demonstrator for Emergency Recovery, to practice recovery procedures when the moon mission concludes.
A new photo also shows the moon crew sitting inside the replica: NASA commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover, NASA mission specialist Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen. The crew will do their own recovery tests next year ahead of the scheduled November 2024 mission.
NASA framed the visit as key to allowing the astronauts and ground personnel to learn how to work together for a safe splashdown after the Orion spacecraft flies around the moon and then parachutes into the Pacific Ocean.
"The crew met with recovery team members ... to learn more about the recovery process for their mission, which includes being extracted from the spacecraft after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean and being lifted via helicopter to the recovery ship where they will undergo routine medical checks before returning to shore," officials wrote.
"The visit included a walkdown of the ground equipment and facilities the team uses to practice recovery procedures, along with a walkthrough of the recovery ship."
Artemis 2 is the second mission of the Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the moon no earlier than 2025 or 2026 if schedules hold. The first mission, Artemis 1, circled the moon in 2022 with mannequins on board.
The lunar landing mission of Artemis 3 is awaiting development of the SpaceXStarship system that will bring some of the crew to the surface. Starship has yet to achieve an orbital spaceflight and the Federal Aviation Administration is investigating what happened after the spacecraft spun out of control and was deliberately detonated (throwing out debris along the way) during a launch attempt in coastal Texas in April.
Future landing missions could include Starship or Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander, which was recently announced as the second option for bringing humans to the lunar surface. Blue Moon could be ready for Artemis 5 that will fly no earlier than 2029, Blue Origin officials pledged in May.
NASA and its partners under the Artemis Accords, which include 27 nations so far, plan to pursue lunar exploration under a peaceful framework through the 2020s and beyond. Hansen received his seat on Artemis 2 after Canada's contribution of Canadarm3, a robotic arm, for the NASA Gateway space station planned to be at the moon later this decade.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 1.08.2023
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NASA Invites Media to See Recovery Craft for Artemis Moon Mission
Media are invited to see the new test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft and the hardware teams will use to recover the capsule and astronauts upon their return from space during the Artemis II mission. The event will take place at 11 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, Aug. 2, at Naval Base San Diego.
Personnel involved in recovery operations from NASA, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force will be available to speak with media.
U.S. media interested in attending must RSVP by 4 p.m., Monday, July 31, to the Naval Base San Diego Public Affairs or 619-556-7359.
Teams are currently conducting the first in a series of tests in the Pacific Ocean to demonstrate and evaluate the processes, procedures, and hardware for recovery operations for crewed Artemis missions. The tests will help prepare the team for Artemis II, NASA’s first crewed mission under Artemis that will send four astronauts in Orion around the Moon to checkout systems ahead of future lunar missions.
The Artemis II crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen – will participate in recovery testing at sea next year.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 9.08.2023
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NASA Search and Rescue Team Prepares for Safe Return of Artemis II Crew
When Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Hammock Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen splash down in the Pacific Ocean after a 10-day mission around the Moon, NASA’s landing and recovery team will be ready to bring the Orion capsule and our astronauts back to land.
A major player in the capsule recovery and Artemis II crew safety is NASA’s Search and Rescue office based at the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and managed by the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN)program at NASA Headquarters.
For over 40 years, the Search and Rescue office has aided the international Cospas-Sarsat Program in the development of search and rescue technologies. These technologies allow hikers, boaters, and pilots activate a distress beacon should they find themselves in trouble. Since 1982, the system has been responsible for saving over 50,000 Earth explorers.
Now, the Search and Rescue office is applying their years of expertise to support NASA’s Artemis Moon missions.For Artemis II, NASA is equipping second-generation beacons called Advanced Next-Generation Emergency Locators (ANGEL) on the astronauts’ life preservers and installing another location beacon onto the Orion capsule so both can be located quickly.
The ANGEL beacon is a palm-sized device that integrates into the Orion Crew Survival Systems suit the astronauts will wear during launch and landing. If there is a contingency, such as a launch abort or landing outside the target splashdown zone, the ANGEL beacons will allow NASA’s Search and Rescue team to find the astronauts.
“Our role in human spaceflight across all of NASA’s crewed programs mirrors the daily work we do to support worldwide rescue, protecting those in distress in some of the world’s harshest conditions,” said Cody Kelly, NASA search and rescue mission manager for national affairs. “Our astronauts are one of our most valuable resources and everything we’ve done in the last few years with Orion and Artemis has been to make sure we can really embody the Artemis goals not just of exploration, but bringing the crew safely home.”
In addition to contingency planning, the Search and Rescue office helps track Orion on the day it returns to Earth. As the capsule re-enters Earth’s atmosphere, search and rescue team members will be on board the U.S. Navy ship involved in recovery operations, tracking Orion’s beacon to determine exact splashdown location. This is achieved through the Search and Rescue Intelligent Terminal, or SAINT, which was successfully tested during the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. Once the main parachutes deploy on the capsule, the beacon is activated, and SAINT begins feeding location data to the recovery crew. The beacon is only turned off once recovery forces are at the capsule.
In July 2023, as part of the Artemis Underway Recovery Test 10, members of the search and rescue team were aboard the USS John P. Murtha putting their recovery hardware and procedures to the test. The team validated their mission posture and ensured that ANGEL, SAINT, and Orion’s beacon will all operate as planned. Additionally, they used this recovery test to simulate different recovery scenarios to ensure their communications channels and hardware work as intended.
Though the team hopes they will not have to use the ANGEL beacons during the Artemis II mission, NASA’s Search and Rescue office is standing by, tracking the Orion capsule and ensuring astronauts make it home safely.
“The work we do is deeply personal. We know that it’s our friends and colleagues in that capsule and need to ensure they feel safe throughout their journey,” said Kelly. “It is truly an honor and dream come true to be a small part of this large NASA effort.”
NASA moving towards Artemis II liftoff, but program's future remains uncertain
This past week, the four-person crew of NASA’s Artemis II mission got their first chance to visit Kennedy Space Center where, as early as next year, the Orion spacecraft that will be their home for a 10-day test flight to the moon and back is being prepared.
"We made it to Kennedy. This is awesome," NASA astronaut and Artemis II mission Commander Reid Wiseman told journalists during a news conference. "We're fired up. It's a great day when you walk around the corner at the Neil Armstrong Operations Checkout Facility, and there's a spacecraft that you're going to ride in."
Agency officials also provided updates on everything Artemis, from the crew's training, work being done at KSC, and the build status of flight hardware for NASA's massive 320-foot Space Launch System rocket. And while officials were optimistic about the timeline for Artemis II, thrown into question was the future of the lunar-focused program, particularly Artemis III, and the key goal of returning American astronauts to the surface of the moon in 2025.
NASA's plans for the Artemis III mission depend on SpaceX's Starship human landing system. SpaceX's first, and only, launch of Starship in April resulted in a catastrophic loss of the rocket and its Super Heavy booster.
Jim Free, NASA associate administrator of Exploration Systems Development, said the agency is working with SpaceX and "trying to understand their schedule some more."
While the company said it is working toward another Starship flight test sometime before the end of this year, whether or not that is feasible will ultimately be determined by the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA sign-off is needed due to the ongoing investigation after the first test flight exploded.
If SpaceX isn't ready for the Artemis III launch date set for the end of 2025, "(NASA) may end up flying a different mission, if that's the case," Free said, stirring in some uncertainty about what's in store for Artemis beyond next year.
Artemis II: Crew mission and recovery training
Since the crew of Artemis II was announced in April, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen have traveled across the country to witness the progress being made with their mission which is slated to launch toward the end of next year.
"It kind of started with a bit of a media blitz, but then we got down to work," said Wiseman. "We've been studying spacecraft systems at the Johnson Space Center."
After hitting the books and the classroom last month to begin training in simulators to familiarize themselves with the flight profile and different phases and milestones of their mission, the crew headed out to California to visit Naval Base San Diego and meet the Orion recovery team.
"We were out in San Diego working with our beloved United States Navy, and the rescue and recovery forces working alongside NASA," Wiseman said.
Once Orion brings the Artemis II crew home for a splashdown landing in the Pacific Ocean, joint NASA and Department of Defense teams will help the astronauts out of the capsule and then load it into the hull of an awaiting recovery vessel.
While the crew didn't participate in the first full-scale recovery test, they are expected to head back early next year to participate in a practice run.
"Throughout their training flow, the crew also will refine their understanding of water survival and emergency exit operations, practice medical and exercise device use, and learn how to use Orion’s other day-to-day life support systems, including for food preparation," the agency said in a release.
Upgrades at Kennedy Space Center for crewed missions
Back at KSC, teams are upgrading ground systems that are crucial to successfully launching the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. All NASA Artemis missions liftoff from Launch Pad 39B.
The elevators on the 380-foot Mobile Launcher were replaced after sustaining damage during last year's uncrewed Artemis I launch. An emergency egress life safety system was also added to the launcher — a requirement for crewed launches that wasn't necessary for last year's Artemis I mission. It will enable the astronauts and close-out crew personnel to evacuate away from the Orion capsule and the SLS rocket during the countdown in the event of an emergency.
The crew of Artemis II and NASA administrators hold a press conference August 8, 2023 after getting a close-up look at the Orion capsule that will take them around the Moon and back. Craig Bailey/FLORIDA TODAY via USA TODAY NETWORK
At pad 39B, crews have completed the construction of an additional hydrogen sphere that will hold 1.4 million gallons of liquid hydrogen which will be used for loading propellant into the SLS's core stage.
When the SLS's 212-foot-tall core stage ships to KSC from NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana, teams will begin stacking operations atop the launcher inside KSC's massive Vehicle Assembly Building.
That process is expected to begin sometime this November.
What's ahead for the Artemis program?
If the Artemis II mission goes off without a hitch, NASA's plan to launch Artemis III about a year later, in December 2025, could still be in jeopardy.
For that mission, up to four astronauts will travel to lunar orbit in an Orion capsule. The rest hinges on SpaceX's success with its Starship program. NASA intends to transfer the Artemis III crew from Orion to a SpaceX Starship, which will then be used as a sort of moon elevator to deliver them to the lunar surface.
The astronauts for that mission haven't yet been chosen, but NASA has said it will include the first woman and the first person of color to land on the lunar surface. But it's not clear how the selection might change if the agency chooses a different Artemis III mission objective that doesn't involve a moon landing.
Pressure is on SpaceX.
"They need to launch multiple times, not just for us, but for them," said Free. "We really want to see them find the success in their launches."
Getting Starship ready isn't the only step toward a lunar landing, NASA also needs the lunar exploration spacesuits to be ready on time. Those suits are being developed by another Artemis program commercial partner, Houston-based Axiom Space, which was announced in March.
"We really are trying to get in the details of that schedule because when we come up with a date, December of 2025, or whatever that date might be, we want to have confidence for our teams, that we all have a realistic path to get there," Free said.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update: 10.09.2023
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Why Artemis 2 moon launch with astronauts is different from Artemis 1
Crew and experience adds a lot of change to the rocket hardware.
The Artemis 2 crew, from left: pilot Victor Glover, commander Reid Wiseman and mission specialists Jeremy Hansen and Christina Koch. Together, they will become the first people to fly to the moon in more than 50 years. (Image credit: NASA)
Four astronauts will make a trip around the moon in 2024 or so. It's the first lunar trip by humans in half a century, and NASA wants to make sure its rocket is ready.
The agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket tasked with the historic launch has already flown once. It successfully sent Artemis 1, an uncrewed spacecraft with three mannequins on board, around the moon in 2022. Now it has a more sensitive mission of making sure the four Artemis 2 astronauts remain safe on board through the stresses of launch.
"The most obvious (difference) is crew on board. That changes the mindset of the entire workforce, from the standpoint of safety and our work environments," Cliff Lanham, senior vehicle operations manager, told Space.com. Lanham is responsible for operational activities required to get the Orion spacecraft and SLS ready.
Artemis 2 is slated to send four astronauts moonbound: NASA commander Reid Wiseman, NASA pilot Victor Glover (the first person of color to leave Earth orbit), NASA mission specialist Christina Koch (the first woman to do so) and the Canadian Space Agency's Jeremy Hansen (the first non-American).
To get the rocket ready, additional testing is ongoing with new systems onboard SLS and its mobile launcher, including an emergency escape system for the crew if necessary. The crew is also very much involved, Lahnam emphasized, including planned on-site testing with the quartet of astronauts in their spacesuits.
The team also won't be starting from the beginning in terms of their preparation, assistant launch director Jeremy Graeber said in the same interview, since they are building upon months of testing and years of development that took place prior to the uncrewed Artemis 1 launch around the moon in 2022.
The "foundation" laid by Artemis 1 will, NASA says, smooth out preparations for the successor mission. That's a big hope by mission planners, given that Artemis 1 took additional months to get off the ground following snags in simulated launch countdowns with fuel on board, known as a "wet dress rehearsal."
"We've worked out many of those challenges from a procedure perspective, from a training perspective. And now we are augmenting that foundation and adding the crew-related content," Graeber said of Artemis 2's differences from Artemis 1.
The interview took place shortly after Artemis 2's mobile launcher was rolled out to the pad in late August to do testing for the next six months. Sometime in September or so, for example, the crew will simulate a launch day alongside the ground crew: They will wake up at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, suit up and ride out to the tower. While there's no rocket waiting for them as they ascend the elevator, Graeber said the practice will be key in working out any kinks for the launch day next year.
There are also two planned emergency escape practices with crew: One at day and one at night, each scheduled to take place late in the year. During an actual emergency, the astronauts will all leave the tower by baskets under a zipline. They will glide to safety at a nearby staging area, where a waiting vehicle will take them back to the security of a NASA building. But ground teams will separately practice testing those baskets during different occasions. They will use ballast tanks filled with water at different levels to replicate different weights, to simulate the weight of the passengers.
In early 2024, the launcher will next roll back to NASA's massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for a big milestone: stacking and assembling the Space Launch System rocket for tests in the building. Next comes preparation for a tanking test, when the launcher and rocket together head out to the pad in the fall of 2024. Then at last, the stack will come back to the VAB to finish preparations on the Orion spacecraft before heading out to the launch pad for the big day in late 2024.
Artemis 2 preparations will be cautious during each step, Graeber emphasized; in other words, the crew's safety will always come before any preordained launch schedule.
"We will do approximately the same number of launch countdown simulations leading to Artemis 2, because now we've got that added responsibility for our flight crew. And that is our No. 1 priority through everything related to Artemis 2: The safety of our flight crew and our ground crews. That will be the emphasis on everything that we do."
Constant practice is a part of that process, said Jesse Berdis, deputy project manager for Mobile Launcher 1 (the launcher being used for Artemis 2). He likened it to the intense preparation of getting ready for a live sports championship. "It's kind of a muscle memory thing, making sure that we know what we're doing and that we've done the football training for the Super Bowl well before," he said.
Some of the key changes to look for in Artemis 2 include:
Fueling tweaks. The wet dress rehearsal attempts ahead of Artemis 2 included unexpected leaks, a brief grass fire and a hurricane, all of which "did lay out an opportunity for us to learn a lot," Graeber said. The team now has data to adjust the pressures, the temperatures and the flow rates of fuel to avoid leaks, he said. SLS designers are also looking at "interfaces", or points where the fuel lines enter the tanks, to do their best to avoid leaks. The tanking test will help confirm these interfaces are sound ahead of launch.
Small design changes to the mobile launcher. Despite the launcher losing its elevator doors (seen in dramatic video) during the Artemis 1 liftoff, there was little that actually went wrong; it performed 99 percent perfectly per NASA standards. NASA and its contractors are reinforcing any areas damaged in Artemis 1, such as tubing or the blast shields around the flame hole. The flame deflector will also see design changes to the main plates. That said, experts are telling Berdis that the stresses of launch may induce issues somewhere else unexpected; "it's just part of the space industry."
Upgraded "rainbirds." NASA dampened the force of Artemis 1's liftoff with five large-scale water nozzles, also known as "rainbirds." Engineers are now using that data to distribute water through the system more evenly ahead of Artemis 2.
"We've done a couple of modifications on the rainbird heads to direct the water in specific locations," Berdis said. "When they flow, they have a performance coverage across the deck to make sure that they're protecting the mobile launcher from the rocket blast."
Smaller but still crucial changes in the campaign include removing electromagnetic interference testing on SLS (as Artemis 2 uses a similar stack as Artemis 1); adding testing for crew communication systems; and adding new payloads onto Orion for the mission.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 22.09.2023
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Artemis II crew visits Bremen, as Germany signs the Artemis Accords
ESA and Airbus, in coordination with NASA, hosted an Artemis II media event at the Airbus facility in Bremen, Germany, on Friday, Sept. 15. In this event, the whole crew of Artemis II was present at the facility where Airbus assembles the Orion European Service Module (ESM). The ESM will provide life support and propulsion for the crew to fly to the Moon and back for the upcoming Artemis II mission and beyond. The first ESM mission was the Artemis I mission last year.
Part of the event was an open session with Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen. In the question-and-answer session with the media, the crew talked about their experience visiting the engineers and facilities in Bremen during the last few days.
The crew remarked that they were amused to learn that the European crew calls Orion the “Penthouse” that will sit on top of the ESM. They also talked about their ongoing training, as, for example, Koch and Hansen recently performed some geology training in Canada as part of an evaluation of training activities for Artemis II and future lunar missions.
During the trip, the crew also visited the clean room, where ESM-3 is currently being worked on. Access to the clean room was limited because the main engine for the spacecraft is currently in integration. The Orion main engine is an AJ-10 engine previously flown on Space Shuttle missions.
One day before the event, it was also confirmed that Germany would join the Artemis Accords, which is a non-binding agreement between the United States and partner nations, to help the effort to bring humans back to the Moon, to Mars, and beyond. Director General of the German Space Agency Walther Pelzer traveled to Washington to sign the accords together with NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Sept. 14.
A video of the signing ceremony was also played at the event in Bremen, with messages from Nelson, Pelzer, and ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst and Matthias Maurer.
Howard Hu, Orion Program Manager. (Credit: NASA)
NSF was invited to conduct interviews with several key figures of the Orion and ESM programs, including Howard Hu, Manager of the Orion program at NASA, Philippe Berthe, Project Coordination Manager of Orion ESM at ESA, and Dario Saia, European Service Module Programme Manager at Thales Alenia Space.
Regarding the recap and analysis of the Artemis I mission, Hu said: “Wow! That’s the one-word summary! It was such a fantastic moment when it landed and touched down on December 11th. A combination of many years of hard work by a lot of people!”
“To see it crystalize in a safe and successful landing, where all of the parachutes deployed accomplishes something historic that has not been done in over 50 years!”
Artemis I was the first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the ESM and the first flight of Orion with SLS. All components were tested in an uncrewed configuration for 25 days, flying from Earth to a distant retrograde orbit of the Moon and then returning. The mission splashed down on December 11 in the Pacific Ocean and was considered very successful.
Focusing on the ESM, the overperformance of the service module, Hu noted: “It’s one flight. It’s one flight data set. We will learn more about that with future flight data sets when we have a crew on board.”
“We always want more margins and more capabilities because the missions that are coming up will be even more challenging, so the need for power might be much greater than expected. But having a spacecraft with more significant margins makes you very happy!”
With respect to the potential to remove some margins on future flights, Hu said: “Of course, changing a spacecraft and the hardware would be a huge step because we already have the hardware built, and of course, you want to stabilize the design. I want to spend less money here and more money on other things, so if we can stabilize hardware and design, that saves us money.”
Philippe Berthe. Project Coordination Manager of Orion ESM at ESA. (Credit: ESA)
Berthe said regarding the performance of flight one: “We learned that we can work together as a team, not only during development but also during the execution of the mission. We have a strongly mixed team of European and NASA engineers.”
“The teams of NASA and ESA worked exceptionally well together. We also learned that the module performed remarkably well from a technical standpoint. We exceeded the expected performance from the module and executed the four maneuvers we were supposed to run around the Moon.”
“We also performed well in terms of power generation and thermal control,” Berthe added. “We are working on very few issues. One issue concerns the PCDU (Power Control and Distribution Unit), which we have worked on since the mission, and we think we have found the root cause, and now we are at the level of determining the corrective measures we must take.”
Berthe also added that the main reason that ESA could take so many pictures was that the ESM was operating on so much less power than expected. ESA could dedicate almost one solar panel to images, as it was no longer needed for the 2primary functions of the capsule.
Saia also provided his overview of ESM-1 performance on Artemis I: “I think we learned a lot about performance. We learned a lot about the critical components. We collected and gathered a lot of data, confirming our design worked!”
“But of course, that is not enough. This was only the first mission. Next time, it will be with a crew, so the next time, we might get demands and questions from the crew. We need to be ready and fast for that and focus on the mission, mainly the humans involved. It’s a different aspect we will have to consider.”
Saia also underlined that previous missions, such as the involvement of Thales Alenia Space in constructing the International Space Station (ISS) have helped Thales build all the knowledge needed to partner with a mission like Artemis.
Currently, the ESMs are in production through the module for the Artemis VI mission. ESM-3 is currently in the clean room, in the final steps of AJ-10 integration before the delivery to Kennedy Space Center in a few months, while ESM-4, ESM-5, and ESM-6 are already in different steps of the integration and assembly process.
Regarding the pre-production of the next module from Thales Alenia Space, Saia said: “We expect to have an award (for ESM-7 and beyond) very soon. We delivered [the primary structure for] ESM-4 in July 2022, ESM-5 in December 2022, and ESM-6 this year, so in one year, we have delivered three primary structures and are pretty fast.”
Following assembly at a Thales facility in Italy, the ESM primary structure is transported to Airbus Bremen to be fully assembled and integrated into a working spacecraft module prior to shipment from Germany to its Florida launch site.
Hu added about the contract extension: “From a NASA perspective, we expect the partnership to continue beyond ESM-6.” Regarding recent rumors about the SLS maybe using one more Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) instead of the Exploration Upper Stage (EUS), Hu would not comment.
The first three Artemis missions will use the initial version of SLS that employs ICPS as its second stage. EUS is a larger, purpose-built upper stage being developed for SLS by the end of the decade, which will improve mission availability, flexibility, and enable an additional 10 metric tons of payload to be carried with Orion to the Moon.
Regarding the compatibility of the ESM to be used on either ICPS or EUS, he said: “They will be a little different in terms of loads. The EUS has a bit of a different load characteristic than the ICPS. There would be minor differences in the interface, but we already know what they are and could implement one or the other.”
Berthe added, “We are operating by the loads NASA requires. NASA is the master of the requirements. The loads are designed for the ICPS since we are flying the first three ESMs with the ICPS. For flight four, the design would change to the loads of the EUS, but there is no significant modification between the two.”
Saia said that from the perspective of TAS, they have the capability to make changes to the primary structure if necessary. “At the moment, we are not considering changes. Up to ESM-6, we will have no significant design change. We can adapt the design and are willing to do so if needed. The main goal is to adapt as we do it and change if we need it.”
Regarding the process leading up to the Artemis II mission planned for late 2024, Hu confirmed that every component is already integrated into the Orion spaceship. Next will be stacking the Crew Module and ESM and performing integrated testing on the mated system. After that, the capsule will be handed over to the ground team, fueling and loading the Orion module, stacking the launch abort system, and integrating it into the SLS rocket.
For Artemis III, he confirms that the teams are working like clockwork. The ESM is expected in Florida in a few months, and work is ongoing at the crew module. So far, no delays are expected on the Orion side of the stack.
He also added the following regarding the ability of the Orion to support different mission profiles should there be delays to the lunar lander or spacesuits in development for Artemis III: “Certainly, Orion has a lot of flexibility. We can fly a lot of different missions.”
“We are dependent on lander and suits. Those are two different programs, two different providers, and they have their schedules. We all have to come together to accomplish this mission. We all have to drive as quickly and safely as possible to get to this point, but these two programs are key.”
With respect to the Orion program’s readiness to support Artemis III, Hu said: “We know what our timeline is. We already have the hardware.”
“From our perspective, we have a very defined flow that allows us to produce the spacecraft. The same thing has to happen for the other two key components.”
For Artemis III, NASA has selected SpaceX to develop a lander based on the Starship infrastructure and Axiom Space to build a spacesuit for extravehicular activities, such as the first steps on the Moon. Both essential items face significant milestones before being ready for the Artemis III mission, currently planned for late 2025.
One hardware change down the line for the ESM will be moving from Orbital Maneuvering System engines leftover from the Space Shuttle program to new AJ-10s, being developed to very similar specifications for Orion. This is scheduled to happen after Artemis VI.
Regarding the status of developing the successor, Berthe said: “The development is underway. We are on schedule for delivery of the first new engine for ESM-7. Of course, it is also part of the contract extension from ESM-7 to ESM-9. One criterion is the same form, fit, and function as previous engines. It is a matter of schedule, but we are on track!”
NSF also asked Phlippe Berthe about the potential of getting European astronauts to the Moon. Currently, ESA will get three slots in the Moon orbit, but an agreement for travel to the surface of the Moon has yet to be present. Berthe said about this: “This is the next step of the negotiations, I would say. We need to bring something new to barter, to provide added contributions to NASA to justify having an Astronaut on the surface.”
“This is mainly Argonaut. Argonaut will be a lunar lander launched by Ariane 6, which will deliver 1 to 1.5 tons of hardware to the surface of the Moon. We are discussing with NASA how we could exchange a series of logistics missions to the surface of the Moon, with a European on the surface of the Moon.”
(Lead image: Artemis II crew talking in Bremen. Credit: Airbus Defense&Space)
Quelle: NSF
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Update: 27.09.2023
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Artemis II SLS Rocket Booster Segments Arrive to Kennedy Space Center
The 10 booster motor segments that will form the NASA Space Launch System rocket’s twin, five-segment solid rocket boosters for the agency’s Artemis II mission, arrive at Kennedy Space Center on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Due to their weight, the booster motor segments traveled by rail across eight states in specialized transporters to the Florida spaceport. Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems will process each of the segments at Kennedy in preparation for launch. Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen will blast off from Kennedy, traveling around the Moon on the first crewed mission under Artemis that will test all of the Orion spacecraft’s systems.
The 10 booster motor segments for NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket that will help propel the Artemis II astronauts on a trip around the Moon arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sept. 25. They will form the SLS rocket’s twin, five-segment solid rocket boosters, which produce more than 75% of the total thrust at liftoff, to send NASA’s Artemis missions to the Moon.
Due to their weight, the 10 booster motor segments traveled by rail across eight states in specialized transporters to the spaceport. Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program now are preparing to process each of the segments inside the space center’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility ahead of integrating them inside the Vehicle Assembly Building.
“The arrival of the SLS solid rocket booster motor segments is an important turning point as NASA and our Artemis partners begin readying for stacking and launch preparations for Artemis II,” said Amit Kshatriya, Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars Program Office at NASA Headquarters. “Fully stacked, these boosters for NASA’s SLS rocket are the largest, most powerful ever built for spaceflight and will help send the first astronauts around the Moon in more than 50 years.”
Manufactured by SLS booster lead contractor Northrop Grumman in Utah, the SLS solid rocket boosters have three major assemblies with the motor segment being the largest portion of the booster. Teams will inspect them along with the forward and aft skirt assemblies of the boosters. They will then rotate the segments to a vertical position in preparation for stacking operations for Artemis II. The top and bottom portions of the boosters were previously assembled in the Booster Fabrication Facility at Kennedy.
Once processing is complete, crews will move all the major segments one at a time to the Vehicle Assembly Building where they will get stacked to form each of the 17-story-tall boosters that flank each side of the rocket. Following completion, engineers and technicians will integrate the rocket’s core stage. Together, the SLS rocket’s twin boosters and the core stage’s four RS-25 engines produce more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust.
Artemis II is the first crewed Artemis mission and will test all the Orion spacecraft’s systems with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, aboard before future missions to the Moon.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 6.10.2023
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Start Your Engines: NASA to Begin Critical Testing for Future Artemis Missions
NASA will begin a new RS-25 test series Oct. 5, the final round of certification testing ahead of production of an updated set of the engines for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket. The engines will help power future Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond.
A series of 12 tests stretching into 2024 is scheduled to occur on the Fred Haise Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. The tests are a key step for lead SLS engines contractor Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, to produce engines that will help power the SLS rocket, beginning with Artemis V.
“NASA and our industry partners continue to make steady progress toward restarting production of the RS-25 engines for the first time since the space shuttle era as we prepare for our more ambitious missions to deep space under Artemis with the SLS rocket,” said Johnny Heflin, liquid engines manager for SLS at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “The upcoming fall test series builds off previous hot fire testing already conducted at NASA Stennis to help certify a new design that will make this storied spaceflight engine even more powerful.”
For each Artemis mission, four RS-25 engines, along with a pair of solid rocket boosters, power the SLS rocket, producing more than 8.8 million pounds of thrust at liftoff. Following a “test like you fly” approach, all 12 tests in the new series are scheduled for at least 500 seconds, the same amount of time the engines must fire during an actual launch.
The 12-test series will use developmental engine E0525 to collect data for the final RS-25 design certification review. The engine features a second set of new key components, including a nozzle, hydraulic actuators, flex ducts, and turbopumps. The components match design features of those used during the initial certification test series completed at the south Mississippi site in June.
“Testing a second set of hardware during this next phase of our certification test series will give us repeatability to ensure we have sound processes for building our new engines,” said Mike Lauer, RS-25 deputy program manager at Aerojet Rocketdyne. “The successful testing of the brand-new certification engine proved our engineering was sound – that the new design is capable of meeting requirements at operating extremes and durations. This next test series will help confirm our manufacturing processes will reliably create production engines that will meet these same requirements.”
Operators will fire the engine at power levels varying between 80% and 113% to test performance in multiple scenarios. The first four Artemis missions are using modified space shuttle main engines that can power up to 109% of their rated level. New RS-25 engines will power up to the 111% level to provide additional thrust. Testing up to the 113% power level provides a margin of operational safety.
The longest test of the new series is planned for 650 seconds. Crews will conduct a gimbal test of the engine to ensure it can pivot as needed to help SLS maintain stability and trajectory during flight. The Oct. 5 test is scheduled for 550 seconds and will fire the RS-25 engine up to 111% power level.
Overall, a total of 6,350 seconds of hot fire is planned for the series. With completion of the campaign, it is anticipated all systems will be “go” to produce 24 new RS-25 engines using the updated design for missions beginning with Artemis V.
“Testing at the historic Fred Haise Test Stand is critical to ensure that our astronauts fly safely,” said Chip Ellis, project manager for RS-25 testing at NASA Stennis. “The test team takes great care to ensure these engines will operate as designed to launch NASA payloads and astronauts to the Moon and beyond.”
Through Artemis, NASA will use innovative technologies and collaborate with commercial and international partners to explore more of the Moon than ever. The agency will use what is learned on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap of sending the first astronauts to Mars.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 16.10.2023
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NASA Prepares Artemis II Moon Rocket Core Stage for Final Assembly Phase
NASA and its partners have fully secured the four RS-25 engines onto the core stage of the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket for the Artemis II flight test. The core stage, and its engines, is the backbone of the SLS mega rocket that will power the flight test, the first crewed mission to the Moon under Artemis.
Engineers have begun final integration testing at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, in preparation for acceptance ahead of shipment of the stage to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in the coming months.
“NASA integrated many lessons learned from the first-time build and assembly of the SLS core stage for Artemis I to increase efficiencies during manufacturing and cross-team collaboration with our partners for Artemis II. NASA teams in New Orleans remain focused on assembling and preparing the SLS rocket’s liquid-fueled stage to support the flight.”
JULIE BASSLER
Manager of the Stages Office for the SLS Program
The 212-foot-tall core stage includes two massive liquid propellant tanks and four RS-25 engines at its base. For Artemis II, the core stage and its engines act as the powerhouse of the rocket, providing more than two million pounds of thrust for the first eight minutes of flight to send the crew of four astronauts inside NASA’s Orion spacecraft on an approximately 10-day mission around the Moon.
NASA, Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company and the RS-25 engines lead contractor, along with Boeing, the core stage lead contractor, secured the engines to the maze of propulsion and avionics systems within the core stage Oct. 6. In the coming weeks, engineers will perform testing on the entire stage and its avionics and electrical systems, which act as the “brains” of the rocket to help control it during flight.
Once testing of the stage is complete and the hardware passes its acceptance review, the core stage will be readied for shipping to Kennedy via the agency’s Pegasus barge, based at Michoud.
As teams prepare the core stage for Artemis II, rocket hardware is also under construction on our factory floor for Artemis III, IV, and V that will help send the future Artemis astronauts to the lunar South Pole.
The engines were first soft mated one by one onto the stage beginning in early September. The last RS-25 engine was structurally installed onto the stage Sept. 20. Installing the four engines is a multi-step, collaborative process for NASA, Boeing, and Aerojet Rocketdyne.
Following the initial structural connections of the individual engines, securing and outfitting all four engines to the stage is the lengthiest part of the engine assembly process and includes securing the thrust vector control actuators, ancillary interfaces, and remaining bolts before multiple tests and checkouts.
All major hardware elements for the SLS rocket that will launch Artemis II are either complete or in progress. The major components for the rocket’s two solid rocket boosters are at Kennedy. The rocket’s two adapters, produced at Marshall, along with the rocket’s upper stage, currently at lead contractor United Launch Alliance’s facility in Florida near Kennedy, will be prepared for shipment in the spring.
NASA is working to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with Orion and the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.
Quelle: NASA