Dec 5 2014
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY M14-199 NASA Invites Media to View Orion Spacecraft Recently Returned From Space
Media are invited to view NASA's Orion spacecraft Monday, Dec. 8 at Naval Base San Diego. Orion successfully completed its first flight test Friday, traveling 3,600 miles above Earth to test the spacecraft’s systems before it carries astronauts on deep space missions.
Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean approximately 600 miles southwest of San Diego after completing a two-orbit, 4.5 hour flight test that took it farther into space than any spacecraft built for humans has been in more than 40 years. NASA and the U.S. Navy, along with Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin, are in the process of recovering Orion and returning it to shore.
Media interested in attending must contact Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. EST, Sunday, Dec. 7. A specific viewing time will be made available once the USS Anchorage (LPD-23), which is transporting Orion back to land, determines a precise arrival time.
Journalists and live trucks must arrive at the Naval Base San Diego Pass and Decal Building, located at the intersection of 32nd Street and Harbor Drive, for transportation to the event. Media will be able to photograph Orion as it is offloaded from the USS Anchorage, and interview NASA officials and the commanding officer of the USS Anchorage.
The spacecraft then will be transported to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where engineers will gather more information about Orion’s performance.
Orion’s flight tested many of the systems most critical to crew safety, including key separation events, parachutes and its heatshield. During Orion’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, the spacecraft endured speeds of 20,000 mph and temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
RELEASE 14-327 Statement by John P. Holdren on the Successful Test Launch and Recovery of the Orion Spacecraft
Upon successful launch and recovery of the Orion spacecraft on Friday White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren issued the following statement:
"With today’s successful test launch and recovery of the Orion spacecraft, NASA has taken an important step towards the goal of human exploration of the solar system. Support from private-sector aerospace partners for the Orion effort – as well as for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop safe, reliable, and cost-effective access to and from space – reflects the Administration’s commitment to create jobs, bolster the American economy, and build the strongest commercial space industry in the world.
“President Obama’s vision is to develop a balanced space program that supports a sustainable human exploration program, expands scientific knowledge, and invests in transformational technologies that will greatly increase our capabilities in space. We congratulate the men and women of NASA and their commercial partners for this successful test launch, and we look forward to future milestones on the journey to Mars."
RELEASE 14-325 NASA’s New Orion Spacecraft Completes First Spaceflight Test
Major Milestone on Agency's Journey to Mars
NASA marked a major milestone Friday on its journey to Mars as the Orion spacecraft completed its first voyage to space, traveling farther than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has been in more than 40 years.
“Today’s flight test of Orion is a huge step for NASA and a really critical part of our work to pioneer deep space on our Journey to Mars,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “The teams did a tremendous job putting Orion through its paces in the real environment it will endure as we push the boundary of human exploration in the coming years.”
Orion blazed into the morning sky at 7:05 a.m. EST, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. The Orion crew module splashed down approximately 4.5 hours later in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego.
During the uncrewed test, Orion traveled twice through the Van Allen belt where it experienced high periods of radiation, and reached an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. Orion also hit speeds of 20,000 mph and weathered temperatures approaching 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.
Orion will open the space between Earth and Mars for exploration by astronauts. This proving ground will be invaluable for testing capabilities future human Mars missions will need. The spacecraft was tested in space to allow engineers to collect critical data to evaluate its performance and improve its design. The flight tested Orion’s heat shield, avionics, parachutes, computers and key spacecraft separation events, exercising many of the systems critical to the safety of astronauts who will travel in Orion.
On future missions, Orion will launch on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket currently being developed at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. A 70 metric-ton (77 ton) SLS will send Orion to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon on Exploration Mission-1 in the first test of the fully integrated Orion and SLS system.
“We really pushed Orion as much as we could to give us real data that we can use to improve Orion’s design going forward,” said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager. “In the coming weeks and months we’ll be taking a look at that invaluable information and applying lessons learned to the next Orion spacecraft already in production for the first mission atop the Space Launch System rocket.”
A team of NASA, U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin personnel aboard the USS Anchorage are in the process of recovering Orion and will return it to U.S. Naval Base San Diego in the coming days. Orion will then be delivered to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be processed. The crew module will be refurbished for use in Ascent Abort-2 in 2018, a test of Orion’s launch abort system.
Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion, began manufacturing the Orion crew module in 2011 and delivered it in July 2012 to the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy where final assembly, integration and testing were completed. More than 1,000 companies across the country manufactured or contributed elements to Orion.
