DENVER, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (LMT) has delivered the first space-bound Orion spacecraft crew module structure to the Operations and Checkout Building on NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The crew module structure recently underwent its final friction stir weld at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. and was transported to KSC last week to be readied for its Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) in 2014.

"Completing the Orion EFT-1 structure in New Orleans and delivering it to Kennedy Space Center is a tremendous accomplishment in the manufacturing of this deep space hardware," said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. "Now we have our eyes set on the Exploration Flight Test which will take this amazing spacecraft designed for crew significantly farther from Earth than any mission since Apollo."

This Orion capsule will be the first to be sent into space. Over the next year and a half, the crew module will undergo final assembly, integration and testing at KSC in preparation for the Exploration Flight Test. Additional subsystems will be installed, including propulsion, thermal protection, environmental control, avionics, power, mechanisms, and landing and recovery systems.

The EFT-1 flight will be NASA's first orbital flight test beyond low Earth orbit since the 1960s. The test will evaluate critical capabilities needed for safe deep-space exploration and reduce overall risk for Orion's first human-rated flight in 2017. An uncrewed Orion capsule will be launched aboard a Delta IV Heavy to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles and demonstrate integrated vehicle performance for ascent, on-orbit flight, and a high energy re-entry profile with speeds up to 20,000 mph. The EFT-1 test will also enable the team to collect early critical flight performance data and assess the integration benefits for the Orion, Space Launch System and Ground Operations programs.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion crew exploration vehicle the world's first interplanetary spacecraft designed for human exploration of our solar system. Orion is designed to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit on long-duration, deep-space missions to destinations such as asteroids, Lagrange Points or the moon.

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the Orion Program. Lockheed Martin leads the Orion industry team which includes major subcontractors as well as a nationwide network of minor subcontractors and small businesses. In addition, Lockheed Martin contracts with hundreds of small and disadvantaged business suppliers across the United States through an expansive supply chain network.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 123,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

More information about NASA's Orion spacecraft can be found at:

MEDIA CONTACT:

Gary Napier, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company

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Lockheed Martin Delivers Orion Spacecraft to NASA Kennedy Space Center

This is an image taken from one of NASAs two special "Webb-cams, a camera in a giant clean room at NASA Goddard. The Webb-cams focus on what's happening with the very first completed instrument that will fly onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. The flight Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) is at left center. The Ambient Optical Assembly Stand is on the right side of the image. Credit: NASA

(Phys.org) -- NASA's special "Webb-cam," the camera in a giant clean room at NASA Goddard, now has "double vision," because there are two video cameras now focusing on what's happening with the very first completed instrument that will fly onboard the James Webb Space Telescope. Recently, there's been a lot to look at because the MIRI instrument arrived at Goddard from the United Kingdom.

These aren't just typical webcams, they're "Webb-cams" because they're focused on the progress of work being done on components of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope in the largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

"We now have two webcams in the Building 29 clean room at Goddard, one showing the left side and one showing the right," said Maggie Masetti, Web Developer on the Webb telescope mission at NASA Goddard. "The screenshots on-line are updated every minute. The clean room is generally occupied from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time in the U.S., Monday through Friday. There may not be much activity outside of these hours." The Webb-cam can be seen on-line at: http://jwst.nasa.g /webcam.html .

The James Webb Space Telescope contains four science instruments, but only one of them, the MIRI, sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Mid-infrared light is longer in wavelength than that which the other Webb instruments are designed to observe. This unique capability of the MIRI allows the Webb telescope to study physical processes occurring in the cosmos that the other Webb instruments cannot see. The MIRI will be integrated into the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) Structure and viewers of the "Double Vision Webb Cams" can see it happen.

The MIRI is important to the Webb telescope because its sensitive detectors will allow it to make unique observations of many things including the light of distant galaxies, newly forming stars within our own Milky Way, the formation of planets around stars other than our own, as well as planets, comets, and the outermost debris disk in our own solar system.

Enlarge

Three engineers from the European Space Agency wearing blue hood are investigating the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) that recently arrived at NASA Goddards clean room. The MIRI sees light in the mid-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Keep watching the Webb-cams, and the MIRI will likely be moved into view soon. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn

The Webb telescope project is managed at Goddard, and several components of this next generation space telescope are already in a clean room there. The Webb telescope is the world's next-generation space observatory and successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. The most powerful space telescope ever built, the Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed, and explore planets around distant stars. It is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

What is a Clean Room?

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NASA's 'Webb-Cam' has double vision for MIRI's arrival

Poindexter's sons were not injured in the accident, which is under investigation.

Poindexter, who went by the nickname "Dex," made two space flights during his career with NASA. In February 2008, he was the pilot aboard the shuttle Atlantis on a mission to deliver the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory module to the International Space Station.

Poindexter returned to space in April 2010 as commander of the shuttle Discovery on one of the final cargo runs to the station before the shuttles were retired.

"He was a talented, courageous Navy veteran with gifts," astronaut Greg Johnson wrote on Twitter. "Dex was a lovable guy with a strong work ethic."

A captain in the US Navy, Poindexter left NASA in December 2010 to become dean of students at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He earned a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the school in 1995.

He is the son of former National Security Adviser John Poindexter, who served in the Reagan administration.

Alan Poindexter was born in 1961 in Pasadena, California, but considered Rockville, Maryland, to be his hometown. He earned a bachelor of aerospace engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, then was commissioned in the Navy.

Poindexter flew combat missions in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and Operation Southern Watch, then became a test pilot. He logged more than 4,000 hours flying time in more than 30 types of aircraft.

He was selected to join NASA's astronaut corps in June 1998.

Source: Reuters

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Nasa shuttle astronaut dies in jet ski accident

Former astronaut Alan "Dex" Poindexter, 50, a space shuttle commander who flew twice into space, died Sunday (July 1) after being injured in a water sports accident in Florida, NASA has confirmed.

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Former NASA Astronaut Alan Poindexter, 50, Dies in Jet Ski Accident

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Though NASA relies on Russia to transport astronauts into orbit, retired astronaut Winston Scott remains optimistic about the next half-century of American spaceflight.

Monday, NASA showed off its new Orion crew capsule at Kennedy Space Center in advance of an unmanned 2014 orbital test flight. This deep-space exploration program may ultimately send humans to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

And on a parallel path, SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in May in the Pacific Ocean, pushing commercial spacecraft closer to servicing the International Space Station.

"We're moving forward. We're just moving forward very slow," Scott said Sunday during ceremonies marking KSC's 50th anniversary.

"Many of us would like to see America accelerate let's get back in the game quickly. But it's slow. And we are making progress," Scott said.

KSC opened July 1, 1962, as NASA's Launch Operations Center during the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The Merritt Island complex was renamed Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 29, 1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, said Stephen Smith, KSC Visitor Complex spokesman.

Constructed amid mosquito-infested marshland, the facility later hosted the historic Apollo 11 lunar launch and 135 shuttle missions.

Scott flew aboard Shuttles Endeavour and Columbia as a mission specialist in 1996-97. Sunday, he shared photos, videos and personal anecdotes including a primer on how astronauts use strap-in space toilets with spectators at the KSC Visitor Complex. He also signed autographs and posed for photos.

Scott said astronauts should have set foot on Mars by now but the federal government has lacked political will and economic incentive to even return to the moon in recent decades.

Carol Scott, NASA commercial crew program manager, said the final shuttle flight last July has caused confusion among the general public

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NASA shows off deep-space exploration capsule at Kennedy Space Center

More than 450 guests at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida welcomed the arrival of the agency's first space-bound Orion spacecraft Monday, marking a major milestone in the construction of the vehicle that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before.

"Orion's arrival at Kennedy is an important step in meeting the president's goal to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "As NASA acquires services for delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station and other low-Earth destinations from private companies, NASA can concentrate its efforts on building America's next generation space exploration system to reach destinations for discovery in deep space. Delivery of the first space-bound Orion, coupled with recent successes in commercial spaceflight, is proof this national strategy is working."

Orion will be the most advanced spacecraft ever designed. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space.

The space-bound Orion will launch on Exploration Flight Test-1, an uncrewed mission planned for 2014. The spacecraft will travel 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface, 15 times farther than the International Space Station's orbital position. This is farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans than they have gone in more than 40 years. The primary flight objective is to understand Orion's heat shield performance at speeds generated during a return from deep space.

In advance of the 2014 launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., a 400-person Orion production team at Kennedy will apply heat shielding thermal protection systems, avionics and other subsystems to the spacecraft. Work also is underway by the Ground Systems Development and Operations team at Kennedy to modify and refurbish facilities used throughout the history of American spaceflight in preparation for the next generation of rockets and spacecraft. This includes the Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch Control Center, launch pad, mobile launcher and crawler-transporter.

"Work is under way on America's next great spacecraft that will surpass the boundaries within which humanity has been held," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "In a facility that once processed cargo for space shuttles and various components for the International Space Station, hundreds of people at Kennedy are coupling advanced hardware assembly systems with a new human-rated spacecraft designed for deep space travel.. It is a fitting testament to the American work force at Kennedy that has enabled the exploration of space for 50 years is again working on hardware that will extend human presence throughout the solar system."

In 2017, Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new missions of exploration and expand human presence across the solar system.

Across the country, progress is being made on multiple components and capabilities for Orion and SLS. Orion has successfully completed numerous splashdown tests from a variety of angles and speeds, examining how the spacecraft will come to a rest on the ocean at the conclusion of deep space missions. NASA also has conducted a series of parachute tests high above the Arizona desert, demonstrating how Orion will behave under its giant parachute canopy. Software tests have been run between Mission Control Houston and an Orion mockup at Lockheed Martin's Exploration Development Laboratory, allowing flight controllers to learn how the spacecraft's onboard computers operate. Work also continues to build and fine-tune Orion's launch abort system. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for Orion.

The J-2X upper-stage rocket engine, developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the future two-stage SLS, is being tested at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The prime contractor for the five-segment solid rocket boosters, ATK, has begun processing its first SLS hardware components in preparation for an initial qualification test in 2013. The SLS core stage, which will be designed and manufactured by Boeing, has just passed a major technical review and is moving from concept to early design. Boeing has already delivered test bed flight computers to the program and flight software development is underway.

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NASA's Orion Arrives At Kennedy, Work Underway For First Launch

NASA'S Space Technology Program has selected 14 technologies for development and demonstration on commercial reusable suborbital launch vehicles.

The selected proposals offer innovative cutting-edge ideas and approaches for technology in areas including active thermal management, advanced avionics, pinpoint landing and advanced in-space propulsion. They also address many of the high-priority technology needs identified in the recent National Research Council's Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities report. These payloads will help NASA advance technology development needed to enable NASA's current and future missions in exploration, science and space operations.

"These technology payloads will have the opportunity to be tested on commercial suborbital flights, sponsored by NASA, that fly up to and near the boundary of space," said Michael Gazarik, Director of NASA's Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The flights will ensure the technology fidelity before they're put to work in operational systems in the harsh environment of space."

Proposals for this solicitation were received from NASA centers and other government agencies, federally funded research and development centers, educational institutions, industry, and non-profit organizations. NASA's Flight Opportunities Program sponsored this solicitation in collaboration with NASA's Game Changing Development Program.

Following their development, selected technologies will be made available to the Flight Opportunities Program for pairing with appropriate suborbital reusable launch service provider flights. The Flight Opportunities Program provides opportunities for technologies to be demonstrated in relevant environments, while fostering the development of commercial reusable transportation to near space.

Awards will range from $125,000 to $500,000 with a total NASA investment of approximately $3.5 million. Payloads are expected to fly in 2013 and 2014. Proposals selected for contract negotiations are:

-- "Demonstration of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nano-tubes for Earth Climate Remote Sensing," Howard Todd Smith, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

-- "Facility for Microgravity Research and Submicroradian Stabilization using sRLVs," Scott Green, Controlled Dynamics, Inc., Huntington Beach, Calif.

-- "Enhanced Thermal Switch," Douglas Mehoke, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md.

-- "Autonomous Flight Manager for Human-in-the-Loop Immersive Simulation and Flight Test of Terrestrial Rockets," Kevin Duda, Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

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NASA Space Tech Program Selects Technologies For Development And Demonstration On Suborbital Flights

A full-size mockup of NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle, targeted to begin carrying humans in 2014, is displayed on the National Mall in Washington on March 30, 2009. The Orion will ride the Ares I rocket into space and is part of the Constellation Program which is intended to carry humans to the moon, mars, International Space Station and beyond. (UPI Photo/Roger L. Wollenberg)

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., July 2 (UPI) -- The first space-bound Orion spacecraft has been delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA said Monday.

The spacecraft, which will launch in 2014 on an uncrewed test mission, is designed to carry astronauts farther into space than ever before.

"Orion's arrival at Kennedy is an important step in meeting the president's goal to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 2030s," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said in a statement.

"As NASA acquires services for delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station and other low-Earth destinations from private companies, NASA can concentrate its efforts on building America's next generation space exploration system to reach destinations for discovery in deep space. Delivery of the first space-bound Orion, coupled with recent successes in commercial spaceflight, is proof this national strategy is working."

NASA said Orion will provide emergency abort capability, sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space.

The 2014 test flight will travel 3,600 miles above the Earth's surface, 15 times farther than the International Space Station's orbital position and farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans has gone in more than 40 years.

Along with preparations to the spacecraft, Kennedy's facilities are being refurbished to handle the next generation of rockets and spacecraft.

"Work is under way on America's next great spacecraft that will surpass the boundaries within which humanity has been held," William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate at NASA in Washington, said in a statement.

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NASA's Orion spacecraft arrives in Florida

ISS On-Orbit Status 06/30 & 07/01/12

All ISS systems continue to function nominally, except those noted previously or below.

Yest posadka! (We have Landing!) Welcome back home, Oleg, Andr & Don! After 193 days in space (191 days on ISS), Soyuz TMA-03M/29S carrying Exp-31 crewmembers Oleg Kononenko, Andr Kuipers & Don Pettit landed successfully today at 4:14am EDT in central Kazakhstan, almost exactly at the designated landing site. The Descent Capsule remained upright, and the crew, which was in excellent condition, was quickly extracted by SAR (Search & Rescue) personnel. Moscow time at touchdown was 11:14am; local time at landing site 2:14pm. [TMA-03M (#703) undocked from the MRM1 (Mini Research Module 1) Rassvet nadir port this morning at 12:48am EDT, after the crew had closed hatches (ZPL) at 9:42pm and performed leak checks of the vestibule area between MRM1 and the Soyuz spacecraft, of their Sokol suits and of the hatch between the Descent Module (SA) and Orbital Module (BO). Undocking was initiated by crew command to open hooks at 12:45am, and physical separation occurred at 12:48am. About 3 min later, 29S performed the first manual separation burn, 10 seconds for a delta-V of 0.40 m/s with two DPO-B1 thrusters. During the subsequent stationkeeping at ~50m, the crew tested the RODK digital autopilot, activating the spacecraft's BTsVK onboard digital computer complex and VTsVK MCS (Motion Control System) "Chaika" and putting in the latest guidance parameter settings. The actual de-orbit burn of 4 min 15 sec duration came at 3:19am, resulting in 115.2 m/sec deceleration. Tri-module separation occurred smoothly at 3:47am. At ~16 sec after the separation command, software pitched the PAO (Instrumentation/Propulsion Module) in the rear to a specific angle (-78.5 deg from reference axis) which, if PAO would have remained connected to the SA (as has happened twice in Soyuz history), would have resulted in enough heating on the connecting truss to melt it, thus ensuring separation. Atmospheric entry (99 km) followed at 3:51am and nominal parachute deployment at 4:00am. Following initial observation by Russian SAR (Search & Rescue) personnel in their fixed-wing Antonov plane and helicopters plus receipt of radio comm from the crew, the capsule landed at 4:14am, remaining upright. SAR was there within 2 minutes. After the usual stopover in the medical tent, the crew was flown by helo 2 hrs to Karaganda where Don Pettit & Andr Kuipers boarded the waiting NASA-990 Gulfstream-III airplane which today is bringing them back to Houston/Ellington AFB (with 2 refueling stops),- the 9th direct return for USOS crewmembers. Oleg Kononenko meanwhile was flown on the GCTC Tu-134 back to Chkalovsky airfield of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center at Zvezdniy Gorodok (Star City).]

After a light-duty day yesterday, the remaining ISS crew of CDR Padalka, FE-2 Revin & FE-3 Acaba today has a free day, with sleep/rest from 5:00am this morning to 2:00am tomorrow.

Recap of yesterday, Saturday (6/30), before & after Soyuz TMA-03M departure:

At wakeup (1:00pm EDT), Joe Acaba, Andr Kuipers & Don Pettit completed their weekly post-sleep session of the Reaction Self-Test (Psychomotor Vigilance Self-Test on the ISS) protocol, the 14th for Joe, the 51st for Don & Andr. [RST is done twice daily (after wakeup & before bedtime) for 3 days prior to the sleep shift, the day(s) of the sleep shift and 5 days following a sleep shift. The experiment consists of a 5-minute reaction time task that allows crewmembers to monitor the daily effects of fatigue on performance while on ISS. The experiment provides objective feedback on neurobehavioral changes in attention, psychomotor speed, state stability, and impulsivity while on ISS missions, particularly as they relate to changes in circadian rhythms, sleep restrictions, and extended work shifts.]

After wakeup, Gennady Padalka performed the routine inspection of the SM (Service Module) PSS Caution & Warning panel as part of regular Daily Morning Inspection.

FE-2 Revin took care of the routine daily servicing of the SOZh system (Environment Control & Life Support System, ECLSS) in the SM. [Regular daily SOZh maintenance consists, among else, of checking the ASU toilet facilities, replacement of the KTO & KBO solid waste containers, replacement of EDV-SV waste water and EDV-U urine containers and filling EDV-SV, KOV (for Elektron), EDV-ZV & EDV on RP flow regulator.]

FE-4 Kononenko had another 3 hrs to wrap up cargo packing & stowing on the Soyuz spacecraft.

Afterwards, at ~6:20pm, Oleg downlinked the standard "Loading Complete" report, then took documentary photo/video of the SA hatch cover and downlinked the files for ground inspection.

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NASA ISS On-Orbit Status 01 July 2012

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - An Orion space capsule being developed to fly astronauts to asteroids, the moon and eventually to Mars arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a 2014 test flight, NASA said on Monday. The spacecraft, built by Lockheed-Martin is targeted for launch aboard an unmanned Delta 4 Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, adjacent to the NASA ...

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New NASA spaceship arrives in Florida for test flight