NASA Orion comes together at Canaveral

[spuwho]

While there has been much press on SpaceX and the launches of the Falcon 9 and Dragon capsule to the ISS from the Cape, your tax dollars have been hard at work down at NASA prepping for the first test flight of our deep space capsule Orion.

Originally part of the Constellation space project cancelled by the Obama Administration, the capsule was kept going and the development of the article continued while a decision was made on how we were going to perform heavy lft since we no longer have a Saturn V. (The new SRS will do that)

The first test flight is scheduled for December and the Delta IV Heavy rocket is currently under assembly at Canaveral today.

Per Space.com:

Rocket Coming Together for New NASA Spaceship's 1st Flight



NASA's next crewed spaceship is one step closer to taking flight for the first time.

Engineers have integrated the two stages of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta 4 Heavy rocket that will launch NASA's Orion capsule on a highly anticipated unmanned mission known as Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) in December.

"The hardware for Exploration Flight Test-1 is coming together well," Merri Anne Stowe, of NASA's Fleet Systems Integration Branch of the Launch Services Program, said in a statement today (Sept. 26). "We haven't had to deal with any serious problems. All of the advance planning appears to be paying off."

A United Launch Alliance technician monitors progress as core booster elements of a Delta IV Heavy rocket are being integrated in preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1, which is due to launch in December 2014.Pin It A United Launch Alliance technician monitors progress as core booster elements of a Delta IV Heavy rocket are being integrated in preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1, which is due to launch in December 2014.

The rocket-assembly work took place at ULA's Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and was led by ULA. First, engineers attached three elements known as Common Booster Cores to build the rocket's first stage. Each core is 134 feet long by 17 feet wide (42 by 5.2 meters), and together they generate 1.96 million pounds of thrust.

This work was done by early August, NASA officials said. The second stage — which is 45 feet long by 17 feet wide (13.7 by 5.2 m) and generates 25,000 pounds of thrust — was then mated to the first stage's central core in mid-September.

Technicians will soon check out the rocket stages to make sure all is well, then conduct a "test readiness review."


"These meetings are held to bring together all the interested parties to be sure the Delta 4 rocket is ready for the move to the launch pad where the Orion spacecraft will be mated," Stowe said.

Orion is a crew capsule designed to carry NASA astronauts to deep-space destinations such as asteroids and Mars. During manned missions, Orion will launch atop the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) mega-rocket.

But SLS won't be ready to fly until late 2017, so a Delta 4 Heavy will be used for EFT-1, which is set to blast off Dec. 4 from Cape Canveral.

[spuwho]

The combo was lifted up at Canaveral this week. Let the countdown begin.

[IrvAdams]

I've been following space technology since I was a kid during the Moon landings and to this day it never ceases to awe me. We take space flights for granted, when in some ways this is the most incredible thing Mankind has done with his time on this planet.

[spuwho]

A couple of details about this test flight.

Why the Delta 4 Heavy?

First, the Orion test will be traveling around the moon and coming back for a splashdown. They need a booster package that can support a LTO. (Lunar Transfer Orbit)

Second, the US currently does not have a human rated heavy lifter (the SRS will be that, so will the SpaceX Falcon Heavy) and the SRS wont have a test flight ready until 2017.

Since this test will not have humans in the capsule, they can use a non rated booster.

Why is human rating important?  The booster has to have the redundant systems and certain features that will maintain the safety of the crew in the event of of system failure.

Also human rated boosters are designed for controlled trajectories, where missile and satellite boosters use lofted trajectories.

There is alot of division in the US Space community about what our priorities should be, but this is just one piece of the puzzle leading to the next generation of human based space exploration.

[spuwho]

Orion on the Pad: NASA Rolls Out Space Capsule for 1st Test Flight

http://www.space.com/27753-orion-spaceship-launch-pad-rollout.html

NASA's first space-bound Orion capsule has arrived at the launch pad, where it will lift off in early December on an uncrewed test flight in support of NASA's plans for future astronaut missions beyond Earth orbit.



The gumdrop-shaped spacecraft, encased within a white aerodynamic shell and topped by a launch escape tower, rolled up to the base of Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:07 a.m. EST (0807 GMT) on Wednesday (Nov. 12).

The capsule, which is set to embark on Dec. 4 on NASA's Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), rode out to the pad atop a multi-wheeled transporter. A banner hung on the front of the vehicle read, "Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Building 'I'm On Board,'" referencing the building where the spacecraft was assembled. [The Orion Capsule: NASA's Next Spaceship (Photos)]

"I gotta tell you, this is special," Bob Cabana, the director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center and a former astronaut, told reporters during a press conference on Monday (Nov. 10). "This is our first step on the journey to Mars."

"To see the vehicle on top of the service module with the launch abort system attached, it is quite a stack," Cabana continued. "And it is going to look really good on top of the Delta IV [rocket]."

The Orion's journey to the pad began on Tuesday night at 8:54 p.m. EST (0154 GMT Nov. 11) at a hangar some 22 miles (35 kilometers) away at the Kennedy Space Center.

"To see the actual vehicle, the first [Orion] that is going to fly, is an amazing sight," Rex Walheim, a NASA astronaut who flew onboard the final space shuttle mission and now represents the astronaut office in the Orion program, told collectSPACE. "It just looks beautiful and it is just so nice seeing us get a new vehicle to the launch pad."



The six-hour rollout originated at the Launch Abort System Facility, where the Orion spacecraft was equipped with its escape system tower and enveloped within its outer shell "ogive" panels.

The Exploration Flight Test-1 mission will see the in-flight separation of these components from the Orion as part of the mission's test objectives.

"EFT-1 is basically a compilation of what I would say are the riskiest events we're going to see when we fly people," Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager, said during a press conference held Thursday (Nov. 6). "So this test flight is a great opportunity for us to fly those and actually see them in operation."

"Some of these [mission] events are very difficult or even impossible to test on the ground, so it is important that we fly them," Geyer continued. "EFT-1 gives us a chance to put all those together in a test flight."

On the way out to SLC-37B, the Orion paused in front of the 52-story-tall Vehicle Assembly Building, where NASA plans to assemble its Space Launch System rockets that will fly Orion on future missions out to the vicinity of the moon and eventually to Mars. The capsule also rolled past Pad 39B, where the space agency's Saturn V moon-bound rockets and space shuttles left Earth, and from where the SLS will launch.

Now at its departure site, the 72-foot-tall (22-meter) Orion, complete with its booster adapter section, will be hoisted 170 feet (52 meters) into the air and mounted to the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket that will launch it into Earth orbit. The EFT-1 mission is scheduled to lift off Dec. 4 at 7:05 a.m. EST (1205 GMT), just after sunrise.

The flight test will take the Orion 15 times farther out into space than the International Space Station on a four-and-a-half-hour mission to test many of the systems critical for human missions into deep space. After circling the planet twice, the Orion will reenter Earth's atmosphere at 20,000 miles per hour before descending under parachutes to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

[I-10east]

Here's an awesome pic from the ISS of the Peninsula state.

http://jacksonville.com/breaking-news/2014-11-17/story/astronauts-photo-gives-sunshine-state-larger-life-glow-dark-presence

[spuwho]

Orion: Trial by Fire

per NASA

https://www.youtube.com/v/KyZqSWWKmHQ

[BridgeTroll]

As of now, the launch is planned for 7:05 a.m. Thursday morning, just after sunrise. Yesterday, NASA noted that projected weather conditions aren't exactly ideal for a rocket launch, as low clouds and sporadic showers may move in from the Atlantic. So as of now, the launch is "60 percent 'Go'." If the weather clears up, it's going to make for one hell of a sight. You can watch the test flight courtesy of NASA TV's livestream.

[Jason]

Wish it was going to launch over the weeend so that I could drive down to see it.

[spuwho]

Harkens back to what we did as kids in the Gemini and Apollo era. During Gemini, we would all go into the gym and watch the launches on TV.  By Apollo each classroom had its own TV and we watched the launches and the recoveries as well. Thanks to some well known people from that generation, that tradition is starting again.  Fred Haise is even sleeping on the floor with the kids.

Per the Biloxi SunHerald:

http://www.sunherald.com/2014/12/01/5945917/students-will-witness-orion-launch.html

Students will witness Orion launch with astronaut Fred Haise at Infinity

HANCOCK COUNTY -- Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise will share what it's like to fly into space with local fifth- and sixth-graders this week as they watch the blast-off of NASA's first test flight of the Orion space capsule.



Haise, whose moon rock is on display at Gorenflo Elementary School in Biloxi where he attended grade school, said he has an air mattress ready to go for the sleep-over at Infinity Science Center. He will present a program Wednesday night to the students from schools in Hancock and George counties and Hattiesburg homeschoolers.

Infinity director John Wilson has some programming planned that Haise said they hope will help the students get to sleep.

"We will have to wake them up early to view the prelaunch build-up and then the launch," Haise said.

At 6:05 a.m. Thursday, students will fill the Earth Gallery at Infinity and watch the launch live on NASA Television.

The 150 students and their parents who reserved a spot to spend the night at the museum will experience what children a few generations back got to see with each launch and splashdown.

In the four hours between those events, the students will participate in live presentations and a museum-wide scavenger hunt.

The sleep-over is part of an effort among science centers and NASA visitor centers to celebrate the launch of Orion. The capsule is designed to take astronauts into deep space and eventually to Mars. It will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket and orbit the earth twice before beginning its re-entry.



Haise is a board member of Infinity and is dedicated to getting students engaged in math and science.

[spuwho]

The list (and Google Map) of schools that are hosting Orion Launch Learning Events can be found here:

http://exploredeepspace.com/participate/

Through the Challenger Foundation, the following Jacksonville school will be participating:

Kirby Smith Middle School Challenger Learning Center (Jacksonville, FL)

[BridgeTroll]

New #Orion launch time has been set for 7:55am ET. Countdown will resume at 7:51am.

[BridgeTroll]

Weather... specifically wind has called another delay.   

[BridgeTroll]

8:26 new launch time...

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/195317-watch-nasas-orion-launch-live-video

[BridgeTroll]

holding again for stuck valve...