Monday, December 8, 2014

Fwd: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Monday – December 8, 2014



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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: December 8, 2014 at 12:24:14 PM CST
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: NASA and Human Spaceflight News - Monday – December 8, 2014

Looking ahead into January 2015, I have noted that the first Thursday in January is New Years Day ----  Therefore, our first monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon for 2015 will be delayed to Thursday January 8th, 2015 at 11:30 (Hibachi Grill in Webster on Bay Area Blvd.)
 
 
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Monday – December 8, 2014
ORION: Congratulations to the Orion team! 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.
 
On launch day, there were nearly 321,000 tweets related to #Orion on Twitter, and more than a half-million mission-related tweets in the days leading up to launch. Watch the launch video and relive the mission through social media.
 
 
HEADLINES AND LEADS
What's Next for NASA's Orion Spaceship After Historic 1st Flight?
Mike Wall - Space.com
NASA's Orion capsule has come back down to Earth after its first-ever test flight, and the spacecraft will remain on terra firma for a while.
NASA's Orion spacecraft due to arrive in San Diego
Associated Press via Houston Chronicle
NASA's newest space vehicle, Orion, is heading to San Diego after accomplishing its first test flight and splashing down off Mexico's Baja peninsula.
Orion Aces First Flight Test
Jeff Foust – Space News
 
The spacecraft that serves as a cornerstone of NASA's long-term human space exploration plans carried out nearly flawlessly a brief but critical first flight test Dec. 5.
 
A Successful First Flight For NASA's Orion Spacecraft
American spaceflight enters a new era
Marissa Fessenden - Smithsonian Magazine
The new era for American space exploration has begun.
NASA's Orion Capsule Returns Safely in Flawless Pacific Splashdown
Orion's Historic Maiden Flight Accomplished All Major Milestones
Andy Pasztor - Wall Street Journal
After a virtually flawless test flight that took NASA's Orion capsule deeper into space than any other such vehicle in more than four decades, the unmanned spacecraft made a safe return with a historic pinpoint splashdown on Friday in the Pacific Ocean.
 
NASA's Exploration Roadmap to Mars Starts with Flawless Orion Launch and Landing
Ken Kremer - Universe Today
NASA's exploration roadmap aimed at sending Humans to Mars in the 2030s got off the ground magnificently with the flawless launch and landing of the agency's new Orion deep space capsule on its maiden voyage to space on Friday, Dec. 5, 2014.
First Flight Test Is Successful for NASA's Orion Spacecraft
Henry Fountain – The New York Times
NASA's new Orion spacecraft passed its first flight test on Friday, marking the start of what the space agency hopes will be a new era of human exploration beyond Earth's orbit.
Why the Orion Space Launch Bodes Well For Lockheed Martin & Others
Doug Olenick – The Street
 
Hundreds of companies are hoping to profit after the successful test flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft today from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But for firms that make Orion's larger components and systems, the spacecraft's orbital journey means these companies will continue to be fueled by NASA's funding tap.
Orion spacecraft makes splashdown in Pacific Ocean — NASA
Orion blasted off for a first trial run from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday
ITAR TASS, of Russia
US new Orion spacecraft has completed its first test flight with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California at 08.29am local time, NASA said on Friday.
U.S. To Expedite Orbital Collision-avoidance Warnings to China
Mike Gruss – Space News
The Chinese government has asked the U.S. Air Force to send warnings of potential satellite collisions directly to its space operators, with no detour through the U.S. State Department, the service's top space official said Dec. 5.
 
Repairs to Wallops Island launch pad, damaged in rocket explosion, to take a year
Kevin Rector – The Baltimore Sun
The Wallops Island launch pad that was damaged when a cargo rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded shortly after liftoff in October will take about a year to repair, according to the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority.
Pluto-Bound Probe Wakes From Electronic Slumber
Irene Klotz - Discovery.com
NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft turned off its snooze alarm for the last time Saturday night to begin preparations for a long-awaited study of the dwarf planet and its Kuiper Belt neighbors.
NASA's Dawn spacecraft captures first images of Ceres
Amy Thompson – Spaceflight Insider
NASA's Dawn spacecraft launched atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA ) Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17-B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 27, 2007, kicking off the start of a seven year trek across the solar system. Its mission: explore the asteroid belt and help unlock the secrets of the early solar system. Researchers had two targets picked out for the probe, and asteroid named Vesta and a dwarf planet named Ceres. It has just recently – captured its first image of its second target – Ceres.
What's Happening in Space Policy December 8-12, 2014
Marcia S. Smith - Spacepolicyonline.com
 
Here is our list of space policy-related events for the week of December 8-12, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session.
COMPLETE STORIES
What's Next for NASA's Orion Spaceship After Historic 1st Flight?
Mike Wall - Space.com
NASA's Orion capsule has come back down to Earth after its first-ever test flight, and the spacecraft will remain on terra firma for a while.
Orion got its first taste of space Friday morning (Dec. 5), zooming 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers) from Earth, then barreling back into the planet's atmosphere and splashing down safely in the Pacific Ocean. The unmanned, 4.5-hour mission, which NASA calls Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), was designed to test out Orion's heat shield, avionics and other systems in the space environment.
"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," Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer said in a statement Friday. [See amazing photos from Orion's first test flight]
NASA has big plans for Orion; the space agency says the capsule will one day get astronauts to an asteroid, Mars and perhaps other destinations in deep space. But the first of those manned missions is at least seven years away, and an unmanned Orion won't take flight again until 2017 at the earliest.
Here's a look at what the future holds for Orion, the first human-spaceflight vehicle to go beyond low-Earth orbit since NASA's Apollo capsule, which flew to the moon and back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
To the moon, and an asteroid
The data gathered during EFT-1 will help engineers tweak and refine Orion in the lead-up to the capsule's next space test, which will take place in late 2017 or 2018.
 
On that unmanned flight, called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), a different Orion capsule — which is currently being built by contractor Lockheed Martin — will cruise around the moon and come back to Earth after spending about a week in deep space. (The spacecraft that flew on Friday will be refurbished for a 2018 test of Orion's launch-abort system, which is designed to get astronauts out of danger in the event of a launch emergency.)
 
While EFT-1 used a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, EM-1 will mark the first test flight of NASA's new Space Launch System megarocket (SLS), which agency officials say will be the most powerful booster ever built.
 
Then, if all goes according to plan, SLS and Orion will fly together again on Exploration Mission-2 (EM-2), the first crewed flight for both the capsule and the rocket. NASA wants EM-2 to take astronauts out to visit a captured near-Earth asteroid that has been dragged into lunar orbit by a robotic probe.
 
The details of this "asteroid redirect mission" are still being worked out. The robotic capture craft may snag an entire small asteroid, or pluck a boulder off a much bigger space rock.
 
EM-2 could blast off as soon as 2021. NASA aims to get people out to the captured asteroid by 2025 at the latest, to meet a directive laid out by President Barack Obama in 2010.
 
On to Mars
But all of these flights and activities are leading up to something even bigger. NASA officials say Orion will help accomplish the main long-term goal of the global human-spaceflight community: getting astronauts to Mars and back.
 
In NASA's vision, SLS will blast a crewed Orion toward Mars, ideally by the mid-2030s. The first mission may not touch down on the Red Planet, but putting boots on Mars is definitely in the space agency's plans.
 
Orion is designed to support astronauts for up to 21 days at a time, and the trip to Mars will likely take about six months. So, any manned Red Planet mission will also feature a habitat module, which will house the astronauts for most of the journey, NASA officials say. (Orion's main job on such long-term trips is to get astronauts into space and safely back to Earth.)
A lot of work needs to be done before NASA will be ready to mount a manned Mars mission. Engineers need to figure out the design of the habitat module, for example, and design a way to get superheavy loads down on the Red Planet's surface. (The 1-ton Curiosity rover, which landed in 2012, maxed out the agency's "sky crane" system.)
But NASA officials are confident that Orion and SLS will be ready to go when the time comes.
"Orion is the exploration spacecraft for NASA, and paired with SLS, we'll go explore the solar system," Geyer said at a news conference before EFT-1.
NASA's Orion spacecraft due to arrive in San Diego
Associated Press via Houston Chronicle
NASA's newest space vehicle, Orion, is heading to San Diego after accomplishing its first test flight and splashing down off Mexico's Baja peninsula.
A Navy spokesman says an amphibious warship carrying the unmanned spacecraft is due to arrive at Naval Base San Diego on Monday.
Crewmembers of the USS Anchorage recovered Orion on Friday after it shot more than 3,600 miles out from Earth and returned with the capsule intact.
NASA is counting on future Orions to carry astronauts out into the solar systems, to Mars and beyond.
Once the 11-foot tall capsule arrives in San Diego, it will be offloaded from the ship, onto a truck and returned to Cape Canaveral just in time for Christmas.
Orion Aces First Flight Test
Jeff Foust – Space News
The spacecraft that serves as a cornerstone of NASA's long-term human space exploration plans carried out nearly flawlessly a brief but critical first flight test Dec. 5.
 
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy lifted off at 7:05 a.m. Dec. 5 from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at the beginning of a two-hour, 39-minute launch window. The rocket placed the Orion spacecraft into a transfer orbit of 185 by 888 kilometers about 17 minutes and 30 seconds after liftoff.
 
At 9 a.m., after completing one orbit, the Delta 4's upper stage fired its engine again, placing the spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit. Orion achieved a peak altitude of 5,800.4 kilometers at 10:11 a.m., as planned.
 
Orion splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 1,015 kilometers southwest of San Diego at 11:29 a.m. The capsule landed within a few kilometers of its planned location, where two U.S. Navy vessels were positioned to recover the capsule.
 
During the nearly four-and-a-half-hour mission, officially known as Exploration Flight Test (EFT)-1, flight controllers reported no problems with the spacecraft. "Every single system on this spacecraft functioned by the book from start to finish," NASA spokesman Rob Navias said shortly after splashdown.
 
There was at least one problem with the system that inflates five airbags to keep the module upright after splashdown. Only three of those airbags inflated fully, but NASA suggested that was a relatively minor problem. "We didn't see anything major, that's clear," said Mark Geyer, NASA Orion program manager, said at a post-splashdown briefing.
 
Orion was to be brought onboard the USS Anchorage, the primary recovery ship, which was then to return to San Diego. After arriving there, Orion will be trucked back to the Kennedy Space Center, returning here by Christmas.
 
NASA originally planned to launch Orion on Dec. 4, but that attempt suffered both weather and technical problems. The countdown was stopped twice with less than four minutes before liftoff when winds exceeded preset limits.
 
A third launch attempt, about halfway into the two-hour, 39-minute launch window, was also halted with just over three minutes before launch. Liquid hydrogen valves on two of the three booster cores that comprise the Delta 4 Heavy's first stage failed to close, and the problem could not be resolved before the launch window closed.
 
The EFT-1 mission was the first flight test of the Orion spacecraft. NASA designed the mission to test several key systems on Orion, including its heat shield, parachutes, and the susceptibility of the spacecraft's electronics to radiation as Orion passed through the lower portions of the Van Allen belts.
 
"It's a test flight," Geyer said during a pre-launch briefing here Dec. 3. "We are pushing the systems to make sure they work as we expect."
 
Those tests will support further development of Orion, which is now expected to fly again in 2018 on the first launch of the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. That will be followed by first crewed Orion launch, also on the SLS, in 2021.
 
Development of both Orion and SLS will be the subject of a hearing by the House Science Committee's space subcommittee Dec. 10. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), chairman of the full committee, mentioned the importance of keeping both programs on schedule in a statement issued shortly after the Orion splashdown.
 
"The Orion launch is a major milestone for U.S. space exploration and our efforts to travel further into our solar system than ever before," said Smith. "That is why I place the highest priority on ensuring NASA remains on budget and on schedule with the Space Launch System."
 
A Successful First Flight For NASA's Orion Spacecraft
American spaceflight enters a new era
Marissa Fessenden - Smithsonian Magazine
The new era for American space exploration has begun.
This Friday morning, the Orion spacecraft's test flight put its computer systems through its paces: liftoff, a circuit around the planet, a second orbit that took it 3,604.2 miles above Earth, through the Van Allen radiation belt—a region of charged particles held in place by the planet's magnetic field—and through 20,000 mile per hour re-entry that spiked temperatures on Orion's heat shield up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, according to NBC News. The splashdown happened at 11:29 a.m. ET.
The systems handled everything "by the book from start to finish," said launch commentator Mike Curie while waiting for crews to retrieve the floating spacecraft.
Despite several delays during the original launch window, enthusiasm about the test flight's sucesss is high. "I would describe it as the beginning of the Mars era," Charles Bolden, NASA's administrator said on NASA TV, NBC reports. People around the world (and some off the world) watched the excitement.
NASA expects to learn from the data gathered during this first test flight. The next step is to build the first rocket intended to power future missions. The press statement explains that will be the "Space Launch System rocket, a heavy booster with enough power to send the next Orion to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon for Exploration Mission-1. Following that, astronauts are gearing up to fly Orion on the second SLS rocket on a mission that will return astronauts to deep space for the first time in more than 40 years."
That first crewed Orion flight should be sometime in 2021.
NASA's Orion Capsule Returns Safely in Flawless Pacific Splashdown
Orion's Historic Maiden Flight Accomplished All Major Milestones
Andy Pasztor - Wall Street Journal
After a virtually flawless test flight that took NASA's Orion capsule deeper into space than any other such vehicle in more than four decades, the unmanned spacecraft made a safe return with a historic pinpoint splashdown on Friday in the Pacific Ocean.
Capping two orbits of the earth that highlighted reliability of the capsule's propulsion and flight-control systems, Orion landed right on target at about 11:30 a.m. EST, some 630 miles southwest of San Diego, according to NASA. Video images showed it bobbing gently in the ocean, in an upright position as it awaited arrival of a small armada of recovery vessels.
The return capped a day of many firsts, starting with a picture-perfect launch at sunrise precisely on time, then the capsule separating from its booster rocket, positioning itself for re-entry while traveling about 20,000 miles an hour and performing as intended to barrel through the atmosphere for a gentle touchdown.
Friday's inaugural mission by Orion, which has been slated as America's premier human-exploration vehicle for future decades, provides a much-needed boost for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at a time of heightened budget pressures and persistent congressional skepticism. Onboard cameras broadcast dramatic video of parts of the rocket framed by images of a blue, cloud-covered Earth.
The flight renewed public interest, at least temporarily, in the type of long-term goals for which NASA has struggled to generate excitement of late—from visiting asteroids to exploring Mars.
But agency officials cautioned that many technical challenges remain, while lawmakers are divided over how future missions will be funded or where they should go. Even as NASA and its supporters celebrated, Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the Republican chairman of the House Science Committee, expressed concern about progress on the next-generation rocket being developed for Orion.
By climbing more than 3,600 miles above the earth and then using its heat shield and parachutes to survive the fiery re-entry, the performance of the Lockheed Martin Corp. -built capsule exceeded the expectations of many advocates. NASA said the forces during re-entry were twice as strong as those typically experienced by astronauts returning to earth from the international space station.
 
"It's a really exciting day," NASA chief Charles Bolden said before liftoff. "It's a big day for the world, for people who know and like space."
 
Expressing the relief and elation of NASA's workforce after the splashdown, a mission spokesman called it "the most perfect flight you could ever imagine," with all systems performing "by the book."
 
Unlike on Thursday, when uncooperative winds and balky fuel valves prompted a last-minute scrub of the launch, Friday's countdown went smoothly without any delays.
 
Perched on top of the Air Force's most powerful booster, which generated more than 2 million pounds of thrust at liftoff, the roughly 242-foot tall Delta IV rocket and its payload arced gracefully into the Florida sky shortly after 7 a.m.
Seconds after liftoff, a NASA launch commentator described it as "the dawn of Orion, and a new era in American space exploration."
The suspense persisted throughout the nearly five-hour test flight. Orion's fiberglass, honeycomb-like heat shield—the largest ever built—is less than 2 inches thick but its unique material nevertheless protected the spacecraft from temperatures on its return trip, which NASA expected to peak at some 4,000 degrees.
Before the spacecraft briefly lost contact with controllers on the ground during a portion of the descent, which was expected, NASA said Orion's flight-control and navigation systems were bringing it "right down the middle" of its projected path. A combination of several parachutes, including three main ones, deployed in series to slow the capsule and prevent it from spinning out of control.
Within half an hour of touchdown, the recovery vessels were huddled roughly 120 yards from Orion, waiting for onboard equipment to be powered down. A NASA mission commentator said the recovery teams determined the capsule didn't exhibit any leaks and was in "excellent condition."
The 1,200 sensors installed on the spacecraft are expected to provide a flood of specific data, but officials said preliminary information indicates there weren't any major technical setbacks.
Michael Hawes, Lockheed Martin's Orion manager, told reporters it was a "very, very clean flight" that amounted to "really a terrific performance" by the engineering teams. Mark Geyer, NASA's program manager, told the same post-splashdown news conference "it's hard to have a better day than today."
The biggest technical issue, which had been expected, appeared to be that external radiation spikes caused onboard video processing systems to reset without commands from controllers.
Responding to questions about the broader impact of the mission, William Gerstenmaier, NASA's top manned exploration official, said it reinvigorated the agency's image. "Thank you for getting us excited again" about being the global leader in space, he told the news conference.
Rex Walheim, who flew on the last space shuttle mission and is now the astronaut representative to the Orion team, told reporter he would be "hard pressed to find an astronaut past, present, or future who wouldn't love" to fly Orion.
Orion's debut was the first time since 1972, when Apollo 17 returned from the moon, that a spacecraft built to carry astronauts ventured beyond low-Earth orbit. But the capsule almost didn't make it to the launchpad.
 
U.S. President Barack Obama and his advisers initially moved to abandon the program soon after entering office—when it was set to go to the moon—arguing it was too expensive and would take too long to deploy. When aerospace contractors fumed and Congress balked, NASA's leadership proposed to relegate the mission to a supporting role: serving as a permanent standby rescue vehicle for astronauts to get off the international space station in an emergency.
 
Finally, some three years ago, after NASA officials and lawmakers reached a hard-fought bipartisan compromise, Orion was reconfigured to become a pathfinder vehicle at the core of NASA's long-term exploration vision. Teamed with a next-generation rocket, dubbed the Space Launch System, NASA envisions Orion carrying substantially more cargo than any previous spacecraft while taking astronauts deeper into space than ever before.
 
The overall system could cost more than $20 billion through 2021, when the first manned mission is scheduled to take place.
 
A round-trip voyage to the vicinity of Mars could take up to two years. To cope with such rigors, Orion is designed to carry several times as much drinking water, food supplies and propellant than capsules intended to serve the space station or reach other low-Earth orbit destinations.
 
For many space fans, though, the flight sparked memories of NASA's heyday, when manned missions to the moon captured the imagination of people around the globe. Part of the reason is that at least from the outside, Orion resembles the craft that made those exploits possible. In addition, NASA officials have gone out of their way to stress the parallels and symbolic connections between Orion and the lunar explorations.
 
NASA's Exploration Roadmap to Mars Starts with Flawless Orion Launch and Landing
Ken Kremer - Universe Today
NASA's exploration roadmap aimed at sending Humans to Mars in the 2030s got off the ground magnificently with the flawless launch and landing of the agency's new Orion deep space capsule on its maiden voyage to space on Friday, Dec. 5, 2014.
"The first look looks really good from a data standpoint and will help us as we go forward," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Directorate, at the post Orion landing media briefing at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
"We, as a species, are meant to press humanity further into the solar system and this is a first step. What a tremendous team effort."
Orion roared to orbit atop the fiery fury of a 242 foot tall United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket – the world's most powerful booster – at 7:05 a.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The unpiloted test flight of Orion on the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission carried the capsule farther away from Earth than any spacecraft designed for astronauts has traveled in more than four decades.
Humans have not ventured beyond low Earth orbit since the launch of Apollo 17 on NASA's final moon landing mission on Dec. 7, 1972.
The first stage of the mammoth, triple barreled Delta IV Heavy generates some two million pounds of liftoff thrust and was the only rocket powerful enough to launch Orion and achieve its intended goals.
During the two orbit, 4.5 hour flight, Orion reached an altitude of 3,604 miles above Earth, about 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS).
The Delta rocket's main stage and upper stage performed so well that Orion was injected into orbit within an accuracy of about 1 foot of the planned orbit, said Larry Price, Lockheed Martin Deputy Orion Program Manager in an interview with Universe Today.
"It's phenomenal," Price told me. NASA selected Lockheed Martin a decade ago as the prime contractor to design and build Orion.
Orion was assembled, integrated, and tested inside the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at KSC.
"Lockheed Martin did a tremendous job of getting Orion ready," noted Gerstenmaier.
"Thanks to everyone for getting us to be the leader in space."
The EFT-1 mission concluded with a successful parachute-assisted splashdown of the Orion crew module in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego.
"It was a difficult mission," said Mark Geyer, NASA's Orion program manager at the KSC briefing. It appears to have been nearly flawless."
"It is hard to have a better day than today. The upper stage put us right where we needed to be."
"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."
The spacecraft was loaded with over 1200 sensors to collect critical performance data on numerous systems throughout the mission for evaluation by engineers.
EFT-1 tested the rocket, second stage, and jettison mechanisms, as well as avionics, attitude control, computers, environmental controls, and electronic systems inside the Orion spacecraft and ocean recovery operations.
It also tested the effects of intense radiation by traveling twice through the Van Allen radiation belt.
Approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes into the mission, the spacecraft separated and soon experienced the highest radiation levels of the mission.
At about 4 hours and 15 minutes, the capsule began its high speed re-entry through the atmosphere at speeds approaching 20,000 mph, thereby testing the 16.5-foot-wide heat shield at speeds approximating 85% of the reentry velocity for astronauts returning from voyages to the Red Planet.
The capsule survived scorching temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit in a successful test of the heat shield and thermal protection tiles, before splashing down on a trio of parachutes in the Pacific Ocean at 11:29 a.m. EST.
The purpose was to check out many, but not all, of the systems critical to the safety of astronauts who will eventually travel to deep space in Orion.
"When Orion started there were still a lot of Apollo veterans. Now we have finally done something for our generation," said Mike Hawes, Lockheed Martin Orion Program manager.
Onboard cameras captured stunning views during many stages of the EFT-1 mission, including the fairing jettison and views out the window.
"Some of those pictures where you could see the frame of the window, you don't feel like you're watching like a satellite, you feel like an astronaut yourself," Geyer said.
That picture really meant something to me," said astronaut Rex Walheim, who flew on the final space shuttle mission on STS-135.
A drone captured stunning images of Orion during the final plummet to Earth and parachute deployment.
The pace of the Orion program is constrained by budgets and is slower than anyone wishes.
The next Orion launch on the EM-1 mission is slated for the second half of 2018 and will also be unmanned during the debut launch of NASA's powerful new SLS rocket.
America's astronauts flying aboard Orion will venture farther into deep space than ever before – beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars, and other destinations in our Solar System starting around 2020 or 2021 on Orion's first crewed flight atop NASA's new monster rocket – the SLS – concurrently under development.
First Flight Test Is Successful for NASA's Orion Spacecraft
Henry Fountain – The New York Times
NASA's new Orion spacecraft passed its first flight test on Friday, marking the start of what the space agency hopes will be a new era of human exploration beyond Earth's orbit.
Carrying only test equipment and some souvenirs, the 19,000-pound capsule splashed down in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles southwest of San Diego about four and a half hours after it was launched into orbit from Florida. NASA said that the spacecraft had functioned nearly flawlessly throughout the brief flight and that the capsule landed just a mile off target.
"There is your new spacecraft, America," a NASA spokesman, Rob Navias, said as Orion gently descended, its three main orange-and-white parachutes framed against wispy clouds in an otherwise blue sky.
"It's a good day," W. Michael Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed Martin, which built Orion, said at a news conference in Florida two hours after splashdown.
For the space industry, public and private, the test was a welcome success after two recent disasters. In late October, a commercial cargo rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded after liftoff in Virginia. Two days later, a rocket being developed by Virgin Galactic to take private citizens on short space jaunts disintegrated during a test flight in California, killing a pilot.
NASA's test, though, appeared to go off with just a few minor hitches. One of the few reported problems occurred after the splashdown, when two of five airbags designed to keep the capsule upright in the water did not fully deploy. But the failure had no effect on the recovery.
The 11-foot-long capsule, which had slowed from a maximum speed of about 20,000 miles an hour to 20 just before it splashed into the water, will be towed to San Diego and eventually trucked back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Engineers and technicians will pore over it and analyze reams of data collected by sensors during the flight to determine how well the spacecraft's systems and parts, including the capsule's heat shield, performed.
William H. Gerstenmaier, a NASA associate administrator, said that a quick review after the splashdown suggested that the data "looks really good."
"We will really learn things from this flight," he said.
Sitting atop a Delta IV rocket, the Orion capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Florida's Atlantic coast at 7:05 a.m. The launch had been delayed for a day after winds and a problem with the rocket's fuel system forced a cancellation on Thursday.
With two boosts from the Delta rocket's second-stage engine, Orion circled Earth for two orbits, the second one carrying it to an altitude of 3,604 miles so it could achieve a high re-entry speed, close to the speeds expected if it were to return from a flight to the moon or beyond.
The $375-million flight marks the beginning of in-space testing for the capsule. The next test flight is not expected until 2018, however, because of limited NASA budgets, and Orion will not carry astronauts until 2021 at the earliest. But NASA hopes that someday it will take people back to the moon or to Mars.
NASA is also developing a more powerful rocket that would be able to send a fully outfitted Orion out of Earth orbit to the moon or beyond.
Referring to the political debate over funding of NASA's human space exploration program, Mr. Gerstenmaier said that "a successful test flight just helps that discussion."
After the delays and postponement on Thursday, flight controllers had been concerned that the launching might be postponed again because of high winds at the launchpad. But the winds stayed below the limit of about 24 miles an hour, and the rocket, with three large boosters fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, ignited right on time and accelerated to supersonic speeds within 85 seconds.
While the capsule did not carry any people, some artifacts were on board, including a sample of lunar soil, part of a dinosaur fossil and a recording of the Mars movement from Gustav Holst's "The Planets."
NASA's rocket systems worked better than some of its computer servers, apparently. NASA TV's live video feed froze about 10 seconds before the launching, disappointing many viewers. But replays of the launching were available later, and live video of the splashdown, from cameras aboard the capsule and a drone aircraft, was uninterrupted.
Why the Orion Space Launch Bodes Well For Lockheed Martin & Others
Doug Olenick – The Street
 
Hundreds of companies are hoping to profit after the successful test flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft today from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But for firms that make Orion's larger components and systems, the spacecraft's orbital journey means these companies will continue to be fueled by NASA's funding tap.
NASA plans on spending about $1 billion per year further developing the Orion space capsule and another $7 billion on the Space Launch System (SLS), as the space agency aims to eventually deliver manned missions to Mars. There will be more than enough money to spread around to the large aerospace and defense contractors working on the project, as well as the 500 small businesses affiliated with the project.

The number of Orion missions have not been set, but a series of test flights are scheduled. The next text flight is expected to take place in 2018, with the first orbital manned mission slated for sometime in 2020.

Here are a few of the project's primary contractors:
 
Lockheed Martin's (LMT) Space Systems Co. is the program manager and primary contractor for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The areospace and defense contractor is also participating in the Orion project through its investment in United Launch Alliance, which is co-owns with Boeing (BA) . United Launch Alliance developed the Delta IV Heavy Rocket which lifted the Orion into orbit today.
Honeywell (HON) is also on board the Orion project. It developed Orion's intelligent avionics and software that supports the craft's data, navigation and communications systems, which run on the Vehicle Management Computer. The company also contributed the power data unit cards, network interface cards, Orion inertial measurement unit, GPS receiver and barometric.
Hamilton Sundstrand, a division of United Technologies (UTX), is handling Orion's life support and power systems. It's also a contractor for similar work on Boeing's Commercial Crew Transportation System, another space launch vehicle. Aerojet Rocketdyne, part of GenCorp (GY), is providing ongoing testing and verification for Orion's powerful motors and engines. Aerojet is likely hoping a successful Orion launch and program will erase investors' memories of its involvement in the Orbital Sciences rocket program, which suffered a catastrophic setback on Oct. 29 when the rocket exploded after launch.
Airbus, in conjunction with the European Space Agency, is the prime contractor for the Orion Service Module. The service module provides propulsion, power supply, thermal control and the central elements of the life support system of the capsule. This component was not included in today's launch, but will be sent into space with the slated 2018 launch.
Alliant Techsystems (ATK) manufactured the UltraFlex solar array. Each of the two circular solar panels provide over 6,000 watts of power - enough energy to run a half dozen three-bedroom homes. The company is also contracted to provide solar cells for other NASA missions, including the 2016 Insight mission to Mars.
Textron Defense Systems (TXT) provided the ablative heat shield that will protect the capsule during its re-entry, which was also used during the Apollo program.
Ball Aerospace Technologies (BLL) built the phased array antennas and that will help the craft with docking maneuvers.
Orion spacecraft makes splashdown in Pacific Ocean — NASA
Orion blasted off for a first trial run from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday
ITAR TASS, of Russia
US new Orion spacecraft has completed its first test flight with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off California at 08.29am local time, NASA said on Friday.
Orion blasted off for a first trial run from Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday. The unmanned mission tests how Orion holds up while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.
Orion, equipped with nearly 1,200 sensors, has made two orbits of Earth at a distance of 5,800 kilometers, 14 times beyond the International Space Station into outer space. The spacecraft was planned to re-enter the atmosphere at a speed of 32,000 km/h, enduring 2,200 degrees Celsius, although 11 parachutes are due to slow its descent to 32km/h near the Earth.
U.S. To Expedite Orbital Collision-avoidance Warnings to China
Mike Gruss – Space News
The Chinese government has asked the U.S. Air Force to send warnings of potential satellite collisions directly to its space operators, with no detour through the U.S. State Department, the service's top space official said Dec. 5.
 
Speaking at a breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club here, Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, said the Air Force has long provided data on any potential on-orbit collisions to the parties involved. In the case of China and Russia, however, that data must be routed through the State Department, and often through the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries, before reaching their military satellite operators.
 
China recently asked that the data be sent directly to its satellite operators in the name of expediency and Hyten said the Air Force would comply the next time it spots a potential collision involving Chinese space hardware.
 
"It takes a long time to get through that process. Sometimes too long," Hyten said. "The Chinese just a little while ago said, 'We'd very much like that data direct.'"
 
Hyten acknowledged that providing the data itself is not a fundamental change, but said the new procedure would avoid bureaucratic holdups and enable quicker action by Chinese operators, such as maneuvering their satellites out of harm's way.
 
"To me it's a big deal. It's a big deal because they asked," he said. "We want to space to be a safe place."
 
During a July meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in Beijing, the two sides committed to continuing discussions on a way for China to access more detailed technical collision avoidance information from U.S. Strategic Command, according to a July release on the U.S. State Department. That information would come through Strategic Command's Spacetrack website, which provides basic satellite catalog information, including positional data and background information.
 
The new arrangement does not cover more specific space situational awareness data, Hyten said.
 
The Defense Department operates the world's most sophisticated space surveillance system and has long been the de facto provider of collision-avoidance and other types of data to other spacefaring nations, many of which are beefing up their own capabilities. Defense Department officials in September said the U.S. government has signed nearly 50 broader data-sharing agreements with other governments and private-sector entities.
 
Hyten acknowledged China is a bit of an unlikely partner.
 
In January 2007, China's military deliberately destroyed one of its defunct weather satellites known as Fengyun-1C using a ground-based ballistic missile. The action left a cloud of potentially hazardous debris in a heavily used belt of Earth orbit and was widely condemned internationally.
 
This past August, the State Department said the Chinese government conducted another, albeit nondestructive, anti-satellite test, and senior Pentagon officials have warned in recent months about growing threats to U.S. national security space assets from China and Russia.
 
But data on impending close orbital encounters, known as conjunctions, is widely shared under the premise that any collision would generate more debris, creating a more dangerous environment for all spacecraft.
 
Hyten called the change "tremendous" and "awesome."
 
"That is [an example of] the kind of international partnerships we need to think about," he said.
 
Repairs to Wallops Island launch pad, damaged in rocket explosion, to take a year
Kevin Rector – The Baltimore Sun
The Wallops Island launch pad that was damaged when a cargo rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded shortly after liftoff in October will take about a year to repair, according to the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority.
Recovery from the failed rocket launch also will require soil and water remediation at the launch site, which is part of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on the Virginia coast, about 9 miles south of the Maryland line, officials at the authority said this week.
The facility is part of the larger NASA Wallops Flight Facility, an increasingly important economic anchor for the lower Eastern Shore. A major part of the facility's growth in recent years has come from the presence of Orbital Sciences Corp., the company that owned the rocket that exploded. The firm holds an ongoing government contract to supply the space station.
The explosion of Orbital's unmanned Antares rocket threw that contract and its benefits to the local community into question, but the company said last month it will honor its contractual obligation to deliver additional cargo to the station by 2016 — albeit with an upgraded propulsion system.
Orbital said it is making "good progress" in determining the cause of the explosion, and that preliminary information points to a failure in one of the rocket's two main engines. It already was planning to phase out the Antares program's propulsion system, but is now doing so ahead of schedule.
Barron Beneski, an Orbital spokesman, said this week the Virginia authority's yearlong timeline for spaceport repairs was "in line" with the company's plans, but otherwise declined to comment.
In addition to commenting on launch pad repairs, the Virginia authority said it is continuing to work with NASA and Orbital on environmental remediation that includes "pumping water from the impact crater and sampling."
Surface water samples have indicated "no impact to back bays and tributaries," the authority said, but about 6 inches of soil around the launch site will need to be treated for potential contamination. That work was scheduled to begin this week.
Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Lane said in a statement that the state wants to "put a sustainable plan in place" for a long-term partnership with Orbital and NASA, but will be looking to both for help funding the launch pad repairs — costs for which have not been determined.
Jeremy Eggers, a NASA spokesman at Wallops, said the agency is looking forward to Orbital flights resuming once the launch pad is fixed, but the facility's "operations tempo remains high." It is supporting five suborbital rocket launches scheduled from the agency's Alaska range in January, three balloon launches planned in Antarctica and several other airborne science missions.
Pluto-Bound Probe Wakes From Electronic Slumber
Irene Klotz - Discovery.com
NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons spacecraft turned off its snooze alarm for the last time Saturday night to begin preparations for a long-awaited study of the dwarf planet and its Kuiper Belt neighbors.
Ground control teams at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland received a radio transmission around 9:30 pm. EST that the spacecraft woke up from electronic slumber, its 18th hibernation period since its 3-billion-mile voyage began in January 2006.
"This is really quite an epic journey," lead researcher Alan Stern told reporters at the American Astronomical Society meeting last month.
New Horizons spent a total of 1,873 days in hibernation, with periods ranging from 36- to 202 days, said mission operations manager Alice Bowman.
The downtime left the spacecraft free to collect dust particles and run science experiments without having a costly flight control team or needing to use NASA's deep space communications network.
New Horizons pre-programmed wake-up call now gives the team about six weeks to calibrate the spacecraft's instruments, load software, prepare recorders and check other systems before the main science mission begins Jan. 15.
The spacecraft will make its closest approach to Pluto on July 14.
Pluto, which was still considered a planet when New Horizons blasted off, is now known as a dwarf planet, one of thousands located beyond Neptune's orbit in the unexplored Kuiper Belt region of the solar system.
Scientists believe Kuiper Belt-type objects were the building blocks of planets. New Horizons will be the first spacecraft to survey Pluto.
"Our knowledge of Pluto is quite meager ... despite the march of technology on the ground, even with the Hubble Space Telescope," Stern said. "New Horizons will write the textbook on the Pluto system and the Kuiper Belt."
NASA's Dawn spacecraft captures first images of Ceres
Amy Thompson – Spaceflight Insider
NASA's Dawn spacecraft launched atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA ) Delta II rocket from Space Launch Complex 17-B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 27, 2007, kicking off the start of a seven year trek across the solar system. Its mission: explore the asteroid belt and help unlock the secrets of the early solar system. Researchers had two targets picked out for the probe, and asteroid named Vesta and a dwarf planet named Ceres. It has just recently – captured its first image of its second target – Ceres.
The Delta II was equipped with three stages and nine solid rocket boosters (SRBs) to loft the vehicle into space. ULA's Delta II launcher comes in multiple configurations and the Delta-II Heavy, the most powerful version, propelled the Dawn spacecraft on its four year journey to the asteroid belt. After reaching the upper levels of the atmosphere, the 9.5-foot payload fairing jettisoned, and eventually the spacecraft separated from the upper stage.
In order to complete its journey to the asteroid belt, Dawn employed the use of ion propulsion. This technology was originally tested and deemed successful on NASA's Deep Space 1 mission. However, it has been applied in the design and implementation of a dedicated spacecraft for the first time on this mission.
Ion propulsion permits Dawn to venture on a very bold mission that would be out of reach with traditional propulsion systems. Dawn is equipped with two solar panels, spanning approximately 65 feet (19.7 meters) from tip to tip. The panels collect energy from the Sun, which then ionizes (accelerates the ions) the vehicle's fuel — xenon — and accelerates the spacecraft.
The Dawn mission is the ninth Discovery mission in NASA's Science Mission Directorate and is the first time a spacecraft will orbit an object in the main asteroid belt as well as orbit two separate objects within the asteroid belt. Dawn will employ the same instrument panel to observe both Vesta and Ceres.
The science payload consists of two cameras, a visible and infrared mapping spectrometer, capable of revealing surface minerals, as well as a gamma ray and neutron spectrometer to categorize the elements that comprise the outer portion of the asteroids. Dawn will also take measurements of the gravity field, and is expected to reveal details of the interiors of both Vesta and Ceres.
With the data from these systems, scientists will study surface features and the complex and varied landscapes, gaining valuable new insights into the internal structure of these ancient worlds. What role did size have in determining how planets evolved throughout the Solar System? How did water affect the process of planetary formation? Data gathered during the Dawn mission will help scientists uncover the answers to these and other questions.
In order to reach its intended targets, Dawn relied on one gravity assist, flying by Mars on Feb. 17, 2009. It arrived at the first target, Vesta, on Jul. 15, 2011 and departed the asteroid a little over a year later on Sept. 4, 2012. During its 14 months in orbit around Vesta, the spacecraft delivered unprecedented scientific insights, including images of its cratered surface and important clues about its geological history.
Named for its mission objective, the Dawn mission hopes to unlock the secrets of the dawn of planets in our solar system. The targets chosen, Vesta and Ceres, are the first two asteroids discovered and as such are the best targets to study and hopefully answer our questions. Vesta and Ceres are similar, yet very different, with Vesta being a dry and evolved world compared to Ceres, which is more primitive and wet. Both are believed to be proto-planets, baby planets whose formation was disrupted by nearby gas giant Jupiter.
This mission has the potential to make many paradigm-shifting discoveries about these two bodies and even how we classify objects in the solar system. Researchers has already enjoyed unprecedented views and data on Vesta, and are anxious to see what Ceres has in store. Ceres may even have active hydrological processes leading to seasonal polar caps of water frost, altering our understanding of the interior of these bodies.
This week, the Dawn spacecraft was able to catch a glimpse of Ceres from a distance of 740,000 miles (1.2 million kilometers). This is the best image taken to date of the largest body in the main asteroid belt, Ceres.
"Now, finally, we have a spacecraft on the verge of unveiling this mysterious, alien world. Soon it will reveal myriad secrets Ceres has held since the dawn of the solar system," said Marc Rayman, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, chief engineer and mission director of the Dawn mission.
The nine-pixel-wide image of Ceres released today serves as a final calibration of the science camera that is necessary before Dawn gets to Ceres. The dwarf planet appears approximately as bright as Venus sometimes appears from Earth. Ceres has an average diameter of about 590 miles (950 kilometers).
Later this month, on Dec. 26, Dawn will begin its approach phase towards Ceres. Stay tuned to Spaceflight Insider for more details about Dawn and Ceres as they become available.
What's Happening in Space Policy December 8-12, 2014
Marcia S. Smith - Spacepolicyonline.com
 
Here is our list of space policy-related events for the week of December 8-12, 2014 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session.
During the Week
This well could be the final week of the 113th Congress. If it can pass an appropriations bill to fund the government after December 11, when the current Continuing Resolution (CR) expires, and the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), this Congress will close up shop. The new 114th Congress, with Republicans in control of both the House and Senate, is expected to convene on January 6, 2015.
If all goes according to the plans of House and Senate leadership, this week Congress will pass a "cromnibus." That's a combination of a CR and an omnibus appropriations bill. The idea is that Congress will pass an omnibus appropriations bill combining 11 of the 12 regular appropriations bills (including Defense and Commerce-Justice-Science) to fund most government agencies through September 30, 2015. The exception is funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which includes immigration. As a protest against President Obama's immigration executive order, DHS would be funded only by a CR for a short period of time, probably through some time in January when Republicans control both the House and Senate and they have more power to engage the Obama White House. A cromnibus could be good news for DOD, NASA and NOAA, providing money for the rest of FY2015. NASA, in particular, could get a significant increase compared to President Obama's request if the end result follows what the House passed in May and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved in June.
Some Tea Party Republicans want their leaders to take a stronger stance against the President's immigration executive order, but at the moment it appears that House and Senate Republican leaders are more concerned about avoiding a government shutdown than scoring political points on immigration. They seem content to wait three weeks until they control the Senate as well as the House to fight that battle.
Also, the Senate is expected to pass the compromise version of the FY2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which passed the House last week. It has a number of national security space provisions, including prohibiting the purchase of Russian RD-180 rocket engines after the current contract expires unless certain conditions are met.
 
Also coming up this week is the 9th Eilene M. Galloway Symposium on Critical Issues in Space Law on Wednesday. This year's theme is "Non-Traditional Commercial Space Activities: Legal and Poiicy Challenges, Opportunities and Ways Forward."
That's the same day the Space Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on the status of NASA's Orion and Space Launch System programs.
Those and other events we know about as of Sunday evening are listed below.
Monday, December 8
Tuesday, December 9
Wednesday, December 10
Wednesday-Thursday, December 10-11
Thursday, December 11
Thursday-Friday, December 11-12
NASA Applied Sciences Advisory Cmte, Hotel Adiago, San Francisco, CA
 
END
 
 
 
 
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