TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Smarter Orion Spacecraft Trumps Shuttle

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 03-29-11 | Comments

NASA's new Orion spacecraft by Lockheed Martin aims beyond just shuttling people to the International Space Station (ISS), but can return man to the moon, navigate to Mars and mine approaching asteroids.

The Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC) for Lockheed Martin's shuttle successor was unveiled in Denver recently, along with the Orion spacecraft that can reach the International Space Station (ISS) and other destinations in the solar system.

Using NASA funding, Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft is designed to lift astronauts to the International Space Station and beyond into deep space for a return to the moon, a trip to Mars or even a round-trip to an approaching asteroid, possibly to deflect it before impacting Earth.

NASA's Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle for The Orion Project is on schedule for its first orbital flight test in 2013, and operational status could come as early as 2016.

Artist's rendering of Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft (right) approaching its thrust module in low-earth orbit. (Source: Lockheed)

Called by Lockheed the Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV), it was developed in cooperation with the United Space Alliance, Aerojet, ATK, Honeywell and Hamilton Sundstrand. If successful, the CEV will make its first missions to take crew back and forth to the ISS.

Overall, the design has focused on crew safety and spacecraft survivability, including emergency "abort" capabilities throughout the mission that can safely jettison the crew module. Orion's abort motor�a 17-foot-tall, three-foot-diameter nose assembly with four thrusters�can safely lift the Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in an emergency on the launch pad or during initial ascent phase. Once aloft, two large solar arrays are unfurled on each side of the crew module, using the same gallium arsenide solar cells already proven in the Mars Phoenix Lander and Rovers.

Besides people, the Orion can carry 30,000 pounds of unpressurized cargo into orbit, including satellites and Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) for the ISS (if it continues to operate beyond 2016). When in space, the four propellant tanks in the aft-mounted service module can provide approximately 600 meters per second of thrust, so that the astronauts can operate it like a space platform or even as a space tug for satellites.

Artist's rendering of the crew module of Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft approaching the International Space Station. (Source: Lockheed)

NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans recently shipped the spacecraft to Lockheed Martin's Denver facility for testing its ability to withstand the harsh environments of deep space exploration. Currently it is being fitted with the world's largest heat shield and thermal protection backshell created using novel friction stir welding techniques. The crew module will also undergo a battery of acoustic and vibration tests at Lockheed Martin's Waterton Facility near Denver, as well as a series of simulated landing scenarios and drop tests at NASA Langley Research Center's new hydro impact basin.

Lockheed Martin says it can have the spacecraft ready for its first mission beyond Earth orbit by 2018.