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AHOY, ORION!

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NAVY TEAM TO BE FIRST TO WELCOME ORION HOME FROM SPACE

ORION HEAT SHIELD LEAVES NASA LANGLEY FOR FLORIDA

NASA BEGINS TESTS ON ORION PARACHUTES FOR CREWED MISSIONS

WHAT’S SHAKIN’, ORION?

TILE BLOCK FITTING ON ORION EXPLORATION MISSION-1 HEAT SHIELD

GIRL POWER: ORION ENGINEER WINS THREE PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

9 9 11ORION VISITS BREMEN SCIENCE CENTER ORION TEST ARTICLE ON THE MOVEDISCOVERY EDUCATION LAUNCHES VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS

ORION’S MONTHLY HIGHLIGHTS

Orion 3October 2016 Highlights

NASA and the U.S. Navy conducted testing in October off the coast of California using the USS San Diego, various watercraft and equipment to practice for recovery of Orion on its return from deep-space missions. The testing, called Underway Recovery Test, or URT-5, is the first major integrated test in a series of tests to prepare the recovery team, hardware and operations to support recovery of the Orion spacecraft using a U.S. Navy ship. The term “underway” refers to recovery tests done when a ship is at sea. The testing included first time use of new capsule attachment hardware. The new Orion spacecraft will have five attach points, two more than were on the crew module for Exploration Flight Test-1 in December 2014. The testing allows the team to gather loads data for the new design and demonstrate and evaluate recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters.

NAVY TEAM TO BE FIRST TO WELCOME ORION HOME FROM SPACE

U.S. Navy divers and other personnel practice recovery of the Orion test article into the well deck of the USS San Diego during Underway Recovery Test-5.

(Left to right) Orion team members Tom Walker, Rachel Davis (Lockheed Martin), Jeremy Vander Kam, and Tara Radke are shown representing Orion during URT- 5 test operations in San Diego.

Orion 4October 2016 Highlights

In the well deck of the USS San Diego, recovery team members monitor a portion of URT- 5.

Read the full Orion Underway Recovery Test-5 story: bit.ly/OrionURT5

Read more about diver training in NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Lab in Houston that prepared the team for URT-5 operations: bit.ly/URT-5_NBL

Watch the latest “Orion Backstage” featuring one of the divers who took part in recent recovery operation activities in the NBL: youtube.com/watch?v=QR0orgqkLi0

U.S. Navy divers and other personnel in a Zodiac boat secure a harness around a test version of the Orion crew module during URT-5 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

Orion 5October 2016 Highlights

NASA successfully kicked off a series of tests Sept. 30 to qualify Orion’s parachute system for flights with astronauts, a milestone that will help the agency safely return crew to Earth from deep-space missions.

In the skies above the Arizona desert, a C-17 aircraft dropped a dart-shaped test article out of its cargo bay from 35,000 feet, or more than 6.5 miles, in altitude over the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground in Yuma to examine how the parachute system performed when conditions provided the highest dynamic pressure the parachutes have endured before.

When returning from missions in space, the parachute sequence normally begins at an altitude of 24,000 feet with the main parachutes fully deployed at about 4,000 feet.

Read the full story: bit.ly/ParachuteTests

NASA BEGINS TESTS OF ORION PARACHUTES FOR CREWED MISSIONS

Orion 6October 2016 Highlights

approximately 180 blocks, which will be made of an ablative material called Avcoat designed to shed away as it heats up.

Orion is being prepared for its flight on the agency’s Space Launch System in late 2018. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA’s Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

The heat shield from Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1 embarked on a journey along the East Coast, beginning at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia and making its way to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where it will be assessed for future needs.

Before its departure, the heat shield was used as part of the Orion drop test series to better understand what the spacecraft and astronauts may experience when landing in the Pacific Ocean after deep-space missions.

ORION HEAT SHIELD LEAVES NASA LANGLEY FOR FLORIDA

TILE BLOCK FITTING ON ORION HEAT SHIELDTile blocks have been prefitted around the Orion Exploration Mission-1 crew module heat shield inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The heat shield is one of the most critical elements of Orion and protects it and the future astronauts inside from searing temperatures experienced during reentry through Earth’s atmosphere when they return home.

For Orion’s next space flight, the top layer of Orion’s heat shield that is primarily responsible for helping the crew module endure reentry heat will be composed of

Orion 7October 2016 Highlights

WHAT’S SHAKIN’, ORION?How do you know if a spacecraft can hold up to the intense vibrations of launching atop the world’s most powerful rocket? You shake it on the world’s most powerful vibration table.

Engineers at NASA Glenn’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio recently finished a series of tests on a full-size test version of Orion’s service module to verify that it can withstand the vibrations it will experience when it launches and travels into space atop the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.

The 13-ton service module is an essential part of the spacecraft. It will propel, power and cool Orion in addition to providing air and water for the crew.

NASA’s SLS rocket will produce more than eight million pounds of thrust during launch, and like all spacecraft, Orion will get a good shaking during ascent. Although NASA has designed Orion and its service module to endure launch and ascent vibrations as Orion travels into space, testing on the ground helps to verify those designs before the mission.

Earlier this summer, the service module test article, which was provided by ESA (European Space Agency) and built by Airbus Defence & Space, was placed on a mechanical vibration table in Plum Brook’s Space Power Facility. At 22-feet wide and 55,000-pounds, the table is the world’s most powerful spacecraft shaker system. Engineers ran a total of 98 vibration tests throughout the summer.

The vibration tests were part of a series of crucial checks being performed at the Space Power Facility to verify the service module for Orion’s first flight atop SLS.

The test article’s next stop is the assembly high bay area, where engineers will fire pyrotechnics to simulate the shocks the service module will experience as Orion separates from the SLS rocket.

Read the full article: bit.ly/OrionShakeTest

Orion 8October 2016 Highlights

Celia Blum’s career spans more than 30 years in human spaceflight, and as a principal project engineer on Orion at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, her outstanding work continues to shine through. In 2016 alone, she has won three prestigious awards in the aerospace community: a Women in Aerospace Achievement Award, a Technology All-Star award at the Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Conference and a NASA Silver Snoopy Award.

Celia’s Women in Aerospace Achievement Award was given to her after she was selected to receive it by companies across the aerospace industry. She received this honor for her dedication to technical achievement and contributions on a single aerospace project that represents a breakthrough in the aerospace field. Her

GIRL POWER: ORION ENGINEER WINS THREE PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

commitment to personal professional growth and service as a role model and mentor were also considered in her selection.

In this same technical vein of expertise, Celia also received a Technology All-Star Award at the Women of Color STEM conference. Each year, a handful of individuals who have made notable contributions to the engineering field are honored, of which Celia was one for 2016. NASA’s Silver Snoopy Award, which Celia also received, is a highly regarded honor that is only bestowed by NASA to a few individuals each year who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of human space exploration. Celia was honored with this award in 2016.

Orion 9October 2016 Highlights

Susan Motil, manager of the Orion Program’s European Service Module Integration Office, Philippe Deloo, ESA program manager and Oliver Juckenhöfel, head of the Orion-ESM Programme, spoke to 80 students at a public outreach meeting at Universum Science Centre in Bremen, Germany, following a technical meeting

ORION VISITS BREMEN SCIENCE CENTERin Bremen. They presented information on Orion and the role Europe plays in Orion’s upcoming flight. The presentation ended with a question and answer session in which the audience asked numerous questions ranging from the future of human spaceflight to technical questions about propulsion.

In this time-lapse video, the Plum Brook team removes the test article from the world’s most powerful spacecraft vibration table and transports it into the assembly high bay area in Plum Brook’s Space Power Facility. Prior to the move, the test article passed a series of vibration tests to verify that it can withstand the vibrations as it launches and travels into space. A thousand sensors collected data on Orion’s service module as it was shaken on a vibration table. This testing simulated how Orion’s structure flexed and will stand up to 35 tons of spacecraft weight during a launch.

Watch the time-lapse video of the Orion service module move from the vibration table to the assembly high bay area in Plum Brook’s Space Power Facility: bit.ly/TestArticleMove

ORION TEST ARTICLE ON THE MOVE

Orion 10October 2016 Highlights

Members of the Orion Avionics, Power and Software team in Houston volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in La Porte, Texas, to assist with the build of two homes for needy families.

ORION LENDS A HELPING HAND

While in town for the Wings Over Houston event earlier this month, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels try Orion on for size. Watch the latest Orion Backstage video with the Blue Angels: vimeo.com/188353789

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NOVEMBERSpace Commerce Convention in Houston

E-STA Pyroshock Testing at Plum Brook Station

Crew Module Structural Test Article shipped to Kennedy

Rapid Prototype Lab Simulation at Johnson

In the latest fall 2016 issue of the Roundup, read about progress on the journey to Mars at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Watch the latest video about Exploration Mission-1 called “EM-1 Metal to Masterpiece” vimeo.com/188880182

Orion engineers Carlos Garcia-Galan and Jim Geffre conducted an outreach event at an area high school while on business in Spain and were featured in the Spanish newspaper Sur.

Read the news story in Spanish:bit.ly/SUR_Orion

Howard Hu has been appointed to the position of Orion Avionics, Power and Software Office manager. Since 2012, Hu has been the deputy manager of Orion’s Vehicle Integration Office. In this capacity he has been responsible for Orion system requirements, integrated spacecraft design and performance, mission design and analysis, test and verification, and cross-program integration.

HU NAMED AVIONICS, POWER AND SOFTWARE MANAGER

On Oct. 4, Discovery Education conducted a live webcast of their Generation Beyond “Virtual Field Trip” from the Lockheed Martin facility in Littleton, Colorado. Larry Price, Orion deputy program manager at Lockheed Martin hosted the event. Students in classrooms around the world experienced the latest in space exploration technology and were given the chance to meet professionals designing missions that will expand the frontiers of space exploration.

The webcast received over 430,000 live views and was Discovery Education’s widest attended virtual field trip.

Watch a replay of the virtual fieldtrip here:bit.ly/DiscoveryEducationLM

DISCOVERY EDUCATION LAUNCHES VIRTUAL FIELD TRIPS