Tag Archives: Orion

NASA has officially opened one of the three permanent ground stations of the Near Earth Network’s Launch Communications Segment that will provide services to support future space explorations including the Artemis moon landing mission. 

The space agency said Wednesday the Kennedy Uplink Station, located at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will work with companion ground stations Ponce De Leon and Bermuda to facilitate communications for Artemis launch missions. 

NASA's Kennedy Space Center has accepted delivery of hardware that would help personnel prepare for the Space Launch System's first Moon mission with the Orion spacecraft. The space agency said Saturday it will use the core stage pathfinder to train lift crews in handling hardware of the SLS rocket. Pathfinders are full-scale mock-up models that have the shape and size of their corresponding SLS components.

The Senate Appropriations’ commerce, justice and science subcommittee passed a spending bill that would authorize $22.75 billion in fiscal year 2020 funds for NASA, SpaceNews reported Tuesday.

The Government Accountability Office has assessed the scheduling of NASA’s efforts to manage major human space exploration systems. GAO said Wednesday that it's looking into the space agency’s development activities of the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System rocket and Exploration Ground Systems.

Vice President Mike Pence said during a National Space Council meeting that NASA is on track towards Artemis, the space agency's upcoming Moon exploration mission, Space News reported Tuesday. 

NASA conducted a static fire test on Aug. 5 for the Orion's service module in a move to validate the performance of various propellant platforms, engine systems and related subsystems. The Orion's service module is built to provide the spacecraft's crew with power, in-space maneuvering capabilities and life support systems, NASA said Tuesday.

Lisa Watson-Morgan, a three-decade NASA veteran, has been appointed manager of a program to facilitate the development of a lunar lander to support manned missions to the moon by 2024 as part of the space agency’s Artemis program. NASA said Monday that Watson-Morgan will oversee the development and testing of landing platforms and manage the integration of such systems with the Orion crew vehicle as part of her duties as Human Landing System program manager.

Jim Bridenstine, an administrator at NASA, said the agency is working to validate potential costs for the Artemis crewed lunar exploration mission, Space News reported Wednesday. Bridenstine noted that the mission will cost between $20B to $30B and expenses may reach below the said range depending on the amount of contributions from commercial firms.

In support of NASA, Jacobs has completed a full-stress flight test of the Orion spacecraft’s Launch Abort System (LAS) amd verified that the system can steer the spacecraft and astronauts aboard to safety in an emergency, the company reported Tuesday. 

NASA and Boeing have assembled 80 percent of the core stage of the Space Launch System rocket to bring the Orion spacecraft to the moon as part of the Artemis 1 mission. The agency said Monday that the milestone comes after crews connected the hydrogen fuel tank to the SLS core stage’s upper part, which consists of the intertank, liquid oxygen propellant tank and the forward skirt housing the rocket’s flight computers.