Orion Spacecraft News Digest

Russia-Georgia conflict could affect NASA funding

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 12:27:24 EST

Russia's military campaign in Georgia could have repercussions far beyond its borders, jeopardizing the U.S.-Russian partnership for manning the international space station over the next decade. Lawmakers, including several from Texas, warned Friday that Moscow's air and tank attacks on its neighbor will likely prompt Congress to re-evaluate legislation allowing NASA to pay hundreds of millions...

Discord With Russia a Worry for NASA

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:46:33 EST

NASA's ability to send its astronauts to the $100 billion international space station is in danger of becoming a costly casualty of the Russia-Georgia war. Because the American fleet of space shuttles will be retired in 2010 and the United States won't have a replacement ready until at least 2015, NASA wants to negotiate a contract this year to have Russia's Soyuz spacecraft transport all astr...

Reliance on Russia makes NASA weak

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:40:13 EST

Experts are growing increasingly concerned that the United States will have to rely entirely upon Russia to take astronauts to and from the international space station for at least five years. Observers say the situation is all the more worrying as after NASA announced a delay in the launch of its next-generation Orion spacecraft. NASA's dependency upon the Russian Soyuz space capsules and r...

NASA Safety Panel Expresses Constellation Concerns

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:55:04 EST

NASA's Constellation program is besieged by a lack of morale, money and direction, according to the space agency's safety panel. The Associated Press reports those were the findings of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel's 143-page annual report, released Monday. Overall, the report is generally impressed with NASA's safety programs... but the safety panel also cites "surprising anxiety among N...

NASA's slips internal target for first manned Orion flight

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:46:00 EST

NASA's internal planning date for the first manned launch of the new Orion spacecraft that will replace the space shuttle after the winged orbiters are retired in 2010 has slipped one year, from September 2013 to September 2014. The new schedule, managers said today, reflects a more realistic assessment of projected funding, contract realities and technical requirements in the absence of any signi...

Journey to the Moon With the Orion Spacecraft

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:33:02 EST

Lockheed Martin, the Space Foundation and SpaceClass announced today the launch of a strategic online education collaboration called Orion's Path. The interactive virtual classroom project will form a link between teachers, students and NASA's human space exploration program known as Constellation. Orion is the crew exploration vehicle being designed and built by NASA and its prime contractor Lo...

Spirent Federal GPS Simulator Selected by Honeywell for NASA's Orion Spacecraft

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:29:05 EST

Spirent Federal Systems, Inc., the leading provider of GPS/GNSS satellite simulators, announces today that Honeywell has selected a Spirent GPS/Inertial simulator to develop, integrate and verify the navigation system for NASA's Orion project. The Spirent simulator includes comprehensive modeling of the space environment and will provide multiple radio frequency (RF) outputs, allowing multiple...

NASA Awards Contracts for Concepts of Lunar Surface Systems

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:26:17 EST

NASA's Constellation Program has selected 11 companies and one university to independently develop concepts that contribute to how astronauts will live and work on the moon. Each organization will conduct a 180-day study focused on a topic relevant to lunar surface systems. Selected organizations and topics are: --Alternative Packaging Options: Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston --Avionics...

NASA makes unusual request

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:01:13 EST

NASA needs urine donations, and since the plea, they've been flooded with offers. The space program needs the urine in order to perfect the space lavatory for the new spacecraft the Orion. While the astronauts work on Orion for six months in space, the designers need to come up with a way to get rid of their stored urine. NASA needs nearly eight gallons every day, about the total daily o...

Russia unveils new spacecraft design

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:24:46 EST

The next generation of Russian manned spacecraft will use thrusters to provide a soft landing on Earth, the first official images of the design reveal. The new space vehicle, which is to replace the Soyuz spacecraft now in use by Russia, was designed by the Russian company RKK Energia, which has spent two years designing it, the BBC reported Tuesday. The British network reports that the reusab...

If you want to repeat Apollo, do it right

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:22:29 EST

NASA's two new launchers are increasingly in big trouble, and may come to a bad end. Ares I, the small launcher designed to lift a crew capsule, is the centre of the problem. The original idea was to start with a shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB), and top it off with a small upper stage using a shuttle main engine (SSME). This plan had some flaws, but if it could be done easily and quickly, it...

Where is the World Going in Space?

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:46:37 EST

A new international space race has begun. The big question is whether it is motivated by peaceful or military objectives. As the U.S. commences its new moon-Mars exploratory program, other countries are not remaining earthbound while NASA plans a return to the scene of its greatest triumphs. In fact a new international space race has begun. The big question is whether it is motivated by peaceful ...

Test Firing of Orion Spacecraft Jettison Motor

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

NASA completed a full-scale rocket motor test on Thursday, July 17, to further development of the Orion jettison motor, which will separate the spacecraft's launch abort system from the crew module during launch. Orion, the Constellation Program's crew exploration vehicle now under development, will fly to the International Space Station and be part of the spaceflight system to conduct sustained h...

China may beat US to the Moon

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST

China is capable of sending a manned mission to the Moon within the next decade, if it so wishes, Nasa administrator Michael Griffin has said. The US space agency plans to return people to the lunar surface by 2020 using its new Orion spacecraft. But it is just possible the first people on the Moon since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972 could be planting a flag with five stars, not 50. In 20...

China may beat US to the Moon

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EST