Orion Medical Blog

Lawmakers want to make sure NASA’s next big mission to the moon doesn’t send too many workers to the unemployment line.

A four-year gap between the last scheduled shuttle launch and the first launch of Orion set for the year 2014 could leave thousands of NASA employees out of work, WESH 2 News reported.  Read more

NASA has selected Daniel, Mann, Johnson & Mendenhall of Los Angeles to provide on-site architectural and engineering support services at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.  Read more

WASHINGTON – NASA will host a news conference at 4 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 28, to announce the selection of a contractor for the upper stage element of the Ares I rocket that will help launch future human missions to the moon. The Ares I will carry to low Earth orbit the Orion crew exploration vehicle, which will succeed the space shuttle as NASA’s primary vehicle for human space exploration.  Read more…

NASA announced today that Benham Constructors LLC of Oklahoma City has been selected to receive a $51.4 million contract to design, build and commission a vibration and acoustic test capability that will support development of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) at the Space Power Facility at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky. Plum Brook Station is operated by NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.

The CEV is a spacecraft that will support exploration missions to the space station, the moon and Mars.  read more

NASA has awarded defense contractor Alliant Techsystems Inc. $1.8 billion (€1.3 billion) to develop a motor for the Orion capsule, which will replace the space shuttle and be able to reach the moon and Mars, the company said.

The first-stage propulsion system will lift astronauts solely with solid fuel instead of a combination of solid and more volatile liquid fuel, the company said in a news release Friday.

The development contract doesn’t guarantee Alliant will produce the next generation of first-stage boosters, but Alliant’s Thiokol plant in northern Utah has made shuttle boosters from the start of the space shuttle program.  Read more

NASA has issued a request for proposal for key guidance, navigation and control hardware for the new Ares I crew launch vehicle. The upper stage instrument unit avionics will be used during the Ares I ascent.

Proposals are due no later than 2 p.m. EDT July 30, with a selection expected in November. The contract will be awarded through a full and open competition.

The avionics unit will be mounted on the Ares I upper stage. It will provide guidance, navigation and control for the entire launch vehicle as it transports the Orion crew exploration vehicle to low Earth orbit.  Read more

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration issued a draft environmental impact statement concerning its Constellation Program.

The Constellation project involves the development of a space transportation system designed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The NASA draft statement examines the effects of developing, testing and operating spacecraft and support systems associated with that project.  Read more

Frank Sietzen, Jr – Space: the search for a political consensus

Illness has sharply restricted my following of space affairs during much of the past year, but recently I have taken note of some stirrings in the space community as Campaign 2008 approaches. Four old colleagues of mine gave their thoughts recently at Rick Tumlinson’s excellent space conference which while held only a few blocks away from home I was unable to attend. Courtney, Lori, Jim, and Alan all made interesting points and predictions as to what path to space the next president was likely to follow. As someone who had the chance to watch the current administration up close grapple with what became the Vision for Space Exploration I thought it might be useful to contribute to this conversation.  Read more

NASA has issued a request for proposals for Ares I mobile launcher construction. Ares I is the rocket that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle and its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. The mobile launcher proposals are due to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sept. 6, 2007.

The request for proposals states the procurement approach for obtaining the mobile launcher system. The mobile launcher will be used as a platform to assemble, test and service Ares I in existing facilities, transport the rocket to the pad, and support launches.  Read more

NASA has chosen new leadership for its human lunar exploration program and awarded a $1.8 billion contract for development of the first stage rocket that will propel the spacecraft that succeeds the space shuttle.

Richard “Rick” Gilbrech will replace Scott “Doc” Horowitz as the space agency’s associate administrator of the exploration systems mission directorate, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said.

Horowitz, a former astronaut, announced his decision earlier this summer to leave NASA by Oct. 1.  Read more