NASA Orion Spaceship Blog

While Orion may look like a beefed up Apollo on the outside, the interior of the shuttle replacement vehicle - that will travel to the moon and Mars - will be world’s apart.NASA is attempting to construct the majority of Orion’s control panel layout from off-the-shelf parts, noted in the newly acquired CEV Display Layout presentation, which openly utilizes Gulfstream V SP and Dassault Falcon business jet panel layouts as preferred options for Orion.  Read more

Aerojet, a GenCorp, Inc.  company and a core propulsion provider for NASA’s
new space exploration vehicle, Orion, recently conducted an
internally-funded static firing of a key Launch Abort System component.
Orion’s Launch Abort System is a new capability that will allow the
astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch.
Aerojet’s test of an abort motor reverse flow nozzle increases the
technical readiness of the Launch Abort System concept.

NASA is planning to send humans back to the Moon in 2018, but they’re already working on the spacecraft to get them there. In the latest Futures Channel micro-documentary, NASA Aerospace and Industrial Engineer Robert Howard takes viewers inside the Habitability Design Center at Johnson Space Center for a look at the new Orion space capsule. Watch the movie here

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Friday NASA issued a request for proposal for the Ares I launch vehicle upper stage element. Ares I is the launch vehicle that will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle and its crew and cargo to low Earth orbit. The upper stage proposals are due to Marshall Space Flight Center no later than 1 p.m. CST April 13, 2007.  Read more

When NASA awarded a $7.5 billion contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. to build Orion, the next-generation spacecraft, there was speculation that the office market around Nassau Bay would rocket.

Well, there’s news. Lockheed Martin has leased 80,000 square feet at 2400 NASA Parkway in Nassau Bay. This is the first lease to come from the contract, according to the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

The work to build the shuttle’s successor is expected to create about 1,100 jobs. Numbers fluctuate, but Lockheed Martin Space Operations has more than 1,000 employees in the region and offices at 2625 Bay Area Blvd.   Read more

NASA and Virgin Group Ltd. have agreed to explore possible collaboration on space suits, rocket motors and heat shields for spaceships, the space agency said today.

The two-year agreement involves no payments by either partner, NASA said in a statement. Closely held Virgin, run by billionaire Richard Branson, is building a spaceship that the company says will carry tourists on suborbital flights within two years for about $200,000 a ticket.  Read more

One of the most interesting aspects of the UFO phenomenon focuses on the origin of extraterrestrial craft. Whether you are new to the UFO phenomena, or have studied the subject for years, you cannot help wondering: “If UFOs are real outer space craft, then where do they come from and how do they get here?”  Read more

Created by political forces to win the hearts and minds of free people everywhere, NASA is still defined by those same forces. NASA’s missions continue to inspire a grander vision for mankind’s future, bridging generations and social boundaries. While the recent reductions in funding for the Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) is unfortunate, we need to focus our energy on what we can achieve rather than commiserate over what could have been if only unfettered by the same political forces funding our space exploration endeavors.  Read more

Louisiana and NASA officials committed Thursday to wide-ranging discussions on ways to expand research and development at the space agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in eastern New Orleans.

State economic development leaders hope the agreement will help spur rebuilding and job growth in an area struggling to recover after Hurricane Katrina, while retaining 2,000 jobs at Michoud.  Read more

President Bush’s $17.3 billion budget request for NASA for the fiscal year beginning October 2007 ( FY 2008 ) would provide needed funding for the space shuttle and International Space Station, but budget cuts over the past few years could jeopardize the schedule for replacing the space shuttle by 2014.  Read more