Artemis Update: A Classic NASA Logo Will Fly on Orion and the Space Launch System Starting Next Year...

NASA

Artemis I Rocket and Spacecraft Receive “Worm” Welcome (News Release)

NASA is headed back to the Moon as part of the Artemis program – and the agency’s “worm” logo will be along for the ride on the first integrated mission of the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft. Teams at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have applied the historic logo in bright red on visible parts of the Artemis I rocket and spacecraft.

“After almost three decades, our famous logotype is back in action, and it is thrilling for all of us that worked on the original design to have it return in such an impressive way.” said Richard Danne, of the design team at Danne & Blackburn who originally created the logo. “It is particularly exciting to be involved with the Artemis program, so full of potential beginning with this promising first mission.”

The bold, sleek design of the “worm” logo was officially introduced in 1975 and was incorporated into many of the agency’s next-generation programs. It was retired in 1992, but made a comeback in 2020 as the agency ushers in a new, modern era of human spaceflight.

The worm began making an appearance on the SLS twin solid rocket boosters in late August when workers with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems and their contractor Jacobs started painting the iconic design across two of the booster segments. The team used a laser projector to mask off the logo with tape, then painted the first coat of the logo inside the center’s Rotation, Processing and Surge Facility. The job was completed by adding a second coat of paint, followed by multiple clear coats on the booster.

“The most technically challenging task was identifying the correct sizing and location of where the logo was to go,” said William Richards, an engineer with Jacobs, the lead contractor supporting booster stacking operations. “New laser technology helped us lay it out in the correct position to mask off for the painting and correctly shape the letters, especially the curve of the ‘S’.”

After the boosters are transferred to the Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking, technicians will secure an access panel across the middle section of the boosters and paint it to complete the insignia. The worm will be visible as the boosters are stacked on top of the mobile launcher, while the rocket is on the launch pad, and as it soars through Earth’s atmosphere during launch.

The worm and ESA (European Space Agency) logo were recently applied to the Orion spacecraft as well. Technicians cut the emblems into flight-proof decals and adhered them to the underside of Orion’s crew module adapter (CMA). ESA is providing Orion’s service module, which is the powerhouse that fuels and propels the spacecraft. These bold images will be seen from cameras at the end of Orion’s solar arrays as the spacecraft travels toward the Moon and back.

The decals were affixed to the spacecraft by Frank Pelkey, a technician who previously painted the U.S. flag on the spacecraft that flew on NASA’s Exploration Flight Test-1. “I felt a great sense of pride when painting the U.S. flag on Orion’s first flight,” said Pelkey. “It was that same feeling of gratitude to be selected to apply the NASA and ESA logos to the vehicle for the first Artemis mission.”

Later this year, teams will apply an American flag and the primary NASA logo with the blue sphere, known as the “meatball,” to the crew module, in addition to a decal of the worm on the outer band of the CMA. These logos will also be seen during the mission while Orion is in space, and the worm on the CMA band will be visible while on the launch pad as well.

Also to be applied early next year and visible from the launch pad, the meatball and an ESA logo will be shown on the fairings that cover the service module, and the American flag will appear on the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage, as well as the launch abort system along with the words “United States.”

In June, Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the boosters, delivered the Artemis I rocket motors to Kennedy where assembly of the entire five-segment booster has started. The twin boosters will help propel the SLS rocket on its first flight in 2021. Shortly after launch from Pad 39B, the boosters will separate from the rocket as the core stage continues to send Orion to space. After the core stage’s job is complete, the rocket’s upper stage sends Orion toward the Moon, and then Orion continues the rest of its journey around the Moon and back powered by the European-provided service module. Artemis II in 2023 will be the first flight test with crew. In 2024, NASA will send the first woman and next man to surface of the Moon on the Artemis III mission, and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade.

Source: NASA.Gov

****


NASA


NASA


NASA

---

SLS Update: The Artemis 1 Core Stage Booster Is Set to Ignite Its Four RS-25 Engines During the Green Run Hot Fire Test in Early November...

NASA / SSC

NASA Invites Media to Hot Fire Test for Mega Rocket to Support Moon Missions (Press Release)

Media accreditation is now open for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket Green Run hot fire test – the test of the rocket’s core stage and all of its integrated systems before its flight on the Artemis I lunar mission, scheduled for 2021. NASA is targeting early November for the test in the B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

The hot fire is the final in a series of eight tests that ensure the stage’s systems are functioning and ready for operation. The test replicates the launch by loading the propellants and allowing them to flow throughout the system as the four RS-25 engines fire simultaneously to demonstrate that the engines, tanks, fuel lines, valves, pressurization system, and software can all perform together just as they will on launch day.

Following the test, NASA will ship the core stage to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where it will be assembled with the other parts of the Artemis I rocket and the Orion spacecraft.

Media accreditation deadlines for SLS Core Stage Green Run test are as follows:

- International media without U.S. citizenship must apply by 4p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 2.
- U.S. media must apply by 4p.m. EDT Friday, Oct. 16.

All accreditation requests should be submitted online at:

https://media.ksc.nasa.gov

NASA continues to monitor the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation and will credential a limited number of media for access to Stennis Space Center in order to protect the health and safety of media and employees. International media based in the U.S. may apply. Due to COVID-19 safety restrictions at Stennis, all attendees will need to follow quarantine requirements.

NASA will follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the agency’s chief health and medical officer, and will immediately communicate any updates that may impact media access for the test.

For questions about media accreditation, email ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov.

For other questions, contact the Stennis Office of Communications at 228-688-3333.

Reporters with special accommodations requests should contact Valerie Buckingham at valerie.d.buckingham@nasa.gov by Friday, Oct. 16.

The core stage was built at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans with contributions from suppliers across the country. Boeing is the lead contractor for the core stage, with the RS-25 engines built by Aerojet Rocketdyne, and the test is being conducted by engineers from Stennis, Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and SLS contractors.

****


NASA / SSC

NASA Unveils Its Blueprint for a Return to the Lunar Surface...

NASA / Frank Michaux

NASA Publishes Artemis Plan to Land First Woman, Next Man on Moon in 2024 (Press Release - September 21)

Following a series of critical contract awards and hardware milestones, NASA has shared an update on its Artemis program, including the latest Phase 1 plans to land the first woman and the next man on the surface of the Moon in 2024.

In the 18 months since NASA accepted a bold challenge to accelerate its exploration plans by more than four years and establish sustainable exploration by the end of the decade, the agency has continued to gain momentum toward sending humans to the Moon again for the first time since the last Apollo lunar mission in 1972.

“With bipartisan support from Congress, our 21st century push to the Moon is well within America’s reach,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “As we’ve solidified more of our exploration plans in recent months, we’ve continued to refine our budget and architecture. We’re going back to the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and inspiration for a new a generation of explorers. As we build up a sustainable presence, we’re also building momentum toward those first human steps on the Red Planet.”

In its formal plan, NASA captures Artemis progress to date, identifying the key science, technology and human missions, as well as the commercial and international partnerships that will ensure we continue to lead in exploration and achieve our ambitious goal to land astronauts on the Moon.

The agency’s powerful new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS), and the Orion spacecraft are closer than ever to their first integrated launch. The spacecraft is complete while the core stage and its attached four engines are undergoing a final series of tests that will culminate in a critical hot fire test this fall.

Early Artemis Missions

Following a successful hot fire test, the core stage will be shipped to the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for integration with the spacecraft. NASA will launch an SLS and an Orion together on two flight tests around the Moon to check performance, life support, and communication capabilities. The first mission – known as Artemis I – is on track for 2021 without astronauts, and Artemis II will fly with crew in 2023.

In the Phase 1 plan, NASA notes additional details about conducting a new test during the Artemis II mission – a proximity operations demonstration. Shortly after Orion separates from the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, astronauts will manually pilot Orion as they approach and back away from the stage. This demonstration will assess Orion’s handling qualities and related hardware and software to provide performance data and operational experience that cannot be readily gained on the ground in preparation for rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking, as well as undocking operations in lunar orbit beginning on Artemis III.

While preparing for and carrying out these flight test missions, NASA already will be back on the Moon robotically – using commercial delivery services to send dozens of new science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon twice per year beginning in 2021.

In 2024, Artemis III will be humanity’s return to the surface of the Moon. After launching on SLS, astronauts will travel about 240,000 miles to lunar orbit aboard Orion, at which point they will directly board one of the new commercial human landing systems, or dock to the Gateway to inspect it and gather supplies before boarding the landing system for their expedition to the surface.

Wearing modern spacesuits that allow for greater flexibility and movement than those of their Apollo predecessors, astronauts will collect samples and conduct a range of science experiments over the course of nearly seven days. Using the lander, they will return to lunar orbit before ultimately heading home to Earth aboard Orion.

Work is progressing rapidly on the Gateway. NASA will integrate the first two components to launch – the power and propulsion element and the habitation and logistics outpost – in 2023. This foundation for the Gateway will be able to operate autonomously, conducting remote science experiments when astronauts are not aboard. NASA has selected the first two science instrument suites to conduct space weather investigations in lunar orbit before crew visits.

While NASA has not made a final decision to use the Gateway for Artemis III, Artemis IV and beyond will send crew aboard Orion to dock to the Gateway, where two crew members can stay aboard the spaceship in orbit while two go to the surface. Over time, the outpost will evolve, with new modules added by international partners, allowing crew members to conduct increasingly longer lunar missions.

As detailed in the agency’s concept for surface sustainability earlier this year, an incremental buildup of infrastructure on the surface will follow later this decade, allowing for longer surface expeditions with more crew. That concept calls for an Artemis Base Camp that would include new rovers, power systems, habitats, and more on the surface for long-term exploration of the Moon.

Throughout the Artemis program, robots and humans will search for, and potentially extract, resources such as water that can be converted into other usable resources, including oxygen and fuel. By fine-tuning precision landing technologies as well as developing new mobility capabilities, astronauts will travel farther distances and explore new regions of the Moon.

****


NASA


NASA / JSC

Workers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Practice for the Space Launch System's Final Assembly for Flight Next Year...

NASA / Kim Shiflett

Artemis I Preparations Stack Up (News Release)

Technicians with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems rehearse booster stacking operations inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Sept.14, in preparation for the Artemis I launch. The team is using full-scale replicas of booster segments, referred to as pathfinders, for the practice exercise in one of the tallest sections, or high bays, of the VAB built for stacking rockets. As part of the rehearsal, a pathfinder for an aft segment, the very bottom of the stack, was prepared in High Bay 4. Then, a team of crane operators moved the segment into High Bay 3, where it was placed on the mobile launcher. Careful measurements were taken before the team added a center segment to the stack.

The actual Space Launch System (SLS) booster segments will be stacked on the mobile launcher later this year, following completion of Green Run testing of the rocket’s core stage – a series of eight tests taking place at the agency’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Under the Artemis program, NASA is working toward landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024. The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test SLS and the Orion spacecraft as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon.

Source: NASA.Gov

****


NASA / Kim Shiflett


NASA / Kim Shiflett

Blue Origin's Lunar Lander for NASA's Artemis Program Achieves Another Milestone in Development...

Blue Origin

National Team Completes System Requirements Review to Define Its Integrated Human Landing System Design (News Release - September 14)

The Human Landing System (HLS) National Team, led by Blue Origin with partners Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper, has completed its System Requirements Review (SRR). SRR is the first program “gated milestone,” which marks the successful baselining of the requirements for the mission, space vehicles, and ground segment. The design proceeded to the NASA Certification Baseline Review (CBR), followed by the lower-level element SRRs, and the preliminary design phase.

The National Team also closed with NASA on the 37 NASA design and construction standards. The Blue Origin-led team had an aggregate total of 62 design and construction standards spread across the three partners that comprised the integrated lander, aiding in the rapid progress expected by NASA’s Human Landing System program. In addition, hundreds of health and human performance standards and requirements were agreed upon and closed.

The SRR followed Blue Origin program development processes and was attended by the Blue Moon Science Advisory Board. The standing review board also comprised senior leaders from all four National Team partners, plus independent experts, and NASA. Robert Lightfoot, vice president of Strategy and Business Development at Lockheed Martin, chaired the review. Lightfoot is also a former acting NASA Administrator and Director of Marshall Space Flight Center.

“Completion of this review allows the National Team to move forward in its design, much of which is evolving directly from existing systems such as Orion, and that maturity was exhibited in the review,” said Lightfoot. “The National Team has been working together seamlessly in its journey to return Americans to the Moon and the magnitude of the mission is on our minds daily.”

“Opening the Moon for exploration and business is one step closer after completion of the SRR,” said Brent Sherwood, vice president of Advanced Development Programs at Blue Origin. “Achieving major milestones is the surest way to measure progress toward our first landing.”

“A complex undertaking like human lunar landings requires paying attention to thousands of details, and thinking through every likely contingency,” said former U.S. Senator Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 Lunar Module Pilot and lunar scientist, and a member of the Blue Moon Science Advisory Board. “I was very impressed at the depth of engineering and operational sophistication shown in the Systems Requirements Review. The National Team is working to directly apply the lessons from the Apollo experience to make America's next crewed lunar landing successful and the precursor to sustained human activity on the Moon.”

Source: Blue Origin

****


Blue Origin

Artemis 1 Update: The Four RS-25 Engines on the SLS Core Stage Booster Are Put Through Their Paces...

NASA / SSC

Engineers Complete 5th Green Run Test of Space Launch System Core Stage (News Release)

Engineers have completed the fifth of eight Green Run tests on the core stage of NASA’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, continuing progress toward a milestone hot fire test this fall. Operators concluded a test of the stage’s thrust vector control system on the historic B-2 Test Stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Sept. 13. The test provided critical verification of the control system and its related hydraulics as operators gimbaled the stage’s four RS-25 engines just as they must move during flight to steer the rocket and maintain a proper trajectory. The stage now is set for two more tests – a simulated countdown demonstration and wet dress rehearsal – directly leading to the hot fire of all four RS-25 engines, just as during an actual flight.

In the countdown demonstration, engineers will simulate the launch countdown and procedures to validate the established timeline and sequence of events. In the wet dress rehearsal, engineers will conduct another countdown exercise and actually load, control and drain more than 700,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants to ensure all is set for the final test of the Green Run series. The concluding test will activate all stage systems and fire the four RS-25 engines to generate the same combined 1.6 million pounds of thrust that will help launch the SLS rocket when it flies on its maiden Artemis I mission.

NASA is building SLS to launch missions for the next great era of space exploration. The rocket will serve as the backbone of the Artemis program, powering missions that return humans, including the first woman, to the Moon by 2024. The Artemis program is designed to help establish a sustainable presence and to develop technologies and techniques needed for eventual missions to Mars, which also will be powered by SLS.

The first flight core stage for the new rocket was delivered to Stennis early this year for a series of Green Run tests designed to verify all systems will operate as needed. Once the Green Run series is completed, engineers will refurbish the rocket and transport it to Kennedy Space Center in Florida. There, it will be mated to other major parts of the rocket and prepped for launch of the uncrewed Artemis I mission.

Boeing is the prime contractor for the core stage construction. Aerojet Rocketdyne is manufacturing the RS-25 engines. Green Run testing is being conducted by a combined team of personnel from both companies, as well as the Stennis test team and SLS personnel from the Stages Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Source: NASA.Gov

****

Photo of the Day #2: One of Orion's Four Solar Array Wings Is Spread for Pre-flight Testing in Florida...

NASA / Isaac Watson

(News Release)

Inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for installation on the Artemis I spacecraft, technicians have extended one of the Artemis I solar array wings for inspection on Sept. 10, 2020, to confirm that it unfurled properly and all of the mechanisms functioned as expected. The solar array is one of four panels that will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet. The array is a component of Orion’s service module, which is provided by the European Space Agency and built by Airbus Defence and Space to supply Orion’s power, propulsion, air and water.

The first in a series of increasingly complex missions, Artemis I will test the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System as an integrated system ahead of crewed flights to the Moon. Under the Artemis program, NASA will land the first woman and the next man on the Moon in 2024.

Source: NASA Kennedy - Flickr.com

****

Folding the wings on @NASA_Orion for the last time. Next time the #Artemis spacecraft unfolds its solar array it will be in space https://t.co/aOYHJwTQgt pic.twitter.com/BtutEbiKSL

— Human Spaceflight (@esaspaceflight) September 17, 2020

Photos of the Day: Orion Is Ready for the Space Launch System's First Flight on Artemis 1 Next Year...

NASA

A few days ago, NASA officials announced that the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) passed its System Acceptance Review and Design Certification Review...meaning that the capsule is essentially ready for flight on the Space Launch System (SLS) late next year. And last month, technicians inside Kennedy Space Center's Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (OCB) attached the MPCV to the adapter that will connect it to SLS for the Artemis I mission. With the SLS core stage booster itself about a month-and-half away from conducting the much-anticipated Green Run hot-fire test at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, things are picking up as the world's most-powerful rocket will soon be ready to embark on an exciting flight to the Moon in 2021.

Here are photos of Orion being mated to its adapter inside the OCB to mark the milestone.


NASA


NASA


NASA

SpaceX Update: Starship Hops Again!

SpaceX

Earlier today, SpaceX conducted another 150-meter (492-feet) hop of its Starship prototype rocket at Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. Just like the test conducted by its predecessor SN5 (Serial No. 5) a month ago, SN6 performed flawlessly during flight in this morning's demonstration...even though it was partially leaning to the side after it touched down at its landing zone several meters from its launch pedestal less than a minute later. Along with SN5, SN6 will probably see another hop or two before the fully-stacked SN8 vehicle (using three methane-fueled Raptor engines instead of only one as utilized by Starhopper, SN5 and SN6) soars into the sky—most likely on the much-anticipated 20-kilometer (12-mile) hop above the coastline of The Lone Star State in 2021.

Next up: A pressurization test for SN7—which will intentionally be destroyed on the ground as SpaceX conducts more analyses on the propulsion system for Starship. A prototype for Starship's Super Heavy booster will also be tested soon... Stay tuned.

Second 150m flight test of Starship pic.twitter.com/ROa0kQZXLI

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2020

SLS Update: Another Solid Rocket Booster Comes to Life in the Utah Desert...

NASA TV

NASA Conducts SLS Booster Test for Future Artemis Missions (News Release)

As NASA begins assembling the boosters for the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket that will power the first Artemis mission to the Moon, teams in Utah are evaluating materials and processes to improve rocket boosters for use on missions after Artemis III.

NASA completed a full-scale booster test for NASA’s Space Launch System rocket in Promontory, Utah, on Sept. 2. NASA and Northrop Grumman, the SLS booster lead contractor, will use data from the test to evaluate the motor’s performance using potential new materials and processes that can be incorporated into future boosters. NASA has a contract with Northrop Grumman to build boosters for future rocket flights.

“Landing the first woman and the next man on the Moon is just the beginning of NASA’s Artemis Program,” said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “The SLS flight support booster firing is a crucial part of sustaining missions to the Moon. NASA’s goal is to take what we learn living and working on the Moon and use it to send humans on the first missions to Mars.”

For a little over two minutes — the same amount of time that the boosters power the SLS rocket during liftoff and flight for each Artemis mission — the five-segment flight support booster fired in the Utah desert, producing more than 3 million pounds of thrust.

NASA and Northrop Grumman have previously completed three development motor tests and two qualification motor tests. Today’s test, called Flight Support Booster-1 (FSB-1), builds on prior tests with the introduction of propellant ingredients from new suppliers for boosters on SLS rockets to support flights after Artemis III.

“NASA is simultaneously making progress on assembling and manufacturing the solid rocket boosters for the first three Artemis missions and looking ahead toward missions beyond the initial Moon landing,” said John Honeycutt, the SLS Program Manager at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. “Today marks the first flight support booster test to confirm the rocket motor’s performance using potential new materials for Artemis IV and beyond.”

The SLS boosters are the largest, most powerful boosters ever built for flight. The flight support booster used in the test is the same size and has the same power as the flight version of a five-segment solid rocket booster used for NASA’s Artemis missions. The Artemis I boosters are currently being prepared for launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

“This flight support booster test is the first motor firing NASA and Northrop Grumman have completed since qualifying the booster design for the Space Launch System rocket,” said Bruce Tiller, SLS Boosters Office Manager at Marshall. “Full-scale booster tests are rare, so NASA tries to test multiple objectives at one time so we are highly confident that any changes we make to the boosters will still enable them to perform as expected on launch day.”

NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024. The SLS rocket, Orion spacecraft, Gateway, and Human Landing System are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration as part of America’s broader Moon to Mars exploration approach. Experience gained at the Moon will enable humanity’s next giant leap: sending humans to Mars. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts and supplies to the Moon in a single mission.

Source: NASA.Gov

****


NASA TV