Industry Partners Reveal Progress on Mars-Bound Rocket and Crew Capsule
NASA and the industry team manufacturing the most advanced space exploration system ever built are hosting several events at EAA AirVenture 2014 to answer the questions:
- What will it take to get to Mars?
- What are we doing to make it happen?
NASA’s new vehicle and crew capsule, known as the Space Launch System and Orion, respectively, will carry humans to Mars. In December, Orion’s crew capsule will take its first flight test, an un-crewed journey 15 times farther into space than the International Space Station; this test is the first step in qualifying Orion to carry astronauts to Mars.
Mars-related EAA AirVenture events include a press conference, panel discussions, presentations, and screenings of “I Want to be an Astronaut.” The schedule for these events follows:
Monday, July 28, 8:30 a.m.
What: Panel discussion on NASA’s plans for deep space exploration, culminating in a mission to Mars
Where: College Park
Who: Jeff Rankin, Orion Program Analyst (NASA HQ, HEOMD¹s Resource Management Office)
Shawn Quinn, Exploration Systems Manager, Ground Systems Development and Operations Program
Monday, July 28, 2:30 p.m.
What: Press conference on the boldest human space exploration mission yet: going to Mars
Where: Press site
Who: Charlie Precourt, ATK
Charles Dutch, Boeing
Tom Martin, Aerojet Rocketdyne
Larry Price, Lockheed Martin
Myron Fletcher, Boeing
Tuesday, July 29, 8:30 a.m.
What: Presentations on the Orion crew capsule and its first flight test in December, and potential missions that could prepare us to send humans to the red planet
Where: College Park
Who: Larry Price, deputy Orion program manager, Lockheed Martin
Kent Rominger, vice president of Strategy & Business Development, ATK’s Space Launch Division, and former five-time Shuttle astronaut
Tuesday, July 29, 2:30 p.m.
What: Panel discussion on “A Trip to Mars”
Where: Forum 7
Who: Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager, ATK Space Launch Division
Larry Price, deputy Orion program manager, Lockheed Martin
Tom Martin, project manager for Advanced Space & Launch Strategy, Aerojet Rocketdyne
Jeremy Redden, systems integration project engineer, ATK
Myron Fletcher, rocket propulsion engineer, Boeing
Tuesday, July 29, 8:45 p.m.
What: Movie screening of “I Want to be an Astronaut”
Where: Theater in the Woods
Who: David Ruck, producer of the film
Maj. Gen. Joe Engle, retired X-15 and space shuttle test pilot
Col. Charlie Precourt, retired chief of the Astronaut corps
Thursday, July 31, 8:30 a.m.
What: Presentations on why we should go to Mars and how NASA’s Space Launch System will get us there
Where: College Park
Who: Charlie Precourt, vice president and general manager, ATK Space Launch Division
Charles Dutch, Director for Space Launch Systems Avionics, Boeing
Members of the media: For interview opportunities with NASA representatives and senior executives from Aerojet Rocketdyne, ATK, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, contact Jennifer Bowman at 435-279-3159 or Jennifer.bowman@atk.com.
Background
- The President of the United States and Congressional leadership has concluded that deep space is the future destination for human exploration.
- SLS and Orion have unmatched combination of mass, volume and speed capable of delivering humans and cargo to deep space faster, safer and more affordably than any other existing or proposed alternatives.
- Orion’s first mission, called Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) is scheduled for December 2014. The spacecraft will travel 3,600 miles-the farthest a human-rated spacecraft has ventured into space in more than 40 years
- EFT-1 will provide engineers with critical data about Orion’s heat shield, flight systems and capabilities to validate designs of the spacecraft that will carry humans to explore and study deep space destinations.
- The Space Launch System (SLS) program, which is mid-way through its development process, is on schedule, within budget, and will be ready for launch in December 2017.
- SLS uses existing or in-development hardware and engages the U.S. aerospace infrastructure and workforce, enabling NASA to deliver this capability in less than 7 years – faster than either Apollo Saturn or space shuttle development.