The first Orion crew module is hoisted into position for extensive acoustic testing. Credit: Lockheed Martin
The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is destined to take humans beyond low Earth orbit, to nearby asteroids, back to the Moon, and onward to Mars. Credit: Lockheed Martin
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida – The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is being pursued as the way to explore beyond low Earth orbit – back to the Moon, out to asteroids, and eventually to Mars.
Regarding the decision to press ahead with Orion, Lori Garver, NASA deputy administrator, said that the space agency looked at the alignment for their needs and pressing forward on a vast new exploration program.
The Orion MPCV is the nation’s next generation spacecraft for future exploration throughout our solar system and is being built by Lockheed Martin.
NASA’s Garver said the space agency will work with international partners as humans go beyond low Earth orbit…to near Earth objects and Mars. “We will be doing that with international partners,” she said.
Pathfinder testing
Mark Geyer, Lockheed Martin’s Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle program manager, underscored the 2010 test of the Orion launch abort system. The first crew module – a pathfinder spacecraft — is being readied for extensive vibration and environmental tests. Furthermore, Orion’s avionics, power, its communications hardware are now under assembly, with the software in testing as well.
“We have been leveraging all the lessons learned,” from Apollo and the space shuttle program, said Laurence Price, Orion deputy program manager for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company.
When questioned about how the taxpayer feels about spending money to explore beyond Earth orbit, NASA’s Garver emphasized: “All this money is spent here on Earth – every penny” to jobs in the country…to help in the country’s economic growth. “Great nations explore,” the NASA official added, and the space agency can’t wait to beyond low Earth orbit.
State of the art spacecraft
The state-of-the art Orion is designed to carry a crew of up to six astronauts, with an emergency contingency capability for up to eight.
The Lockheed Martin Orion Team is focused on providing NASA the opportunity to conduct space exploration missions by 2016.
According to Lockheed Martin’s Geyer and Price, the first crew module is now in preparation for rigorous testing in space-like environments starting at month’s end. These tests will take place at the company’s Waterton Facility near Denver, Colorado.
By Leonard David