The little spaceship that someday will carry American astronauts back into “real” space – somewhere beyond low-Earth orbit – is making steady progress, with the so-called pressure vessel now fully intact.
The pressure vessel is the heart of NASA’s new Orion craft, where astronauts will reside on short missions to the Moon and other destinations not too far away.
Welding was just finished at the Michoud Assembly Plant in New Orleans, with all seven pieces having been joined by one of the world’s most sophisticated welding devices. The process took more than four months.
Welding began in September 2015 and involved a meticulous process, according to a NASA release. Engineers prepared and outfitted each element with strain gauges and wiring to monitor the metal during the process, which were fused together through friction-stir welding, which produces incredibly strong bonds by transforming metals from a solid into a plastic-like state. A rotating pin tool is used to soften, stir and forge a bond between two metal components, forming a uniform welded joint, a vital requirement of next-generation space hardware.
The vessel’s sealed compartment will house all of Orion’s controls and avionics. The anticipated longer missions, such as the one to Mars, will require a separate and much larger habitation module. But that’s a task for a future day when money has been appropriated and designs are in place.