[meteorite-list] NASA Selects Orion Moon Ship as Exploration Capsule

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1105/24mpcv/index.html

NASA selects Orion moon ship as exploration capsule
BY STEPHEN CLARK 
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
May 24, 2011

NASA announced Tuesday the design of a new deep space exploration
capsule will be based on the canceled Orion vehicle, a spacecraft in
which the space agency has invested more than $5 billion since 2006.

But despite the capsule's familiar design, a senior NASA official could
not say when the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle would be ready to carry
astronauts into space or how much it will cost.

"In terms of deep space exploration, we hope to have test flights in
this decade," said Doug Cooke, the chief of NASA's exploration division.
"We're not exactly sure when, but certainly as early possible."

Lockheed Martin Corp., the Orion spacecraft's prime contractor, says the
MPCV could be ready for initial crewed operations in low Earth orbit by
2016. But Cooke did not specify a timetable for Orion's readiness.

NASA is still reviewing plans for a heavy-lift launch vehicle to send
the MPCV toward distant destinations. Called the Space Launch System, or
SLS, the powerful booster must boost 130 metric tons into low Earth
orbit under a mandate set by Congress.

Cooke said NASA is on track to finish those studies and select a
reference design for the SLS in the "early summer" of this year.
Accurate cost and schedule estimates will not be available until NASA
settles on a design for both the crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket,
Cooke said.

"We still have to do the integrated cost and schedule to understand the
phasing of it, and that will affect how much it ultimately costs," Cooke
said. "We have to work an integrated approach with both vehicles."

In the wake of the Constellation program's cancellation, NASA is turning
to commercial spacecraft to carry astronauts into low Earth orbit
following the retirement of the space shuttle. The agency expects to
have one or more privately-owned space systems ready for transportation
services by 2015 or 2016.

While the White House directed NASA to invigorate the commercial market,
Congress struck a compromise for the agency to kick off development of a
new rocket and capsule to take the place of the Ares launcher family and
Orion spacecraft from the ill-fated Constellation moon program.

"The NASA Authorization Act lays out a clear path forward for us by
handing off transportation to the International Space Station to our
private sector partners, so we can focus on deep space exploration,"
said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "As we aggressively continue our
work on a heavy-lift launch vehicle, we are moving forward with an
existing contract to keep development of our new crew vehicle on track."

NASA and Lockheed Martin are working on efficiency initiatives to reduce
the ultimate cost of the MPCV, officials said.

"NASA's designation of the Orion crew exploration vehicle as the
Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) provides our nation with a sound
solution for deep space mission capability within the currently proposed
budgets," Lockheed Martin said in a statement. "This path forward will
soon enable humans to venture out into the cosmos to explore and study
interplanetary destinations never before seen or touched by mankind."

Weighing up to 50,000 pounds, the MPCV is designed to carry four
astronauts into space for 21-day missions. It has a pressurized volume
of 690 cubic feet, with 316 cubic feet of habitable space, according to
NASA.

For voyages to asteroids, the moon and Mars, the MPCV could be
accompanied by a habitation module to extend the capsule's stay in space.

Congress directed NASA to recycle the Orion design for the MPCV in
authorization and spending legislation, and Cooke said the Orion's
ability to travel into deep space and return to Earth at high velocities
confirmed its viability as an exploration vehicle.

"It made the most sense to stick with it," Cooke told reporters Tuesday.

NASA and Lockheed Martin designed the Orion capsule to reach the moon in
the Constellation progam, which was canceled last year amid mounting
cost and schedule concerns.

"We found and confirmed that the design approach we've got (with Orion)
is really the best for this type of mission beyond low Earth orbit,"
Cooke said.

Since the termination of the Constellation program, Lockheed Martin
launched internal study groups to analyze other potential applications
for the Orion vehicle. Company engineers concluded the spacecraft is
capable of long-duration missions to asteroids and the rocky moons of Mars.

With a tough heat shield, a broadband communications system, a powerful
rocket motor, and solar arrays for electricity, the Orion could
conceivably survive in space much longer than stipulated in design
requirements, according to Josh Hopkins, an engineer in Lockheed
Martin's advanced programs group.

"We were surprised by how well the Orion design works for other
missions," Hopkins said.