[meteorite-list] First Mission of Space Launch System with Orion Atop it to Preview Asteroid Visit

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.nasa.gov/content/first-mission-of-space-launch-system-with-orion-to-preview-asteroid-visit 

First Mission of Space Launch System with Orion Atop it to Preview Asteroid Visit
NASA
July 8, 2013

Managers in NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate 
have initiated a formal request to change the mission plan for the agency's 
first flight of the Space Launch System (SLS), Exploration Mission (EM) 
1 in 2017. The flight will carry an uncrewed Orion spacecraft to a deep 
retrograde orbit near the moon, a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system 
where an asteroid could be relocated as early as 2021.

The 25-day mission will send Orion more than 40,000 miles beyond the moon 
and allow engineers to evaluate the performance of SLS and assess the 
systems designed to support a crew in Orion before the capsule begins 
carrying astronauts. The plan will provide NASA with the opportunity to 
align the flight more closely with the agency's mission to send humans 
to a relocated asteroid.

The previous plan for the first test flight of the SLS heavy-lift launch 
vehicle was to send Orion on a 10 day mission to high-lunar orbit to evaluate 
the fully integrated Orion and SLS system.

"We sent Apollo around the moon before we landed on it and tested the 
space shuttle's landing performance before it ever returned from space." 
said Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration 
systems development. "We've always planned for EM-1 to serve as the first 
test of SLS and Orion together and as a critical step in preparing for 
crewed flights. This change still gives us that opportunity and also gives 
us a chance to test operations planning ahead of our mission to a relocated 
asteroid."

The request will be reviewed later this summer by a range of other NASA 
officials.

The agency announced in April a plan to find and redirect an asteroid 
to a stable point near the moon where astronauts can visit and study it 
as early as 2021. NASA's asteroid initiative leverages human and robotic 
exploration activities while also accelerating efforts to improve detection 
and characterization of asteroids. It aligns current and future work in 
NASA's Science, Space Technology and Human Exploration and Operations 
mission directorates to achieve the space goals set by the administration.

Across the U.S., engineers at NASA and its contractors are making progress 
to develop and test Orion and SLS. Orion will first launch on a test flight 
in September 2014. A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket will 
send the spacecraft to an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth's surface. 
It will reenter the atmosphere at speeds of about 20,000 mph and endure 
temperatures of 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The test flight is designed 
to evaluate the performance of Orion's heatshield and other systems. The 
SLS program currently is undergoing an extensive review process to ensure 
that every element of the launch vehicle can be successfully integrated. 
The review process, called the Preliminary Design Review, is scheduled 
for completion later this summer. SLS will be NASA's most capable rocket 
ever and enable missions to new destinations in the solar system.