Posts Tagged ‘Constellation’
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
As the Constellation Program (CxP) splutters along, ahead of its “proposed” cancellation, managers have successfully concluded its Preliminary Design Review (PDR), although several major elements – such as cost and schedule – were omitted from the review due to the “new direction”. Meanwhile, NASA managers preparing a draft document to prospective commercial crew providers, listing [...]
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Tags: Commercial, Constellation
Published in Commercial, Constellation, Featured
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
One of the final tests of the now-cancelled Orion Program has ended in failure, when a parachute drop test of an Orion boilerplate resulted in the near-destruction of the vehicle. It marks what is likely to be a sad end for the vehicle that was set to take US astronauts to the International Space Station [...]
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Tags: Constellation, Orion
Published in Constellation, Featured
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
The Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) have confirmed they have almost enough External Tank resources to allow for one ET-sized “In Line” Shuttle Derived Heavy Launch Vehicle (SD HLV) test flight and up to three Block I SD HLVs. The news comes as NASA managers insist the workforce should wait for official news, and not to [...]
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Tags: ares, Constellation, HLV
Published in Constellation, Featured
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
With the official opening statements on the overhaul of NASA’s future expected “soon”, the realignment of NASA’s future goals will create a Human Space Flight path that will likely stretch out for decades. The end goal remains footsteps on Mars, but the approach may involve the use of deep space and Phobos as the precursor [...]
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Tags: Constellation, Extension, HLV, Mars, MTV, Phobos
Published in Constellation, Featured
Thursday, January 14th, 2010
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden will review the findings of his “special team” – which he set up to evaluate all Heavy Lift alternatives to the current plan – on Friday. Pre-empting the overview, Exploration Project officials all-but ruled out the Sidemount HLV, whilst noting a couple of In-line heavy lifters – one of which appears [...]
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Tags: ares, Augustine, Constellation, HLV
Published in Constellation, Featured
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
NASA managers have created an evaluation and roadmap for a potential human mission to visit the 1999 AO10 Near Earth Object (NEO) as early as 2025, as part of their options under the Flexible Path approach to the future of Human Space Flight. The mission would focus on using the International Space Station (ISS) as [...]
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Tags: Augustine, Constellation, NEO, Orion
Published in Constellation, Featured
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
MOD Director Paul Hill has hinted that there’s a “remote” chance NASA may add one or more shuttle flights, in addition to “under evaluation” STS-135. Mr Hill’s comments came during an address to his team – relating to the upcoming White House decision on NASA’s Human Space Flight program - in which he noted his awareness of discussions relating [...]
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Tags: Constellation, Extension, STS-135
Published in Commercial, Constellation, Featured, Shuttle
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden has asked for a “Special Team” at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to evaluate the Heavy Lift alternatives – including DIRECT’s Jupiter launch vehicle – as a “top priority”. The team has been asked to create a report on their findings in time for Thanksgiving, in an apparent reaction to [...]
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Tags: Altair, Constellation, Direct, HLV
Published in Constellation, Featured
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) have created an expansive plan to utilize the Atlas and Delta Launch Vehicle families to provide the United States with an architecture that both reduces the gap and provides greater flexibility – when compared to NASA’s current Ares-based plans. ULA’s plans range from Low Earth Orbit (LEO) access, to the [...]
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Tags: Constellation, EELV
Published in Commercial, Constellation, Featured
Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
With NASA authorization language already being drawn up behind the scenes by Congress, Augustine Commission ISS/Shuttle subgroup lead Dr Sally Ride – along with several key NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) managers – have embarked on a major push to extend the shuttle program, linking the move with the allowance for the International Space [...]
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Tags: Constellation, ET, Extension, ISS, Shuttle
Published in Featured, Shuttle
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) Director Paul Hill has attempted to rally his troops, following the announcement of six hundred job losses – whilst noting his belief there will at least be a “follow on program” in the human space flight future, post-shuttle. MSFC acting director Robert Lightfoot also addressed his workforce, noting the center will be involved [...]
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Tags: Constellation, MOD
Published in Constellation, Featured
Saturday, July 4th, 2009
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) is undergoing further reductions in its capability – including the elimination of the vehicle’s unmanned ability - as Constellation managers attempt to resolve numerous issues ahead of the Orion Project PDR (Preliminary Design Review). Issues noted in the recent “Top Risks” review list 10 serious issues with the Ares and Orion vehicles, ranging from [...]
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Tags: ares, Ares I-X, Ares I-Y, Constellation, Orion
Published in Constellation, Featured
Monday, May 18th, 2009
The team behind the alternative exploration architecture known as DIRECT have released a rebuttal document, countering claims made by NASA’s Constellation Program, ahead of the Blue Ribbon review for human space flight. The document specifically targets a series of claims made by a NASA team in May and October of 2007, which found the Jupiter [...]
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Tags: Constellation, Direct
Published in Constellation, Featured
Friday, April 24th, 2009
Citing schedule concerns and technical challenges, Constellation manager Jeff Hanley has outlined a series of proposed solutions to avoid further slips in the Ares/Orion schedule. Mr Hanley proposes deleting the Ares I-Y test flight, making Ares I’s first stage disposable, switching from Orion 4 to Orion 3 as the Full Operational Capability (FOC) date, along [...]
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Tags: ares, Constellation, Orion
Published in Constellation, Featured
Monday, April 20th, 2009
A study by the Aerospace Corporation, conducted at the request of NASA to disprove the viability of an option to switch Orion to an alternative Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV), has found both the Atlas V Heavy and Delta IV Heavy are capable of launching Orion on both ISS and Lunar missions. Meanwhile, former NASA [...]
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Tags: ares, Constellation, EELV, Orion
Published in Constellation, Featured
Friday, March 27th, 2009
NASA’s Constellation Program (CxP) will conduct a “Content and Schedule” summit meeting in the next few months, after it was evaluated their current schedules are “broken”. The meeting will aim to protect against a slip that is estimated to be as serious as 18 months, or outright cancellation for Ares I. Meanwhile, the push for [...]
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Tags: Ares I, Constellation, EELV, ET, Extension, Falcon, J-2X, MAF, Orion, SpaceX
Published in Constellation, Featured, Shuttle
Thursday, February 12th, 2009
US lawmakers have agreed on a stimulus package that includes just over $1 billion in additional funds for NASA, to be utilized during 2009 and 2010. While the $400m allocated towards “Exploration” is not specifically earmarked for extension of the shuttle program, it could allow NASA to take the first steps in reducing “The Gap” [...]
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Tags: ares, Constellation, Direct, EELV, ET, Extension, NASA, Orion, Shuttle, SpaceX, STS-134
Published in Constellation, Featured, Shuttle
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008
Only around five weeks will separate Endeavour’s return home from her STS-126 mission, and when Discovery is due to rollover to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) ahead of STS-119. Discovery’s upcoming milestones are part of a realigned plan for the 2009 missions. However, STS-119’s launch date advancement has been disapproved by shuttle managers.
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Tags: Constellation, Extension, Schedule, STS-119, STS-125, STS-127, STS-128, STS-129, STS-130, STS-131
Published in Featured, Shuttle
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
The Constellation Acceleration Study Team are evaluating 160 “brainstorming ideas” in an attempt to reduce the current gap between shuttle and Ares/Orion by up to 18 months. However, such a process would come at a cost, with widescale deletions to Ares I testing and a major deferral to the development of the Lunar Orion.
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Tags: Ares I, Constellation
Published in Constellation, Featured
Monday, September 15th, 2008
Lockheed Martin’s design efforts on the Orion vehicle are being hindered by Ares I driven requirements, documented notes claim, with concerns ranging from the constant design changes, to Thrust Oscillation (TO) mitigation requirements.
With Crew Seat Isolation efforts deferred until next year – in order not to delay the recent Ares I PDR (Preliminary Design Review) [...]
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Tags: ares, CEV, Constellation
Published in Constellation, Featured
