Orion test vehicle arrives

Orion Ground Test Vehicle. NASA photo

The Orion Ground Test Vehicle is now at NASA's Kennedy Space Center Operations and Checkout Facility after traveling 1,800 miles from Lockheed Martin's Waterton Facility near Denver, Colo., where it completed a series of acoustic, modal and vibration tests. The ground test vehicle will now be used for pathfinding operations at the O&C in preparation for the Orion spaceflight test vehicle's arrival this summer. The spaceflight vehicle is being fabricated at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La., and is slated for NASA's Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) in 2014. (Source: NASA, 04/25/12)

Blue Origin tests craft design

CFD image of spacecraft. Blue Origin photo

KENT, Wash. -- Blue Origin, one of four companies working on technologies for commercial space transportation, said it successfully tested the design for its orbital spaceship in a series of wind-tunnel tryouts. More than 180 tests were done over the past several weeks at Lockheed Martin's High Speed Wind Tunnel Facility in Dallas. Blue Origin, backed by Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos, soon will be conducting tests of the thrust chamber assembly for the BE‑3 100,000-lbf liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine recently installed on the E‑1 complex test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center. In addition to Blue Origin, other companies receiving $320 million from NASA for work on space transportation are Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and SpaceX. (Source: MSNBC, Blue Origin press release, 04/26/12)

J-2X starts test series

J-2X test April 26, 2012. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA kicked off the next round of testing on the Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne J-2X rocket engine Thursday, gathering data on the performance of the newly-installed engine nozzle extension and test stand "clamshell" as well as on the engine start and shutdown sequences. The test on the A-2 Test Stand begins a second, more extensive round of testing for the next-generation engine selected as part of the Space Launch System. The nozzle extension and clamshell equipment allow operators to test the engine at simulated altitudes up to 50,000 feet. (Source: NASA/SSC, 04/26/12)

Exploration center opens

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Mississippi State University's new Science and Technology Center here is now home of the country's seventh National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Exploration Command Center. The center, using "telepresence technology," enables research scientists at sea and colleagues on shore to simultaneously view live video streams from underseas. The MSU-led Northern Gulf Institute and NOAA's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research are coordinating the first use at Stennis of this technology. A key part of the effort is the Okeanos Explorer, the NOAA exploration flagship currently probing the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. Telepresence technology enables scientists aboard vessels to be in constant contact with others ashore through a combination of high-definition cameras and remotely operated underwater vehicles. The network includes an Internet-enabled intercom system for voice communication as the ship's remotely operated vehicles send a continuous stream of live video and data. (Source: MSU, 04/24/12)

J-2X set for next test series

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, right,
views J-2X at the A-2 stand. NASA photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- The J-2X engine that will power the second stage of NASA's Space Launch System will undergo a series of tests beginning Wednesday, the first of 16 scheduled for this year. The Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne engine, called E10001, is at the A-2 Test Stand for tests that will build on the initial round of sea-level tests on the first developmental engine last year. This second test series will simulate high-altitude conditions where the atmospheric pressure is low. The SLS will use J-2X engines on the second stage of flight after the first stage is jettisoned. In its first round of testing, the J-2X engine reached 100 percent power in just four tests and achieved a full flight-duration firing of 500 seconds in its eighth test, faster than any other U.S. engine. The engine was fired a total of 10 times for a cumulative 1,040 seconds of testing various aspects of performance. (Source: NASA, 04/24/12) Previous

SpaceX delays launch

Next week's launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule will be delayed at least a week, the company said, to allow for additional testing. Space Exploration Technologies, better known as SpaceX, planned to launch its demonstration mission Monday from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. (Sources: multiple, including Florida Today, Space, Huntsville Times, 04/24/12) NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests rocket engines for some of the companies involved in commercial space ventures.

SSC: Leveraging NASA assets

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Stennis Space Center is the most capable of four facilities where NASA tests rocket engines, and much of the growth of the facility has been in non-propulsion activities. But with commercial companies grabbing a larger piece of the space flight field, SSC's assets might prove to be a lure. The latest carrot is the E-4 test facility. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/22/12)

SSC wins award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- For the first time, NASA's Stennis Space Center received the agency's Small Business Administrator's Cup Award in recognition of its small business program. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Small Business Programs Associate Administrator Glenn Delgado presented the fiscal year 2011 award to SSC Director Patrick Scheuermann during a visit today. The award annually recognizes the NASA center that has the best overall small business program. The award is sponsored by the NASA Office of Small Business Programs to honor successful and innovative practices that promote small business participation in NASA initiatives. Scheuermann credited the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology, the Louisiana Technology Transfer Office and the Partners for Stennis for their coordination of outreach events to small businesses. (Source: NASA/SSC, 04/20/12)

SLS main to sport 4-engine setup

The main stage of NASA's Space Launch System being developed for deep space exploration will use four RD-25D space shuttle main engines. Engineers also considered three- and five-engine versions, Boeing officials said at the National Space Symposium in Colorado. After the RD-25D supply is used up, a throwaway version, the RD-25E, will be used. The main stage of SLS will be assembled at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans using friction-stir welders, and probably will be built of aluminum lithium. The first unmanned SLS flight is scheduled for 2017, and the first flight carrying the Lockheed Martin developed Orion crew capsule is slated for 2021. (Source: Aviation Week, 04/18/12) The RD-25 engines will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss., which is also testing the J-2X that will be used in the second stage.

Orion parachute testing continues

NASA on Tuesday successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes in preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight test, Exploration Flight Test -1, in 2014. A C-130 dropped a dart-shaped test vehicle with a simulated Orion parachute compartment from an altitude of 25,000 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. Orion will carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and ensure a safe re-entry and landing. (Source: NASA, 04/17/12) The Orion capsule is built in New Orleans at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility. Previous on EFT-1.

NASA, AF to study joint engine

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and the Air Force will study next-generation upper stage propulsion, formalizing their interest in a new upper stage engine to replace the Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne RL-10. NASA hopes to find a less expensive RL-10-class engine for a third stage of the Space Launch System. Two engines have already been pegged for the SLS: the Space Shuttle Main Engines for the first stage and the Rocketdyne J-2X for the second. The Air Force Space and Missile System Center's Launch Systems Directorate in Los Angeles hopes to replace the RL-10 engines used on the upper stage of the Atlas V and Delta IV. "In recent years, it's become apparent that the rocket propulsion industry is in a state of distress,” said Dale Thomas, Associated Director for Technical Issues at Marshall. “Collaborating, especially in a time of declining budgets, helps to grow and strengthen the knowledge base which is important for our nation's technical pre-eminence." (Source: NASA/Marshall, Flightglobal, AvioNews, 04/12/12) Stennis Space Center, Miss., tests NASA and commercial rocket engine systems, including the J-2X and SSME. In New Orleans, Michoud Assembly Facility is building portions of the SLS, including the Orion crew capsule.

Chief of staff visits NSSC

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- David Radzanowski, chief of staff for NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, visited the NASA Shared Services Center Wednesday. He said he was impressed with what he saw. "It is something I want to take back to headquarters, what we can do in the agency to be more efficient with some of the services that the agency needs to do its job and mission." NSSC is a private/public partnership between NASA, CSC and the states of Mississippi and Louisiana. It performs selected business activities for all 10 NASA centers in financial management, human resources, information technology and procurement. Radzanowski was in the area to take part in the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Infinity Science Center, which opened to the public today. (Source: NASA/NCCS, 04/12/12)

SSC gets new research center

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- NASA's Stennis Space Center will be the home of the National Oceans and Applications Research Center, Gov. Phil Bryant said Wednesday at the ribbon-cutting for the Infinity Science Center. NOARC will combine the capabilities of NASA, NOAA and the Navy to analyze and understand the Gulf of Mexico watershed and other oceans NOAA monitors. Bryant said the center will be the "Woods Hole of the South," a reference to the world-renown center in Massachusetts. NOARC data could be used to develop environmental management best practices, identify optimal sites to build infrastructure and help guide coastal restoration efforts. NOARC will leverage a partnership with the Mississippi Enterprise for Technology to help encourage the development of small businesses that benefit from NOARC data. NOARC will be funded with remaining monies that BP granted to Mississippi during the response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion. The center will receive initial funding of $500,000 to provide for basic startup needs. (Sources: Sun Herald, WLOX-TV, press release, 04/11/12) Stennis Space Center is home to 30 agencies, including NASA and NOAA. It's also the center for the Navy's oceanographic work.

Infinity opens this week

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- The $30 million, 72,000-square-foot Infinity Science Center opens to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday. Infinity is just west of the Mississippi Welcome Center, off Interstate 10 at Exit 2, and officials expect it to be a major tourist attraction. The center showcases the activities of NASA and the 30 agencies at NASA’s nearby Stennis Space Center. Exhibits include the Science Express, Science on a Sphere and the Space Gallery. The outdoor exhibits include an F-1 rocket engine, like the ones that powered Saturn V rockets used in the Apollo program. The ribbon-cutting, not open to the public, is set for Wednesday. (Sources: Mississippi Press, 04/09/12, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 04/10/12)

Challenge winners announced

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Three school student teams in the fifth through eighth grades have been selected as winners of NASA's second annual Spaced Out Sports challenge. The students designed science-based games that will be played by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The games apply Newton's laws of motion by showing the differences between Earth's gravity and the microgravity environment of the space station. The challenge is part of a broader agency education effort to engage students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics activities. The winning teams were from Pierremont Elemntary MOSAICS Academy in Manchester, Mo., East Brook Middle School in Paramus, N.J., and Tyngsborough Middle School in Tyngsborough, Mass. SSC's Office of Education developed the challenge and curriculum. (Source: NASA, 04/10/12)

NASA appointments

Mississippi native Arthur E. "Gene" Goldman has been named acting director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. He was named to the post last month after serving as deputy director from March 2010. From 2008 until 2010 Goldman was the director of Stennis Space Center, Miss. In addition, Robert Champion, a native of Woodstock, Ala., has been appointed deputy director of Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where he was acting deputy director and chief operations officer from 2010 until this latest appointment. Earlier, Chris M. Crumbly, a native of Rome, Ga., was appointed director of Michoud, where he had been deputy director from March 2011. (Sources: NASA, 04/05/12, 04/06/12, 04/03/12)

Titanium hulls in the future?

ARLINGTON, Va. -- An Office of Naval Research-funded project is producing a full-size ship hull section made with marine grade titanium using a friction-stir welding innovation that could help bring titanium into future ship construction. Researchers at the University of New Orleans School of Naval Architecture and Textron Marine and Land Systems are demonstrating the project and expect to have a complete hull this summer. Friction-stir welding works well for most aluminum alloys, but titanium is hard to join because of the high temperatures required. The researchers overcame that problem by using new titanium friction-stir welding methods developed by Florida-based Keystone Synergistic Enterprises Inc., with funding from ONR and the Air Force. The processes were scaled up and transferred to the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing in New Orleans, which is a partnership between UNO, NASA and Louisiana. (Source: Office of Naval Research, 04/03/12) Note: ONR has a detachment at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Infinity ribbon-cutting set

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- There will be a ribbon-cutting next week for the Infinity Science Center, the Gulf Coast's newest visitor attraction. It's slated for 11 a.m. April 11, and marks the opening of the state-of-the-art visitor center. Infinity, south of Interstate 10 near the Mississippi-Louisiana state line, opens to the general public the next day. Leaders scheduled to speak include Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant, U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker, U.S. Rep. Steven Palazzo, NASA Chief of Staff David Radzanowski, NASA Stennis Director Patrick Scheuermann, Gulfport Mayor George Schloegel and Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise. (Source: NASA/SSC, 04/02/12)