3-D printing grabs headlines

3-D printing is beginning to grab a lot of headlines. In a story in Armed Forces Journal, Lt. Cmdr. Michael Llenza says rapidly evolving technology may soon make 3-D printer warfare a reality. In 3-D printing, a part is built layer by layer from powdered ingredients. For the Navy, it means ships would be able to make their own parts instead of pulling into port. (Source: Yahoo News, 05/28/13). Last week NASA said it's given a grant to a company working on a 3-D foot printer. It could transform the way astronauts eat in space. (Source: Space, 05/24/13). Next year, a 3-D printer is scheduled to arrive at the International Space Station. It will produce the first parts ever made off planet Earth. (Source: NBC News, 05/24/13). Earlier this year a J-2X with a 3-D part was tested at Stennis Space Station, Miss. Pratt & Whitney crafted the part with a 3-D print method called Selective Laser Melting to make the exhaust port cover.

Sauer wins B-2 task order

Sauer Inc., of Jacksonville, Fla., won a $6.5 million NASA task order to renovate the B-2 rocket test stand at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Sauer expects to complete the project in 10 months, the company said in a news release. The B-2 Test Stand at Stennis was originally built to test Saturn rocket stages. It’s being completely renovated to test NASA’s new Space Launch System core stage in late 2016 and early 2017. (Source: Jacksonville Business Journal, 05/21/13)

NASA sites testing Dream Chaser

A Colorado company developing a spaceship to take astronauts to the International Space Station is testing landing-related elements at NASA facilities. Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser will carry seven people and land like a plane. Astronauts are using a flight simulator at the Langley, Va., facility to simulate what it would be like to land Dream Chaser. The company has also delivered a Dream Chaser engineering test craft to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., to test the craft's nose strut, brakes and tires. (Source: AP via Washington Post, 05/16/13) Note: Lockheed Martin will assemble the composite structure for the first space-bound Dream Chaser at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, west of Stennis Space Center, Miss.

A-1 has a first in a decade

J-2X installed on A-1 stand. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- For the first time in almost a decade, a full engine is in the A-1 test stand. The installation of J-2X engine E10002 is in preparation for a series of tests where the engine will be gimbaled, or pivoted, during test firings. When this upper stage engine is used in space, it will need to be able to move freely to steer NASA's Space Launch System, or SLS, a heavy-lift launch vehicle that will carry humans in deep space. It's the first time gimbal tests will be done since testing on the space shuttle main engines. A series of tests was completed on the E10002 engine in the A-2 test stand prior to its installation on the A-1 test stand. Once these tests are done, preparations will be made to begin testing the RS-25 engine on the A-1 stand in 2014. RS-25 engines from the shuttle inventory will power the core stage of SLS, while the J-2X engine will power the upper stage. (Source: NASA, 05/14/13)

Orion repair being checked

Engineers are putting NASA's first space-bound Orion capsule through tests to stress the capsule's structural shell and check repairs to cracks in the pressurized module's aluminum bulkhead. It's set to fly in orbit in 2014. The static loads testing began May 3 and will run through June inside the Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The pressure shell of the Orion spacecraft, comprised of welded olive-green aluminum-lithium metal panels, is being put through the tests to verify the capsule can withstand loads it will encounter during launch, re-entry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The 16.5-foot-diameter spacecraft, built by Lockheed Martin, was delivered to KSC in June 2012. Engineers put the capsule through its first test in November, when they pressurized the Orion crew module to check its integrity. The test was halted after technicians heard cracking sounds and inspections showed three small cracks in the aft bulkhead on the lower half of the Orion spacecraft's pressure shell. The cracks materialized in three adjacent radial ribs of the aluminum bulkhead, according to NASA. Engineers designed structural braces to resolve the problem, and those repairs are being tested now. (Source: Spaceflight Now, 05/12/13) Note: The olive-green aluminum alloy core of the Orion was built at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. Stennis Space Center, Miss., is testing the engines for the Space Launch System that will one day launch Orion. Previous: MAF-built Orion at KSC, NASA evaluating Orion cracks

Baton Rouge has NASA day

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Patrick Scheuermann, director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., met with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and key members of the state Legislature Wednesday as part of "NASA Day in Baton Rouge." NASA's history in the state is tied to Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where workers have long assembled large space structures for NASA programs, from Apollo-era rockets to the 136 external fuel tanks that lifted the space shuttle to orbit during its 30-year history. Now MAF workers are making hardware for the Space Launch System heavy-lift launch vehicle and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. The Michoud Assembly Facility alone employs an estimated 2,700 people. (Source: NASA, 05/08/13)

Orbital delays first cargo flight

Orbital Sciences said the first full-up test flight of its Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station will likely slip to September due to a variety of factors, including an engine replacement on the mission's Antares rocket and a scheduling conflict with a Japanese logistics spacecraft. The first flight of Orbital's Cygnus resupply freighter, an automated cargo carrier developed in partnership with NASA, was expected this summer. But Orbital officials decided to swap out one of the AJ26 first stage engines on the spacecraft's Antares rocket, adding up to four weeks of prep time. The first Cygnus mission is a demonstration flight under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. Orbital's Antares rocket launched for the first time April 21. (Source: Spaceflight Now, 05/06/13) Note: Aerojet AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous

Rolls-Royce aero chief resigns

The head of Rolls-Royce's prestigious aerospace division has resigned just four months after being promoted to lead the division that makes engines for commercial and military aircraft. Mark King, 48, will leave by the end of June. Rolls-Royce did not provide a reason for the departure. King will be replaced by Tony Wood, head of the company's ship engine business. Aerospace is the biggest Rolls-Royce division, accounted for more than 70 percent of 2012 revenues. (Source: The Guardian, New York Times, Financial Times, 05/02/13) Note: Rolls-Royce tests jetliner engines at its outdoor test facility at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

SBIR, STTR proposals picked

NASA selected four small business proposals involving technologies being developed for the Office of the Chief Technologist at Stennis Space Center, Miss., for contract negotiations and continued development. The programs were selected through NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. One selected proposal was from SSC-based Innovative Imaging and Research Corp., working with the University of Houston. Overall, NASA chose 58 proposals valued at about $40.5 million in the latest round of selections for the two small business programs. (Source: NASA, 05/02/13)

Garver to visit SSC, MAF

Deputy Administrator Lori Garver on Friday will visit NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans. Both facilities are critical to the construction and testing of NASA's Space Launch System rocket and Commercial Crew Program. Michoud and Stennis also are important to partnerships with private industry, which is helping maximize the use of NASA facilities. At 9 a.m. CDT, Garver will visit MAF to see progress being made to support the SLS and Orion spacecraft programs. At 1:30 p.m. Garver will tour testing facilities and the B-2 test stand, which is being restored in preparation for testing of the SLS core stage. (Source: NASA, 05/01/13)

Lockheed Huntsville marks 50 years

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Lockheed Martin celebrated 50 years of space and defense work in Huntsville Wednesday. About 1,000 employees, retirees and dignitaries marked the event at the company's 57-acre, nine-building complex at Cummings Research Park. The company, one of the first tenants in the park, has about 800 employees in Huntsville. (Source: al.com, 05/01/13) Lockheed Martin operates the Mississippi Space and Technology Center at Stennis Space Center, Miss.