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.

B-2 being prepped for SLS

Duel position B-1/B-2 stand.
NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Before NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) flies to space on its inaugural mission in 2017, it will fly in place at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, originally built to test the Saturn rocket stages that propelled humans to the Moon, is being renovated to test the SLS core stage in late 2016 and early 2017. When ready, the SLS stage, with four RS-25 rocket engines, will be installed on the stand for propellant fill and drain testing and two hot fire tests. The site's engineers spent 18 months assessing the cost of the work needed to upgrade the B-2 Test Stand from Apollo- and space shuttle-era testing specifications. After NASA made the decision to proceed, engineers began the first of three project phases. NASA is developing the SLS to send humans to asteroids and Mars. The SLS, once operational, will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The first test flight of SLS will be in 2017, when the rocket will send an unmanned Orion spacecraft around the Moon. (Sources: Astronomy, Space Fellowship, 04/29/13)

Bolden: SLS on track

WASHINGTON – NASA Administrator Charles Bolden reassured lawmakers Thursday that the agency isn't foot-dragging on developing a rocket to take astronauts into deep space. "We need a 70 metric-ton vehicle and we are on schedule, on target and on cost," Bolden told members of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA funding. NASA is asking for $17.7 billion for fiscal 2014, which begins Oct. 1. That includes $2.73 billion to develop the Space Launch System (SLS) consisting of an Orion multi-purpose crewed vehicle and the deep-space rocket that will carry it. (Source: Florida Today, 04/25/13) SLS rocket engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss; Orion is built in part at Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, which will also build the core stage of SLS.

A2Research wins NASA award

A2Research of Huntsville, Ala., is NASA's Small Business Prime Contractor of the Year. The award was one of three presented Tuesday to top contractors by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in Washington. A2Research is a joint venture of Alcyon Inc. of Huntsville and Alutiiq Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska. It performs test stand calibration and support at NASA's Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi, where NASA tests rocket engines. The Large Business Prime Contractor of the Year was Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne of East Hartford, Conn., which also has an operation at SSC. (Source: al.com, NASA, 04/23/13) Note: The Mississippi Enterprise for Technology's March-April newsletter mentions A2Research in a feature story.

J-2X: Steering to the future

J-2X record test. NASA/SSC photo

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- Engineers developing NASA's next-generation rocket closed one chapter of testing with the completion of a J-2X engine test series on the A-2 test stand at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Now begins the new chapter of full motion testing on test stand A-1. The J-2X will drive the second stage of the 143-ton heavy-lift version of the Space Launch System. The rocket will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration and send humans in NASA's Orion spacecraft into deep space. J-2X engine 10002 was fired for the last time on the A-2 test stand April 17. This engine set a duration record for J-2X engine firings at Stennis' A-2 test stand on April 4 when it fired for 570 seconds, beating the previous mark set less than a month earlier on March 7, when the same engine ran for 560 seconds. This is the second J-2X engine Stennis has test fired. Last year, test conductors put the first developmental J-2X engine, called 10001, through its paces. According to J-2X managers, both performed extremely well. When the engine is eventually used in space, it will need to be able to move to help steer the rocket. (Source: NASA, 04/22/13, Pratt and Whitney via PRNewswire, 04/24/13)

Antares has successful launch

Antares takes off Sunday. NASA photo

The 133-foot tall Antares rocket built by Orbital Sciences launched from the Virginia coast Sunday, setting the stage for space station cargo delivery missions starting later this year. The rocket launched from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport adjacent to NASA's Wallops Island Flight Center. Three minutes and 50 seconds after liftoff, the two first-stage Aerojet AJ26 engines shut down as planned and the first stage fell away. A solid-fuel second stage ATK Castor-30B motor ignited to continue the push to space. Orbital hopes to have a demonstration flight in June or July using a Cygnus cargo capsule that will carry about a ton of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station. SpaceX was the first commercial company to successfully resupply the ISS. The addition of Antares bodes well for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services established in 2006 with the retirement of the space shuttle. (Source: CBSNews, NASA, 04/21/13) Note: AJ26 engines are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.

NASA eyes smaller workforce

NASA expects a slightly reduced  civil servant workforce, facility consolidations and less spending on consultants, according to the agency's proposed 2014 budget. The goal is a civil servant workforce of 17,700, a decline of about 275 and a target NASA plans to achieve with buyouts that will permit it to continue some hiring of young engineers, scientists and other specialists. Of NASA's centers, Johnson Space Center in Houston, which manages International Space Station operations and leads development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, would be the top recipient of 2014 funding with $4.5 billion. Stennis Space Center, Miss., which hosts much of the agency’s propulsion testing, would receive the least, $182 million. Personnel declines would be distributed evenly. SSC, the center with the fewest civil servants, would fall by five to 313. (Source: Aviation Week, 04/15/13)

Oceanographers win humanitarian award

STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. -- A modeling capability developed by oceanographers at Stennis Space Center that predicts the likelihood of pirate attacks received an international humanitarian award from Computerworld magazine. IDG’s Computerworld Honors Program selected the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command as a 2013 Laureate in the field of Safety and Security for its development of the Pirate Attack Risk Surface (PARS). The PARS model produces a forecast of shipping vulnerability due to piracy at a certain latitude, longitude, and time. The Honors Program, founded in 1988, recognizes organizations and individuals who have used information technology to advance public welfare, benefit society and business, and change the world for the better. (Source: Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command, 04/09/13)

Orbital rolls out Antares rocket

Orbital Sciences rolled out the first fully integrated Antares rocket from its assembly building at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia Saturday in preparation for its inaugural flight slated for April 17 from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. The Antares test flight, the A-ONE mission, is the first of two Orbital is scheduled to conduct in 2013 under its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Space Act Agreement with NASA. Following a successful A-ONE launch, Orbital will carry out a full flight demonstration of its new Antares/Cygnus cargo delivery system to the International Space Station around mid-year. (Source: Orbital Sciences Corp., 04/06/13) The Aerojet AJ26 rocket engines that power Antares are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss. The latest test was April 4. That engine will be shipped to Wallops for an upcoming Commercial Resupply Services mission.

Towers set to close get reprieve

The Federal Aviation Administration said it will delay until June 15 the closure of the air traffic control tower at Stennis International Airport in Hancock County and 148 others across the country. Last month the FAA directed the Stennis tower to be among the first to close on Sunday as part of the agency's cost-cutting effort. Now all facilities will close June 15 unless the airports decide to continue operations as a nonfederal contract tower, the FAA said. Officials from about 50 airports have indicated they may fund the tower operations themselves. The Stennis airport serves, among others, NASA's nearby Stennis Space Center. (Source: Sun Herald, 04/05/13) Previous