DENVER, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Engineers at
Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and NASA breathed life into the next
Orion crew module when they powered up the spacecraft for the first
time at the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida. Designed for human spaceflight, this Orion will be
the first to fly more than 40,000 miles beyond the Moon during its
nearly three-week Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), a feat that hasn't
been possible before.
"Orion was designed from the beginning to take humanity farther
into space than we've ever gone, and to do this, its systems have
to be very robust and reliable," said Mike
Hawes, vice president and Orion program manager at Lockheed
Martin. "Over the last year, we've built great momentum in
assembling the crew module for EM-1. Everyone on the team
understands how crucial this test campaign is, and more
importantly, what this spacecraft and mission means to our country
and future human space flight."
The initial power-on event was the first time the vehicle
management computers and the power and data units were installed on
the crew module, loaded with flight software and tested. Evaluating
these core systems, thought of as the "brain and heart" of the
Orion capsule, is the first step in testing all of the crew module
subsystems.
Although astronauts will not fly in this capsule on this flight,
a large majority of the subsystems and avionics are the same design
that astronauts will rely on during following missions with Orion
into the solar system. Launching on NASA's Space Launch System—the
most powerful rocket in the world—the EM-1 flight is critical to
confirming the Orion spacecraft and all of its interdependent
systems operate as designed in the unforgiving environment of deep
space.
With the successful initial power on behind them, engineers and
technicians will now continue integrating the 55 components that
make up the spacecraft avionics suite, connecting them with nearly
400 harnesses. Over the course of the next two to three months, as
each system is installed, they will perform thorough functional
tests to ensure Orion is ready to move to the all-important
environmental testing phase.
NASA's Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle is the world's first
human-rated spacecraft designed for long-duration, deep space
exploration. Orion will transport humans to interplanetary
destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including the Moon and
eventually Mars. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor to NASA
for Orion, and is responsible for the design, build, testing,
launch processing and mission operations of the spacecraft. Orion
is managed out of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace
company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is
principally engaged in the research, design, development,
manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology
systems, products and services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin