KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla.,
July 20, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- The goal of humans again walking on the Moon is one giant
leap closer. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has completed building the
capsule for NASA's Orion spacecraft. The crew module capsule for
the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission to the Moon has been stacked on top
of the Orion service module, which was also recently finished.
Vice President Mike Pence made
the announcement today at a ceremony in front of the Orion
spacecraft in the aptly-named Neil Armstrong Operations and
Checkout Building at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida. The
event and announcement commemorated the 50-year anniversary of the
Apollo 11 Moon landing.
Lockheed Martin's President, Chairman and CEO Marillyn Hewson also provided remarks at the
ceremony, in addition to NASA's Administrator Jim Bridenstine, Kennedy Space Center's Director Robert Cabana and Florida's Governor Ron
DeSantis.
The Orion spacecraft is like none other in its design and
capability.
"Orion is a new class of spaceship, uniquely designed for
long-duration deep space flight, that will return astronauts to the
Moon and eventually take the first humans to Mars, and bring them
all back safely." said Lisa
Callahan, vice president and general manager of Commercial
Civil Space at Lockheed Martin. "Orion will accelerate scientific
discovery of our solar system and will be the cornerstone of the
defining space achievement of this era."
Since the crew module pressure vessel arrived in Florida, technicians and engineers from
Lockheed Martin, NASA and supporting contractors have meticulously
assembled the capsule into its finished state. The work included
installing the capsule's avionic computers, harnesses, propulsion
system and its 12 engines, 11 parachutes, its large
16-foot-diameter heat shield, forward bay cover and numerous other
systems and components.
"Throughout assembly, the team tested and validated the many
systems a hundred different ways to ensure they will operate as
designed in the harshness of deep space," said Mike Hawes, Orion program manager for Lockheed
Martin. "The Artemis 1 flight will test the design and workmanship
of the capsule and its service module during the three-week mission
out around the Moon and back. We're excited for this mission as it
paves the way for the first crewed mission in 2022, Artemis 2."
The crew module and service module were stacked together earlier
in the week in the Final Assembly and System Testing (FAST) cell
where they are now being fully integrated, including connecting the
physical retention bolts and the umbilical lines between the two
modules. The FAST cell is also where the Apollo spacecraft were
integrated.
The combined stack will then be powered up and undergo a series
of integrated systems tests. In September, the combined stack will
be shipped to NASA's Plum Brook
Station in Ohio, where it
will go through environmental testing in a large thermal vacuum
chamber as well as testing for electromagnetic interference and
compatibility.
Once Orion returns to Kennedy at the end of the year, the
spacecraft will go through final preparations before Lockheed
Martin delivers it to ground systems for launch processing in early
2020.
More information about Orion:
Lockheed Martin Orion page:
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/orion
NASA Orion page: https://www.nasa.gov/orion
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
105,000 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