Apollo glass panel upgrade. 😊 Have they decided on a lander configuration yet?
Anthony J. Cesaroni
President/CEO
Cesaroni Technology/Cesaroni Aerospace
<http://www.cesaronitech.com/> http://www.cesaronitech.com/
(941) 360-3100 x101 Sarasota
(905) 887-2370 x222 Toronto
From: Hqnews <hqnews-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of NASA News
Releases
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2019 4:30 PM
To: hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [NASA HQ News] NASA Commits to Long-term Artemis Missions with Orion
Production Contract
September 23, 2019
RELEASE 19-074
NASA Commits to Long-term Artemis Missions with Orion Production Contract
<https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/48338036292_3e7a5196fb_k.jpg>
NASA completed building and outfitting the Orion crew capsule for the first
Artemis lunar mission in June 2019. The spacecraft is being prepared for its
uncrewed test flight atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Artemis 1 is
the first test flight of the SLS and Orion spacecraft as an integrated system
and will send Orion thousands of miles beyond the Moon and back to Earth.
Credits: NASA/Radislav Sinyak
NASA is setting in motion the Orion spacecraft production line to support as
many as 12 Artemis missions, including the mission that will carry the first
woman and next man to the Moon by 2024
<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/sending-american-astronauts-to-moon-in-2024-nasa-accepts-challenge>
.
The agency has awarded the Orion Production and Operations Contract (OPOC) to
Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado. Spacecraft production for the Orion
program, managed at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, will focus on
reusability and building a sustainable presence on the lunar surface.
“This is a great day for the men and women at Johnson Space Center. They are
crucial to our national space program, and have an undeniable legacy and record
of success in advancing America’s leadership in the human exploration of
space,” said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. “I am pleased that Administrator
Bridenstine has heeded my calls and is taking significant steps to ensure that
Johnson continues to grow with the exciting future of manned exploration that
lies ahead. More needs to be done, and I look forward to production ramping up
in the weeks and months to come and to more opportunities with NASA.”
OPOC is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that includes a
commitment to order a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 Orion spacecraft, with
an ordering period through Sept. 30, 2030. Production and operations of the
spacecraft for six to 12 missions will establish a core set of capabilities,
stabilize the production process, and demonstrate reusability of spacecraft
components.
“This contract secures Orion production through the next decade, demonstrating
NASA’s commitment to establishing a sustainable presence at the Moon to bring
back new knowledge and prepare for sending astronauts to Mars,” said NASA
Administrator Jim Bridenstine. “Orion is a highly-capable, state-of-the-art
spacecraft, designed specifically for deep space missions with astronauts, and
an integral part of NASA’s infrastructure for Artemis missions and future
exploration of the solar system.”
With this award, NASA is ordering three Orion spacecraft for Artemis
<https://www.nasa.gov/what-is-artemis> missions III through V for $2.7
billion. The agency plans to order three additional Orion capsules in fiscal
year 2022 for Artemis missions VI through VIII, at a total of $1.9 billion.
Ordering the spacecraft in groups of three allows NASA to benefit from
efficiencies that become available in the supply chain over time – efficiencies
that optimize production and lower costs.
Spacecraft reusability – itself a significant cost saver for the agency – will
help NASA build the capabilities for sustainable exploration at the Moon and
beyond. The long-term plan is to reuse the recovered crew modules at least
once. The first phase of reusability will start with Artemis II. Interior
components of the spacecraft, such as flight computers and other high value
electronics, as well as crew seats and switch panels, will be re-flown on
Artemis V. The Artemis III crew module will be re-flown on Artemis VI.
The first six spacecraft will be acquired by cost-plus-incentive-fee ordering.
Because the cost of a complex, high-tech system generally decreases over time
as the design stabilizes and production processes mature, NASA will negotiate
firm-fixed-price orders for future missions to take advantage of the
anticipated spacecraft production cost decreases. Furthermore, the cost
incentives on the cost-plus-incentive-fee orders are designed to motivate
favorable cost performance during early OPOC production and drive substantially
lower prices for any subsequent firm-fixed-price orders issued under this
contract.
“As the only vehicle capable of deep space exploration, the Orion spacecraft is
critical to America’s continued leadership,” said Rep. Brian Babin of Texas.
“Today’s announcement signals that we are moving closer towards operation and
production. While I look forward to learning more of the details, it’s
encouraging to see that this program is moving along as it should be. I am
proud of the Orion program team and contractor partners at Johnson Space Center
as they move towards getting the vehicle ‘flight ready.’ Without the brilliant
minds and extraordinary leadership of the hard-working men and women at
Johnson, our country would not be the preeminent spacefaring nation in the
world.”
Work under this contract also will support production of NASA’s lunar-orbiting
Gateway <https://www.nasa.gov/topics/moon-to-mars/lunar-gateway> and evolving
mission requirements. Production of certain spacecraft components already
designed and qualified for Orion will be provided for Gateway use, eliminating
the need for the Gateway Program to develop and qualify similar components.
“The men and women at Johnson Space Center represent the best and brightest
scientific minds, and I’m confident with additional Orion spacecraft they will
push the limits of exploration to the Moon and beyond,” said Sen. John Cornyn
of Texas. “I commend the Trump Administration for recognizing the importance
and tradition of Houston as the center of human spaceflight and exploring the
next frontier.”
Houston has long been the hub of America’s human space exploration program,
from the early days of Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo to Artemis. With NASA’s
accelerated return to the Moon, Johnson Space Center now is managing more major
human spaceflight programs than ever before. In addition to the Orion program,
the Texas facility also manages NASA’s Gateway and International Space Station
programs, and is home to the Mission Control Center and America’s astronaut
corps – the next moonwalkers. Johnson also manages the agency’s Commercial
Lunar Payload Services
<https://www.nasa.gov/content/commercial-lunar-payload-services> , the first
two deliveries for which are targeted to launch to the Moon in July 2021.
“No other spacecraft in the world can keep humans alive hundreds of thousands
of miles from Earth for weeks at a time with the safety features, crew
accommodations, technical innovations, and reliability that Orion provides,”
said Mark Kirasich, Orion Program manager at Johnson. “With the design and
development phase of Orion largely behind us, this new contract will enable us
to increase efficiencies, reuse the spacecraft, and bring down the cost of
reliably transporting people between earth and the Gateway.”
NASA is working to land the first woman and next man on the Moon in five years
as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Orion, the Space Launch System rocket
and Gateway are part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration. Work is
well underway on both the Artemis I and II Orion spacecraft. Engineers at
Kennedy Space Center in Florida have completed and attached the crew and
service modules
<https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/vice-president-unveils-nasa-spacecraft-for-artemis-1-lunar-mission-on-moon-landing/>
for Artemis I and are preparing the spacecraft for environmental testing.
Meanwhile, teams at Kennedy are integrating thousands of parts into the crew
module for Artemis II in preparation for the first crewed Artemis mission.
The Artemis program is the next step in human space exploration. It’s part of
NASA’s broader Moon to Mars <http://www.nasa.gov/moontomars> exploration
approach, in which we will quickly and sustainably explore the Moon and use
what we learn there to enable humanity’s next giant leap, sending astronauts to
Mars.
For more information about Orion, visit:
<https://www.nasa.gov/orion> https://www.nasa.gov/orion
-end-
Press Contacts
Kathryn Hambleton
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
kathryn.hambleton@xxxxxxxx <mailto:kathryn.hambleton@xxxxxxxx>
Rachel Kraft
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
rachel.h.kraft@xxxxxxxx <mailto:rachel.h.kraft@xxxxxxxx>
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