*Source: DTN News / Lockheed Martin
(NSI News Source Info) HOUSTON, USA - September 3, 2009: With a unanimous vote by NASA’s Constellation and Orion Project managers, the Lockheed Martin-led industry team building the Orion crew exploration vehicle successfully passed a significant milestone in the new spacecraft’s development phase – the preliminary design review (PDR). 
The Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) program will provide a state-of-the-art human space flight system capable of safely transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low earth orbit (LEO).
Human exploration requires going beyond Low Earth Orbit. It requires a destination beyond our own making, such as the Moon, asteroids or Mars. Exploration is discovering the unexpected, exploring the unknown and expanding the range of human endeavors. The Orion spacecraft provides the ability to stay in space for 210 days and to re-enter at the velocities typical of lunar or asteroid missions. Orion is a highly mass efficient, safe spacecraft configured for trans-LEO missions and also capable of transporting humans to the ISS. In addition to human exploration missions, Orion can do the LEO human missions envisioned by the commercial community and other LEO missions as well. Learn more about Multiple Mission Capabilites.
Utilizing a safe, affordable, staged approach to accomplishing these missions, the Lockheed Martin Orion Team is focused on providing NASA the capability to return to the Moon by the middle of the next decade with a low risk, high confidence program plan.
Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to build Orion on Aug. 31, 2006. Lockheed Martin Orion Project partners include Aerojet, ATK, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation and United Space Alliance.
Successful completion of the PDR stage allows the team to enter Orion’s critical design review (CDR) phase, a vital milestone that must be met before hardware manufacturing begins. During the review process, detailed components and subsystems of the vehicle design are assessed to ensure the overall system will meet all NASA requirements for safe and reliable flight.
“We were very pleased with the positive feedback we received from NASA leadership, particularly in regards to the tremendous progress we have made in crew and vehicle safety enhancements and our manufacturing preparedness,” said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. “As we move from PDR to CDR, we will continue to enhance the vehicle’s safety and life support system designs to ensure we move forward to build the safest and most reliable spacecraft possible.”
Other significant milestones the Orion program achieved this year included renovation and certification of the Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Orion ground test article fabrication at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, final delivery of the launch abort system’s abort and jettison motors, and a series of component and subsystem tests at facilities across the country.
The next major milestone will be the inaugural flight test for Orion’s launch abort system, called Pad Abort 1, which will take place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico early next year. Several flight tests are scheduled over the next few years, leading up to Orion’s first crewed flight to the International Space Station in 2015. As the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion Project, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] is responsible for designing and building this state-of-the-art spacecraft that will have more flexible space exploration capability than any previous human space flight vehicle. The Orion spacecraft will be the flagship of the Constellation Program’s plan to return humans to the moon and prepare for future voyages to other destinations in our solar system.
Lockheed Martin Orion PDR - 2The Lockheed Martin Orion Project office is based in Houston, Texas, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The team includes major subcontractors Aerojet, Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation and United Space Alliance; and a network of 60 minor subcontractors and small businesses in 22 states across the country.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
The Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) program will provide a state-of-the-art human space flight system capable of safely transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low earth orbit (LEO).
Human exploration requires going beyond Low Earth Orbit. It requires a destination beyond our own making, such as the Moon, asteroids or Mars. Exploration is discovering the unexpected, exploring the unknown and expanding the range of human endeavors. The Orion spacecraft provides the ability to stay in space for 210 days and to re-enter at the velocities typical of lunar or asteroid missions. Orion is a highly mass efficient, safe spacecraft configured for trans-LEO missions and also capable of transporting humans to the ISS. In addition to human exploration missions, Orion can do the LEO human missions envisioned by the commercial community and other LEO missions as well. Learn more about Multiple Mission Capabilites.
Utilizing a safe, affordable, staged approach to accomplishing these missions, the Lockheed Martin Orion Team is focused on providing NASA the capability to return to the Moon by the middle of the next decade with a low risk, high confidence program plan.
Lockheed Martin was awarded the contract to build Orion on Aug. 31, 2006. Lockheed Martin Orion Project partners include Aerojet, ATK, Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation and United Space Alliance.
Successful completion of the PDR stage allows the team to enter Orion’s critical design review (CDR) phase, a vital milestone that must be met before hardware manufacturing begins. During the review process, detailed components and subsystems of the vehicle design are assessed to ensure the overall system will meet all NASA requirements for safe and reliable flight.
“We were very pleased with the positive feedback we received from NASA leadership, particularly in regards to the tremendous progress we have made in crew and vehicle safety enhancements and our manufacturing preparedness,” said Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin vice president and Orion program manager. “As we move from PDR to CDR, we will continue to enhance the vehicle’s safety and life support system designs to ensure we move forward to build the safest and most reliable spacecraft possible.”
Other significant milestones the Orion program achieved this year included renovation and certification of the Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Orion ground test article fabrication at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, final delivery of the launch abort system’s abort and jettison motors, and a series of component and subsystem tests at facilities across the country.
The next major milestone will be the inaugural flight test for Orion’s launch abort system, called Pad Abort 1, which will take place at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico early next year. Several flight tests are scheduled over the next few years, leading up to Orion’s first crewed flight to the International Space Station in 2015. As the prime contractor to NASA for the Orion Project, Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] is responsible for designing and building this state-of-the-art spacecraft that will have more flexible space exploration capability than any previous human space flight vehicle. The Orion spacecraft will be the flagship of the Constellation Program’s plan to return humans to the moon and prepare for future voyages to other destinations in our solar system.
Lockheed Martin Orion PDR - 2The Lockheed Martin Orion Project office is based in Houston, Texas, near NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The team includes major subcontractors Aerojet, Alliant Techsystems (ATK), Hamilton Sundstrand, Honeywell, Orbital Sciences Corporation and United Space Alliance; and a network of 60 minor subcontractors and small businesses in 22 states across the country.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
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