Mary-Louise Hoffman
NASA has finished a critical design review of a heavy-lift rocket designed to carry the Orion crew capsule to deep space destinations such as Mars.
The assessment was for Space Launch System Block 1 configuration and marked the first time that NASA has completed a rocket CDR since it launched the Saturn V mission almost four decades ago, the agency said Thursday.
A team of agency and aerospace industry professionals evaluated over 1,000 files and 150 gigabytes of data from the SLS program at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama for 11 weeks.
“There have been challenges, and there will be more ahead, but this review gives us confidence that we are on the right track for the first flight of SLS and using it to extend permanent human presence into deep space,” said Bill Hill, deputy associate administrator at NASA’s exploration systems development division.
The agency has worked with Lockheed Martin to build the Orion spacecraft and collaborated with Boeing to develop SLS’ core and upper stage and avionics systems.
Orbital ATK will supply the solid rocket boosters for the launch vehicle and Aerojet Rocketdyne will provide its RS-25 and RL-10 engine technologies to the program.
Aerojet Rocketdyne said Thursday the companies’ technology development efforts will be key to NASA’s planned 2018 Orion Exploration Mission-1.
NASA will conduct the EM-1 uncrewed test to assess if SLS and Orion platforms are safe enough for eventual human space flight.
