Mary-Louise Hoffman
A team of NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers has conducted proof evaluations on a pressure vessel for the Orion Exploration Mission-1 crew module at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The tests aimed to validate if Orion’s underlying structure can withstand loads and forces that spacecraft normally experiences during launch and landing, NASA said Wednesday.
Orion program technicians attached strain gauges to the crew module and put it inside a proof-pressure cell located in the high bay of the KSC’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building for the assessment.
“The successful completion of this test represents another major step forward in our march toward completing the EM-1 spacecraft, and ultimately, our crewed missions to deep space,” noted Scott Wilson, manager of production operations for NASA’s Orion program.
Lockheed said Wednesday the Orion team will also assess the spacecraft’s weld points with phased-array technology in order to ensure that the vehicle has no defects.
After that, engineers will integrate secondary structures like tubes, tanks and thrusters onto the crew module and then install propulsion and environmental control and life support systems, the company noted.
NASA plans to launch Orion aboard the Boeing-built Space Launch System in 2018.
