16, 2022, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft launches on the Artemis 1 flight test, Wednesday, Nov. ![]() Related: Artemis 1 moon rocket, NASA's most powerful ever, aced its debut launch While this shortened the lull between missions, it also ended up putting a magnifying glass over the decision to reuse some of Orion's avionics. In turn, the first three flights of SLS were changed to fly in the Block 1 configuration. This move abandoned plans to upgrade the existing MLP, leaving it capable of only launching the SLS Block 1. Comparatively, NASA's estimated timeline to remove, refurbish and reinstall Orion's avionics hardware was not expected to affect the launch schedule.īy 2018, however, NASA funding appropriations from Congress and agency attempts to quicken SLS' launch cadence led to the decision to construct a second MLP to support the rocket's larger configurations. The three-year gap between EM-1 and EM-2 was meant to allow time for upgrades to the SLS mobile launch platform (MLP) to support the taller SLS Block 1B. Avionics and electrical systems provide the 'nervous system' of launch vehicles and spacecraft, linking diverse systems into a functioning whole."Īrtemis 2, or Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2), as it was called at the time, was originally slated to fly on an SLS Block 1B rocket, a larger upgraded version of the SLS used for Artemis 1, which replaces the vehicle's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) with the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage (EUS). ![]() ![]() A 2017 NASA blog post mentions recycling Orion's hardware, stating, "NASA is reusing avionics boxes from the Orion EM-1 crew module for the next flight. NASA's decision to reuse some of Orion's flight hardware was made at a time when Artemis 1 was still known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), and the schedule for SLS placed a full three years between the first two launches.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |