Over the last several years, NASA has made clear its commitment of transforming Kennedy Space Center (KSC) into a multi-user spaceport. Yet without the capacity to put American astronauts in space, one NASA official admitted recently that the Center would no longer have a true purpose.
Space News reported that KSC director Bob Cabana, during a speech at the National Space Club Florida Committee, conceded that without the successful completion of the Space Launch System (SLS) and the human-rated Orion spaceflight capsule, there would be no clear purpose for Kennedy.
Space News quotes Cabana as stating the following: “If we do not have this capability to fly beyond our planet to explore on a government rocket — something that is way too expensive for a commercial company to do — we don’t need KSC anymore.”
Cabana’s words also serve to dispel the notion that missions to destinations beyond the orbit of the Earth are within the purview of emerging private companies.
Despite the words of warning, NASA’s Space Launch System and accompanying Orion capsule appear to be on schedule. The first Orion spacecraft is poised to launch later this year, with both September and December launch dates announced for the Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) mission. Orion will not ride SLS to orbit however. That duty has been given to one of United Launch Alliance’s massive Delta IV Heavy launch vehicles. SLS is currently scheduled to conduct its first flight in 2017.
An illustration of a Space Launch System booster lifting off from Launch Complex 39B in Florida. Image Credit: NASA
SLS was borne after the Obama administration cancelled NASA’s program of record at the time – Constellation. The Space Launch System is designed to allow the agency to once again send astronauts beyond the orbit of Earth.
The first operational version of the SLS is stated as being able to deploy payloads of 154,000 pounds. At liftoff, the massive rocket will generate an estimated 8.4 million pounds of thrust. The rocket’s power is required to move the 70-metric-ton, 321 foot tall, 5.5 million pound booster and its payloads into orbit. With ten percent more thrust than the Saturn V rocket, the SLS will be able to take capsules farther into space than ever before.
The 130-metric-ton variant is advertised as being able to generate a full twenty percent more thrust than the Saturn V rocket (9.2 million pounds). That version will span a height of 384 feet, weigh 9.5 million pounds, and be able to carry a 286,000 pound payload. NASA’s retired fleet of space shuttles by contrast, could lift a maximum of about 50,000 pounds. Engine testing has, by all accounts, progressed well so far.
NASA plans to launch the first SLS in 2017. Image Credit: NASA / ATK
Meanwhile the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is being prepared to conduct its maiden voyage. Exploration Flight Test-1, scheduled for September of this year, will focus on essential components for crew safety. The capsule is designed to send crews beyond low-Earth orbit (LEO) and to asteroids, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
NASA hopes to have a manned test flight of the combined rocket and spacecraft stack as early as 2017. The space agency is preparing the two-to-six person capsule for its first deep space mission, a proposed rendezvous to capture an asteroid and place it into an elevated lunar orbit (as early as 2021). The future of this mission is currently in doubt as members of the House Appropriations Committee have expressed concerns about the costs and feasibility of the effort.
Already the capsule has completed an integrated systems test in April of this year. The 26-hour trial ensured that Orion could perform all its critical functions before being launched to an altitude of 3,600 miles in September.
Since space shuttle Atlantis’ final mission (STS-135) in July 2011, much of Kennedy Space Center has been left dormant. NASA has since embarked on an effort to partner with aerospace companies in an effort to modernize the center’s aging facilities.
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