NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida accomplished many milestones in 2013 as it continued to transition from a historically government-only launch facility to an affordable, sustainable, multiuser spaceport for both government and commercial customers.
"It’s been an exciting and productive year here at Kennedy," said Director Bob Cabana. "We have made tremendous progress in 2013. As challenging and exciting as this year has been, next year will be even more so as we continue to implement the plan we’ve charted for our future."
Launch Services Program
The Launch Services Program (LSP), managed at Kennedy, began 2013 with the successful launch of NASA’s TDRS-K satellite Jan. 30 aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida.
LSP followed up with another launch, less than a month later, when NASA’s Landsat Data Continuity Mission roared into space Feb. 11 aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
A second LSP launch from the west coast occurred on June 27, when NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph spacecraft was placed in orbit by the Pegasus XL rocket.
On Nov. 18, a ULA Atlas V lifted off from CCAFS and sent the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft on its way to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere. Scientists expect data gathered during the MAVEN mission will help explain how Mars' climate has changed over time due to the loss of atmospheric gases.
MAVEN will enter a Mars orbit in July 2014 to begin its one-year research mission.
The program also successfully launched 16 CubeSats as secondary payloads on rocket launches.
Ground Systems Development and Operations Program
The Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Program continued to upgrade or modify several facilities and ground support equipment to be ready to support the processing and launch of NASA’s Exploration Flight Test 1 in 2014 and the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft in 2017.
At Launch Pad 39B, construction crews have removed the space shuttle-era flame deflector and Apollo-era brick walls from the flame trench that sits below and between the crawler tracks to make way for a new flame deflector and brick walls. On the surface of the pad, a new elevator has been constructed. All of the crawler track panels were removed so that the concrete surface below and the catacomb roof can be inspected and repaired. New crawler track panels will be installed in 2014.
Upgrades, including new roller shaft bearings, were installed on crawler-transporter 2 so it can support the added weight of the mobile launcher and SLS on its journey to Pad 39B. Crawler-transporter 1 (CT-1) received new jacking, equalizing and leveling, or JEL, hydraulic cylinders and was taken for a test ride to Launch Pad 39A to undergo a leveling and turning test. CT-1 continues to be modernized so that it is available to carry a variety of launch vehicles to the pad.
The crawlerway leading to pads A and B was upgraded to improve the foundation and prepare it to support the weight of the SLS and mobile launcher on the crawler-transporter during rollout. Workers removed the original Alabama river rock and restored the layer of lime rock below to its original depth of three feet. New river rock was added on top.
The Multi-Payload Processing Facility is undergoing extensive upgrades and modernizations to support processing of Orion spacecraft. The building, originally constructed in 1995, primarily will be used for Orion hypergolic fueling, ammonia servicing and high-pressure gas servicing and checkout. Upgrades include installing new pneumatics systems, hypergolic systems and a ground cooling system.
With crewed launches on the SLS and Orion spacecraft approaching, GSDO led the effort to select an emergency egress vehicle that future astronauts could use to quickly leave the Launch Complex 39 area in case of an emergency. The first of four refurbished Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected (MRAP) vehicles was shipped from the U.S. Army Red River Depot in Texarkana, Texas, and arrived at the center Dec. 5. They will be modified to meet NASA’s emergency egress requirements.
Commercial Crew Program
Aerospace companies working closely with NASA closed out 2013 with a string of milestone achievements that the industry intends to build on in 2014 as America continues to develop a privately funded alternative to launch astronauts to destinations in low-Earth orbit. Blue Origin of Kent, Wash.; The Boeing Company of Houston; Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) of Louisville, Colo.; and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., are NASA's commercial partners working to develop a new generation of U.S. spacecraft and rocket combinations capable of transporting humans to low-Earth orbit from American soil. NASA intends to use new commercial systems to fly U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station in 2017.
In February, Blue Origin signed an unfunded agreement with NASA to extend its Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) partnership. In November, the company conducted a test of its BE-3 rocket engine on a stand at the company’s West Texas facility. The engine fired for 2 1/2 minutes, then paused for several minutes before re-igniting for a minute in a pattern that simulated a suborbital mission.
In March, SNC put its Dream Chaser spacecraft through a ground resonance test at the company’s facilities in Louisville, Colo. In July and August, the company performed low- and high-speed ground tow tests of the Dream Chaser at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) in Edwards, Calif. The first free-flight test of the Dream Chaser occurred in October over DFRC and Edwards Air Force Base. Data collected will help to characterize its aerodynamic and flight handling capabilities.
In April, Boeing successfully completed a preliminary design review of the component that would connect the company’s crew capsule to the ULA Atlas V rocket. In July, two NASA astronauts conducted pressurized flight suit evaluations inside a fully outfitted test version of the company’s CST-100 spacecraft. It was the first time the world got a glimpse of the crew capsule’s interior. In August, Boeing conducted an interface test between Johnson Space Center’s Mission Control Center and the CST-100 spacecraft, and in September, it moved one step closer to liftoff after a gauntlet of test firings of its steering jets at NASA’s White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M.
In August, the Commercial Crew Program prepared to enter its final phase of NASA certification efforts. At Kennedy, agency officials met with company representatives who are interested in competing for a contract during the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability phase.
NASA issued a request for Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract proposals in December and answered questions from potential industrial bidders.
As the agency moved ahead with its plans and defined its needs for the next generation of American spacecraft, the companies continued their detailed development and testing regimens along with careful reviews.
Orion
Using hydraulic actuators, the Orion crew module underwent a static loads test, which simulated the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission, in the Operations and Checkout Building in April.
During the year, the main components of the Launch Abort System, or LAS, were delivered to Kennedy and are being processed in the Launch Abort System Facility. In May, the launch abort motor was connected to the attitude control motor. The LAS is designed to safely pull the Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the initial ascent of the SLS rocket.
In June, a series of tests on the explosive bolts that separate Orion from the launch abort system were performed on the ground test vehicle in the Launch Equipment Test Facility. Data was collected on the effect of the shock waves during the explosive bolt separation.
In August, a stationary recovery test was performed on the Orion boilerplate test article and support equipment aboard a U.S. Navy ship at the Naval Station Norfolk near NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia. The stationary recovery test allowed the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in a controlled environment before conducting a second recovery test next year in open waters.
In October, the Orion crew module was powered on for the first time. The spacecraft's avionics system was installed and powered up for a series of systems tests that marked a major milestone in the final year of preparations for flight.
In December, the heat shield for the Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy aboard the Super Guppy aircraft and was transported to the Operations and Checkout Building for processing. The largest of its kind ever built, the heat shield is planned for installation on the Orion crew module in March 2014. Also in December, one of three main parachutes for Orion arrived at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility and was transported to the Operations and Checkout Building high bay for processing.
Center Planning and Development
The Center Planning and Development Directorate facilitated agreements with several companies for the use of some of Kennedy’s legacy facilities.
A new partnership agreement with United Paradyne Corp. of Santa Maria, Calif., will allow the company to use the shuttle-era Hypergolic Maintenance Facility. A new partnership agreement with PaR Systems Inc. of Shoreview, Minn., will give the company use of the Hangar N facility and its unique nondestructive equipment. An agreement with Micro Aerospace Solutions of Melbourne, Fla., will allow the use of an offline hardware processing “clean room” laboratory and office space in the center’s Space Station Processing Facility.
International Space Station and Payload Processing
NASA’s Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science (OPALS), an optical technology demonstration experiment for the space station, arrived at the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) July 11 from the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
The nearly 600-pound experiment is being prepared for delivery to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Dragon commercial resupply capsule on the company’s Falcon 9 rocket early next year.
Kennedy supported the space station by integrating two Orbital Replacement Units and successfully demonstrating the high-pressure Nitrogen Oxygen Recharge System capability, which will be ready for flight fill operations in 2014. Also, workers outfitted more than 10 science labs that supported the SpaceX-2 mission.
Technology
A meteorological airship containing a “Cloud Lab” flew over Kennedy in September, carrying components of NASA’s Microorganisms in the Stratosphere (MIST) experiment. The microbes for MIST were developed by NASA scientists at the Space Life Sciences Laboratory near the center.
In December, NASA’s Project Morpheus prototype lander underwent two free-flight tests at the north end of Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility, near the autonomous landing and hazard avoidance technology (ALHAT) field. The field contains rocks, craters and other hazards. Project Morpheus tests ALHAT and an engine that runs on liquid oxygen and methane, or green propellants, into a fully operational lander that could deliver cargo to other planetary surfaces.
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