Constellation: Off the Drawing Board and Into Facilities
While United Space Alliance employees at Kennedy Space Center continue to focus primarily on the safe and successful launch of Space Shuttles, more and more of these employees are applying their skills to Constellation as the components for NASA’s next exploration program continue to move off the drawing board and into the facilities.
From Launch Pad 39-B to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to the Parachute Refurbishment Facility, almost every USA-operated facility at Kennedy Space Center is now home to Constellation work. And that workload is growing as the program heads into 2009.
More than 4,000 USA employees across the company are already performing some level of Constellation-related work, either under USA’s existing Space Program Operations Contract (SPOC) or under new contracts. Of those, about 3,000 work at KSC and include those working full time on Constellation projects as well as those who have worked or are working part time.
USA is also in the process of pursuing a variety of Constellation contracts, including the Ground Processing Services (GPS) Contract at KSC.
“With its unique space operations experience, the USA team is highly qualified to contribute to NASA’s next phase of space exploration. Through innovative management processes, we are sharing resources across our multi-skilled workforce to put our knowledge and experience to work on many aspects of the Constellation Program,” said Mark Nappi, USA’s Florida Site Executive and Vice President of Launch and Recovery Systems.
The first major KSC operational milestone on the Constellation manifest is the Ares I-X test flight scheduled for the summer of 2009. USA will process and stack all the components for that test flight, including the first stage rocket, the upper stage simulator, the crew module simulator and the launch abort system simulator.
That processing and integration will take place in the VAB, where an Ares I-X ops desk has been set up in High Bay 4. In early November, USA personnel received the first I-X hardware at the VAB, with the delivery of the upper stage simulator. These 11 upper stage segments – or “tuna cans” as they are known – were designed and built at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. They will be assembled in High Bay 4 and then lifted up and over to High Bay 3 for stacking on a Mobile Launch Platform next year.
USA has designed and fabricated two pieces of equipment for use during VAB Ares I-X operations – a lifting adapter beam, which will allow for the leveling of the upper stage segments before stacking, and the “birdcage,” a lifting device that will be used to pick up and transfer the launch abort simulator and the crew module simulator from High Bay 4 to High Bay 3. Both of these pieces of equipment were built by employees in the Launch Equipment Shop at KSC.
“As we ramp up for Ares I-X processing, there are many examples of how NASA is reaping the benefits of lessons learned over the years from Space Shuttle processing,” said Mike Chappell, the Ares I-X Flow Manager for USA. “The experience and capabilities of our USA team come into play on a daily basis as we move through the Ares I-X flow.”
USA has already begun modifications to High Bay 3 to accommodate the much taller (327 feet vs. 184 feet for Shuttle) Ares I-X stack. A large Shuttle platform, known as the C platform, has been removed, and new access platforms have been built off site and are ready for installation. Modifications to the environmental control system are also scheduled.
Modifications to Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) No. 1, on which the Ares I-X system will be stacked, are underway. USA has installed Integrated Network Control System racks in one of the MLP compartments and will next conduct testing and checkout of the system.
USA is also managing the modifications of Launch Pad 39B, which is scheduled to be turned over to the Constellation Program in 2009. Ground Support Equipment for the modifications is being manufactured off site and will be installed when the pad officially transitions to Constellation.
In other facilities around the center, additional work is well underway to support the Ares I-X launch.
At the Assembly Refurbishment Facility where USA processes the Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster aft, forward and nose components, processing of the Ares I-X aft skirt, which is part of the first stage rocket, began about a year ago. Qualification testing of the avionics boxes and heritage pyrotechnic hardware that will be used for Ares is also in work.
As ATK’s subcontractor for the Ares I First Stage, USA’s work scope includes engineering and analysis support to ensure that Space Shuttle SRB hardware meets the new Ares first stage requirements, modification and fabrication of heritage hardware and subsystems for the first stage and procurement of several avionics and pyrotechnic components. USA will also support the buildup and integration of the new Ares I First Stage forward structures to be provided by ATK by the end of 2008.
In the Parachute Refurbishment Facility where parachutes are made and processed for Shuttle SRBs and Orbiter, an array of red, white and blue Ares I-X parachutes are in various stages of production as part of USA’s work with ATK to develop the Ares I deceleration subsystem. USA has already built prototype parachutes, which have been successfully tested at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona. The three main chutes for the I-X test flight have been fabricated and are being packed for integration. The drogue and pilot chutes (which assist in deploying the mains) are in work.
“As the Ares I First Stage leverages extensively off Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster systems, the USA workforce has good continuity into the future,” said Phil Bryden, Ares I First Stage Project Director for USA.
Meanwhile, workers in the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility are standing by for a December delivery of the Ares I-X flight hardware Roll Control System (RoCS). Using both new and existing ground support equipment, USA will load the propellant into the hardware before delivering it to the VAB for integration. The two RoCS modules will counteract adverse roll torque of the rockets during the first stage of flight.
Hands-on work is also underway in support of USA’s contract with Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for Orion.
At the Thermal Protection System Facility where thermal tiles and soft insulation blankets are built for the Space Shuttle Orbiter, USA workers are supporting the development of the thermal protection and micrometeorite protection systems for the Orion Crew Module backshell (exterior skin). To date, USA employees have manufactured more than 300 tile billets and more than 50 development and test tiles.
In addition to the tile work, USA’s subcontract with Lockheed-Martin includes assembly and integration of the Orion Crew Module, the Service Module and the Spacecraft Adapter. USA is using lessons learned from the Shuttle Program to provide engineering support for design of the vehicles and for the development of flight software.
As part of that work, USA built an Orion Crew Module mockup, which will be used as a training aid and pathfinder to help with streamlining processing operations in the Operations and Checkout Building where Orion will be manufactured and validation of the tooling stations, which are being designed and built by USA.
USA employees have also fabricated Electrical Ground Support Equipment (EGSE) that will be used on the first test flight of Orion, scheduled to launch next spring from the White Sands Missile Range. This project involved employees from throughout Florida operations who worked as an integrated team to build the equipment quickly and efficiently.
“The performance of the integrated EGSE team is exactly the kind of coordinated effort that enables us to win additional new work,” said Anne Martt, USA’s Constellation Program Manager. “The team demonstrated our procurement and manufacturing capabilities, and our Lockheed Martin customer was very pleased with the products and responsiveness.”
Lloyd Gregg, USA’s Associate Program Manager for Orion, added, “USA is experiencing substantial growth on the Orion contract. In FY08 alone, our scope has increased by 70 percent over the original baseline, and we anticipate continued growth in the future.”
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