#Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building

[lonestarflight]

"Technicians with Lockheed Martin prepare the Artemis II Orion spacecraft for the installation of three spacecraft adapter jettison fairings inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday. The fairings encapsulate the service module and protect the solar array wings, shielding them from the heat, wind, and acoustics of launch and ascent, plus help redistribute the load between Orion and the massive thrust of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket during liftoff and ascent. Once the spacecraft is above the atmosphere, the three fairing panels will separate from the service module reducing the mass of the spacecraft. "

Photo Credit: NASA/Allison Tankersley

Date: March 11, 2025

NASA ID: KSC-20250310-PH-APT01_0002

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA progresses toward crewed moon mission with spacecraft and rocket milestones

Engineers, technicians, mission planners, and the four astronauts set to fly around the moon next year on Artemis II, NASA's first crewed Artemis mission, are rapidly progressing toward launch.

At the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, teams are working around the clock to move into integration and final testing of all SLS (Space Launch System) and Orion spacecraft elements. Recently they completed two key milestones—connecting the SLS upper stage with the rest of the assembled rocket and moving Orion from its assembly facility to be fueled for flight.

"We're extremely focused on preparing for Artemis II, and the mission is nearly here," said Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator for NASA's moon to Mars Program, who also will chair the mission management team during Artemis II. "This crewed test flight, which will send four humans around the moon, will inform our future missions to the moon and Mars."

On May 1, technicians successfully attached the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS rocket elements already poised atop mobile launcher 1, including its twin solid rocket boosters and core stage, inside the spaceport's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This portion of the rocket produces 24,750 pounds of thrust for Orion after the rest of the rocket has completed its job.

Teams soon will move into a series of integrated tests to ensure all the rocket's elements are communicating with each other and the Launch Control Center as expected. The tests include verifying interfaces and ensuring SLS systems work properly with the ground systems.

Meanwhile, on May 3, Orion left its metaphorical nest, the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout Facility at Kennedy, where it was assembled and underwent initial testing. There the crew module was outfitted with thousands of parts including critical life support systems for flight and integrated with the service module and crew module adapter.

After fueling is complete, the four astronauts flying on the mission around the moon and back over the course of approximately 10 days, will board the spacecraft in their Orion Crew Survival System spacesuits to test all the equipment interfaces they will need to operate during the mission. This will mark the first time NASA's Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, will board their actual spacecraft while wearing their spacesuits.

After the crewed testing is complete, technicians will move Orion to Kennedy's Launch Abort System Facility, where the critical escape system will be added. From there, Orion will move to the VAB to be integrated with the fully assembled rocket.

NASA also announced its second agreement with an international space agency to fly a CubeSat on the mission. The collaborations provide opportunities for other countries to work alongside NASA to integrate and fly technology and experiments as part of the agency's Artemis campaign.

While engineers at Kennedy integrate and test hardware with their eyes on final preparations for the mission, teams responsible for launching and flying the mission have been busy preparing for a variety of scenarios they could face.

The launch team at Kennedy has completed more than 30 simulations across cryogenic propellant loading and terminal countdown scenarios. The crew has been taking part in simulations for mission scenarios, including with teams in mission control. In April, the crew and the flight control team at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston simulated liftoff through a planned manual piloting test together for the first time. The crew also recently conducted long-duration fit checks for their spacesuits and seats, practicing several operations while under various suit pressures.

Teams are heading into a busy summer of mission preparations. While hardware checkouts and integration continue, in coming months the crew, flight controllers, and launch controllers will begin practicing their roles in the mission together as part of integrated simulations. In May, the crew will begin participating pre-launch operations and training for emergency scenarios during launch operations at Kennedy and observe a simulation by the launch control team of the terminal countdown portion of launch.

In June, recovery teams will rehearse procedures they would use in the case of a pad or ascent abort off the coast of Florida, with launch and flight control teams supporting. The mission management team, responsible for reviewing mission status and risk assessments for issues that arise and making decisions about them, also will begin practicing their roles in simulations. Later this summer, the Orion stage adapter will arrive at the VAB from NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and stacked on top of the rocket.

Through Artemis, NASA will send astronauts to explore the moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars.

TOP IMAGE: Technicians move the Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II test flight out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building to the Multi-Payload Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Credit: NASA / Kim Shiflett

LOWER IMAGE: Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program begin integrating the interim cryogenic propulsion stage to the SLS (Space Launch System) launch vehicle stage adapter on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA / Isaac Watson

[cavenewstimestoday]

NASA’s Artemis II Orion Service Module Buttoned Up for Launch

Allison Tankersley Public Affairs Specialist Mar 21, 2025 Technicians with NASA and Lockheed Martin fitted three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels onto the service module of the agency’s Orion’s spacecraft. The operation completed on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The European-built…

[monterplant]

NASA’s Artemis II Orion Service Module Buttoned Up for Launch

Technicians with NASA and Lockheed Martin fitted three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels onto the service module of the agency’s Orion’s spacecraft. The operation completed on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The European-built service module is the powerhouse that will […] Continue reading…

[spacenutspod]

Technicians with NASA and Lockheed Martin fitted three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels onto the service module of the agency’s Orion’s spacecraft. The operation completed on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The European-built service module is the powerhouse that will propel the spacecraft to the Moon. Its four solar array wings which were installed to its exterior in early March. The latest addition of fairing panels on Orion’s service module will protect the solar array wings, shielding them from the heat, wind, and acoustics of launch and ascent, and also help redistribute the load between Orion and the massive thrust of the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket during liftoff and ascent. Once the spacecraft is above the atmosphere, the three fairing panels will separate from the service module, allowing the wings to unfurl. In addition to power, the service module will provide propulsion and life support including thermal control, air, and water for the Artemis II test flight, NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign that will send NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon.   Through the Artemis campaign, NASA will send astronauts to explore the Moon for scientific discovery, economic benefits, and to build the foundation for the first crewed missions to Mars – for the benefit of all.  Image credit: NASA/Glenn Benson

[michaelgabrill]

NASAs Artemis II Orion Service Module Buttoned Up for Launch

Technicians with NASA and Lockheed Martin fitted three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels onto the service module of the agency’s Orion’s spacecraft. The operation completed on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The European-built service module is the powerhouse that will […] from NASA https://ift.tt/7A0lkYw

[blogwelberfotos-blog]

Membros da tripulação da Artemis II, mostrados dentro do Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building no Kennedy Space Center da NASA na Flórida, estão em frente ao módulo da tripulação Orion em 8 de agosto de 2023. Da esquerda para a direita estão: Jeremy Hansen, especialista da missão; Victor Glover, piloto; Reid Wiseman, comandante; e Christina Hammock Koch, especialista da missão. Crédito: NASA

[anumberofhobbies]

KSC-20240427-PH-ALS01_0004 by NASA Kennedy Via Flickr: The Orion spacecraft crew for NASA’s Artemis II mission is photographed being transferred across the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, April 27, 2024 following a series of electromagnetic compatibility and interference testing. Photo credit: NASA/Amanda Stevenson NASA image use policy.

[kaelula-sungwis]

KSC-20230808-PH-KLS02_0047 by NASA Kennedy Via Flickr: Artemis II mission specialist Christina Hammock Koch poses inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 8, 2023. The Artemis II Orion crew module is undergoing acoustic testing ahead of integration with the European Service Module. Artemis II is the first crewed mission on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term lunar presence for science and exploration under Artemis. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett NASA image use policy.

[rodspurethoughts]

Join NASA Administrator, Artemis II Moon Crew for Mission Update

Technicians work on the Orion crew module for NASA’s Artemis II mission inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.Credits: NASA NASA will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to provide Artemis II mission preparations and crew training updates. Artemis II will…

[nasaorion]

Orion’s top images of 2020

The Orion program showed its resilience this year during an unprecedented time, racking up several success stories building and testing the spacecraft in preparation for upcoming Artemis missions to the Moon. From hot fire and structural testing, to crew and service module assembly activities, progress on Orion brought the agency closer to sending the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, and sustainable lunar exploration by 2028.

Ensuring crew safety, a hot fire test was conducted on the Northrop Grumman-built attitude control motor – which provides steering for Orion’s  launch abort system in the event of an emergency during ascent – at the company’s facility in Elkton, Maryland. The 30-second hot fire was the third and final test to qualify the motor for human missions, beginning with Artemis II.

During a three-month testing campaign at NASA’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, the Orion spacecraft was subjected to the extreme temperatures and electromagnetic environment it will experience on Artemis I – Orion’s first uncrewed test flight to the Moon atop the agency’s  Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Testing wrapped up early and the vehicle was readied for its journey back to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard the agency’s one-of-a-kind Super Guppy.

Before NASA astronauts fly Orion on missions to the Moon and back, testing is necessary to verify the spacecraft’s ability to withstand the stresses of launch, climb to orbit, the harsh conditions of deep space transit, and return to Earth. Engineers from NASA and its prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, completed testing on Orion’s Structural Test Article (STA) for Artemis I. The STA is structurally identical to Orion’s main spacecraft elements: the crew module, service module and launch abort system.

The first element machined for the Artemis III Orion crew module – a cone panel with openings for windows, which will provide a spectacular view – was designed by Lockheed Martin, and manufactured by AMRO Fabricating Corp., of South El Monte, California. The completed panel made its way to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans, where engineers will weld it with other elements as part of Orion’s pressure vessel.

Orion’s European Service Module primary structure for the Artemis III mission arrived at the Airbus facility in Bremen, Germany, from its Thales Alenia Space manufacturing site in Turin, Italy. The service module will be equipped with components to power Orion and provide life support to astronauts – such as air, water, heat and cooling -- during the mission that will land the first woman and next man on the Moon.

Three spacecraft adapter jettison fairing panels were fitted onto Orion’s service module inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy. Once secured, the panels encapsulate the service module to protect it from harsh environments such as heat, wind, and acoustics as the spacecraft is propelled out of Earth’s atmosphere atop the SLS rocket during NASA’s Artemis I mission.

[lonestarflight]

"Teams lifted NASA’s Orion spacecraft for the Artemis II test flight out of the Final Assembly and System Testing cell and moved it to the altitude chamber to complete further testing on Nov. 6 inside the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Engineers returned the spacecraft to the altitude chamber, which simulates deep space vacuum conditions, to complete the remaining test requirements and provide additional data to augment data gained during testing earlier this summer.

The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back."

Image credit: Lockheed Martin/David Wellendorf

Date: November 7, 2024

NASA ID: link, SC-20241107-PH-DNW01_0001

[spaceexp]

NASA begins installing orion adapter for first Aartemis lunar flight

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Aug 14, 2020 Technicians at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are working to install an adapter that will connect the Orion spacecraft to its rocket for the Artemis I mission around the Moon. This is one of the final major hardware operations for Orion inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building prior to integration with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The spacecraft adapter c Full article

[cetaceous]

The Orion Spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis I Mission Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building High Bay Kennedy Space Center, Florida image credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky

[womenruntheworld]

Judy Sullivan was a math and science teacher who joined NASA in 1966 as the first woman engineer in Spacecraft Operations, working closely with the astronauts. She was lead engineer for the biomedical system for the Apollo 11 mission and the first woman engineer hired by NASA to support spacecraft testing. As preparations were underway for Apollo 11 in mid-1969, the 26-year-old Sullivan was one of only 100 women, including 16 engineers, serving in top positions at the Florida spaceport.

“Men were careful not to use questionable language over the loop when they knew a woman was listening,” Sullivan recalled. “People asked me what it was like to work with all those men, but my college experience had prepared me. Few women were registered in math and science classes.”

Sullivan was in the suit lab as Neil Armstrong dressed for his historic launch. During the countdown, she monitored the data returned by the astronauts’ biomedical sensors from the control room and communicated with the pad regarding crew readiness. She was the only woman in the room.

Shortly after the launch of Apollo 11, Sullivan represented NASA on the television game show, “To Tell the Truth.” A panel of celebrities tried to choose the “real” biomedical space engineer by asking job-related questions of a group of three women, all claiming to work for NASA. “Miniskirts were in fashion so they shortened my hemline, and I wore ruffles. They were totally fooled,” Sullivan recalled. “I won $500 and had a great time seeing New York City.”

In this image, Judy Sullivan monitors a console in the Kennedy Space Center's Manned Spacecraft Operations Building (now the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building) during a training exercise for the first lunar landing mission. When astronauts were training for Apollo missions, they were fitted with small sensors that would provide crucial data about respiration, body temperature and heartbeats. As was the case in Projects Mercury and Gemini, the sensors kept flight surgeons informed on the health of the astronauts during the trips into space. Sullivan would monitor the equipment and ensure the information was provided to the proper sources.

[spacenutspod]

The Orion spacecraft for NASA’s Artemis II mission received its latest makeover. Teams adhered the agency’s iconic “worm” logo and ESA (European Space Agency) insignia on the spacecraft’s crew module adapter on Sunday, Jan. 28, inside the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.