The Taylor Star-STEM,Business and Political Science: September 2019

Monday, September 30, 2019

NASA Awards Long-term Contract, Solidifies Artemis Missions

In a 23 September 2019 news release, NASA announced it has awarded a multi-billion dollar contract to Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colorado for the production of several Orion spacecraft.By starting the production line, NASA is supporting up to 12 Artemis Missions.The Orion Production and Operations Contract (OPOC) commits to a minimum of six and a maximum of 12 missions.This will establish a core set of capabilities, stabilise the production process, and demonstrate reusability of spacecraft components.*
According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine:
This contract secures Orion production through the next decade, demonstrating NASA's commitment to bring back new knowledge and prepare for sending astronauts to Mars.
Orion is a highly capable,
state of the art spacecraft, designed specifically for deep space missions with astronauts, and an integral part of NASA's infrastructure for Artemis Missions and future exploration of the solar system.*
The contract provides three Orion spacecraft for Artemis Missions III-V for 2.7 billion dollars.The agency will then order three additional capsules for Missions VI-VIII for 1.9 billion.*
The long-term plan is to reuse the recovered crew modules at least once.Adds Orion Program manager Mark Kirasich:
No other spacecraft in the world can keep humans alive hundreds of thousands of miles from the Earth for weeks at a time with the safety features,crew accommodations, technical innovations and reliability that Orion provides.With the design and development phase of Orion largely behind us, this new contract will enable us to increase efficiencies,reuse the spacecraft, and bring down the cost of transporting people between Earth and the Gateway.*
Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Friday, September 27, 2019

Monday, September 16, 2019

Astrophysics:ICON Mission Rescheduled

NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission has been rescheduled for launch on 9 October 2019.It will be air-launched on a Northrop-Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from the L-1011 Stargazer aircraft taking off at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.*
The launch will have a 90-minute window beginning at 9:25 pm Eastern.It will occur off the coast of Daytona at altitude 39,000 feet, heading 105 degrees, NASA said.*
The ionosphere is the layer of the atmosphere where Earth and space weather meet.ICON will help determine the physical processes at play in this frontier of space and help find ways to mitigate the negative effects, such as disruption of radio communications and satellites and threats to astronaut health, the agency explained.*
Northrop-Grumman (NOC)