Chinese  
New York Time: Monday, 6/30/2025    
Home    US    World    China    Arts    Science    Entertainment    Sports    Beyond science
To the Moon and Beyond: Airbus Delivers Powerhouse for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft
2018-11-11 10:39:06   (Visits: 462 Times)
photo1,In this handout provided by NASA,The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA's Orion spacecraft mounted atop, lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37 at 7:05 a.m. EST in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Dec. 5, 2014. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via Getty Images)
BY REUTERS
November 4, 2018 Updated: November 4, 2018
BERLIN—Europe’s Airbus on Nov. 2 delivered the “powerhouse” for NASA’s new Orion Spaceship that will take astronauts to the Moon and beyond in coming years, hitting a key milestone that should lead to hundreds of millions of euros in future orders.
Engineers at the Airbus plant in Bremen, Germany on TNov. 2 carefully packed the spacecraft into a special container that will fly aboard a huge Antonov cargo plane to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a first step on its way to deep space.
In Florida, the module will be joined with the Orion crew module built by Lockheed Martin, followed by over a year of intensive testing before the first three-week mission orbiting the Moon is launched in 2020, albeit without people.
Future production of Orion and the European module could result in billions of dollars of new orders for the companies involved in coming years, said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for human exploration and operations for NASA.
“This is the system that will enable humans to move sustainably into deep space … and leave the Earth-Moon system for the first time ever,” he said.
Current plans are for a first crewed mission in 2022, but NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) then plan to launch a manned mission every year, making the Orion project both politically and economically important at a time when China and other countries are racing to gain a foothold in space.
Airbus’s European Service Module will provide propulsion, power, thermal control and consumables to the Orion crew module, marking the first time that NASA will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft.
“This is a very big step. The delivery and the flight to America are just the beginning of a journey that will ultimately take us to 60,000 miles beyond the moon, further than any human has ever flown before,” Oliver Juckenhoefel, vice president of on-orbit services and exploration for Airbus, told Reuters.
Orion is part of a growing push to put humans back on the Moon, where the unexpected discovery of water has energized scientists, with rapid technological developments such as 3D printing paving the way for lunar-based infrastructure, such as data server relay stations, in coming years.
“It sounds like science fiction, but I’m convinced it’s coming, and the only question for us in Europe is whether we want to be part of it or not,” Juckenhoefel said. “In industry, we have to be careful that we don’t miss the boat.”
NASA’s Gerstenmaier said ESA was interested in participating in a so-called “lunar gateway” with an eye to landing humans on the Moon again around 2028, and providing a base for travel to Mars and beyond.
Airbus won a 390 million euro ($446.12 million) contract to build the first ESM module in 2014, and is working on a second order valued at 200 million euros. Now it is negotiating with ESA for further orders that could add up to a billion euros, Juckenhoefel said.
Mike Hawes, who runs the $11 billion Orion program for Lockheed, underscored the importance of the program for future exploration of deep space.
He said Lockheed was negotiating with NASA for up to 12 follow-on missions that could result in billions of dollars of new orders, while working to halve the cost of future spacecraft.
More Than 100 Olympic Medalists Say Their Paris Medals Are ‘Deteriorating’ as Company
Trump honoring Elvis Presley with a Medal of Freedom award sparks online debate on ra
Tim Allen teases Keanu Reeves' mystery Toy Story 4 role
heriff's Sgt. Named as First Victim in Calif. Shooting: He Called Family Before Tryin
NBA legend Kobe Bryant dies at 41 in a helicopter crash
Mollie Tibbetts' Suspected Murderer Is an 'All-American Boy' with No Prior Record, De
China Grants Payments License to American Express, in Venture with LianLian AmEx unli
NICK CHRISTIE and MIRANDA MELVILLE race walking competition champion
Man convicted in 1982 murders sentenced to life in prison
Report: FBI Investigating Florida Company Where Acting AG Matt Whitaker Was on Adviso
Supernormal Abilities Developed Through Meditation: Dr. Dean Radin Discusses
New York Armory Party and World Championships in Athletics Video big screen connectio
London to New York in 30 MINUTES: SpaceX's Starship could soon transport
Queen Elizabeth II dies
How USCIS Spots Fraud in an Asylum Application
Delacroix’s Secret Devotion to Drawing
Tiger Woods birdies six of his first seven holes in third round to grab huge lead at
Jamaican broadcaster Gil Bailey had died as a result of the coronavirus in New York
The Rise of Conservative Art and Poetry
Kevin Spacey’s First Movie Since #MeToo Earned Just $126 On Opening Day
Contact       About Us       Legal Disclaimer