Ares Oct 31 Weekly Summary

Upper Stage Engine (USE) Test Stand A-3 Preparing for New Test Series: The A-3 test site has seen a great deal of activity during the past week at Stennis Space Center (SSC). Figure 1 shows the pre-fabricated steel components that will be assembled into the tower arriving at the site on Monday, November 3. Figure 2 shows 16 truckloads of steel being delivered and staged for installation which began on October 29. The tower is scheduled for completion in April 2009.

Figure 1

During the arrival of the tower steel, sheet piling was being driven for the Liquid Oxygen (LOX) barge dock, as shown in Figure 3. Both the LOX and Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) waterways have been partially dug and rock has been laid. The docks and waterways are also scheduled for completion in April 2009. Figure 2

Subscale diffuser testing is continuing at the E-complex. The current test series is generating data to mitigate risk associated with nozzle delta-pressures during facility transients.

Figure 3

Upper Stage Manufacturing and Assembly (M&A) Subsystem: A successful subscale Common Bulkhead demonstration was recently performed using two Shuttle External Tank gore sections (each 2’ x 4’) with Honeycomb in between. The core Honeycomb Machining at MAF

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machining and fit-up work was performed at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF). The composite laminate skins were manufactured in Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Building 4707.

Recent activities specific to the Elements include: •

Flight and Integrated Test Office (FITO) and Ares I-X o

Ares I-X Roll Control System (RoCS) Element: Activities specific to the RoCS Element include: ¾ Flight propellant tanks were installed onto module A and B structures, and electrical harnesses were installed on both modules. ¾ The final X-ray Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) was run on the flight tank vent valve weld caps. One non-conformance was noted and it is to be decided at the Material Review Board (MRB) to either disposition as-is or swap out the tank with the spare. ¾ A helium tube weld defect occurred on the first flight set of pressurant tubes, notably after the cold flow unit helium tube set was successfully welded. An investigation is underway to look at inert gas regulation. Meanwhile, flight propellant tubes are being welded with no issues thus far. ¾ The RoCS Installation Drawing update was released through the Teledyne release desk. ¾ RoCS supported the Integrated Readiness Review at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) last week.

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First Stage (FS) o

FS Avionics Design Technical Interchange Meeting (TIM): The FS avionics Line Replacement Unit (LRU) subcontractor, L3-Cincinnati Electronics, held their first major LRU design review at their plant in Cincinnati, OH, on October 21–24. Cincinnati Electronics is a subcontractor to the FS prime contractor ATK. Representatives from the Ares I FS and Upper Stage (US) elements along with ground operations and vehicle integration participated in the design review with ATK. A follow-on TIM with Cincinnati Electronics was conducted in Huntsville, AL, on October 27–28, with the representatives from various NASA and ATK pyrotechnics and thrust vector control communities. Comments to the design review will be worked over the next month as Cincinnati Electronics proceeds with their LRU designs.

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Project Integration (PI) o

Ares Outreach Activities : The Ares Projects outreach team supported the Louisiana Aerospace Industry Day in New Orleans, LA, on October 15. Approximately 150 people learned more about ways that small businesses can get involved with the prime contractors on future Constellation Program contracts in the New Orleans area. The outreach team presented the Constellation and Ares stories to 25 visually-impaired students from the Tennessee School for the Blind, who visited MSFC on October 21. Students also visited the MSFC Propulsion Research and Development Laboratory and center test stands to learn about Marshall’s Ares work. Team members also prepared and coordinated presentations on Ares Projects development, Ares I vehicle integration and testing, and Ares V at the American Astronautical Society’s Von Braun Memorial Symposium on October 21–22 in Huntsville, AL.

The Ares Projects look forward to the completion of the J-2X Critical Design Review (CDR) Pre-Board which is currently underway and the J-2X CDR Board on November 13.

…and as of this Ares Projects Weekly Summary, there are only 253 days until the first Ares I test flight, Ares I-X!!!

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