Project Orion Operations Concept and Design Maturation Process
- Paper number
IAC-07-B3.1.07
- Author
Mr. Patrick M. McKenzie, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, United States
- Coauthor
Mr. Paul Marshall, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Johnson Space Center, United States
- Year
2007
- Abstract
Project Orion is the first human spacecraft design and development program in the United States since the Space Shuttle effort began in the 1970s. It is a project with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Constellation Program which was created in response to the Vision for Space Exploration that was unveiled in January of 2004. In August of 2006, NASA selected Lockheed Martin to be the prime contractor for the design, development, test and evaluation program with the goal of fielding an operational Orion spacecraft by not later than 2014. While Orion's primary mission will be to go back to the moon late in the coming decade, it will also be capable of taking crew safely to and from the International Space Station. This paper will give the reader insight into the collaborative efforts thus far undertaken on the Orion Project between NASA, Lockheed Martin, and the other members of the Lockheed Martin team. These efforts include establishing a solid requirements baseline, performing trade studies to help reconcile a variety of spacecraft design concepts, finalizing the all important flight test program plan and working towards maturation of the Orion concept of operations. NASA's Orion project office is located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas but virtually all NASA centers have some significant role to play in making Orion a reality. The Lockheed Martin team is also anchored in Houston, Texas but has multiple work sites supporting Orion around the United States. The challenges of working in such a distributed environment while maintaining a spirit of "team" and common purpose will also be explored.
- Abstract document