Credit: NASA
Lockheed Martin’s Orion project team recently assembled a full-scale low fidelity Orion crew exploration vehicle module aft bay, subsystems mock-up in Johnson Space Center’s space vehicle mockup facility, also known as building nine
The work was detailed in the August 2008 issue of Johnson Space Center Roundup magazine
The foam blocks are colour coded to identify subsystems; green, avionics; blue, environmental control and life support systems; yellow, power; red, propulsion; and white, interface panels
Computers and life support systems are behind the crew cabin’s walls and under the floor in the pressurized area while propulsion tanks, thrusters and fuel lines are in the lower unpressurized aft bay
The mock-up consists of ten sections built from lightweight plywood and galvanized steel. The plan is to install a CAD system next to the mock-up so its images can be updated simultaneously with real time changes in the mock-up
The team expects the mock-up will remain in the space vehicle mock-up facility until late 2009, when a medium fidelity mock-up will replace it. That will be used to assess the vehicle’s baseline design and conduct crew member operability testing and verification prior to the third quarter 2010 CDR
But where, I ask, is my favourite LockMart Orion team member and blogger Thomas James?
