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 Glenn Research Center’s Roles and Responsibilities
Overview
NASA’s Glenn Research Center is leading
several major activities in support of the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle
Project. Within the Constellation Program, Ares I is the vehicle that
launches the crew aboard Orion to low Earth orbit (LEO) on its journey
to the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually Mars.
Glenn and other NASA centers are supporting Marshall Space Flight
Center in their management and development of the Ares I launch vehicle.
Glenn is contributing their skills and competencies in space flight
systems, electrical power, actuation systems, and launch vehicles
to design and test elements of the next launch vehicle.
Ares I is a two-stage launch vehicle.
The first stage is a five-segment solid rocket booster, which
propels the entire vehicle (including Orion) off the launch
pad to high altitude. The second stage, referred to as the
upper stage, carries Orion from high altitude to LEO. The upper
stage is a hydrogen/oxygen stage propelled by a single J–2X
engine.
The Ares team at Glenn is responsible for
supporting integrated vehicle analysis, the design and development
of several upper-stage systems, and thermal vacuum testing
of the upper stage J–2X engine. They are also building
and testing hardware components in support of the first Ares
test flight—Ares I–X.
Vehicle Integration
Vehicle integration for Ares I involves establishing
the overall design requirements and evaluating the performance
of all the components of the vehicle working together. Elements
of performance include the ability of the vehicle to carry
its load, reach its maximum velocity, and maintain stability
during flight. The overall structural dynamics, including the
environmental impact on crew members, must also be analyzed.
In this area, Glenn is providing integrated and independent
analysis of vehicle trajectory, vehicle control stability,
vehicle dynamics, vehicle sizing, and reliability.
Upper Stage System Design and Development
In support of the Ares I upper stage, Glenn
is designing and developing the following systems:
- Thrust vector control (TVC) system consisting
of power and actuation components that control the main
engine’s direction and thrust to steer the vehicle
in the right direction
- Avionics
– Electrical power system that provides all the electrical
power for the upper stage throughout the entire mission
– Development flight instrumentation (DFI) package consisting
of instrumentation to be flown on initial development flights to
acquire flight data to help validate the vehicle’s performance
– Advanced, miniature leak detection sensors and a sensor
data qualification system
- Structures and Thermal
Compartment purge and hazardous
gas leak detection system
Thermal/Vacuum Testing of J–2X Engine
As part of the J–2X engine test program,
Glenn’s Plum Brook Station B–2 facility will be
modified to meet engine qualification requirements and used
to perform thermal/vacuum testing.
Plum Brook’s unique capability to hot fire
test an engine at simulated altitude temperatures and pressures will
help validate the J–2X engine’s ability to perform in
space.
Ares I–X Flight Test
Scheduled for 2009, Ares I–X is planned
to be the first test flight of the Ares I vehicle. The test
flight objectives are focused on first-stage flight dynamics,
controllability, and separation of the first and upper stages.
The Ares I–X flight will consist of a functional booster
stage and an upper stage mass simulator, which has the same
mass as the actual upper stage. By flying the vehicle through
the first stage, the test flight will also verify the performance
and dynamics of the shuttle’s solid rocket booster in “single
stick” arrangement. (The usual shuttle configuration
is two rocket boosters with one external fuel tank.)
In supporting this test flight, Glenn is responsible
for the design, fabrication, and testing of various components of
the upper stage mass simulator, spacecraft adapter, service module,
and interstage (the lower part of the upper stage that separates from
the booster). This flight hardware will be built in-house and tested
at Glenn facilities. Read more... |
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Upper stage J-2x engine |
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J-2X Engine |
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Upper stage TVC system |
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Electrical power system
power distribution unit |
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J-2x engine testing
in B-2 Test Facility at Plum Brook Station |
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Test Facility
at PlumBrook Station |
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