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Author
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Topic: Fate of Orion spacecraft models built-to-date
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Ami
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posted 04-21-2010 12:52 PM
   
What will happen to the models already built for the Constellation Program?Are the engineers just going to finish it until it's completed or have they completely stopped working on anything involving the progam? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-21-2010 02:26 PM
Funding for Constellation continues until the end of fiscal year 2010, so any work on existing boilerplates continues until then.And Orion continues under the President's plan as a rescue vehicle for the space station and as a technology testbed for future beyond low Earth orbit missions. As such, the avionics mock-ups built in Houston will likely be adapted to suit the new goals, as will the recovery development sub-scale and scale mock-ups. The Pad Abort-1 test is still set for May 6 and will launch an Orion boilerplate from the White Sands Missile Range in a test of the launch escape system, a technology still applicable to commercial crew launch services. |
Ami
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posted 04-21-2010 02:32 PM
Wow. So then what will happen to those people already working on the Constellation program that were switched from space shuttle? How will they figure what to do for crew design? |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 50516
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 04-21-2010 02:48 PM
Some will transition to programs under the new plan (technology demonstrators, commercial crew development, heavy lift development) and others will, unfortunately, be seeking new hire. At the Kennedy and Johnson space centers, as well as other NASA facilities, efforts are beginning to address placement for the Constellation workforce. |
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