Aerojet completes initial vibration and Hot Fire engine tests for Orion

PR News Wire -

Sacramento -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, successfully completed the first series of vibration and altitude hot fire tests on NASA's Orion crew module's 160 lb. thrust mono-propellant rocket engine. The objective of the test program was to verify engine performance after the thruster was subjected to Orion vibration loads which produced energy levels that were two times higher than those previously qualified.

The post-vibration altitude hot fire test sequences mapped the thruster health over its full operating range and proved the capability to exceed 200 lbs. of thrust during steady-state firing, thereby demonstrating an Orion worst-case contingency operation.

"This recent testing mitigates an identified risk and provides additional data against which the Orion crew module engine's analytical models can be validated," said Doug Cosens, Aerojet's project Orion program director. "This effort also illustrates continued cooperation among Aerojet, Lockheed Martin and NASA on the Orion program."

Under contract with Lockheed Martin, NASA's prime contractor for Orion, Aerojet provides propulsion for the crew module as well as all engines aboard the service module. The current Orion crew module flight configuration includes 12 MR-104G engines operating at 160 lbs. of thrust. The MR-104 engine family originally provided in-space propulsion for the Voyager 1 and 2 and Magellan missions. Subsequent MR-104 variants provided propulsion for Landsat and NOAA as well as other U.S. government programs.

The Orion crew exploration vehicle will be the flagship of NASA's Constellation Program, which is comprised of the spacecraft and systems that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station and conduct sustained human exploration of the moon and Mars.

Robust Orion Escape Rocket Tested

Orion Launch Abort System jettison motor test.

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NASA successfully tested the Launch Abort System jettison motor, the first full-scale test for the Constellation Program's Orion crew exploration vehicle. The jettison motor is a solid rocket motor designed to separate the Launch Abort System from the crew module on a normal launch and to safely propel the abort system away from the crew module during an emergency.

The static test firing was conducted by Aerojet Corporation in Sacramento, Calif. NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Aerojet Corporation to supply the jettison motor.

"This was a major success for the Orion Launch Abort System team," said Mark Cooper, NASA's integrated product team lead for LAS Propulsion at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The test provided valuable data on motor performance that will allow design and analytical refinements by our contactor team. The test is the culmination of intense and focused work by the entire jettison motor team."

Demonstrating the jettison motor performance is critical to the development of the crew module's launch abort system, which will offer a safe escape in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the climb to a low Earth orbit. The jettison motor test was a critical demonstration milestone in the Orion Project’s preparations for the first of a series of flight tests of the Launch Abort System currently scheduled for late 2008.

NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., manages the launch abort system design and development effort with partners and team members from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. Langley's Launch Abort System Office performs this function as part of the Orion Project Office located at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. The abort system is a key element in NASA's continuing efforts to improve safety as the agency develops the next generation of spacecraft to return humans to the moon.

Read the NASA press release HERE.

Meanwhile, GenCorp's Aerojet gets contract from NASA Glenn to continue beyond RCS with low-weight methane

SACRAMENTO Aerojet, a GenCorp Inc. company, announced a contract award today from NASA Glenn Research Center for the development of a 5,500lb thrust Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane engine.

NASA's Altair lunar lander program and the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program have partnered to create the NASA Propulsion Cryogenic Advanced Development project to support methane technology maturation and advancement. The project is managed jointly by NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, NASA Marshall in Huntsville and Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The time sensitive engine development effort will provide the NASA Altair lunar lander program with validated methane engine performance and technology risk reduction data prior to the Altair propulsion System Requirements and Preliminary Design Reviews. The objective of the new contract is to design, fabricate and begin testing an Aerojet 5,500lb thrust methane engine by January 2009 to support the data needs of the Altair SRR.

The NASA Exploration Systems Architecture Studies along with other NASA study activities, has identified Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane propulsion systems as a promising option for future space vehicles. These systems create the potential for substantial savings in overall systems mass when compared to conventional hypergolic systems.

"Aerojet is well positioned to accomplish this rapid development effort because of our research and development investments in Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane and other green propellant technologies," said Julie Van Kleeck, Aerojet's vice president of Space Systems.

The new contract will extend Aerojet's Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane development expertise beyond the 100lbf RCS contract already delivered to White Sands Test Facility for altitude testing.

The 100lbf engine program, which has been highly successful in RCS development, can operate on Liquid Oxygen-Liquid Methane rather than hydrazine, and it has demonstrated very fast pulsing capability in a flight prototype. This technology development activity will provide NASA with timely methane ascent main engine technology data to support its system design studies and decision making.

SOURCE Aerojet - 04/10/200