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NASA unveils distribution of Constellation work NASA NEWS RELEASE Posted: June 5, 2006 NASA announced Monday agency center responsibilities associated with the Constellation Program for robotic and human moon and Mars exploration. This distribution of work across NASA's centers reflects the agency's intention to productively use personnel, facilities and resources from across the agency to accomplish the Vision for Space Exploration. "Our past experiences have provided the foundation to begin shaping the space exploration capabilities needed to create a sustained presence on the moon and on to Mars," said Scott Horowitz, associate administrator for NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. "Our programs and projects are evolving as we develop the requirements to execute the Vision for Space Exploration. At the same time we are aligning the work that needs to be accomplished with the capabilities of our NASA centers." In addition to primary work assignments each center will support moon and Mars surface systems conceptual designs. Centers also support additional Constellation program and project activities. Center assignments: Ames Research Center, Moffett Field Calif., leads the crew exploration vehicle (CEV) Thermal Protection System Advanced Development Project. Ames is developing information systems to support the Constellation Program Safety, Reliability and Quality Assurance Office. Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., leads CEV Abort Flight Test integration and operations including Abort Test Booster procurement and integration with the Flight Test Article. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, leads the CEV Service Module and Spacecraft Adapter integration, providing oversight and independent analysis of the prime contractor's development of these segments. Glenn has lead responsibility for the design and development of several crew launch vehicle (CLV) upper stage systems. Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., provides co-leadership of the Constellation Program's System Engineering and Integration navigation team and software and avionics team. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., leads a multi-center activity in support of the Mission Operations Project to plan systems engineering processes related to operations development and preparation. JPL provides co-leadership for the Constellation Program Office Systems Engineering and Integration Software and Avionics team. Johnson Space Center, Houston, host the Constellation Program, the CEV Project and the Mission Operations Project. The Constellation Program manages and integrates the program and all projects. The CEV Project Office manages and integrates all CEV elements including prime contractor work. The Mission Operations Project manages and integrates all activities related to mission operations. Kennedy Space Center, Fla., hosts the Ground Operations Project. The project manages all activities related to ground operations for the launch and landing sites, including ground processing, launch, and recovery systems. Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., leads Launch Abort System integration supporting the CEV Project, providing oversight and independent analysis of the CEV prime contractor's development of the system. Langley leads the Command Module Landing System Advanced Development Project for CEV. Langley provides vehicle integration and CEV test article module development for the CLV Advanced Development Flight Test-0. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., hosts the Constellation Launch Vehicle projects. The projects are responsible for project management of all CLV and cargo launch vehicle related activities. Marshall provides the CLV first stage design, and is responsible for launch vehicle demonstration testing including the Advanced Development Flight Test-0. Stennis Space Center, Miss., manages and integrates rocket propulsion testing for the CLV Project. Stennis leads sea-level development, certification, and acceptance testing for the upper stage engine, sea-level development testing for the upper stage main propulsion test article, and sea-level acceptance testing for the flight upper stage assembly. While these decisions will result in budget and personnel allocations at the centers, detailed estimates will not be available until after prime contractors are formally selected for the program's major projects, such as the crew exploration vehicle, crew launch vehicle and cargo launch vehicle. |
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Space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale and launch director Mike Leinbach hold this news conference May 31 from Kennedy Space Center to offer a status report on STS-121 mission preparations. The briefing was held at the conclusion of the debris verification review, which examined the external fuel tank and threats to the shuttle from impacts during launch.
Dial-up: 
NASA created its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system to serve as a constellation of orbiting spacecraft that would replace the costly ground tracking stations scattered around the globe for communications with space shuttles and other satellites. Space shuttle Discovery's STS-29 mission in March 1989 launched the massive TDRS-D craft. This post-flight film narrated by the crew shows the deployment, the astronauts running a series of medical tests and the monitoring of a student-developed chicken embryo experiment.
Space shuttle Columbia began mission STS-61C with a beautiful sunrise launch in January 1986 after several delays. Led by commander Hoot Gibson, the astronauts deployed a commercial communications satellite and tended to numerous experiments with the Materials Science Laboratory, Hitchhiker platform and Getaway Special Canisters in the payload bay. The crew included Congressman Bill Nelson of Florida, the first U.S. Representative to fly in space. Watch this post-flight film narrated by the astronauts.
The Boeing Delta 4 rocket launches from pad 37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station with the GOES-N spacecraft, beginning a new era in weather observing for the Americas.
As night fell over Kennedy Space Center on May 19, space shuttle Discovery reached launch pad 39B to complete the slow journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building. Discovery will be traveling much faster in a few weeks when it blasts off to the International Space Station.
The November 1985 flight of space shuttle Atlantis began with a rare nighttime blastoff. The seven-member crew, including a Mexican payload specialist, spent a week in orbit deploying three communications satellites for Australia, Mexico and the U.S. And a pair of high-visibility spacewalks were performed to demonstrate techniques for building large structures in space. The crew narrates the highlights of STS-61B in this post-flight crew film presentation.
Eight astronauts, the largest crew in history, spent a week in space during the fall of 1985 aboard shuttle Challenger for mission STS-61A, the first flight dedicated to the German Spacelab. The crew worked in the Spacelab D-1 laboratory conducting a range of experiments, including a quick-moving sled that traveled along tracks in the module. A small satellite was ejected from a canister in the payload bay as well. The astronauts narrate the highlights of the mission in this post-flight film.