Innovation & Tech Today - CA (2020-10)

20 INNOVATION & TECH TODAY^ |^ 2020 YEAR-END ISSUE

DEPARTMENTS / Space

Space Jam

NASA bands together with

industry for a return to the moon

By Joe Toppe

In 1962, John F. Kennedy told a large crowd at

Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas, “We choose to

go to the moon.” And we did, just seven years

later.

Today, the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) is working alongside

industry to ensure we not only return to the

moon, but we use it as a springboard to Mars

and beyond. With global firms like Boeing,

Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman

providing resources to the Artemis Program,

NASA is expected to land the first woman and

next man on the lunar surface by 2024.

While Lockheed Martin will provide the space

vehicle, The Orion, Boeing will supply the

rocketry to propel the astronauts beyond Earth’s

gravity and into deep space.

Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Space Launch Systems

Director, told Innovation & Tech Today the

company designed and built the first stage

rocket and the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion

Stage (ICPS).

“The Space Launch System uses upgraded

solid rocket boosters and the RS-25 engines

from the shuttle,” he said. “The stages are

designed from the ground up to be evolvable –

human-rated and able to support a variety of

science, exploration, and defense missions –

without having to re-invest in new

infrastructure.”

Each of these functions will play a key role in

NASA’s vision for deep space exploration while

using the International Space Station (ISS) as a

proving ground for technologies needed to

support humans long-term in a weightless

environment.

Nappi said the “next step” is the Artemis

missions and to test deep space technology in

lunar orbit before taking crewed missions to

Mars.

“It’s a smart stepping stone for human

advancement – hours to ISS; days for the moon,

and months for Mars,” he said.

Lockheed Martin’s Orion spacecraft can hold

six crewmembers beyond Earth’s low-orbit and

uses glass cockpit interfaces modeled after those

used in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Mike Hawes, VP of Human Space Exploration

and Orion Program Manager, said “Orion is the

only exploration-class spaceship poised to take

humans into deep space.”

“Orion will not only accelerate scientific

discovery of our solar system; it will improve life