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By NASA
NASA has taken a big step forward in how engineers will assemble and stack future SLS (Space Launch System) rockets for Artemis Moon missions inside the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The VAB’s High Bay 2 has been outfitted with new tooling to facilitate the vertical integration of the SLS core stage. That progress was on full display in mid-December when teams suspended the fully assembled core stage 225 feet in the air inside the high bay to complete vertical work before it is stacked on mobile launcher 1, allowing teams to continue solid rocket booster stacking simultaneously inside High Bay 3 for Artemis II.
The fully assembled SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis II test flight is suspended 225 feet in the air inside the newly renovated High Bay 2 at Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building. The core stage was lifted to enable engineers to complete work before it is stacked on mobile launcher 1 with other rocket elements. With the move to High Bay 2, technicians now have 360-degree tip to tail access to the core stage, both internally and externally.NASA With the move to High Bay 2, technicians with NASA and Boeing now have 360-degree tip to tail access to the core stage, both internally and externally. Michigan-based supplier Futuramic Tool and Engineering led the design and build of the Core Stage Vertical Integration Center tool that will hold the core stage in a vertical position.
“High Bay 2 tooling was originally scheduled to be complete for Artemis III. We had an opportunity to get it done earlier and that will put us in a good posture to complete work earlier than planned prior to moving the core stage for Artemis II into the full integrated stack over into in High Bay 3,” said Chad Bryant, deputy manager of the NASA SLS Stages Office. “This gives us an opportunity to go in and learn how to rotate, lift, and move the core stage into the high bay.”
This move also doubles the footprint of useable space within the VAB, giving engineers access to both High Bay 2 and High Bay 3 simultaneously, while also freeing up space at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to continue work on the individual elements for future SLS core stages.
High Bay 2 has a long history of supporting NASA exploration programs: during Apollo, High Bay 2, one of four high bays inside the VAB, was used to stack the Saturn V rocket. During the Space Shuttle Program, the high bay was used for external tank checkout and storage and as an extra storage area for the shuttle.
Under the new assembly model beginning with Artemis III, all the major structures for the SLS core stage will continue to be fully produced and manufactured at NASA Michoud. Upon completion of manufacturing and thermal protection system application, the engine section will be shipped to Kennedy for final outfitting.
The 212-foot-tall SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for NASA Artemis II is seen being moved from a horizontal position to a vertical position in High Bay 2 at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. With the move to High Bay 2, NASA and Boeing technicians now have 360-degree access to the core stage both internally and externally. (NASA) “Core stage 3 marks a significant change in the way we build core stages,” said Steve Wofford, manager of the SLS Stages Office. “The vertical capability in High Bay 2 allows us to perform parallel processing from the top to bottom of the stage. It’s a much more efficient way to build core stages. This new capability will streamline final production efforts, allowing our team to have 360-degree access to the stage, both internally and externally.”
The fully assembled core stage for Artemis II arrived July 23, 2024, at Kennedy, where it remained horizontal inside the VAB transfer aisle until its recent lift into the newly outfitted high bay.
Teams at NASA Michoud are outfitting the remaining core stage elements for Artemis III and preparing to horizontally join them. The four RS-25 engines for the Artemis III mission are complete at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and will be transported to NASA Kennedy in 2025. Major core stage and exploration upper stage structures are in work at NASA Michoud for Artemis IV and beyond.
NASA is working to land the first woman, first person of color, and its first international partner astronaut on the Moon under Artemis. SLS is part of NASA’s backbone for deep space exploration, along with the Orion spacecraft, supporting ground systems, advanced spacesuits and rovers, the Gateway in orbit around the Moon, and commercial human landing systems. SLS is the only rocket that can send Orion, astronauts, and supplies to the Moon in a single launch.
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By NASA
Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems Program lift the agency’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis II mission from horizonal to vertical inside the transfer aisle at the Vehicle Assembly building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. The one-of-a kind lifting beam is designed to move the core stage from the transfer aisle to High Bay 2 where it will remain while teams stack the two solid rocket boosters for the SLS core stage. NASA/Adeline Morgan NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) Moon rocket core stage is vertical in High Bay 2 on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The core stage arrived on July 23 to NASA Kennedy, where it remained horizontal inside the facility’s transfer aisle. With the move to High Bay 2, technicians with NASA and Boeing now have 360-degree access to the core stage both internally and externally. The move also frees up more space in the transfer aisle to allow technicians to continue transporting and integrating two solid rocket boosters onto mobile launcher 1 in High Bay 3 for the Artemis II mission. Boeing and their sub-contractor Futuramic refurbished High Bay 2 to increase efficiencies while processing core stages for Artemis II and beyond.
During Apollo, technicians stacked the Saturn V rocket in High Bay 2. During the Space Shuttle Program, the high bay was used for external tank checkout and storage and as a contingency storage area for the shuttle. The Artemis II test flight will be NASA’s first mission with crew under the Artemis campaign, sending NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Reid Wiseman, as well as CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back.
Image credit: NASA/Adeline Morgan
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By NASA
Main Takeaways:
New 66-foot-wide antenna dishes will be built, online, and operational in time to provide near-continuous communications services to Artemis astronauts at the Moon later this decade. Called LEGS, short for Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, the antennas represent critical infrastructure for NASA’s vision of supporting a sustained human presence at the Moon. The first three of six proposed LEGS are planned for sites in New Mexico, South Africa, and Australia. LEGS will become part of NASA’s Near Space Network, managed by the agency’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program and led out of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Background:
NASA’s LEGS can do more than help Earthlings move about the planet.
Three Lunar Exploration Ground Sites, or LEGS, will enhance the Near Space Network’s communications services and support of NASA’s Artemis campaign.
NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program maintains the agency’s two primary communications networks — the Deep Space Network and the Near Space Network, which enable satellites in space to send data back to Earth for investigation and discovery.
Using antennas around the globe, these networks capture signals from satellites, collecting data and enabling navigation engineers to track the mission. For the first Artemis mission, these networks worked in tandem to support the mission as it completed its 25-day journey around the Moon. They will do the same for the upcoming Artemis II mission.
To support NASA’s Moon to Mars initiative, NASA is adding three new LEGS antennas to the Near Space Network. As NASA works toward sustaining a human presence on the Moon, communications and navigation support will be crucial to each mission’s success. The LEGS antennas will directly support the later Artemis missions, and accompanying missions like the human landing system, lunar terrain vehicle, and Gateway.
The Gateway space station will be humanity’s first space station in lunar orbit as a vital component of the Artemis missions to return humans to the Moon for scientific discovery and chart a path for humans to Mars.NASA “One of the main goals of LEGS is to offload the Deep Space Network,” said TJ Crooks, LEGS project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “The Near Space Network and its new LEGS antennas will focus on lunar missions while allowing the Deep Space Network to support missions farther out into the solar system — like the James Webb Space Telescope and the interstellar Voyager missions.”
The Near Space Network provides communications and navigation services to missions anywhere from near Earth to 1.2 million miles away — this includes the Moon and Sun-Earth Lagrange points 1 and 2. The Moon and Lagrange points are a shared region with the Deep Space Network, which can provide services to missions there and farther out in the solar system.
An artist’s rendering of a lunar terrain vehicle on the surface of the Moon.NASA The LEGS antennas, which are 66 feet in diameter, will be strategically placed across the globe. This global placement ensures that when the Moon is setting at one station, it is rising into another’s view. With the Moon constantly in sight, the Near Space Network will be able to provide continuous support for lunar operations.
How it Works:
As a satellite orbits the Moon, it encodes its data onto a radio frequency signal. When a LEGS antenna comes into view, that satellite (or rover, etc.) will downlink the signal to a LEGS antenna. This data is then routed to mission operators and scientists around the globe who can make decisions about spacecraft health and orbit or use the science data to make discoveries.
The LEGS antennas are intended to be extremely flexible for users. For LEGS-1, LEGS-2, and LEGS-3, NASA is implementing a “dual-band approach” for the antennas that will allow missions to communicate using two different radio frequency bands — X-band and Ka-band. Typically, smaller data packets — like telemetry data — are sent over X-band, while high-resolution science data or imagery needs Ka-band. Due to its higher frequency, Ka-band allows significantly more information to be downlinked at once, such as real-time high-resolution video in support of crewed operations.
LEGS will directly support the Artemis campaign, including the Lunar Gateway, human landing system (HLS), and lunar terrain vehicle (LTV).NASA Further LEGS capacity will be sought from commercial service providers and will include a “tri-band approach” for the antennas using S-band in addition to X- and Ka-band.
The first LEGS ground station, or LEGS-1, is at NASA’s White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico. NASA is improving land and facilities at the complex to receive the new LEGS-1 antenna.
The LEGS-2 antenna will be in Matjiesfontein, South Africa, located near Cape Town. In partnership with SANSA, the South African National Space Agency, NASA chose this location to maximize coverage to the Moon. South Africa was home to a ground tracking station outside Johannesburg that played a role in NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon in the 1960s. The agency plans to complete the LEGS-2 antenna in 2026. For LEGS-3, NASA is exploring locations in Western Australia.
These stations will fully complement the existing capabilities of the Near and Deep Space Networks and allow for more robust communications services to the Artemis campaign.
The LEGS antennas (similar in appearance to this 20.2-meter CPI Satcom antenna) will be placed in equidistant locations across the globe. This ensures that when the Moon is setting at one station, it will be rising into another’s view. With the Moon constantly in sight, NASA’s Near Space Network will be able to support approximately 24/7 operations with Moon-based missions.CPI Satcom CPI Satcom is building the Lunar Exploration Ground Site (LEGS) antennas for NASA. The antennas will look very similar to the 20-meter antenna pictured here. CPI Satcom The Near Space Network is funded by NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program office at NASA Headquarters in Washington and operated out of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
About the Author
Kendall Murphy
Technical WriterKendall Murphy is a technical writer for the Space Communications and Navigation program office. She specializes in internal and external engagement, educating readers about space communications and navigation technology.
5 Min Read Ground Antenna Trio to Give NASA’s Artemis Campaign ‘LEGS’ to Stand On
An artist’s rendering of astronauts working near NASA’s Artemis base camp, complete with a rover and RV. Credits: NASA Share
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Last Updated Jul 22, 2024 EditorKatherine SchauerContactKendall MurphyLocationGoddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
NASA pilots along with Sikorsky safety pilots flying Sikorsky’s Black Hawk Optionally Piloted Vehicle, left, and SARA S-76B over Long Island Sound Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. These flights will allow NASA researchers to test and evaluate multiple Advanced Air Mobility autonomous flight software products designed by NASA.NASA/Steve Freeman In late October, two research helicopters from the manufacturer Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company, made a dozen test flights over Long Island Sound, Connecticut taking care to avoid other aircraft in the area around them. Except the ordinary-looking helicopters were flying autonomously – guided by NASA-designed software – and those other aircraft were virtual, part of a simulation to test pilotless flight systems. This was the first time two autonomous aircraft were flying at one another using NASA designed collision avoidance software.
The test flights were part of a collaboration by NASA, Sikorsky, and DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). Researchers were able to collect data that will advance completely autonomous flight —systems that can operate an aircraft without a pilot from takeoff to touchdown. The work was part of NASA’s efforts to design and evaluate technologies that could eventually lead to air taxis and other new, automated air transportation options.
For the tests, the team used two experimental helicopters adapted for autonomous systems, known as the SARA (Sikorsky Autonomy Research Aircraft) a modified S-76B and the larger OPV (Optionally Piloted Vehicle) Black Hawk. Researchers loaded five NASA-designed software systems into the helicopters, which worked with the automated flight system already integrated by Sikorsky and DARPA.
“These flight tests using Sikorsky’s SARA and OPV helicopters show how we can stack technologies together to increase automation over time in a maintainable and scalable way,” says Adam Yingling, NASA project lead. “These efforts demonstrate that we can safely integrate operations to fly the aircraft using several technologies in one navigation tablet.”
A NASA and a Sikorsky safety pilot onboard each helicopter supervised the flight tests. Sikorsky’s flight autonomy system, in combination with NASA software, running on tablets the agency designed, allowed the helicopters to fly autonomously along multiple planned routes. The tablets also enabled the safety pilots to monitor flight path options the software selected whenever course corrections needed to occur.
The safety pilots observed how the helicopters responded to software-initiated commands, and NASA researchers evaluated how the different software systems worked together to control each aircraft.
The tests also assessed how human pilots interacted with the autonomous systems. During the flights, the NASA research pilots were outfitted with specially designed glasses to understand how long they interacted with the navigation tablets and how they physiologically responded to information the tablets provided. Researchers will employ this user experience data to assist in future visual and interactive designs for the software and tablets.
The team flew 12 successful flights covering 70 different flight test maneuvers and generating more than 30 flight hours for each aircraft. The NASA collaboration with Sikorsky and DARPA offered a foundation for furthering testing of the automation technology.
Virtual flight data is shown from the Dallas-Fort Worth urban area overlaid onto the actual flight test area over the Long Island Sound, near Bridgeport, Connecticut allowing pilots to fly in a mixed reality airspace while testing autonomous software systems.NASA/Stewart Nelson Mixed-Reality Airspace
The tests demonstrated the software’s capabilities in a mixed-reality setting. As the SARA and OPV helicopters flew over Long Island Sound, multiple virtual aircraft were added into the same airspace.
“For this test, we are using a model of future Advanced Air Mobility airspace with more than 150 virtual aircraft and their flight plans integrated with the flight path management software and the Sikorsky mission manager technology to fly the two helicopters in a mixed-reality mode,” said Mark Ballin, principal investigator for flight path management system development.
The NASA-designed software, which commanded both the SARA and OPV helicopters simultaneously, allowed research pilots and engineers to run planned interactions with the virtual aircrafts’ flight plans. The multiple software systems aboard the helicopters worked together, making adjustments to avoid the virtual aircraft and each other. That meant changing altitude, speed, and direction to avoid virtual “collisions” or maintain orbital patterns for landing. This NASA, Sikorsky, and DARPA collaboration will help usher in a new era of autonomy in aviation that could save lives, aircraft, and resources. NASA uses these tests to support the integration of automated systems research that will inform the Federal Aviation Administration with data on flight procedures to help introduce Advanced Air Mobility systems into the national airspace.
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Last Updated Jan 25, 2024 EditorDede DiniusContactLaura Mitchelllaura.a.mitchell@nasa.govLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
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1 min read
Dr. Natasha Schatzman Receives the Vertical Flight Society (VFS) 2023 Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Award
Dr. Natasha Schatzman, NASA Ames Research CenterNASA / Dominic Hart In May 2023, Dr. Natasha Schatzman received the Vertical Flight Society Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Award for her vertical flight research at NASA Ames Research Center. This annual award is given to a VFS member who is thirty-five years old or younger for outstanding contributions to vertical flight technology. The award announcement notes that Dr. Schatzman “was recognized for outstanding vertical lift research (internationally recognized in rotorcraft acoustics and full-scale wind tunnel acoustics testing), for extensive contributions to the VFS technical community and local VFS San Francisco Bay Area Chapter, and for outstanding mentorship in the rotorcraft field.” She began her work at NASA Ames Research Center in 2008 as an intern, and she now oversees various acoustic experimental and computational key aspects of Revolutionary Vertical Life Technology (RVLT) Project, which includes leading rotor acoustic tests in the 40-foot by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames Research Center. Dr. Schatzman holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
More information on this award is at:https://gallery.vtol.org/image/APwYX/?fbclid=IwAR0vRoQybkYvWeLGzOuqRhmw7TKuYXD1-EZSYKtgijvxfhzmwP58WIlSzBY
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Suzanne Cisneros
Management & Program Analyst
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Last Updated Oct 23, 2023 Related Terms
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