NASA has opened media accreditation for a Nov. 30 event marking the arrival of a full-size test version of the service module, provided by ESA (European Space Agency), for NASA’s Orion spacecraft at the agency’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio.
NASA officials and European partners will address the media and answer questions about the Orion spacecraft and test plans for the service module, followed by a tour of the facility.
To attend, reporters must contact Jan Wittry at jan.m.wittry-1@nasa.gov or 216-433-5466. International media without U.S. citizenship must request accreditation and submit a scanned copy of their passport no later than 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Nov. 10. The deadline for U.S. media and green card holders is 4 p.m. on Nov. 23.
All media representatives must present a government-issued photo ID, such as a passport or driver’s license, to access Plum Brook Station.
The Orion spacecraft is being developed to send astronauts to deep space destinations, such as an asteroid placed in lunar orbit and Mars, and will launch on the agency’s Space Launch System rocket.
ESA, along with its contractor Airbus, is providing the service module for Orion’s next mission, a partnership that will bring international cooperation to the journey to Mars. A test article of the module will be evaluated in the Space Power Facility at Plum Brook during a multi-month test campaign to ensure it can withstand the trip to space. The service module is a critical piece of Orion and provides air, water, in-space propulsion and power for the spacecraft.
During the facility tour, media will get a look at some of the largest testing structures in the world, including the powerful space environment simulation facilities and vacuum chamber. Also at Plum Brook is the world’s most powerful spacecraft acoustic test chamber, and the world’s highest capacity and most powerful spacecraft shaker system.
For more information about NASA’s Orion spacecraft, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orion
To learn more about the world-class test facilities at NASA’s Plum Brook Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/testfacilities
