Spacecraft returns to Sandusky

PERKINS TWP. — Groundbreaking tests to prepare astronauts for unchartered deep-space travel continue at a one-of-a-kind Sandusky-area space station. On Thursday (Nov. 21), those at the Neil A. Armstrong Test Facility in Erie County opened up their facilities for an exclusive press event. The event preceded an invite-only function attended by about 500 community members who received a first-hand look at the Orion space capsule. Orion represents part of the over-encompassing Artemis mission. Artemis I just wrapped up last year, as spacecraft without astronauts flew into deep space in late 2022. Future missions are planned, including Artemis II in 2025. Additionally, Orion serves as the name for the crew and service modules that ride on top of the Space Launch System rocket. The crew module is where the crew sits, and the service module provides power, oxygen and other necessities for astronauts until their re-entry back to Earth. Onward with Orion Appearing like a burnt marshmallow, the capsule blackened from its once-lustrous silver appearance due to encountering extreme temperatures and burning extreme fuel while eclipsing 24,000 mph upon being launched. Following the Artemis I launch in November 2022 from Florida, Orion's space capsule — without a crew aboard — traveled about 1.4 million miles around the moon before returning to Earth after a 25.5-day space journey before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on Dec. 11, 2022. This flight served as an important benchmark and necessary precursor before astronauts come on board for the Artermis II season. When this does happen, scheduled for sometime in 2025, it will represent a monumental moment in space exploration history. Humans last walked across the moon's surface in 1972 when NASA's Apollo program ended. Orion returned to Armstrong in January for additional testing to best prepare astronauts taking part in Artemis II. This ongoing testing should wrap up in December. "The Orion environmental test article has undergone testing in Sandusky to ensure Orion, its launch abort system, docking mechanism and other related subsystems are ready for future crewed Artemis missions," according to a NASA statement. The local impact For several years, mostly from 2016 to 2020 and then again in 2024, Armstrong served as a primary testing hub for activities related to Orion. It occurred there, simply put, because Armstrong houses one-of-a-kind, world-class testing facilities found only within Erie County to safely and fully carry out the Artemis initiative. Nowhere else on planet Earth could do this type of testing. NASA personnel emphasized how Armstrong serves as the only place where crews can "test a full-sized spacecraft for all the extreme conditions of launch and spaceflight." At Armstrong, engineers analyzed Orion's capabilities with solar power, noise, temperatures and pyro shocks to ensure it can separate when necessary. More specifically, tests at Armstrong within the Space Environments Complex involved Orion going through: • Thermal vacuum: Armstrong houses the world's largest vacuum chamber, which determines if spacecraft can withstand extreme temperatures — ranging from minus 250 degrees to 170 degrees — found in space. • Electromagnetic interference and compatibility tests to ensure all onboard technology performed to its capabilities without experiencing interference • Sounds and vibrations: Armstrong also hosts the world's most powerful acoustic and vibration chambers, which can determine if spacecraft, like Orion, can withstand the extreme noises and disruptions it'll encounter in space. • Sound-level testing; Armstrong hosts the world's most powerful acoustic chamber Data obtained through testing helps NASA personnel determine and understand Orion's effectiveness before several scheduled launches occur, such as Artemis II next year. NASA administrators thanked their project contractors and various local businesses for all playing key contributing roles. Equally important, they thanked Armstrong employees. Earlier this year, 56 workers received the Orion Program Manager Commendation Award. This honor "recognizes the exemplary work performed by the Neil Armstrong Test Facility team in preparing the Orion spacecraft for its first test flight in deep space, the record-setting 25.5-day Artemis I mission around the moon and back," NASA spokesman Brian Newbacher said. Speaking up Beyond the moon, NASA officials also envision the Artemis I initiative setting a foundation for astronauts to, one day, land on Mars. None of this could happen, they said, without Armstrong's testing chambers and the subsequent work occurring at the Erie County base. Officials speaking at Thursday's press event made this prevailing theme abundantly clear. This would include: • Robert Overy, NASA's project manager for Orion's environmental test article: "We are a one-stop shop. You can bring your spacecraft here and do multiple levels of testing. If you want to get it certified for flight, it makes it really easy to stop in Sandusky, Ohio, and get it certified to launch. The amount of tests that we can run and the capabilities of the facility are just world-class. (Other companies) need to test here because it's much cheaper to test on the ground than it is to put a spacecraft into a harsh environment if something goes wrong." • Paul Anderson, Lockheed Martin's Orion deputy program manager: "The requirements for testing the environments that will be extreme, the facility here at Armstrong has absolutely unique capabilities, especially in the areas of being able to simulate the acoustic and vibration environments for a launch abort in case we need to use an abort scenario. There is no other facility in the world that has this capability. The fact that we have been able to come down and perform (the) testing so successfully … is just absolutely unique. We are super thankful we have the ability to come down here and perform this test." • Carlos Garcia-Galan, NASA's manager for the European Service Module integration office for Orion: "For test assets, it's very hard to find a facility like this that provides you with all the environments that you need in one place. It's big enough and it has the different inputs: vibration, acoustic, vacuum, thermal. When you can just go to one place to get it down it's a huge time and efficiency saver."