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| Wednesday / 28 June 2006 | ||
NASA Testing
Vehicles for Return to Moon. Engineers
at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville AL
continue conducting tests to support the development and integration
of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) that will replace the Shuttle
and carry humans back to the Moon, as well as two new rockets --
the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) and Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV).
MSFC engineers have conducted 80 wind-tunnel tests on a partial
model of the CLV, which "includes a portion of the upper stage,
the spacecraft adaptor, the CEV and the launch abort system," according
to the 26 June NASA Exploration
Systems Progress Report. The wind-tunnel tests are the latest
in an ongoing series of tests that began in February as part of
a coordinated partnership between MSFC, Langley Research Center
in Hampton VA, Ames Research Center in Mountain View CA and Boeing
in St. Louis MO. Tests will continue through July at MSFC, where
engineers have also completed preliminary tests of an "augmented
spark igniter" for the J 2X engine, which will power the CLV upper
stage and the CaLV Earth departure stage. Future J 2X tests will
chill propellants to -260 degrees F (-162 C) to simulate conditions
between Earth and the Moon. CLV and CaLV development is led
by MSFC's Exploration Launch Projects Office, which is part
of the overall Constellation Program. The Constellation Program,
located at Johnson Space Center in Houston TX, is a key program
of NASA Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington
DC. Pictured (R-L): CEV (with LSAM), CLV, CaLV.
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