An international team of engineers deployed an orion solar array wing at nasa glenn s plum brook station in sandusky ohio on feb.
Orion spacecraft solar panels.
Following the cancellation of the constellation program in 2010 orion was heavily redesigned for use in nasa s journey to mars initiative.
The european built service module is comprised of 20 000 parts and components that must fit together perfectly and perform reliably.
To ensure adequate power for these systems on lengthy deep space missions lockheed martin engineers run simulations using a model of the orion power system developed with simulink and simscape electrical.
The array is a component of orion s service module which is provided by the european space.
Built in turin italy at thales alenia space this is.
When delivered in 2017 the solar array will consist of three panels.
The test array consisted of a yoke and three panels and three dummy wings integrated with the test model of the orion esm.
As nasa s orion spacecraft approaches the moon on the artemis iii mission to put the first woman and next man on the lunar surface the crew will get a glimpse through the spacecraft s windows.
Four solar arrays and four lithium ion battery assemblies will power the orion spacecraft life support propulsion guidance and other systems.
Originally designed with a service module featuring a new orion main engine and a pair of circular solar panels the spacecraft was to be launched atop the ares i rocket.
The orion spacecraft is made of three primary elements the launch abort system the crew module and the service module.
The service module has four solar array wings to provide power.
The solar array is one of four panels that will generate 11 kilowatts of power and span about 63 feet.