NASA Orbital Space Plane OSP Flight Demonstrators Tech Summary

X-37
NASA's X-37 vehicle will test and validate technologies in the environment of space as well as test system performance of the vehicle during orbital flight, reentry and landing.

DART
Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology: Developed by Orbital Sciences, DART will flight demonstrate in-orbit autonomous rendezvous and close proximity operations as part of NASA's 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Risk Reduction Initiative.

PAD
Pad Abort Demonstrator: Developed by Lockheed-Martin, the launch pad abort demonstrator will be used as a test-bed to demonstrate crew escape technologies and to validate analytical models necessary for future crew escape systems.

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OSP TECH SUMMARY:
Flight Demonstrators

NASA's Orbital Space Plane program under the Space Launch Initiative focuses on supporting the U.S. International Space Station requirements for crew rescue, crew transport and contingency cargo.

Before a safer, more reliable and cost-effective new space transportation system can be built, it is critical to flight-test selected hardware and software technologies -- in relevant ascent, on-orbit and reentry environments -- to reduce the risk of future launch system development.

The Orbital Space Plane program plans to develop and flight test key enabling technologies during the first half of this decade. NASA will incorporate the knowledge gained from these tests into an Orbital Space Plane system design to provide crew rescue capability as soon as practical but no later than 2010. The new system also will provide transportation capability to and from the International Space Station by 2012 or sooner if possible.

Enabling technologies to be flight-tested include avionics, advanced guidance, navigation and control systems, thermal protection systems, high temperature structures, integrated vehicle health management systems, autonomous flight operations and crew escape systems.

Technology experiments will be integrated into flight vehicles able to accommodate technologies that can be added-on, and/or embedded -- technology which is built in as a permanent part of the flight vehicle during construction.

Currently, three flight demonstrators are being used to mature critical Orbital Space Plane risk reduction technologies: the Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART); the Pad Abort Demonstrator (PAD); and the X-37 vehicle.

The Demonstration for Autonomous Rendezvous Technology, or DART, is a flight demonstrator vehicle designed to test technologies including an advanced video guidance sensor required for U.S. space vehicles to locate and autonomously rendezvous with other spacecraft. The DART mission is unique in that all operations will be autonomous -- there will be no astronaut on board at the controls, only computers performing automated functions. Launched on a Pegasus rocket, DART will test rendezvous, close proximity operations and its control between the vehicle and a stationary satellite in orbit. The DART mission provides a key step in establishing autonomous rendezvous capability for the United States.

PAD is a reusable launch pad abort demonstrator, which includes a full-scale reusable system enabling NASA to test crew escape technologies. The launch pad abort demonstrator will use fully instrumented mannequins in the crew cabin to measure acceleration and motion resulting from the forces generated during different mission abort scenarios. Simulated mission events will include tests of the crew escape propulsion systems, parachute deployment, various vehicle configurations and landing techniques. The vehicle may be upgraded to test additional launch pad abort technologies as they mature, to further improve crew safety and survivability.

The X-37 flight demonstrator will test and validate technologies in the environment of space, as well as test system performance and demonstrate autonomous orbital flight, reentry and landing.The X-37 project includes development of two vehicles: the X-37 Approach and Landing Test Vehicle and the X-37 Orbital Vehicle. An initial list of experiments and technologies to be tested includes advanced guidance, navigation and control; thermal protection systems; high temperature structures; conformal reusable insulation; and high-temperature seals.

The performance of the flight technology experiments will be closely monitored and reviewed, ensuring that safety and reliability goals of the Orbital Space Plane are clearly addressed. Test results from each of the flight demonstrators will aid in the full-scale development of the Orbital Space Plane.