Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

A Titusville building once used for honoring American astronauts will continue its spaceflight legacy when Lockheed Martin begins using the facility next yearfor work related to NASA's Orion crew capsule.

The former Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just west of the NASA Causeway on State Road 405, will become the aerospace giant's newest location for Orion, a program expected to speed up locally in the coming years as NASA begins launching the spacecraft for its moon-focused Artemis program.

Lockheed Martin is leasing the facility from Delaware North, which operatesthe nearby Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It was also named the Astronaut Training Experience, or ATX Center, before it and the hall of fame were recently moved to the visitor complex's main campus six miles to the east.

The prime contractor for Orion, Lockheed Martin performs most of the spacecraft's work at KSC's historic Operations and Checkout Building a location that's a straight eight-mile shot down the roadto the new site. Work performed there will act as a support for the larger operations at KSC.

Kelly DeFazio, the company's Orion program production director, said the site is ideal for three key spacecraft subassemblies. From there, completed hardware can be trucked over the causeway to the Operations and Checkout Building.

"One is the thermal protection system, TPS, that will go on the heat shield on the aft end of the crew module," DeFazio said. "The majority of the flight harnesses and electrical cabling will be built there, too."

"And then we'll do tubing subassemblies. They would be for the propulsion system as well as the environmental control and life support systems," she said.

The Former United States Astronaut Hall of Fame is seen in this 2015 file photo. The hall of fame was later moved to the main campus of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, leaving the building just west of the NASA Causeway vacant.(Photo: FLORIDA TODAY file)

Factoring in permits, upgrades, and other modifications, DeFazio said the company hopes to officially move innext summer. About 75 people a mix of new hires and transfers from Operations and Checkout are expected to work there, with some room for growth in the future. Lockheed is paying for the necessary upgrades.

While the building wasn't designed with spaceflight production in mind, it surprisingly came with amenities that helped attract the company.

"It's a very interesting building," DeFazio said. "There are three large open spaces with very high ceilings, but one specifically truly is a high baywith a roll-up door. We did need a high bay so we could install a crane and lift and rotate that heat shield."

A clean room, pressure chambers, office space, and break areas are part of the plans, too,along with lighting. Lots of lighting.

"It's a little dark," she said. "So we're having to put in tons of all-new lighting. Obviously we have to have very good visibility when building this hardware."

The facility could be expandedto include other programs in the future, but Lockheed will use it to focus on Orion for now.

We had been looking for the right use of the former U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame building since helping NASA relocate the hall to (the visitor complex)in 2016, said Scott Socha, president of Delaware Norths parks and resorts division. It will also fit nicely in the developing commercial area where Delaware North is building a Courtyard by Marriott hotel.

At least part of the reason for the growth into new facilities is NASA's planned path for Orion, which already includes three full spacecraft for crewed missions to the moon and beyond. Last year, the agency announced it awarded Lockheed Martin an additional $2.7 billion for Orions tied to Artemis missions III through V. In 2022, NASA is expected order three more Artemis VI through VIII at a $1.9 billion price point.

The Orion spacecraft for NASA's Artemis I mission arrived at Kennedy Space Center on March 25, 2020. Here, it's seen at KSC's Operations and Checkout Building.(Photo: Lockheed Martin)

Spacing the orders out in groups of three, NASA says, allows the agency to save money by taking advantage of production efficiencies gained over time. It's why the 2022 price tag is expected to be $800 million cheaper.

Orion will fly on the Space Launch System, NASA's 322-foot rocket slated to launch Artemis I from KSC's pad 39B sometime in late 2021 or early 2022. The agency ultimately hopes to put boots back on the moon by 2024.

The expansionfor Orion work isn't the only facility Lockheed Martin has recently taken over. Last year, the company announced it would move its Fleet Ballistic Missile program's headquarters from Sunnyvale, California, to Titusville, which brought hundreds to the Space Coast in support of the Navy'sNaval Ordnance Test Unit at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

"Those of us that grew up here like myself, we're really pleased to see the footprint of Lockheed Martin really grow on the Space Coast," DeFazio said. "And particularly pleased because I'm from Titusville that it's helping the north end grow as much as the middle and the south end."

The Orion program officially made KSC its production home in 2006, according to the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast, which at the time was known as theCrew Exploration Vehicle for NASA's Constellation program. Though Constellation was canceled, the CEV survived and later became Orion.

"Every little win can be built upon," Lynda Weatherman, president and CEO of the EDC, said on Lockheed's recent expansions. "Something from 2006, we're still benefitting from today. Economic development is cumulative, proactive, and continually telling the story to build upon successes of the past."

Contact Emre Kelly at aekelly@floridatoday.com or 321-242-3715. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @EmreKelly. Support his space journalism by subscribing atfloridatoday.com/specialoffer/.

Autoplay

Show Thumbnails

Show Captions

Read or Share this story: https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2020/07/17/lockheed-martin-lease-former-ksc-building-nasa-orion-spacecraft-titusville/5435874002/

See the rest here:

Lockheed Martin will lease former Astronaut Hall of Fame for NASA's Orion spacecraft - Florida Today