First European-Built Service Module Arrives at KSC for NASA’s First Orion Moon Mission: Photos

First European-built Orion Service Module (ESM) arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard Antonov An-124 cargo jet flying from Bremen, Germany on Nov. 6, 2018. The module was provided by the European Space Agency to propel NASA’s first Orion mission to the Moon in 2020 on the Space Launch System rocket.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer  --  SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM -- 6 November 2018

TITUSVILLE, FL – The critical European-built powerhouse module that will help propel NASA’s Orion human-rated spacecraft on its first voyage to the Moon and eventually on future deep space missions beyond, arrived stateside at the Kennedy Space Center, FL, today, Tuesday, Nov. 6, from its manufacturing facility in Germany.

The first European Service Module (ESM) built and funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) flew here aboard a huge Antanov An-124 cargo jet touching down gracefully at approximately 11:34 a.m. EST – as witnessed by Space UpClose.

Enjoy our exclusive ESM arrival photos taken from Titusville, FL.

First European-built Orion Service Module (ESM) arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard Antonov An-124 flying from Bremen, Germany on Nov. 6, 2018. The module was provided by the European Space Agency to propel NASA’s first Orion mission to the Moon in 2020 on the Space Launch System rocket.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Orion’s first mission launches to the Moon on an uncrewed test flight in 2020 on NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) mammoth rocket.

The implications here are huge because this marks the first time that NASA “will use a European-built system as a critical element to power an American spacecraft, extending the international cooperation of the International Space Station into deep space.”

First European-built Orion Service Module (ESM) arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard Antonov An-124 flying from Bremen, Germany on Nov. 6, 2018. The module was provided by the European Space Agency to propel NASA’s first Orion mission to the Moon in 2020 on the Space Launch System rocket.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Orion and SLS  are under development by NASA to lead humanity back to a permanent presence at the Moon together with partners including Europe and potentially Russia, Canada and Japan.  

The Antanov An-124 swooped in from the Atlantic Ocean off the east coast of Florida after taking off from Bremen, Germany yesterday, Nov. 5, by way of a stopover in Portsmouth, NH. The cargo plane banked southwards for a safe lunchtime landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) – the same runway where NASA’s orbiters returned from missions to low Earth orbit for 3 decades.

First European-built Orion Service Module (ESM) arrives at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center aboard Antonov An-124 flying from Bremen, Germany on Nov. 6, 2018. The module was provided by the European Space Agency to propel NASA’s first Orion mission to the Moon in 2020 on the Space Launch System rocket.   Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

“The European-built service module that will propel, power and cool during the Orion flight to the Moon on Exploration Mission-1 arrived from Germany at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday to begin final outfitting, integration and testing with the crew module and other Orion elements,” NASA said in a statement.

The importance of today’s arrival of the Orion ESM cannot be overstated – because NASA’s Orion Crew Module can’t go anywhere absent the newly arrived module.   

“We have a strong foundation of cooperation with ESA through the International Space Station partnership, and the arrival of the service module signifies that our international collaboration extends to our deep space human exploration efforts as well,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA’s associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, in a statement.

Graphic outlining NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 with Orion human-rated spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket launch to the Moon in 2020. Credit: NASA  

The next step is to test, connect and integrate the two hardware components together with NASA’s Orion Crew Module stacked atop ESA’s Orion Service Module -  just like the  Apollo Command and Service modules.

That effort begins now inside the Neil Armstrong Operations & Checkout (O & C) building at KSC where the crew module is being manufactured by prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

The cylindrically shaped ESM arrived at the entrance to the O & C later in the day.  

“Come on in; we’ve been waiting for you! The @esa @AirbusSpace European Service Module is at the door of the @NASAKennedy Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building!” tweeted Mark Kirasich, NASA’s Orion program manager.

Crated European-built Orion Service Module (ESM) arrives at Operations & Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 6, 2018 after flying from Bremen, Germany. Credit: NASA

“Engineers will complete functional checkouts to ensure all elements are working properly before it is connected to the Orion crew module. Teams will weld together fluid lines to route gases and fuel and make electrical wiring connections,” NASA reported.

The European Service Module for NASA's Orion spacecraft is loaded on an Antonov airplane in Bremen, Germany, on Nov. 5, 2018, for transport to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credits: NASA/Rad Sinyak

For the thousands of miles (km) journey across the Atlantic Ccean the ESM “was packed in a custom-built container that keeps the environment inside within acceptable limits for transportation,” said ESA.

Prime contractor Airbus Defence & Space designed and manufactured the ESM at facilities in Bremen, Germany and Turin, Italy with over 20,000 parts provided by companies across ESA’s partner nations. The design builds on heritage from ESA’s now retired Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) which served as a cargo freighter for the ISS.

The 4-meter tall ESM provides power, propulsion, life support and consumables for the Orion crew capsule and the astronauts – including oxygen, nitrogen and water – on the first integrated flight with the SLS heavy lift booster on EM-1. 

The service module is equipped with four giant solar array wings that span 19 meters when deployed and provide enough electricity to power two three-bedroom homes, as well as the orbital maneuvering system.

Radiators and heat exchangers help maintain comfortable temperatures, “while the module’s structure is the backbone of the entire vehicle, like a car chassis,” according to ESA.

The main engine ignites to provide the powerful burns to propel Orion into and out of lunar orbit to return to Earth.  The module is equipped with 33 engines altogether.

For this first service module the engine is a repurposed Space Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System engine.  It has flown 19 times in space before on three shuttle orbiters including Challenger, Discovery and Atlantis from 1984 to its last flight in space in 2002 on the STS-112 mission and provides 25.7 kN thrust.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area.

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Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Artists concept of NASA’s Orion spacecraft mission to the Moon. Credit: NASA