- Curtiss-Wright data acquisition units capture critical test flight data on the SLS rocket boosters, core stage, upper stage and the Orion crew module
Ashburn, Va. 16 November 2022 . Curtiss-Wright’s Defense Solutions division, congratulates NASA on the successful first launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) super-heavy-lift launch vehicle rocket in support of the Artemis I mission. During the mission, the SLS rocket launched an uncrewed Orion spacecraft that is to travel beyond the Moon and back to Earth, in preparation for the Artemis II mission which will send astronauts on a flight to orbit the Moon. The test flight, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems, including the Orion spacecraft, SLS rocket, and supporting ground systems.
Curtiss-Wright is proud to support the Artemis I mission with multiple data acquisition and encoding units (DAU) and telemetry systems, located on the rocket’s boosters, core stage, upper stage, and crew module, that are designed to capture critical test flight data. The Artemis missions will demonstrate new technologies, capabilities, and business approaches needed for future space exploration. As part of NASA’s future Artemis missions, NASA is to send astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft from Earth and into lunar orbit. Astronauts will then dock Orion at the Gateway orbital outpost and transfer to a human landing system for expeditions to the surface of the Moon. They will return to the orbital outpost to again board Orion before returning safely to Earth. NASA, in collaboration with its commercial and international partners, plans to establish the first long-term human-robotic presence on and around the Moon. Information and experience gathered from these missions will be used to send the first astronauts to Mars.
“As a supplier to NASA’s Space Launch System, we congratulate the agency on the first successful test flight of the SLS deep-space rocket and commencing the next generation of American space travel that will power America’s return to the Moon, and later on to Mars,” said Chris Wiltsey, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions division. “With our long legacy as an aviation and aerospace innovator, building on the pioneering efforts of the Wright Brothers and Glenn Curtiss, Curtiss-Wright is extremely proud to contribute to the historic Artemis program, which will return U.S. astronauts to the Moon and ultimately lead to manned interplanetary exploration.”
