KENNEDY SPACE CENTER’S ANNUAL REPORT FY

20.July 1, 2012: Kennedy Space Center Celebrates 50th AnniversaryNASA’s Kennedy Space Center celebrated 50 years of launching humans and machines to other planets and into low-Earthorbit. For a chart of the center’s five-decade history and a video that chronicles some of the center’s most impressivemilestones, visit http://go.nasa.gov/y0VdRi.21.July 2, 2012: Orion Crew Module Arrives at Kennedy Space CenterNASA’s first space-bound Orion spacecraft arrived at Kennedy Space Center and was transportedto the Operations and Checkout Building high bay. The first uncrewed mission planned for 2014,Exploration Flight Test-1, will launch atop a Delta IV rocket.22.July 3, 2012: NASA Signs Agreement for Kennedy Space Center EquipmentNASA signed a new partnership with Craig Technologies of Melbourne, Fla., to maintain an inventory of unique processingand manufacturing equipment at the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for future mission support at theagency’s Kennedy Space Center.23.July 9, 2012: NASA Partners with Cella Energy on Hydrogen TechnologyIn a green-energy effort, Kennedy Space Center signed a Space Act Agreement with Cella Energy Inc. that could result in thecenter’s vehicles being powered by hydrogen. Cella has offices in the center’s Space Life Sciences Laboratory.24.July 26, 2012: NASA Selects Contract for Water and Wastewater RevitalizationNASA selected RTD Construction Inc. of Zephyrhills, Fla., to provide construction services for the revitalization of KennedySpace Center’s water distribution and wastewater collection systems.25.Aug. 3, 2012: New Agreements for Next Phase of Commercial CrewDevelopmentNASA announced new agreements with three American commercial companies to design anddevelop the next generation of U.S. human spaceflight capabilities through the Commercial CrewIntegrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative of the Commercial Crew Program. The CCiCap partners areSierra Nevada Corp. of Louisville, Colo., Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne,Calif., and The Boeing Company of Houston.26.Aug. 15, 2012: NASA Awards Contract for Safety and Mission Support ServicesNASA selected A-P-T Research Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., to provide mission assurance, engineering and risk assessment serviceson the Safety and Mission Support Services II (S-MASS II) contract at Kennedy Space Center.27.Aug. 30, 2012: Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission LaunchesNASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes, the first twin-spacecraft mission designed to explore Earth’s radiation belts, launchedaboard an Atlas V 401 rocket, at 4:05 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.28.Sept. 6, 2012: Kennedy Space Center Hosts First Innovation ExpoThe First Innovation Expo for employees was held at Kennedy Space Center. The Expo showcasedinnovative and creative ideas from workers, offered tours of facilities and laboratories, and featuredspeakers from Central Florida companies.29.Sept. 19, 2012: Space Shuttle Endeavour Departs Kennedy Space CenterSpace shuttle Endeavour, atop NASA’s 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), departed from KennedySpace Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility at sunrise to begin its cross-country ferry flight to the LosAngeles International Airport. Endeavour is on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.FY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER7

CENTER PLANNING & DEVELOPMENTKennedy Space CenterCenter, which consolidates manyacademic partners. The directorateis in the midst of aseparate facilities into one centralserves as the “front door” fortransformation. What wasadministrative campus and upgrades potential partners seeking to dohistorically a government-onlyinfrastructure to support a newbusiness with Kennedy.launch complex is growing into ageneration of launch vehicles andIn June 2012, Britain-basedbusy multiuser spaceport that willexplorers.Cella Energy reached an agreementcontinue to be a driving force inPartnerships are an integral partto produce micro-bead hydrogenfuture spaceflight, serving NASA asof the spaceport’s future. With anpellets to be used as fuel in cars.well as the local commercial spaceexpert workforce, unique facilitiesHydrogen produces pure water asindustry. Kennedy’s Center Planningand an impressive array of availablea byproduct when burned, helpingand Development Directorate istechnologies and services, Kennedyreduce the amount of carbonleading this vital change by providing Space Center has much to offeremissions. The space centera clear vision of the center’s future,commercial, government andhas more than three decades ofand establishing the plansexperience handling rawand partnerships necessaryhydrogen in its cryogenicsto achieve this vision.and materials labs, and willCreated as a center officetherefore serve in a consultantin 2010, Center Planning androle in this partnership. CellaDevelopment was formallyEnergy already has officesnamed a directorate in Augustin the spaceport’s Space2012, and its role expandedLife Sciences Laboratory atto include management ofKennedy.Kennedy’s research andIn another partnershiptechnology partnerships.formed in June, CraigThe center’s transitionTechnologies signed ainto a more varied andfive-year lease for the loanrobust spaceport requiresof 1,600 pieces of shuttlecareful planning. The Centerprocessing equipmentPlanning and Developmentcurrently housed in the NASAdirectorate has worked withShuttle Logistics Depot.NASA leadership as wellNow that the agency’sas external stakeholders toshuttle fleet is retired, Craigdevelop a future developmentTechnologies will maintain theconcept incorporatingequipment for future missionforward-looking businesssupport and, with the help ofand operation models basedSpace Florida, market theseon key guiding principles.unique resources to attractThis concept provides thefoundation for a new masterWorking with Kennedy Space Center, UE Systems of Elmsford, N.Y., developed a long-range attachment for aplan for Kennedy Spacedetector that allows users to scan for electrical leaks and compressed air leaks safely and easily.8FY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

A new sign on Space Commerce Way marks the entrance to Exploration Park near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Managed by SpaceFlorida, about 60 acres of land have been cleared for the first phase of construction. The park encompasses a total of 299 acres just outsidethe center’s security gates and is strategically located near the Space Life Sciences Laboratory to service diverse tenants who will engage inactivities to support the space-related activities of NASA, other government agencies and the U.S. commercial space industry.aerospace business tothe Space Coast.Another role ofCenter Planning andDevelopment is tooversee the research,development andcommercializationof new technologiesthat may supportfuture missions whileoffering benefits righthere on Earth. Thedirectorate encouragescooperativepartnerships in whichacademia and othergovernment agenciesmay work withKennedy researchers,addressing NASA’sand the nation’s needs. Thesepartnerships enable NASA to impactthe fields of health and medicine,transportation, public safety,consumer goods, environmentalresources, and computer technologyon a global scale.Kennedy Space Center’sTechnology Transfer Office signedfive patent licensing agreementsthis fiscal year. One of the licensees,Aviation Technologies, is currentlyproducing a cabin pressuremonitoring device for the generalaviation industry that will warn pilotsof dangerous and deterioratingcabin pressure conditions that couldlead to dangerously low levels ofoxygen. nDr. Mason Peck, left, NASA’s chief technologist, examines an innovative conductive material during atour of the Space Life Sciences Laboratory on July 30, 2012.FY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER9

GROUND SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT& OPERATIONS PROGRAMDuring Fiscal Year 2012,the Ground SystemsDevelopment andOperations (GSDO) Program officeat Kennedy Space Center continuedto lead the way in transformingthe center from an historicallygovernment-only launch complex tobecome a spaceport bustling withactivity involving government andcommercial vehicles alike.GSDO was tasked withdeveloping and using the complexequipment required to safely handlea variety of rockets and spacecraftduring assembly, transport andlaunch.Inside the Vehicle AssemblyBuilding, GSDO workers removedhundreds of miles of cablesto replace it with state-of-theart command, control andcommunications systems. Workersalso removed space shuttle-era workplatforms from High Bay 3 to makeroom for a more flexible conceptthat can accommodate a varietyof spacecraft, including NASA’sheavy-lift rocket, the Space LaunchSystem, and the Orion spacecraft.At Launch Pad 39B, the rotatingand fixed service structures wereremoved so that the pad is clean ontop, surrounded by three 600-foottall lightning protection towers.Each tower has a complete weatherstation with four levels for datacollection.Beneath the pad, workers werebusy removing more than 1.3 millionfeet of cables, some dating backto the Apollo era, and replacingthem with fiber optics. Shuttle-erasystems also have been removedand upgraded with state-of-the-arthardware.A new “universal” flame deflectoris being designed for use with theSLS, as well as various commercialvehicles. Liquid hydrogen and liquidoxygen propellant storage tankshave been completely drained,refurbished and painted to supportlaunch operations for the next 20 to30 years.The Launch Pad 39B team beganfabrication of the utility interfaces,including potable water, freezeprotection water, chilled water andfire suppression. Core drilling beganto replace five mobile launcher-topad interface pipes.During the year, some of the partsof NASA’s trio of mobile launcherplatforms were removed to supportthe agency’s SLS rocket andOrion spacecraft. The huge steelstructures, which acted as launchbases for Apollo’s Saturn flightsand every space shuttle mission,will have a part in serving the nextAmerican-made vehicles.The agency’s first space-boundOrion spacecraft arrived at KennedyInside the Operations and Checkout Building atKennedy Space Center, technicians monitor theprogress as a crane lowers the Orion ExplorationFlight Test 1 crew module toward the base ofa birdcage tool, Sept. 5, 2012. The birdcagewill be used to continue installation of externalcomponents in preparation for Orion’s firstuncrewed test flight in 2014 atop a Delta IVrocket.10FY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

Crawler-transporter 2 was moved along the crawlerway Nov. 8, 2012 to check out recently completed modifications to ensure its ability to carry launchvehicles such as NASA’s Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket to the pad.in June 2012. It now is beingprocessed and tested for flight in theOperations and Checkout Buildinghigh bay. The first uncrewed missionof Orion, called Exploration FlightTest-1 (EFT-1), is targeted to launchatop a Delta IV heavy rocket in 2014.A test of a new kind of “cleanroom” that could be used to helpprotect NASA’s Orion spacecraftfrom dirt and dust during processingwas performed in the VAB forseveral weeks in May.A full-scale Orion model was usedfor the test that revealed a reductionin airborne particulates. Developedby Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., theroom has two 10-foot-high walls offilter-equipped fans positioned 30feet apart to push and pull the airin one direction across the capsule.Another set of two clear wallscompleted the box. It has no ceiling.A full-size Orion spacecraftmock-up was placed atop a modelof the service module in the VABtransfer aisle in August. The mockup stack, which is 27 feet tall, willallow engineers and technicians todetermine the exact dimensions ofthe connectors that will run from themobile launcher to the spacecraftbefore liftoff. The Orion model isa replica of the spacecraft and isempty on the inside, except for fourmodel astronaut seats and a hatch.GSDO engineers are combiningheritage technology and newinnovations to design the crewaccess arm for the tower on themobile launcher that will be used forNASA’s Orion spacecraft atop theSLS rocket.The mobile launcher’s new60-foot-long hydraulic crew accessarm will be similar in length andspeed to the arm used during theApollo missions. It will have twolevels and incorporate hardwarefrom NASA’s Apollo and SpaceShuttle programs. The upper levelwill include a new “White Room” thatprovides access to the Orion crewmodule. The lower-level walkwaywill provide access to two panelson the spacecraft’s service module.The access arm will rotate out to thecrew module on giant Apollo-erahinges.Engineers also completed asystem installation and integrationof a test umbilical arm for theSLS system. The arm will supportcryogenic, or supercold, propellantloading for the new rocket’spropulsion systems. It was mountedto the mobile launcher towersimulator at Kennedy’s LaunchEquipment Test Facility for furtherFY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER11

This computer-aided design image highlights the crew access arm that is being developed for the tower on the mobilelauncher that will be used for NASA’s Orion spacecraft atop the Space Launch System rocket.checkouts and simulations. Whentesting is complete, some of thehardware will be reused as part ofthe Orion service module umbilicalon the mobile launcher.One of NASA’s 1960s-eracrawler-transporters, CT-2, receivedseveral upgrades during the year.After two new Cummins dieselengine generator sets were installed,they were successfully started upin September to verify fluid levels,maintain idle and running speeds,monitor oil pressure and coolanttemperatures, check for leaks in theexhaust, coolant and fuel lines, andobtain vibration baseline data.The tests were performed inorder to prepare for CT-2’s rolloutfrom the VAB to Launch Pad 39A tovalidate new upgrades and monitorperformance of the giant transporter.12The firing room of the futureunderwent extensive renovations sothat it can support a variety of rocketand spacecraft launches. InsideLaunch Control Center Firing Room1, known as the Young-CrippenFiring Room, old monitors andcomputers have been replaced withmodern off-the-shelf workstations,upgraded servers and moderncabinetry. Old wiring that transmittedimages from a single camera werepulled to make way for a tiny fiberoptic cable that carries the signalsof more than 570 cameras from thelaunch pad to the control room.Modifications to Firing Room3 began in September. Theroom is being converted from aSpace Shuttle Program supportconfiguration to a development labarea. Crews removed the legacyFY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTERconsoles, electrical and data cablesand raised flooring and are in theprocess of replacing them withnew equipment and raised flooring.New software for the SpaceportCommand and Control System thatis being developed in Firing Room3 will be used in the newly modifiedFiring Room 1 to support testing andlaunch operations.GSDO’s accomplishments thisyear brought Kennedy’s historicfacilities and unique assets closerto the goal of supporting theprocess and launch of a variety ofgovernment and commercial launchvehicles and spacecraft, includingNASA’s Space Launch Systemand the Orion multi-purpose crewvehicle. n

An artist illustration depicts NASA’s Space Launch System andOrion capsule on top of the mobile launcher at Kennedy SpaceCenter’s Launch Pad 39B.

GROUND PROCESSINGThe Ground Processinghardware also were turned over toand Operations, as well as to otherdirectorate used 2012museums for use in shuttle exhibitsfederal government organizationsto increase the pace toshowing the impact of NASA’shaving reutilization potential, suchtransform Kennedy Space Centerlongest-operating crewed spaceas the Department of Defense. Inas the space shuttle fleet wasprogram.addition to significantly offsettingprocessed to serve as inspirationalGround Processing’s logisticsprograms’ costs, some of thesemuseum exhibits and the facilitiesteam transferred more than 1.1items also will provide valuablearound the center that served thebillion of flight and ground hardware,spare parts that may no longershuttles began refurbishment to host equipment and material that was nobe in production by the originalnew rockets and spacecraft.longer required to support shuttlemanufacturer. The remainingWith three space shuttlesflights and ground processingexcess property items also arelocated on center at the beginningactivities. More than half of thesebeing screened as part of KSC’sof the 2012 fiscal year, much ofassets were transferred directly forproperty disposal process to ensureGround Processing’s work focuseduse on other active NASA programs,maximizing additional reutilizationon preparing the history-makingincluding International Spaceopportunities.vehicles for public display andStation, Space Launch System,The directorate came intoremoving elements of the shuttlesOrion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicleexistence in 2011 to work throughthat could be used in future rocketsand Ground Systems Developmentthe center’s major program transitionor spacecraft. The three orbitersfollowing 30 years of operatingwere set up as requested bythe space shuttle fleet. One oftheir respective destinations andthe organization’s mandates is totwo of them – Discovery andadapt the center’s unique abilitiesEndeavour - were flown from theand equipment from supportingcenter during 2012 to new homesa single spacecraft to a systemin Washington, D.C., and Losthat efficiently processes andAngeles, respectively. Atlantis,safely launches several differentwhich is going on display atcraft, many operated by a privateKennedy, was processed duringenterprise.Fiscal Year 2012, but was notGround Processing assistedsigned into retirement until FY13.the Orion Program in establishingThe transition and retirementa critical capability to fabricateeffort, as it was known, includedthermal protection systemthe proper disposition ofcomponents by facilitatingthousands of pieces of shuttlemanufacturing processhardware and support equipment.development in the ThermalThe equipment was screenedProtection Systems Facility.carefully during disposition todetermine whether other programs Inside Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Control Center, workers prepare to remove the Public Affairsor agencies might be able toconsole from Firing Room 3, May 1, 2012. The console was moved to the Kennedy Space Center Visitoruse it. Many elements of shuttleComplex and will be preserved for use in the space shuttle Atlantis display.14FY12 KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

worked with GSDO,ISS, LSP, CCP,emerging customers,CMO and others inproviding expertisein configurationmanagement andintegration to ensureGround Processinginternal directoratesuccess, as well asthat of the customerprograms, andparticipation inplanning, programming,budgeting andexecution processesto help ensureAt the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center during April 2012, the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is positionedappropriate full-timebeneath space shuttle Discovery in the mate-demate device. Discovery was lowered and mated to the aircraft inequivalent contractorpreparation for its departure from Kennedy.and other resourceshave been identified toThis year, Ground ProcessingThe directorate also workedmeet customer requirements.transitioned Orbiter Processingclosely with ongoing programs,Ground Processing’s expertiseFacility 3 (OPF-3) to Space Floridaincluding the International Spacecame into demand from other NASAand its sub-lessee, The BoeingStation, Space Launch System andlaunch sites, too, as the directorate’sCompany. Ground ProcessingOrion Program, to provide criticalstaff provided expert test, systemsestablished a solid relationshipengineering and operations supportengineering and oper

Inc. of Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Tetra Tech of Pittsburgh, Pa. SIGNIFICANT EVENTS. 7 20. July 1, 2012: Kennedy Space Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary NASA’s Kennedy Space Center celebrated 50 years of launching humans and machines to other planets and into low-Earth orbit. For a chart of the center’s five-decade history and a video that .