Ground System Development and

Operations Program(Orion & SLS)

National Aeronautics and Space
Administration(NASA)

Contents

Introduction
GSDO Management Process
Division of Teams
GSDO Design Review
First Flight Test
Risk Management
Improvements in Affordability, Reliability and Performance
Audits & Budgeting
Challenges Faced
Conclusion

Introduction
GSDO:
The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program
(GSDO) is one of three NASA programs based at the agencys
Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The program was established
to develop and use the complex equipment required to safely
handle rockets and spacecraft during assembly, transport and
launch.
Mission:
The programs mission is to prepare the center to process and
launch the next generation of rockets and spacecraft in support
of NASAs exploration objectives by developing the necessary
ground systems, infrastructure and operational approaches.
Key Aspect:
A key aspect of the programs approach to long-term
sustainability and affordability is to make processing and
launch infrastructure available to commercial and other
government customers, thereby distributing the cost among
multiple users and reducing the cost of access to space for
NASA.

Introduction(Cont.
) Orion & SLS

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which will carry the

astronauts who will be launched into space on the space
launch system (SLS), will be processed in Kennedys
refurbished Operations and Checkout (O&C) building. The
state of Florida previously provided $35 million for
renovation of the O&C high bay, and the facility is fully
operational and certified for its transition to Orion final
assembly and checkout.

GSDO Management Process

Division of Teams
The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program specialize in three
areas and works in teams on each specialty.
1. The Vehicle Integration and Launch Team:
The Vehicle Integration and Launch team focuses on the
Equipment , management and operations required to safely connect a
spacecraft with a rocket, move the launch vehicle to the launch pad and
successfully send it into space. The work entails use of many of the facilities
unique to Kennedy Space Center, such as
52-story Vehicle Assembly Building
Dual launch pads 39A and B
3-milelong runway at the Shuttle Landing Facility.

2. The Offline Processing and Integration Team:

The Offline Processing and Integration team will develop ways
to handle the Orion spacecraft, rocket stages and launch abort
system before they are all assembled into one vehicle. The work
will take place in several facilities in Kennedys industrial area,
including the O&C Building.
The buildings were built specifically for the demanding
processing work involved with preparing spacecraft for flight.
Such preparations can include
Software loading,
final assembly and
Loading of chemicals and propellants,
depending on the spacecraft.

3. Command Control Communications and Range Systems

Team:
Another team is modernizing the Command Control Communications
and Range systems involved in launching astronauts into space. In
addition to bringing computers, tracking systems and other
networks up to date, the team is creating systems that can handle
several different kinds of spacecraft and rockets. The computers,
antennas and software are expected to reduce the need for a large
launch team.

GSDO Design Review

Specifically, the GSDO critical design review will
look at the
Vehicle Assembly Building,
Launch Control Center,
Mobile launcher,
Crawler-transporter,
Launch Pad 39B and
Multi Payload Processing
Facility.

First Work Platforms Powered On and Tested in Vehicle

Assembly Building for Space Launch System

NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida is one power step closer to

processing the agencys Space Launch System (SLS), the most
powerful rocket in the world, for its first flight, Exploration Mission
1 (EM-1), and NASAs journey to Mars. During a preliminary test
April 28, the two J-level work platforms installed on the north and
south sides of Vehicle Assembly Building High Bay 3, where the
SLS will be prepared for launch, were successfully activated to test
their functionality and simulate how they will surround the massive
rocket on the mobile launcher.

Risk Management
(Orion Test Campaign) Reducing Risk while Maturing Design

Test 1A

Parachute Tests

Data Flow Test

Pad Abort1

Safety & Training

Water Drop Test

Improvements in Affordability, Reliability and

Performance

Audits and Budgeting

Challenges Faced During Audits
For the most part, these challenges originate from
interdependencies between the GSDO, SLS, and Orion
Programs, the report reads, referring to the Ground Systems
Development and Operations program. In short, GSDO cannot
finalize and complete its requirements without substantial input
from the other two Programs, and NASA is still finalizing the
requirements for those Programs.
The audit recommended NASA re-evaluate the timing of the
GSDO critical design review. The space agency agreed to move
the review to December 2015.
Suggestion for Resolvance
If NASA sets Orion cost estimates through EM-2 at 70 percent,
then there will be a reasonable chance that costs will not
increase significantly before the second flight. But complex
programs like this tend to encounter problems that they did not
anticipate and are expensive to resolve. Establishing cost
estimates at 70 percent confidence is a good practice and should
help prevent such growth

Budgeting

For the fifth fiscal year in a row, the White House proposes to cut both the Orion and
the Space Launch System programs by large amounts. The Orion program would be
cut by 8.2 percent and Space Launch System by over 20 percent from
levels appropriated in FY2015. As with past efforts by the White House and OMB to
cut Orion and the Space Launch System, it is unlikely that these proposed budget
cuts will survive.

Human
Space
Face Office
Challenges
In July
2014,Exploration
GovernmentPrograms
Accountability
(GAO) found
that NASA had not matched resources to requirements for the SLS
program and was pursuing an aggressive development schedule.
During parachute testing, NASA discovered that when only two of the
three main parachutes are deployed, they begin to swing past each other
creating a pendulum effect. This effect could cause the capsule to
increase speed and to hit the water at an angle that may damage the
capsule, thereby endangering the crew.
Suggestion for Solving this Issue
In addition, data from the test is necessary to inform NASA's design
solution to address heat shield cracking issues, which NASA has been
working to resolve since August 2013. The heat shield is integral to crew
safety during re-entry.

Conclusion

ANY QUESTIONS???