News Releases
Teledyne Brown Ships First Major Hardware Manufactured in Huntsville for Ares I-X
1/30/2009
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (January 30, 2009) — Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc. (TBE) announced that the company will ship the Ares I-X Roll Control System Module (RoCSM) to the Kennedy Space Center today. The RoCSM, manufactured under contract to NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, is the first major piece of hardware manufactured in Huntsville for Ares I-X.
The System plays a critical role during the Ares I-X mission by performing a 90-degree roll after the vehicle clears the launch tower, preventing roll during flight and maintaining the orientation of the rocket until separation of the Upper and First Stages.
“Teledyne Brown is proud to continue its heritage as a manufacturer of space flight hardware for NASA,” said Rex D. Geveden, president, Teledyne Brown Engineering. “The Roll Control System is an excellent example of our ability to take a concept, create a design, reengineer and manufacture a product.”
The RoCS, which is part of the Upper Stage Simulator, is made up of two modules and four thrusters. The thrusters and tanks were harvested by NASA from decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles to reduce development time and minimize cost in of the flight test.
Teledyne Brown modified and tested the Peacekeeper thrusters for use on Ares I-X test flight. NASA, TBE and Rocketdyne worked together to characterize the thrusters and expand their performance. The Ares I-X roll control mission requires the thruster to provide short duration pulses to maintain the rocket’s orientation. In addition, TBE modified the thrusters’ valves to better operate in an orientation that was different from Peacekeeper.
The RoCS will return to earth and splash down as a part of the Upper Stage Simulator and will not be recovered. The Ares I-X mission is currently scheduled to launch in Summer 2009.