National Aeronautics and Space Administration Kennedy Space Center’s Annual Report FY2011 Table of Contents 3 Center Director’s Message 32 Center Planning & 4 Vision, Mission & Core Development Competencies 34 Engineering & Technology 6 Significant Events 36 Environmental Leadership 16 Launch Vehicle Processing 38 Education 20 Ground Processing 44 Outreach to the World 22 International Space Station 48 Kennedy Business Report Ground Processing & CFO Report Research Economic Impact 25 Launch Services Program Workforce Overview 28 Commercial Crew Program Procurement Report 30 Ground Systems Development & Operations Program Space shuttle Discovery pauses for photos during its move called “rollover” from Orbiter Processing Facility-3 to the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building on Sept. 9, 2010. FY2011 • Kennedy Space Center 1 Bathed in xenon lights, space shuttle Atlantis embarks on its final journey from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A at 8:42 p.m. EDT, May 31, 2011. Center Director’s Message uring fiscal year 2011, a dedicated and on dozens of agreements, many of which are diverse workforce at Kennedy Space Center partnerships with commercial companies. D helped to process NASA’s last three space Kennedy also will take the lead in some areas shuttle missions and bring to a close 30 years of of technology capabilities with assistance from Space Shuttle Program flights. other NASA centers. These capabilities include life At the same time, Kennedy began transitioning sciences and habitation systems, space launch from a historically government-only launch facility, and suborbital technologies, and tracking, timing, which supported shuttle missions and construction communications and navigation techniques. of the International Space Station, to a multi- NASA marked the 10th anniversary of continuous purpose spaceport, supporting research and human presence on the International Space Station development aboard the space station and serving in November 2010. Men and women from 15 nations different types of missions, rockets and spacecraft, have lived and worked together on the station and both governmental and commercial. conducted more than 600 research and technology Kennedy and the world watched as space shuttles experiments. Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis launched on their These are just a few highlights of the many final missions, all to the International Space Station. accomplishments that were achieved by the Final payloads processed in Kennedy’s Space outstanding workforce here at Kennedy Space Station Processing Facility, including the Permanent Center. Multipurpose Module and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, were delivered to the space station. The long-established Launch Services Program (LSP) based at Kennedy oversaw the launch of three NASA missions from the east and west coasts, including the Aquarius/SAC-D observatory, Juno mission to Jupiter, and the twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) spacecraft, named Ebb and Flow, bound for the moon. LSP also spent the year preparing the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) for launch in November 2011 and is scheduled to arrive at Mars in August 2012. As we move forward, Kennedy is leading efforts in two newly-established programs and a new center office that are among several supporting NASA’s next steps in space exploration. These are the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, the Commercial Crew Program and the Ground Processing Directorate. In the last several years leading up to the shuttle program’s retirement, we’ve emphasized that partnering is the key to the center’s future. In fiscal year 2011, Kennedy’s Center Planning and Robert D. Cabana Development Office was involved in discussions Center Director FY2011 • Kennedy Space Center 3 Vision, Mission & Core Competencies KSC Vision KSC is the world’s preeminent launch complex for government and commercial space access, enabling the world to explore and work in space. KSC Mission KSC safely manages, develops, integrates and sustains space systems through partnerships that enable innovative, diverse access to space and inspires the nation’s future explorers. KSC Core Competencies • Acquisition and management of launch services and commercial crew development • Launch vehicle and spacecraft processing, launching, landing and recovery, operations and sustaining engineering • Payload and flight science experiment processing, integration and testing • Designing, developing, operating, and sustaining flight and ground systems, and supporting infrastructure • Development, test and demonstration of advanced flight systems and transformational technologies • Developing technology to advance exploration and space systems 4 FY2011 • Kennedy Space Center Significant Events 1. Oct. 11, 2010: Commercial Crew Program becomes NASA’s future President Obama and Congress approve the creation of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and future direction of the agency with the signing of the 2010 NASA Authorization Act. 2. Oct. 19, 2010: Memorial to fallen employees dedicated A memorial was dedicated to those who died on the job at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in service to America’s space program. Sponsored by the U.S. Space Walk of Fame Foundation and located in Space View Park in Titusville, Fla., their names are engraved on one of the Apollo memorial’s pylons. 3. Nov. 2, 2010: NASA marks 10th anniversary of life on space station NASA celebrated 10 years of continuous living on the International Space Station (ISS) and the completion of 57, 361 orbits of Earth, or about 1.5 billion miles. Men and women from 15 nations have lived and worked together on the station and conducted more than 600 research and technology experiments. 4. Nov. 11, 2010: NASA awards new engineering services contract NASA selected QinetiQ North America of McLean, Va., to provide engineering services and products at Kennedy. 5. Dec. 8, 2010: First COTS Program flight test a success SpaceX tested its Falcon 9 rocket and a fully functioning Dragon spacecraft combination during a brief mission launched from Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The flight was the first for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program. 6. Jan. 20, 2011: LEED Platinum building unveiled Kennedy unveiled its newest environmentally friendly building, the Propellants North Administrative and Maintenance Facility. It qualified for the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum status, which is the highest of green building certifications. The new building will help Kennedy prepare for future projects. 7. Feb. 24, 2011: Discovery lifts off on its last mission Space shuttle Discovery roared off Launch Pad 39A at 4:53 p.m. EST to begin the last of its historic missions, STS-133. The launch originally was scheduled for Nov. 5, 2010, but was delayed by a problem with the ground umbilical carrier plate (GUCP) and a crack in the orange foam near the top of the external fuel tank’s midsection. 8. March 1, 2011: NASA implements 2010 Authorization Act with creation of Commercial Crew Program Office NASA announced that Kennedy Space Center will lead the way in enabling commercial human spaceflight capabilities with the establishment of the Commercial Crew Program Office, the first at the center for human spaceflight. 6 FY2011 • Kennedy Space Center 9. March 9, 2011: Discovery ends illustrious career with return from space Discovery touched down at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility at 11:57 a.m. EST to complete the 13-day, 5.3-million-mile STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. The shuttle and its crew of six astronauts delivered the last pressurized module to the U.S. side of the orbiting outpost, a large closet of sorts called the Permanent Multipurpose Module. Discovery, the longest-serving veteran of NASA’s space shuttle fleet, flew 39 missions, spent 365 days in space, orbited Earth 5,830 times and traveled 148,221,675 miles since 1984. 10. March 11, 2011: Kennedy-sponsored Pink Team wins Florida FIRST competition The Kennedy-sponsored Pink Team participated in the regional For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics Competition at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. The team, made up of students from Rockledge, Cocoa Beach and Viera high schools, was the winning alliance in the Florida FIRST Robotics Competition, where they also took home the Industrial Design Award sponsored by General Motors. 11. April 12, 2011: Retirement locations of space shuttles announced NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden announced on the 30th anniversary of the first space shuttle launch, that shuttle Atlantis will remain on permanent exhibition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. 12. April 17, 2011: New weather instrumentation activated on Launch Pad 39B A new comprehensive weather instrumentation system installed on the lightning protection towers at Launch Pad 39B is providing up-to-the-second and extremely accurate measurements at different locations and altitudes. The improvements are expected to produce increasingly detailed launch criteria that could lead to more on-time liftoffs for a variety of rockets in the future. 13. April 18, 2011: Companies chosen for NASA’s Commercial Crew Development effort NASA awarded approximately $270 million to four commercial companies to continue development of commercial rockets and spacecraft capable of safely flying astronauts into orbit and to the International