NASA Partner United Launch Alliance Completes Two Atlas V Reviews

July 19, 2012

Trent J. Perrotto
NASA Headquarters
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

Jessica Rye/Chris Chavez
United Launch Alliance
321-730-5646/303-269-5550
jessica.f.rye@ulalaunch.com / chris.s.chavez@ulalaunch.com

RELEASE: 12-245

NASA PARTNER UNITED LAUNCH ALLIANCE COMPLETES TWO ATLAS V REVIEWS

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- NASA partner United Launch Alliance (ULA) has
completed a review of its Atlas V rocket to assess its compliance
with NASA human spaceflight safety and performance requirements.

ULA has partnered to launch Boeing's CST-100, Sierra Nevada's Dream
Chaser and Blue Origin's Space Vehicle on missions to low Earth orbit
and the International Space Station. NASA provided technical
consultation during the ULA review.

ULA is one of several companies working to develop crew transportation
capabilities under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2)
agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Through CCDev2,
NASA is helping the private sector develop and test new spacecraft
and rockets with the goal of making commercial human spaceflight
services available to commercial and government customers.

The Atlas V has launched numerous satellites and robotic missions into
space for NASA, including the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover
and the Juno probe to Jupiter. Requirements to launch humans will
require more stringent criteria, so the company has to show its
rocket can meet the extra demands.

"Our partnership with ULA during this round of development has really
been focused on understanding the core design of the launch vehicle,"
said CCP Program Manager Ed Mango. "In these reviews we were able to
see how ULA plans to modify the vehicle for human spaceflight."

Among adjustments required to evolve the Atlas V for human
spaceflight, designers would have to modify the launch pad so crew
members can board the spacecraft. The upper stage of a crewed Atlas V
would require the use of two Centaur engines, stronger than the
current Atlas V upper stage that uses a single engine. The onboard
flight computers would be programmed to guide the rocket on a more
managed path through the sky into orbit. Sensors also would be added
to the rocket to detect emergency situations for the crew.

"The systems requirements review was the result of an extensive effort
with NASA and our commercial spacecraft partners to determine what
capabilities the Atlas V already meets and to define what we need to
do from here to certify the rocket for human spaceflight," said
George Sowers, ULA's vice president for human launch services. "We
continue to receive valuable insight from NASA's human spaceflight
experts as we move toward the certification of Atlas V for human
spaceflight."

All of NASA's industry partners, including ULA, continue to meet their
established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation
capabilities under CCDev2.

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew


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