NASA’s Orion spacecraft reaches the moon, flying 81 miles above the surface

Re:NASA’s Orion spacecraft reaches the moon, flying 81 miles... by Rebelgecko on Monday November 21, 2022 @05:12PM (#33698799)

Thanks for sharing the map, that's pretty interesting. I wonder what NASA or their contractors got from Lowe's Home Improvement?

Is there any infrastructure there for the mission? My cynical side wonders if someone flew to Honolulu, went to a hardware store to pick up some JB Weld, and flew it back to Florida just so they could check off Hawaii on the list of states.

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Re:NASA’s Orion spacecraft reaches the moon, flying 81 miles... by bumby on Monday November 21, 2022 @05:52PM (#33699282)

It’s important to note that being listed as a “supplier” doesn’t mean NASA has actually purchased anything. A lot of times, it’s preemptive as a way of ensuring all the quality checks have been put in place so an PO can just be issued when needed without the delay.*

It also doesn’t mean they want spaceflight material. It can just be something needed to support the project, like shelving to hold extra parts. But it the charge code is traceable to the program, it makes the list.

* this is also why SpaceX can do things cheaper. They don’t have the same quality requirements so they can streamline their processes. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes not: https://parabolicarc.com/2016/06/28/nasa-investigation-space...

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