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Report: NASA May Miss SLS Launch Deadline
An anonymous reader writes: A post at the Planetary Society's blog summarizes a report from NASA's Office of Inspector General which says the agency will struggle to get launch facilities up and running in time for the Space Launch System's November 2018 launch deadline. "Ground systems are a critical piece of the SLS-Orion infrastructure. All three elements are tightly integrated, with ground systems requiring significant input from the rocket and capsule designs." To be more specific, NASA has found 462 separate inter-dependencies, less than two-thirds of which have been resolved so far. "The Mobile Launcher must be moved into the Vehicle Assembly Building for testing prior to the delivery of SLS and Orion. When it comes time to stack the rocket and capsule for the first flight, there may be a 'learning curve,' said the OIG, where engineers work through unforeseen glitches." They're also worried about having to develop all the software to run these systems before the hardware is in place to test.
And on that score, the Senate Launch System has apparently been performing as designed.
To add to all of this, NASA is taking on a large part of the responsibility for "systems integration" for SLS/Orion. This is where major cost overruns originate. And when Boeing has a cost plus contract, every requirements clarification NASA produces represents a change order Boeing can bill for.
This is the wet dream of every government contractor.
Have gnu, will travel.
Deadlines ruin projects, NASA is known to never make a deadline lol. Musk doesn't have the greatest record but when he does hit the milestone there is some extra. Example rocket landing at sea created the new ocean launch\landing pad program with automation research, docking, etc.. That will help more than just the rocket landings.