THE MISSION
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS ASRC Federal Provides Top Level Support for Orion, Moon Quest Story by Mike Candelaria, Contributing Writer Images provides by ASRC Federal
Ask Lloyd Gregg or Pedro Medelius any question these days, and their answer is likely to rotate entirely on this premise, and without apology: To land the first woman and the next man on the Moon by 2024.
The job is big, actually HUGE. Gregg and Medelius, respectively, are vice president/general manager and chief technologist/chief scientist at ASRC Federal. With a presence in Brevard County since early 2000s, ASRC Federal companies support a wide range of NASA missions and centers, including NASA’s Orion program as a major subcontractor for Lockheed Martin. With continued expansion and investment, ASRC Federal is active on a number of significant contracts with NASA at Kennedy Space Center and the U.S. Air Force at Cape Canaveral. In July, a new office was opened in Merritt Island. Across its family of companies, ASRC Federal employs more than 600 highly skilled workers on the Space Coast. 22
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MOON SHOT ON THE WAY TO MARS
Even with all these projects, the NASA spacecraft effort — in the form of the Orion program — is never far from top of mind or tip of tongue. Specifically for Orion, ASRC Federal provides technical services and operational support to human spacecraft assembly, testing, integration and production, which occurs primarily in the Operations & Checkout facility at Kennedy Space
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We will for the first time be able to land anywhere on the lunar surface and [also for the first time] plan on establishing a lunar colony and having humans inhabit another astronomical body. — Lloyd Gregg
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Center. This includes orbital arc welding, optics/alignment support, thermal blanket/barrier fabrication and thermal system installation, flight cable fabrication, electrical ground support equipment fabrication, test engineering, mission operations, ground operations and manufacturing engineering.
ALL WITH ONE GOAL.
“There is significant energy to return to the moon and continue onto Mars!” said Gregg, who has worked more than 30 years in the space industry in positions ranging from systems engineering and human space operations to project management. “… For the first time, the entire crew will descend to the lunar surface. Unlike Apollo that required an astronaut to control the command module in orbit,