Orion Service Module Mockup

Before Barack Obama cancelled the Constellation program, it was announced that Glenn Research Center would have lead responsibility for the design and development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle service module. At that time, the service module still had the same diameter as the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. GRC fabricated this mockup in late 2005.

I visited in 2009 and Constellation was cancelled in 2010, so at the time this mockup still represented the anticipated hardware. After Constellation's cancellation, manufacturing of the service module shifted to the European Space Agency as a derivative of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) ISS resupply spacecraft.

GRC is still involved with the service module (now renamed to the "European Service Module" or "ESM"), and the ESM for Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) underwent testing at Plum Brook Station, which is a remote test facility operated by GRC.

Aerial view.

When I visited Goddard Space Flight Center in 2007, they were working on their own, lower-fidelity Crew Exploration Vehicle mockup.