In February, NASA began an effort looking at the feasibility of putting crew aboard the first launch of the SLS rocket and Orion - for its Exploration Mission-1, or EM-1.
After weighing the data and assessing all implications, the NASA will continue pursuing the original plan for the first launch, as a rigorous flight test of the integrated systems without crew, the US space agency said.
Engineers will apply insights gained from the effort to the first flight test and the integrated systems to strengthen the long-term push to extend human presence deeper into the solar system.
NASA said it is technically capable of launching crew on EM-1, however, after evaluating cost, risk and technical factors in a project of this magnitude, it would be difficult to accommodate changes needed to add crew at this point in mission planning.
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"The bi-partisan support of Congress and the President for our efforts to send astronauts deeper into the solar system than we have ever gone before is valued and does not go unnoticed. Presidential support for space has been strong," said Lightfoot.
Exploration Mission-1 is the first in a broad series of exploration missions that will take humans to deep space, and eventually to Mars.
"Conducting these tests in advance of EM-1 would provide additional data that will advance our systems knowledge faster and possibly improve the robustness of the overall plan for sending humans into deep space," said Gerstenmaier.
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