Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc.'s New Kensington Technical Center, and its Davenport, Iowa, fabrication plant are playing a key role in the next generation of space exploration vehicles.
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, has approved the Davenport plant as the only supplier for aluminum-lithium alloy to be used in the Ares 1 crew launch vehicle. Ares 1 is the rocket that will allow U.S. astronauts to explore space beyond low earth orbit, with the goal of reaching the moon by 2020.
"Basically, the way to the moon is paved right here through Alcoa Davenport," said Steve Cook, NASA's Exploration Launch Office director and Ares project manager, in a statement.
NASA awarded Alcoa an $18.5 million contract last year to develop the manufacturing capability and to supply the initial requirements for Ares 1. The work for NASA requires no additional personnel, said Alcoa-Davenport spokesman John Riches.
The Davenport plant, which opened in 1948, is one of the largest aluminum fabrication facilities in the world, with more than 130 acres under roof, and employing 2,200.
Alcoa's Technical Center is casting all the aluminum-lithium ingots, or metal blocks, which will be shipped to Davenport, where the metal will be rolled into some 1 million pounds of metal plate for additional fabrication for the Ares project.
The thickness of the aluminum-lithium plate, which will be placed on the upper stage of the Ares 1, will vary in thickness from 0.32 inch, to 1.95 inches.
To give one an idea of how much 1 million pounds is, Alcoa-Davenport spokesman Riches said 1 million pounds of aluminum-only sheet is equivalent to some 32.3 million beverage cans.
Alcoa metal will be used in Ares V5, NASA's so-called heavy lift cargo launch vehicle. When the trip to the moon becomes a reality, NASA's plan is to launch Ares V5 first and then launch a crew of up to six astronauts in Ares 1. The two vehicles will dock in space, then explore the moon and, eventually, other parts of the solar system.
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