Who will fly around the Moon with astronauts on board first - Orion or Dragon?

Yesterday's Elon Musk initiative to send manned Dragon to the flight around the Moon in 2018 was not born out of nowhere. It is direct response to the NASA idea to add crew into first test flight of the new Orion spaceship in 2018. While Musk's Dragon generates much more noise in the media, there is whole bunch of news about NASA Orion development in the last 2 months. Here are these news.

NASA develops Orion spaceship and superheavy SLS rocket for asteroids manned missions as well as for future Moon and Mars expedition. 

Image: NASA

1. First test in 2017 of RS-25 thruster, which earlier was used on Space Shuttles, and now will be main thruster of central block of the SLS, passed on Feb. 22. Water drops from jet exhaust form multiple rainbows:

This is 12th test in SLS program, it passed successfully, thruster  worked for 380 seconds. Interesting, that RS-25, initially developed as reusable, now is disposable - there are no landing systems on SLS. This has its advantages - power is 10% more. There is intensive test program in 2017 - all 4 thrusters, which will be installed on the first SLS flight, will be fire-tested, and then we are gonig to see something, not seen since Apollo era - fire-test of fully assembled super-heavy rocket. Here is how it looked on the Saturn V test:

2.  Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage  is assembled and sent for tests - light version of the upper stage for the first SLS flight. Again, this is proved component - it is modified upper stage DCSS of Delta IV rocket. Its producer - United Launch Alliance has shown it before sending to the tests.

 

Image: NASA 

3. First Orion service module is ready for the tests

This module is developed be European Space Agency. And again, we see here existing components - ist main thruster is OMS, initially developed for Space Shuttle orbital manoeuvering. Module has in total 21 thrusters - 1 main, 8 auxilliaries, and 12 small orientation thrusters. 

Image: ESA

Image: ESA

To make first Orion flight crewed.

Image: NASA

According to existing plans, first crewless mission EM-1 is to be launched in the end of 2018 - Orion will fly around the Moon and will return back to the Earth. However two week ago NASA began a  a study on the feasibility of putting a crew of two astronauts on EM-1. In the initial plans, only second mission - EM-2, in 2021, should fly with crew of four, on the same route. So, if EM-1 will be manned, then plans for EM-2, have to change, because there is no need in two identical mission. The study will be accomplished in the end of March - middle of April.

This is background, on which SpaceX with Elon Musk entered the game yesterday. We have now mini space race: who will be the first, NASA or private company?

Image: SpaceX - Crewed Dragon beyond the Moon