NASA Readies Hardware
For Test Of Astronaut Escape System
(12 March 2008) NASA has completed
production of hardware for use in the first flight test of the astronaut escape
system for the Constellation Program's Orion crew capsule.
The
hardware - a structure that simulates the Orion crew module - was designed and
fabricated at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The structure
represents the size, outer shape and mass characteristics of the space capsule
being designed to transport astronauts first to the International Space Station
then on to the moon by 2020.
The developmental flight test, called Pad
Abort-1, will focus on the ability of Orion's launch abort system to pull the
crew capsule safely away from the launch vehicle in the event of problems on
the launch pad or during the climb into orbit. Planned for late 2008, the test
is the first in a series of uncrewed abort flight tests to demonstrate the new
system. Subsequent flight tests, including tests on a rocket that will place
the launch system in "worst-case" ascent conditions, will verify that the
system can execute a safe, reliable method of escape for the crew.
The
16.4 foot wide capsule currently is undergoing verification tests at Langley,
after which it will be shipped to NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in
Edwards, Calif., for installation of flight computers, instrumentation and
other electronics.
After assembly, integration and testing of all
avionics and instruments needed to recover data from the test, Dryden will send
the completed module to the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New
Mexico. At White Sands, the hardware will be integrated with the Orion launch
abort system.
During the developmental flight test sequence, the escape
system's main abort motor will fire for several seconds, rapidly lifting the
simulated crew module from a test launch pad to an altitude of approximately
one mile, after which the escape system will detach, and parachutes will deploy
to slow the module for landing.
NASA plans two pad abort tests and three
ascent abort tests at White Sands. Additionally, a parallel series of
integrated Orion and Ares I rocket tests is planned at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida beginning in spring of 2009.
Langley manages the
launch abort system design and development effort with partners and team
members from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. Design and development of the Orion
flight test article for the pad abort test is being led by the Flight Projects
Directorate and Exploration and Space Operations Directorate at Langley on
behalf of the Orion Project. The Orion Project Flight Test Office at Johnson
will manage the tests.
(source: NASA)
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