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NASA Orion Spacecraft Conducts First Altitude Abort System Test

Alongside the SpaceX Crew Dragon and the Boeing Starliner, the Orion capsule Northrop Grumman is developing for NASA is to form the backbone of space exploration in the years to come.
Static hot-fire test of the Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor 16 photos
Photo: Northrop Grumman
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Intended for deep-space exploration missions, the Orion is the spaceship that will launch on top of the agency’s brand new rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). Until that moment comes to pass, a lot of testing has to be done though.

This week, NASA revealed the capsule performed on March 20 a static hot-fire test of the Launch Abort System Attitude Control Motor at its builder’s facility in Elkton, Maryland. The test lasted for only 30 seconds but is the first of a series of three meant to show the motor is suitable and safe for crewed flights.

The first flight of the Orion, scheduled to take place at a yet unspecified date next year, is called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) and will be an uncrewed test. The spacecraft will be traveling empty 280,000 miles away from Earth (450,000 km) and well past the Moon, on a three-week-long journey.

If successful, Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2) will follow with crew on board. This flight will see the capsule do a highly elliptical demonstration run around the world and head for the Moon, without landing there.

The spacecraft is powered by the European Service Module, a repurposed shuttle engine. The module comprises 24 smaller engines grouped into six pods to provide attitude control and eight thrusters used for orbit corrections.

“For the first time in a generation, NASA is building a human spacecraft for deep-space missions that will usher in a new era of space exploration,” NASA says about the spacecraft.

“A series of increasingly challenging missions awaits, and this new spacecraft will take us farther than we’ve gone before, including to the vicinity of the Moon and Mars.”
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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