NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion’s first flight test, designated Exploration Flight Test-1, will launch December 4 on a two-orbit, four-hour flight that will test many of the systems most critical to safety. Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37. This test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield. In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars. Exploration Mission-1 will be the first mission to integrate Orion and the Space Launch System.
NASA’s new Orion spacecraft and the Delta IV Heavy rocket that will carry it into space are at their penultimate stops in Florida on their path to a December flight test.
Orion was moved Sunday out of the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Delta IV Heavy rocket, built by United Launch Alliance, made its move Tuesday night, to nearby Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It was raised Wednesday from the horizontal position into its vertical launch configuration.
“We’ve been working toward this launch for months, and we’re in the final stretch,†said Kennedy Director Bob Cabana. “Orion is almost complete and the rocket that will send it into space is on the launch pad. We’re 64 days away from taking the next step in deep space exploration.â€
Orion now is ready for the installation of its last component — the launch abort system. This system is designed to protect astronauts if a problem arises during launch by pulling the spacecraft away from the failing rocket. During the December, uncrewed flight, the jettison motor, which separates the launch abort system from the crew module in both normal operations and emergency, will be tested.
The stacked Orion crew and service module move from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility where it was fueled with ammonia, hydrazine and high pressure helium, to the Launch Abort System Facility, where the final element of the spacecraft, the launch abort system, will be installed. Image Credit: NASA
Once the launch abort system is stacked on the completed crew and service modules, and the three systems are tested together, the Orion spacecraft will be considered complete. It then will wait inside the launch abort system facility until mid-November, when the Delta IV Heavy rocket is ready for integration with the spacecraft.
The rocket’s three Common Booster Cores were tested, processed and attached to each other to form the first stage that will connect to Orion’s service module.
Following its targeted Dec. 4 launch, the Delta IV Heavy will send Orion 3,600 miles above Earth to test the spacecraft’s systems most critical to crew safety. After orbiting Earth twice, Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at 20,000 miles per hour, generating temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before it splashes down in the Pacific Ocean.
The United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket that will launch Orion on its first flight in December rolls out to Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and is lifted into its vertical launch configuration. Image Credit: NASA
Orion is being built to send humans farther than ever before, including to an asteroid and Mars. Although the spacecraft will be uncrewed during its December flight, which is designated Exploration Flight Test-1, the crew module will be used to transport astronauts safely to and from space on future missions. Orion will provide living quarters for up to 21 days, while longer missions will incorporate an additional habitat to provide extra space.
Image Credit:
NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
NASA Premieres ‘Trial By Fire’ Video on Orion’s Flight Test
As the flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft nears, the agency released Wednesday a video — called “Trial By Fire” — detailing the spacecraft’s test and the critical systems engineers will evaluate during the Dec. 4 flight.
Orion is in the final stages of preparation for the uncrewed flight test that will take it 3,600 miles above Earth on a 4.5-hour mission to test many of the systems necessary for future human missions into deep space. After two orbits, Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at almost 20,000 miles per hour, and reach temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit before its parachute system deploys to slow the spacecraft for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
On future missions, Orion will carry astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before, including to an asteroid and Mars.
The Delta IV Booster Integration
Image Credit:
NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Engineers took another step forward in preparations for the first test flight of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft, in December. The three primary core elements of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket recently were integrated, forming the first stage of the launch vehicle that will send Orion far from Earth to allow NASA to evaluate the spacecraft’s performance in space.
The three Delta IV Common Booster Cores were attached in ULA’s Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF), at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The HIF building is located at Space Launch Complex 37 where the mission will lift off.
The first booster was attached to the center rocket in June with the second one was attached in early August.
“The day-to-day processing is performed by ULA,” said Merri Anne Stowe of NASA’s Fleet Systems Integration Branch of the Launch Services Program (LSP). “NASA’s role is to keep a watchful eye on everything and be there to help if any issues come up.”
Stowe explained that during major testing experts from NASA’s Launch Services Program monitor the work on consoles in Hanger AE at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Hangar AE is home to the Kennedy Space Center’s upgraded Launch Vehicle Data Center. The facility allows engineers to monitor voice, data, telemetry and video systems that support expendable launch vehicle missions. NASA’s Florida spaceport is also where Orion was built and is being processed.
Image Credit:
NASA/Kim Shiflett
The Delta IV rocket stages were assembled at the ULA plant in Decatur, Alabama, about 20 miles west of Huntsville. After completion, the rocket components were shipped down the Tennessee River and Tombigbee Waterway, a canal, to the Gulf of Mexico. From there they traveled to Cape Canaveral, arriving on May 6. The elements of the rocket’s first stage were then transported to the HIF for preflight processing.
“After the three core stages went through their initial inspections and processing, the struts were attached, connecting the booster stages with the center core,” Stowe said. “All of this takes place horizontally.”
The three common booster cores are 134 feet in length and 17 feet in diameter. Each has an RS-68 engine that uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant producing 656,000 pounds of thrust. All totaled, the three Delta IV boosters collectively generate 1.96 million pounds of thrust.
The second stage of the Delta IV rocket is 45 feet in length and 17 feet in diameter. It uses one RL10-B-2 engine, also burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant creating 25,000 pounds of thrust.
“The second stage was taken to the Delta Operations Center for processing after it arrived,” said Stowe. “The second stage was moved to the HIF on Aug. 29 and is scheduled to be horizontally mated to the first stage on Sept. 12.”
The same upper stage will be used on the block 1 version of NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans aboard Orion to deep-space destinations such as an asteroid and Mars.
“The hardware for Exploration Flight Test-1 is coming together well,” Stowe said. “We haven’t had to deal with any serious problems. All of the advance planning appears to be paying off.”
Once all the launch vehicle stages are mated and thoroughly checked out, the next step is the Test Readiness Review.
“These meetings are held to bring together all the interested parties to be sure the Delta IV rocket is ready for the move to the launch pad where the Orion spacecraft will be mated,” Stowe said.
The upcoming flight test will use the Delta IV Heavy to launch the Orion and send it 3,600 miles in altitude beyond the Earth’s surface. During the two-orbit, four-hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The data gathered during the mission will influence design decisions and validate existing computer models. The flight also will reduce overall mission risks and costs for later Orion flights.
The capsule will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at speeds approaching 20,000 mph, generating temperatures as high as 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
The Lockheed Martin-built Orion is designed to take humans farther than ever before. The spacecraft will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry astronauts to space and provide safe re-entry from deep-space missions. Orion currently is undergoing final assembly in Kennedy’s Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building.
Stowe is especially invested in a successful outcome for the flight test.
“What I’m looking forward to most,” she said, “is seeing that Orion capsule being retrieved from the Pacific.”
Credit: NASA
Rachel Kraft
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov
Brandi Dean
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov
Amber Philman
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
amber.n.philman@nasa.gov
NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Moves Closer to First Flight
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