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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Constellation Program:

Project Orion Abort Flight Test

A robust series of flight tests

is planned for the rockets

and spacecraft of NASA’s

Constellation Program, which

will support International

Space Station missions in

the next decade, and will later

enable human exploration of

the moon.

Flight tests are where

“the rubber meets the road”

for America’s new-generation

spacecraft. All of the math,

engineering and computeraided design and development work will be put

through real-world challenges that allow early

correction of any design flaws and ensure the

vehicles are safe for human use.

In the fall of 2008, Pad Abort 1 will begin a

series of five launch abort system flight tests

from the Orion Abort Flight Test Launch Complex

being built at the U.S. Army’s White Sands

Missile Range near Las Cruces, N.M. Formal

groundbreaking for the new facility occurred

Nov. 14, 2007. The desert tests are part of

a broader flight test campaign that also will

include six launches from Kennedy Space

Center in Florida.

White Sands Flight Tests

The White Sands flight tests will focus on the

ability of Orion’s launch abort system to pull

the crew safely away from the launch vehicle

in the event of a problem on the launch pad

or during the climb into orbit. These critically

important tests will assure that all components

of the new safety feature work, and that Orion’s

parachute landing systems function as planned.

These flight tests, along with other ground tests,

will help managers certify Orion's new launch

abort system for flight.

• Pad Abort 1 (PA-1): Tests the basic

functionality of the launch abort system from

the pad in its preliminary design configuration.

• Ascent Abort 1 (AA-1): Tests the ability

of the launch abort system to function while

the spacecraft is traveling through the period

of maximum atmospheric drag.

• Pad Abort 2 (PA-2): Continues to refine

the data collected on PA-1.

• Ascent Abort 2 (AA-2): Tests the ability

of the launch abort system to function as

the spacecraft breaks through the speed

of sound.

• Ascent Abort 3 (AA-3): Tests the ability

of the launch abort system to perform in

the event it is tumbling due to a loss of

control of the launch vehicle.

This project was reviewed for environmental

compliance as required under the National

Environmental Policy Act. NASA published an

environmental assessment in August for public

and regulatory agency review and received no

adverse comments.
Sequence of Events

For the two pad abort tests, the

launch abort system abort motor will

be fired for two seconds, separating

Orion mockup vehicles known as

"boilerplates" directly from the

launch pad to an altitude of about

one mile. The boilerplates are actual

size, shape and weight, but they

do not contain seats, life support

systems and other equipment.

For the three White Sands ascent abort test flights, former

Peacekeeper missile rocket motors will be used to boost

the boilerplate crew modules to high-stress conditions

along planned launch trajectories at different altitudes

in order to mimic realistic abort conditions.

During all of the White Sands test flights, the launch

abort system's directional control rockets and steering

canards will actively steer the crew module after an abort

is initiated. As the modules approach the apex of their

trajectories, a programmed sequence of events will occur.

First, explosive bolts fire, separating the spent launch

abort system rocket from the crew module, clearing

the module's recovery parachute system to activate. Next,

as the module begins its descent, two mortars fire small

drogue parachutes upward into the airstream. The

drogues pull out the three main parachutes, each 116 feet

in diameter, for a safe landing.

Launch Abort System

The launch abort system, mounted on top of the Orion

crew module, centers around three solid propellant rocket

motors: an abort motor; an attitude control motor; and

a jettison motor.

The abort motor is a 500,000-pound-thrust primary motor

designed to lift the crew module off the Ares I booster

rocket and fly it away safely.

The attitude control motor, composed of several small

nozzles ringing the launch abort system, fires

simultaneously to keep the crew module on a controlled

flight path. The system also incorporates steering vanes

for additional directional control.

The jettison motor discards the abort system and boost

protective cover from the crew module in order to allow

the recovery parachute system to be deployed.

The launch abort system must be ready to operate in

a wide variety of different environmental conditions, and

the test program is designed to test all of these conditions.

Team Effort

NASA's Orion project office at NASA Johnson Space

Center is leading a government and contractor team to

validate and verify the spacecraft's launch abort system.

The launch abort system flight test effort is led by

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. Boilerplate

crew module integration will occur at the center for

the first two flights. Integration of the crew module

boilerplates for the remaining flights will occur in the

Orion Assembly Integration and Test facility at NASA’s

Kennedy Space Center.

Lockheed Martin Corp. is NASA’s prime contractor for

the Orion spacecraft and its launch abort system. Orbital

Sciences Corp., Dulles, Va., is building the launch abort

system under contract to Lockheed Martin. NASA has

a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Air Force to procure

the abort test boosters that will serve as the launch vehicle

for the Orion ascent abort flight tests. Orbital is also

building the abort test boosters and providing launch

support services under contract to the Air Force.

The NASA Langley Research Center leads the launch

abort system integration effort and is fabricating the crew

module boilerplates used for the first two abort flight

tests. NASA's Glenn Research Center near Cleveland,

Ohio, is providing a test-unique cold gas reaction control

system. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville,

Ala., is providing solid rocket booster engineering and

operations expertise.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

www.nasa.gov

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