Tag: LAS
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Historic scrubs and aborts that could happen to Starship
There are two words that most people never want to hear at a rocket launch, “abort” and “scrub.” As Starship’s orbital test flight gets closer, it may take multiple attempts to get Booster 7 and Ship 24 off the ground. If so, it wouldn’t be the first super-heavy launch vehicle to experience issues before and/or…
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NASA conducting data deep dive following July’s Orion ascent abort test
Following the successful July Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test of the Launch Abort System (LAS) for NASA’s Orion crewed spacecraft, the space agency is reviewing the data collected with its contractors. The supersonic, low-altitude test carried about three dozen flight test objectives, and engineers are going through all the data collected in the short test to…
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AA-2: Orion’s in-flight abort test successfully completed
NASA performed an in-flight test of the Launch Abort System (LAS) for its Orion crewed spacecraft Tuesday morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) in Florida. A highly instrumented test article simulated the Orion Crew Module, connected to a flight version of the LAS and a Peacekeeper missile modified to be the booster for…
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NASA working to minimize shutdown impact to Springtime Orion abort test
NASA, Lockheed Martin, and the U.S. Air Force have resumed preparations for the Orion Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) test after the five-week long government shutdown disrupted work. The AA-2 test will collect data on the performance of Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) by initiating an abort at a high-stress point during ascent. Major pieces of flight…
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Qualifying the life saver – LAS set for two more tests ahead of EM-2
Following Orbital ATK successful test-firing of an Orion launch abort system (LAS) abort motor at their Promontory facility in Utah on June 15, two more qualification tests will be required before the vital crew safety element is officially ready to fly with crewed Space Launch System (SLS) missions, beginning with Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2) mission…
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Space Industry press forward with exploration hardware development
The multi-center, multi-partner effort is continuing to piece together the key hardware elements that will return NASA to deep space exploration. Recent progress has been made on items such as Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) and the design phase for the Asteroid Redirect Robotic Mission (ARRM) spacecraft. SLS and Orion: The main focus continues to be…
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Orbital ATK agree deal for Orion LAS through to second SLS mission
Orbital ATK has signed a deal worth nearly $100m dollars to provide Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) through to the second mission for the Space Launch System (SLS). The deal also covers an Ascent Abort test (AA-2) – which will be conducted in-between the maiden flight of SLS in 2018 and the second flight in the…
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Dragon 2 conducts Pad Abort leap in key SpaceX test
SpaceX’s Dragon 2 test vehicle has conducted her maiden flight on Wednesday, leaping off a Cape Canaveral truss structure under the power of eight SuperDraco engines at 9am local time. Known as the Pad Abort test, the objectives of the flight involved the gathering of key test data to help graduate the vehicle to be…
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EFT-1 to boost ATK Launch Abort System test path
ATK’s Launch Abort System (LAS) – a key element for crew safety during the ride uphill on the Space Launch System and Orion – continues to make good progress during its test schedule. With the Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) flight set to provide key data ahead of the Ascent Abort (AA-2) test in 2019,…
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Dragon V2 will initially rely on parachute landings
SpaceX’s Commercial Crew contender, the Dragon V2, will initially return to terra firma under parachutes, assisted by a SuperDraco soft touchdown firing, according to Dragon V2 Program Lead Dr. Garrett Reisman. Eventually, the impressive spacecraft will employ pinpoint propulsive landings, once the technology has been matured via the DragonFly test program. Dragon V2: SpaceX’s crew version of…