{"id":16539,"date":"2015-02-20T22:18:08","date_gmt":"2015-02-20T14:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/engineers-finding-lessons-in-nearly-flawless-orion-test-flight\/"},"modified":"2015-02-20T22:18:08","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T14:18:08","slug":"engineers-finding-lessons-in-nearly-flawless-orion-test-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/engineers-finding-lessons-in-nearly-flawless-orion-test-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineers finding lessons in nearly flawless Orion test flight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The Orion spacecraft descends under three main parachutes at the end of its first mission into space Dec. 5. Credit: U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles White<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

December\u2019s first orbital test flight of NASA\u2019s Orion crew capsule was almost perfect, but engineers are carefully analyzing 600 gigabytes of data recorded on the spacecraft\u2019s trip 3,600 miles into space to see how future missions to an asteroid and Mars could be improved.<\/p>\n

The data crunch will take much of the year, ultimately feeding into design tweaks and recommendations at a major Orion program review in the fourth quarter of 2015.<\/p>\n

The first phase of the data analysis is nearly complete, according to Mike Hawes, Orion\u2019s program manager at Lockheed Martin, NASA\u2019s prime contractor for the crew capsule.<\/p>\n

Hawes said Lockheed Martin, which led the execution of the Dec. 5 test flight on behalf of NASA, has given the space agency all the data recorded during the four-and-a-half hour mission.<\/p>\n

A final post-flight report on the Dec. 5 demo mission \u2014 dubbed Exploration Flight Test-1 \u2014 will be submitted to NASA in the first week of March, Hawes said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Engineers are shifting from analyzing how the Orion spacecraft\u2019s systems functioned on the test flight to addressing how the capsule\u2019s performance \u2014 in areas that both exceeded and fell short of expectations \u2014 could help improve future missions.<\/p>\n

The next Orion mission is expected some time in 2018 aboard the first flight of NASA\u2019s Space Launch System, a mega-rocket made of upgraded space shuttle technology that will blast off from launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.<\/p>\n

The EFT-1 flight in December launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean west of Mexico.<\/p>\n

The 2018 flight is named Exploration Mission-1, or EM-1, and will not carry astronauts. The first mission with a crew is scheduled for 2021 on the EM-2 flight.<\/p>\n

\"Artist's
Artist\u2019s concept of the Space Launch System with the Orion spacecraft. Credit: NASA\/MSFC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere will probably be some continued analysis, but in my mind that continued analysis is really in terms of understanding the modifications that might be applicable to that next mission,\u201d Hawes said. \u201cThat\u2019s not so much (focusing) on EFT-1 and understanding what happened, it\u2019s more like do we need to do any changes for EM-1 and EM-2.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EM-1 and EM-2 flights will go around the moon, and the crewed mission will be the farthest voyage by astronauts since the last Apollo lunar landing in 1972.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrion\u2019s flight test was a big success and what we learned is informing how we design, develop and build future Orions that will help us pioneer deep space destinations,\u201d said Mark Geyer, NASA\u2019s Orion program manager. \u201cTaking a look at all the flight test data is a huge part of the development process and a key part off in why we flew a test flight. We have critical work happening this year, both on the data analysis and development side, to keep us moving toward our first mission with SLS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orion\u2019s EFT-1 test flight demonstrated a new 3D-printed vent, and an analysis of how the component performed could lead to future Orion missions flying with more parts produced with a 3D printer instead of traditional machining.<\/p>\n

The Orion spacecraft consumed significantly less fuel than predicted thanks to an on-target injection from the Delta 4-Heavy launcher.<\/p>\n

Hawes said officials are considering ways to add more cameras to future missions after the Orion test flight produced spectacular imagery from start to finish \u2014 including rocket-mounted cameras during launch, views of Earth from 3,600 miles out, and the capsule\u2019s atmospheric re-entry inside a ball of plasma.<\/p>\n