Monday, November 19, 2007

Orion Crew Module Test Article

I recently visited a NASA blog and Chris from NASA Edge posted these pictures of the Orion crew module test article that is currently being built.

"In September 2008, NASA will be conducting the first Pad Abort flight test. They are calling it Pad Abort 1. This will take place in White Sands, New Mexico. The primary objective is to test the Launch Abort System or LAS. The LAS will be the most expensive part of the Orion spacecraft that hopefully will never be used. The LAS essentially covers the Orion crew module. Pad Abort 1 will simulate how the LAS will function in case something happens to the Ares 1 launch vehicle at the pad. The Pad Abort 1 test will consist of the Orion crew module flight test article and the launch abort system."



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah ha! Another flying saucer! I've seen pictures that look just like it. (Twilight Zone sounds)

Julie Rodriguez Jones said...

Your images give a much better sense of the size of the module than what I have seen to date on the web. It actually looks fairly spacious. I was just in a simulator for the old Apollo lander at NASA Ames and it was indeed tiny.