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
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
The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket
that will send NASA’s Orion spacecraft on its first flight test in December was
moved to its vertical launch position Oct. 1 at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The rocket is secured on the Elevated
Platform Transporter.
Image Credit:
NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis
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.”
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.
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.
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.
For information about Orion and its first flight, visit:
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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