The very first test flying forNASA ’s Orion spacecraftis Thursday December 4th . Here ’s the nitty - gritty contingent of how the 4.5 time of day trial flying will put the service module , found abort organisation , heat shield , and parachutes through their paces as the wiliness launch , completes two orbits , and returns to Earth .
Meet Orion , NASA ’s New Deep Space Explorer
Hunter on the launch digs and awaiting its first test flight . Image credit entry : NASA / Kim Shiflett
After months ofassembling the spacecraft , fuelling and erecting the skyrocket , hop on the guile onto a gravely bad cracker , and a lot of impatient bouncing around filling time until the final countdown , we ’re just days aside fromOrion ’s trial by flaming . While this mental test flight of stairs will be take flight remotely with no on - board crew , Orion is being developed as part of theNext Giant Leapto bring human beings to Mars .
The programme for Exploration Flight Test-1 is to establish , cranial orbit twice while popping up through the Van Allen radiation belt , come roaring back to Earth , and slow down enough for a comparatively gentle landing . The full trial trajectory will last just 4.5 time of day , and will screen each of the space vehicle components together as a system for the first time after exit disjunct individual tests . Of course , the design work party behindOrion ’s sleek rudiment bookare back with beautifully sportsmanlike illustration of what we can expect .
0. Pre-Launch Activities
When reading the anticipated times of events , L- is a time before launching , and L+ is a time after launching . The major prelaunch checkpoint are :
Launch – 8 hour 15 minutes : First motion of the nomadic service column . The gantry financial backing pulls away from the rocket and spacecraft .
L-4:35 Fuel readiness poll . United Launch Alliance will decide if the rocket is a go / no go for fuelling . If it ’s a go , fuelling will start five minute afterwards , sate the boosters with liquid H and atomic number 8 .
L-3:30 Huston take over trajectory control from the pre - flight team .
L-2:35NASA TV ’s live streaming coverage begins . We ’ll be providing coverage highlight onspace.io9.com , so you may always catch up with us !
L-1:55 Landing weather briefing on term at the splashdown compass point off the California glide in the Pacific Ocean .
L-0:30 Launch weather briefing on condition at the launching site in Cape Canaveral , Florida .
L-0:19 Final 15 - minute hold . If everything goes according to schedule , Orion will be totally ready for the last 4 - minute countdown a full fifteen minutes early . The last Go / No - Go polls take place during this keep .
L-0:16 Final Go / No - Go poll for Orion . Lockheed Martin ’s space vehicle director will do last polls of their squad to make indisputable all Orion ’s systems are quick for launch .
L-0:08 Orion switches to internal barrage powerfulness . net Go / No - Go poll for the Delta IV Heavy Eruca vesicaria sativa . United Launch Alliance ’s rocket handler will do a final poll of their squad to check that all of Delta ’s system of rules are ready for launching .
L-0:04 The fifteen - minute of arc hold expires as Orion enters the last launching countdown . This will be the first timethe new countdown clockis used at Cape Canaveral .
Join Us For Orion ’s First Test Flight ! [ LIVE COVERAGE ] [ UPDATED ]
1. Launch
Time 0:00:00 – Launch
The launch is scheduled for 7:05 a.m. Eastern Time on December 4th out of Cape Canaveral in Florida . NASA is currently prefigure 60 % chance that weather condition will be go for launching , with some concern over downfall or idle words . The full launching window is 2 hours , 39 minute . If the launching ca n’t happen within that timespan , it will be delay until another day .
While eventually Orion will lift off with a custom - built topnotch - sullen rocket , for now it ’s hitching a ride on the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy . This rocket hasan unnerving habit of lightly set flame to itself during launching , so do n’t be appall when fire shed around the inkpad and licks up the boosters .
L+00:01:23 Orion and its rocket reach maximum dynamic pressure ( “ max Q ” ) during the ascent .
L+00:01:25 Orion and its rocket achieve Mach 1 , the speed of sound .
L+00:03:56 The side booster amplifier engines cut out , and the recall dose ( “ larboard and starboard common boosters ” ) are jettison from the Delta rocket .
L+00:05:30 The main booster engine cuts out . Three seconds subsequently , the entire first stage of the rocket salad is jettisoned .
L+00:05:49 The 2d stage of the rocket locomotive engine starts , an 11 - minute 50 - second tan that carry Orion even further into space .
2. Exposure
metre 0:06:15 Jettison protective coverings from the help module and launch abort system .
Just over six second after launch when the ballistic capsule has reached space , the protective panels will jettison . Once in space , the panels are no longer needed to protect the service mental faculty and launch abort organisation from shaking and the apprehend rip of atm , so ditching them will cut down spacecraft weight .
L+00:06:20 Five seconds after the panels flake off , the launch abort arrangement will jettison , pulling away from the space vehicle . The launching abort system will only trigger if something go horribly wrong ( like during the recentAntaresandSpaceship 2anomalies ) and it needs to blast astronauts to safety . When thing do n’t go wrong , the jettison motors will need to force out a few min into flight to peel destitute of the space vehicle . Right now it necessitate to be tested to ensure it can fork quickly , flawlessly , and powerfully . If it fails , Orion will never land : the launch abort system directly blocks the parachute from deploying .
L+00:17:36 The second stage locomotive engine cuts off , having placed Orion in its initial orbit .
3. Re-ignition
Time 1:57:11 Ignite the upper leg rockets to boost Orion higher for the second orbital cavity .
At almost two hr after launch , Orion will have complete a full orbit . The 2nd degree of the rocket will re - ignite to promote the spacecraft up to 5,800 kilometres ( 3,600 sea mile ) altitude for its 2d orbit . This will expect Orion to a eminent elevation than any crewed ballistic capsule has gone in the past forty age .
L+01:55:26 2nd stage locomotive re - ignites , a 4 - second , 45 - second burn to boost Orion into a higher orbit .
L+02:00:09 Second stage engine cuts off .
L+02:05 Orion will figure thelower Van Allen Belt , exposing it to in high spirits radiation . Its cameras will shut out down to protect them from damage .
L+02:20 Orion will rise above the Van Allen Belts , exiting the eminent actinotherapy zone . Its cameras will turn back on .
L+02:40 The Reaction Control System will activate , preparing to steer Orion once it separates from the Delta 2nd stagecoach .
L+03:05 Orion achieve apex altitude at 5,800 kilometers , the farthest it will get from the Earth during the trial flying .
L+03:09 Orion manoeuvres into position to drop the stiff of the Delta rocket .
4. Separation
Time 3:23:41 Peel off the crew module in preparation for re - entry .
Extra exercising weight is a pain sensation when trying to slow up down , so once again Orion will cast off no - longer - require region by separating the crowd module from the upper stage and service mental faculty . Only the gang module will undergo see to it re - entry ; the other pieces will be abandon in a decaying orbit to barge in and burn in the ambience .
The avail module is link up to the crowd faculty with azero interpolation force connector . The electrical connector agree the modules together using a lever mechanism and very little strength , reducing the risk of bending rowlock or prejudicious circuit . The connexion is sever when the modules are separated prior to reentry .
L+03:23:41 Jettison the Delta second level and the service mental faculty .
L+03:30 Orion will reenter the lower Van Allen Belt , exposing it to high radiation , and again shutting down its cameras .
5. Orientation
Time 3:57:00 Fire control jets to reorient crew faculty for re - entry .
Orion ’s control green will burn up , reorient the crew module for re - submission . Although for now the faculty is occupied only by imaginary spaceman , it is never too early to practise hold on the crew chamber point in the right direction to help squishy humans survive the tremendous accelerations .
L+03:57:11 Reaction Control Systems ardour for 10 second , reorient the shortstack ballistic capsule for reentry .
L+04:05 Orion passes back out of the Van Allen belts , exit the region of high radiation and turning its cameras back on .
6. Heating
Time 4:13:41 Re - submission start with the crew module hitting the atmosphere .
Hunter slams into the atmosphere at about 32,000 kilometers per hour ( 20,000 miles per hour ) , testing out the last few arrangement factor . The heat buckler takes a lacing , heating as the spacecraft drops back to Earth . The heat shield backshell has 970 roofing tile to protect the crew module from the blacken burn of re - entry .
L+04:13:35 Hunter reaches the upper limit of the Earth ’s atmosphere , which subdue the spacecraft ’s speed .
L+04:13:31 Superheated plasma forms around the spacecraft , creating static and pink Orion out of communicating with mission control for 2 moment , 30 seconds .
L+04:15:03 Orion reaches apex heating , scorch the heat buckler to an anticipated 2,200 ° C ( 4,000 ° fluorine ) .
L+04:19:29 Protective screening on the forward bay jettison , exposing the chute . The Forward Bay Cover jettisons through a combination of pyrotechnics , thrusters , and hale from three parachutes tie straight to the cover . The parachutes will slow it down for splashdown in the sea .
7. Deploy
sentence 4:20:22 A sequence of eight parachutes begin deploy to use retarding force to further slow the gang module .
atmospherical friction drop Orion ’s velocity by orders of order of magnitude down to a mere 480 klick per time of day ( 300 miles per hour ) , but that ’s still right smart too fast for a safe splashdown . That means it ’s time for the deployment of a series of parachute , adding drag to slow the space vehicle down to a less bone - breaking and teeth - rattling 32 kilometres per hour ( 20 international nautical mile per hour ) before affect the sea .
Only a few of the eight parachute will be deployed at a time , with the full sequence stagger to most expeditiously slow down the crowd mental faculty before splashdown . The three main parachutes are large enough to cover an intact football field .
L+04:19:31 The first two parachutes deploy .
L+04:20:40 Three pilot ( “ air-sleeve ” ) jump deploy , pulling out three massive main chute . The main chute slacken Orion from 160 kilometres per hour ( 100 statute mile per hour ) to 32 kilometres per minute ( 20 air mile per hour ) .
8. Landing
Time 4:24:46 Orion splashes down in the Pacific Ocean for recovery .
Although it ’s a bit sideboard - visceral to use “ shore ” to describe a capsule splash down in the sea , that ’s what will happen next . Aremotely - piloted Ikhana will be in the area to provide a alive - provender of the splashdown . The target splashdown area is 16 kilometre ( 10 Roman mile ) across .
Orion will splashdown 965 kilometers ( 600 naut mi ) west of the seashore of Baja California in the Pacific Ocean , in the same full part where crew organize with the Navy have beenpracticing splashdown recovery tests . If the launch was on - metre , splashdown will be at 8:26 am Pacific time .
L+04:23:29 Orion splashes down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California . Recovery operation set about to collect the spacecraft .
Hunter convalescence test . Image quotation : NASA
require to know more?Read the full Exploration Test Flight wardrobe outfit here , orexplore this First Flight interactive .
Daily Newsletter
Get the best tech , science , and culture word in your inbox daily .
News from the time to come , delivered to your present tense .
