The Next Step In Creating Crew Safety For Future Human Space
Flight
The second of two ground tests of a full-scale attitude
control motor (ACM) for the launch abort system (LAS) of NASA's
Orion crew exploration vehicle has been completed by Alliant
Techsystems. ATK said Monday he second test was conducted on March
17, and evaluated environment extremes and ignition system
robustness in addition to confirming the motor performance. The
test was conducted at ATK's facility in Elkton, MD, where the first
successful test was conducted on December 15, 2009.
Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor to NASA for Orion, leads
the project team developing the nation's next-generation space
flight vehicle to carry out missions to destinations throughout our
solar system. Orion's launch abort system is critical to the human
rating of any similarly designed spacecraft and is essential for
crew safety which is fundamental to successful human space
exploration in the future.
This test of the control motor validates the readiness for
NASA's upcoming pad abort 1 (PA-1) flight test that will be
conducted at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), New Mexico. The PA-1
ACM was delivered to WSMR in February. PA-1 is the first LAS flight
test for NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle.
"The success of this test, coupled with the success of the first
test last December, demonstrates again that crew safety is an
overriding priority in the design of the crew vehicles to be used
in future human exploration missions. We are now ready for the next
major milestone, a flight demonstration," said Bart Olson, interim
President, ATK Mission Systems.
Photo Courtesy ATK
ATK's attitude control motor provides steering for the Orion
launch abort system, which is designed to safely lift and steer the
Orion crew module away from the launch vehicle in the event of an
emergency. This was the seventh in a series of ground tests of
Orion's attitude control motor system, validating that the thruster
system performs as designed.
ATK's attitude control motor consists of a solid propellant gas
generator, with eight proportional valves equally spaced around the
circumference of the three-foot diameter motor. In combination, the
valves can exert up to 7,000 pounds of steering force to the
vehicle in any direction upon command from the crew module. The
valves are controlled by a redundant power and control system.
ATK is under contract to Lockheed Martin to develop the attitude
control motor and provide motors for Orion's development test
flights and human-rated flights. ATK is also responsible for the
main launch abort motor, successfully test-fired November 2008, and
the Ares I first stage, which was successfully test-fired in
September 2009.