In December 2014, NASA’s Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Program successfully conducted Experimental Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), the first orbital flight test of the Orion spacecraft. Close observers may have noted that the spacecraft had an updated shape from the concepts included on the previous Ares I-X and Orion Pad Abort 1 flight tests. In reality, the Orion crew module (CM) shape has not changed substantially since these flights, but the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) has changed.
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Changing the Shape of Launch Abort Systems
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