The engineering team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston completed an Orion milestone by equipping the crew module for a crucial abort system flight test, Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2), and transporting it to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The test crew module, complete with its newly attached separation ring that serves as its interface to the abort test booster, was prepped and loaded on a truck for its four-day trek to Kennedy on Dec. 1. The flight article is protected by multiple layers of shrink-wrap and tarps to withstand road hazards and inclement weather.
The importance of the AA-2 test is to verify that, in the event of an emergency during ascent, Orion’s Launch Abort System (LAS) can fire within milliseconds to pull a crew module away from the launch vehicle and reorient the spacecraft for a safe landing. A full-stress test of Orion’s LAS is planned for May 2019 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Orion Program Manager, Mark Kirasich, remarked on the AA-2 team’s efforts and efficiency. “The team has completed an amazing amount of work on an accelerated schedule, allowing the program to conduct this test and obtain important data several months earlier than planned.”
Once at Kennedy, the AA-2 test crew module will first be integrated with the LAS and tested to ensure functionality. That flight test article will be then be transported to the pad to be stacked atop its test booster in preparation for flight.