Source: The Huntsville Times
Two new rocket motors will fly for the first time in New Mexico Thursday morning when NASA scientists, including some from Huntsville, flight test a crew escape system.
An empty Orion capsule will go from zero to 600 mph in 4 seconds – “screaming off the launch pad,” in one scientist’s words – as NASA and contractor experts develop the next generation of crew safety.
The test will be televised by NASA-TV, and the launch window opens at 8 a.m. Huntsville time Thursday.
The Launch Abort System is designed to “safely remove the crew from the launch pad to the edge of space,” said Dr. Jeffrey Sheehy, one of the engineers working on the system here.
Once in space, other systems would come into play if astronauts needed rescuing.
About 60 Marshall Space Flight Center employees are working on the system in the areas where they are the acknowledged experts: solid-rocket motors and human-rated flight systems.
The entire system’s development is led by NASA’s Langley Research Center.
It was originally planned as a component of the Orion crew capsule managed by the Johnson Space Center in Houston as part of the Constellation rocket program. Constellation’s fate may be in doubt, but this escape technology could be used on whatever rocket comes next.
As Marshall Deputy LAS Project Manager Stephen Gaddis said Friday, “If you’re going to have a crew, you’re going to need a crew evacuation system.”
To read more: http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/05/nasa_will_test_crew_escape_sys.html