Orion Pad Abort System Test Successful
The much anticipated Pad Abort 1 test of the launch abort system for the Orion spacecraft was successful today. Conducted at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the test lasted 135 seconds with the crew module landing about one mile away at 16.2 miles per hour according to a press released from NASA.
The fate of Orion is still up in the air, with the latest plan from the Obama Administration calling for Orion technologies to be used only to build a crew rescue module for the International Space Station. That version of Orion would be launched with no one aboard so the launch abort system would not be needed. However, NASA Associate Administrator for Exploration Doug Cooke was quoted in the press release as saying that the test will contribute to NASA’s goal of making human spaceflight as safe as possible.
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