UPDATE: Booster Valve Issues Force Postponement Of Orion’s Test Flight

Written By: Chuck Bednar

Published Date: December 4, 2014 Last Edited: May 4, 2018

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Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online

UPDATE: December 4, 2014 (8:35 a.m. CST)

The Orion test flight scheduled for Thursday morning has been scrubbed due to issues with a fill-and-drain valve on its United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy booster rocket, NASA officials have confirmed via Twitter [ https://twitter.com/NASA/status/540514560688795649 ]. The next possible launch window will be Friday at 7:05am EST. Stay tuned for our continuing coverage.

ORIGINAL: December 3, 2014 (7:37 a.m. CST)

NASA’s plan to conduct a manned mission to Mars is scheduled to take one giant leap forward on Thursday morning with the maiden test flight of the Orion spacecraft which will be used to transport astronauts to the Red Planet.

On Tuesday, representatives from United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Lockheed Martin, which developed the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), gave a “go” to proceed towards the launch pending the completion of open work during the Launch Readiness Review, the US space agency said. The weather forecast is a 60 percent “go” for the 7:05am EST liftoff.

Orion, a spacecraft designed to carry a crew of up to four astronauts, will be carried into space by one of ULA’s Delta IV Heavy rockets. After it lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Brevard County, Florida, it will complete a two-orbit, 4 1/2 hour flight test. A prelaunch status briefing will be held at 11am EST on Wednesday, and a NASA overview event with participation from social media followers will air at 1pm.

According to James Dean of Florida Today, there is a two hour, 39 minute window for Thursday’s launch. A high-pressure system is expected to bring wind gusts, low clouds and occasional coastal showers, he said, while conditions in the Pacific are said to be fine for splashdown. Should the launch be delayed, the chance of “go” on Friday is also 60 percent.

An artist's concept of Orion adjusting its attitude for re-entry. Credit: NASA

The $375 million test-flight, officially known as Exploration Flight Test-1, will see Orion travel 3,600 miles above the planet, or 15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS), followed by a 20,000-mph re-entry through the atmosphere and parachute-assisted splashdown.

The test flight will “offer early insight into the performance of various Orion systems, most importantly the heat shield, at least seven years before astronauts are expected to climb aboard,” Dean said. “NASA has spent more than eight years and $9 billion developing the spacecraft the agency hopes will carry crews to an asteroid and eventually Mars. A second unmanned test flight is targeted for 2018 and a first flight with a crew is possible by 2021.”

Orion is the first US spacecraft built for astronauts destined for deep space since the Apollo mission of the 1960s and 1970s, according to NASA, and is designed to travel farther than any previous manned mission. It is designed to allow astronauts to explore the space between Earth and Mars, and will test capabilities that will be needed during future missions to the Red Planet, as well as advanced spacewalking suits and other technologies necessary for deep-space travel.

“Orion’s flight test is designed to test many of the riskiest elements of leaving Earth and returning home in the spacecraft,” the US space agency explained. “It will evaluate several key separations events, including the jettison of the launch abort system that will be capable of carrying astronauts on future missions to safety if a problem were to arise on the launch pad or during ascent to space, and the separation of the Orion crew module from its service module ahead of its reentry though Earth’s atmosphere.”

“Really, we’re going to test the riskiest parts of the mission,” Mark Geyer, program manager of Orion, said in a statement Tuesday. “Ascent, entry and things like fairing separations, Launch Abort System jettison, the parachutes plus the navigation and guidance – all those things are going to be tested. Plus we’ll fly into deep space and test the radiation effects on those systems.”

The test flight will also serve as a trial for the Kennedy Space Center’s transformation into a multi-user spaceport, NASA noted. Orion’s lift off is set to demonstrate the ability of the facility and its crew to produce a spacecraft and launch configuration that works well utilizing all aspects of the new model for processing and launch.

“With lessons learned from Orion’s flight test, NASA can improve the spacecraft’s design while building the first Space Launch System rocket, a heavy booster with enough power to send the next Orion around the moon for Exploration Mission-1,” the agency explained. “Following that, astronauts are gearing up to fly Orion on the second SLS rocket on a mission that will return humans to deep space for the first time in more than 40 years.”

“These adventures will set NASA up for future human missions to an asteroid and even on the journey to Mars,” it continued, noting that none of the ambitious future plans for the Orion project have caused those involved in the project “to look past the crucial steps needed to make this mission a success.”

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