NASA and Industry Team Successfully Test Orion Launch Abort Motor
June 15 2017 - 7:04PM
Business Wire
Orbital ATK-Developed Launch Abort Motor
Test Qualifies Motor for Flight, Ensures Astronaut Safety
Orbital ATK (NYSE: OA), a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies, along with NASA and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT),
successfully performed a ground firing test of the abort motor for
NASA’s Orion spacecraft Launch Abort System (LAS) at Orbital ATK’s
facility in Promontory, Utah. The launch abort motor is a major
part of the LAS, which provides a tremendous enhancement in
spaceflight safety for astronauts.
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Orbital ATK, with NASA and Lockheed
Martin, successfully test fired its launch abort motor that is
integral to NASA's Orion spacecraft Launch Abort System, which
greatly increases astronaut safety. (Photo: Business Wire)
“We at Orbital ATK are very proud to work with NASA and Lockheed
Martin on the Orion Launch Abort System, and to provide a motor
that is so integral to astronaut safety,” said Charlie Precourt,
Vice President and General Manager of Orbital ATK’s Propulsion
Systems Division and former NASA astronaut. “The importance of our
crews’ safety and well-being can’t be stressed enough.”
The mission for Orion’s LAS is to safely jettison the spacecraft
and crew out of harm’s way in the event of an emergency on the
launch pad or during initial launch ascent. Today’s abort motor
test, Qualification Motor-1 (QM-1), was the culmination of a series
of component tests conducted over the past few years in preparation
for qualification. The test will confirm the motor can activate
within milliseconds and will perform as designed under high
temperatures.
The abort motor, which stands over 17 feet tall and spans three
feet in diameter, has a manifold with four exhaust nozzles. It was
fixed into a vertical test stand with its nozzles pointing skyward.
Upon ignition, the abort motor fired for five seconds with the
exhaust plume flames reaching up to 100 feet in height. The
high-impulse motor was specifically developed so the majority of
its propellant would be expended in the first three seconds,
burning three times faster than a typical motor of this size and
delivering the thrust needed to pull the crew module safely away
from its launch vehicle. The motor reached 400,000 pounds of thrust
in one eighth of a second, as expected. This is enough thrust to
lift 66 large SUVs off the ground.
This milestone brings Orion one step closer to its first flight
atop NASA’s Space Launch System, Exploration Mission-1, and to
eventually enabling humans to explore beyond the Moon, Mars and
other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. More analysis will be
performed in the coming weeks, but all initial test results appear
to be nominal.
Orbital ATK’s next major abort motor milestones include the QM-2
launch abort motor test firing scheduled for late next year in
Utah, and the Ascent Abort-2 Flight Test (AA-2) scheduled to take
place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, in 2019.
Previous large-scale tests of the launch abort motor include a
development motor test in 2008 and a test of the complete LAS in
2010.
Orbital ATK is responsible for the launch abort motor through a
contract to Lockheed Martin – Orion’s prime contractor. The Orion
LAS program is managed out of NASA’s Langley Research Center in
Virginia. Orbital ATK produces the abort motor at its Magna, Utah,
facility and the attitude control motor at its Elkton, Maryland,
facility. The company also manufactures the composite case for the
abort motor at its facility in Clearfield, Utah.
About Orbital ATK
Orbital ATK is a global leader in aerospace and defense
technologies. The company designs, builds and delivers space,
defense and aviation systems for customers around the world, both
as a prime contractor and merchant supplier. Its main products
include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile
products, subsystems and defense electronics; precision weapons,
armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space
components and services; and advanced aerospace structures.
Headquartered in Dulles, Virginia, Orbital ATK employs
approximately 12,500 people in 18 states across the U.S. and in
several international locations. For more information, visit
www.orbitalatk.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170615006377/en/
Media Contact:Orbital ATK Propulsion SystemsKay Anderson,
435-230-2787Communications
Leadkay.anderson@orbitalatk.comorInvestor Contact:Orbital
ATK, Inc.Barron Beneski, 703-406-5528Public and Investor
Relationsbarron.beneski@orbitalatk.com
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