Sunday, May 9, 2010 — 2:43 a.m. — 27.5°F
NASA's launch test of Orion's crew escape capability, May 6, 2010, in New Mexico.
Three days ago, NASA performed a full-scale launch test of a new crew escape system for the Orion crew capsule that was designed as part of the United States’ next generation Constellation human space launch system. The test seems to have been very successful, with a 6-second long burn catapulting the capsule to a maximum height of around 6,000 feet. Attitude control was flawless, separation from the motor occurred just as planned, the three ‘chutes deployed properly, and 2 minutes and 14 seconds after launch the capsule was back on the ground. It landed almost 7,000 feet away from the launch pad, and the touchdown impact speed of 16 miles per hour was 6 mph slower than the designed speed. The system is designed to be usable from launch up to altitudes of 55 miles.
Artist's rendering of the stages in the launch abort procedure. The test on May 6 reached a maximum altitude of only about 6,000 feet above ground.
Pretty cool! But the problem is, there’s already a more successful launch abort system in place: the complete cessation of human space launches by the United States. Only 3 more Space Shuttle launches are scheduled (and a decision is due next month on the unlikely possibility of a 4th) before the United States resigns from human space exploration. President Obama wants to cancel the manned Constellation program, and offers nothing in replacement except a vague schedule that might result in a vague plan several years down the road, and possibly some actual hardware a few decades after that. The only Americans going into space for many years will be whatever hired help Russia decides to allow onto the International Space Station via their Soyuz human launch system.
But hey, if we were a space-faring nation, we’d have a pretty snazzy emergency crew escape system in place should a launch crisis occur. Instead, maybe we’ll just give this system to some country that actually has a need for it, like Russia or China.
