Orion Rocket Motor Test Spectacular

The primary motor for an escape system that would save astronauts flying aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft successfully passed a spectacular test-firing Thursday as the agency pressed ahead with work aimed at returning Americans to the moon by 2020.

With dozens of spectators watching from a nearby ridge, the Orion Launch Abort System motor roared to life in Promontory, Utah, sending up four pillars of flame in a five-second burst that produced a half-million pounds of thrust.

"It looked perfect. Very impressive. It was beautiful," said former NASA astronaut Charlie Precourt, now a vice president with Alliant Techsystems Inc., which builds both the escape system motor and the first stage of the Ares 1 rockets that Orion spacecraft will fly upon.

"It was stunning. It was outstanding to watch," said company spokesman George Torres. "They predicted it would shoot flames up about 114 feet and it looked like it did."

Click to enlarge the ATK photo above and check out video of the test here:



Here's what it looked like from a nearby viewing area:

And here is a video with two different views:

The 17-foot-tall motor is the propulsive heart of a system that would pull Apollo-style Orion crew capsules and astronauts away from Ares 1 launch vehicles in an emergency.

The Orion Launch Abort System is similar to one that pulled Russian cosmonauts Vladamir Titov and Gennady Strekalov off the top of a rocket that caught fire on its Baikonur Cosmodrome launch pad back in 1983.

The Soyuz abort system propelled Strekalov and Titov from the top of the burning rocket to a safe touchdown about a mile-and-a-half from the launch pad.

Check out a video of the abort here:

"It was the only time a Launch Abort System has been used in anger, and it worked," said Precourt, who flew with Strekalov on the first U.S. shuttle mission to the Russian Mir space station in 1995. "It saved those guys."

Mounted on a mast that will top Ares 1 rockets and Orion spacecraft, the motor sports four nozzles that expel flame-filled plumes when fired. For the test-firing, it was fitted into a specially designed stand with its nozzles pointed skyward.

The Orion Launch Abort System will decrease the chance of fatal accidents in flight to 1 in 2,000. The statistical probability of a shuttle accident is 1 in 80.

"Hope we never have to use it," Torres said. "But it would do the job. It certainly did its job today."

The test today was the first of its kind since the launch abort system for Apollo crew capsules were developed in the 1960s.

Here's an ATK PowerPoint that covers its history with Launch Abort Systems dating back to the earliest days of U.S. spaceflight: ATK LAS History.

Here is a fact sheet that outlines the full test program: Constellation Tests

Here is a fact sheet that provides more details on follow-on tests that will be done at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico: White Sands Tests

ABOUT THE IMAGE: Click to enlarge and save the ATK photo of the Orion Launch Abort System motor igniting during a test-firing today in Promontory, Utah.