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Exploration

Orion Passes Static Loads Tests

By Marc Boucher
NASA Watch
June 6, 2013
Filed under

NASA’s Orion Spacecraft Proves Sound Under Pressure, NASA
After a month of being poked, prodded and pressurized in ways that mimicked the stresses of spaceflight, NASA’s Orion crew module successfully passed its static loads tests on Wednesday.
When Orion launches on Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), which is targeted for September 2014, it will travel farther from Earth than any spacecraft built for humans in more than 40 years. The spacecraft will fly about 3,600 miles above Earth’s surface and return at speeds of approximately 25,000 mph. During the test, Orion will experience an array of stresses, or loads, including launch and reentry, the vacuum of space, and several dynamic events that will jettison hardware away from the spacecraft and deploy parachutes.

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9 responses to “Orion Passes Static Loads Tests”

  1. cynical_space says:
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    “When Orion launches on Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), which is targeted for September 2014…”
    And the launch vehicle will be…?

    • ProfSWhiplash says:
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      It’ll be a Delta IV Heavy, that’ll do the deed.

      (Not as much “Uber-Oomph” as the ever-moving-to-the-right SLS, but it’ll get the mission profile done just fine)

      • cynical_space says:
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        Okey-Dokey, thanks for the info!

      • BeanCounterFromDownUnder says:
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        Well I guess this just shows that there’s no requirement for SLS. Seems Delta IV is sufficient.

        • Matthew Black says:
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          The Delta IV-H isn’t powerful enough to lift a fully-fledged Orion with Service Module and propellants. The EFT-1 flight has a ‘dummy’ unfueled and therefore light Service Module. If an upgraded upper stage were funded, it would be powerful enough to lift a full Orion spacecraft, but Delta IV-H could still not send a full 20 ton-plus Orion beyond Earth Orbit.

        • ProfSWhiplash says:
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          Unfortunately, this EFT-1 mission is just to do a couple of orbits – the last one highly elliptical – before reentering screaming hot & fast (as if it were returning from BEO). Delta IV Heavy is able to do that much, at least.

          To actually go way out there in BEO, may require that aforementioned “Uber-Oomph”, at least for the porky-Orion. Whether or not the “Uber-Oompher” should be SLS is another matter.

          In which case, I wonder if the Delta folks (or even Atlas) ever looked at slapping on 3 or 4 liquid boosters to do something like this. (OTOH, I wouldn’t put it past Elon to be musing such a configuration to super-size his own F-H . . . and more power to him if he is)

          • dogstar29 says:
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            Early in the Delta IV program, Boeing provided notional concepts for evolving the booster all the way up to 100MT to LEO capacity through a variety of combinations of liquid and solid propellant stages, engine upgrades, and ultimately a larger core stage. Unfortunately Congress doesn’t want an evolved Delta or Falcon, they want the rocket they designed to meet the requirements of various congressional districts.