Orion Capsule Launches New Era for NASA
A crew capsule designed for deep space made its debut launch from Cape Canaveral
Orion Capsule Launches New Era for NASA
- Orion at the Ready Three days before launch Orion is stacked atop its Delta 4 Heavy rocket in preparation for liftoff from Launch Pad 37B at Cape Canaveral. The crew capsule, which measures 3.3 meters tall and five meters wide, is seen with a protective casing around it. For its maiden flight test, the capsule launched unmanned to test critical systems, such as its heat shield, in preparation for a potential first crewed flight in 2021. More than 40 years ago the first (unmanned) test flight of the Apollo Lunar Module blasted off from this same launch pad.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - Iconic Tower With a volume of 3.6 million cubic meters, the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Center is one of the largest buildings in the world. Originally constructed to put together the Saturn 5 rockets that launched Apollo capsules, it was later used for the space shuttle program and is now being outfitted to handle the Space Launch System (SLS), the heavy-lift rocket in development that will eventually carry Orion into deep space. Throughout the years, the VAB has been one of the most recognizable symbols of NASA and the Kennedy Space Center.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - Crew Capsule Replica When Orion is ready to carry people, it will house between two and six crew members on missions of up to 21 days. For longer journeys, such as a planned months-long foray to Mars, it will link up with another space habitat in orbit. This scale model of the Orion crew capsule stands at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Center nearby the retired space shuttle Atlantis, which is now a museum attraction.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - “BFD” NASA Administrator Charles Bolden called Orion’s first flight a “BFD,” or “big f**ing deal, ” saying it was “what I would call history in the making.” He spoke on Tuesday (December 2) in front of the stacked Orion and Delta 4 Heavy rocket in the week before before liftoff.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - Heavy Lift For its maiden flight, Orion rode atop the Delta 4 Heavy rocket built by the Boeing–Lockheed Martin United Launch Alliance. Ultimately even that booster—the largest currently operating—will not be strong enough to take Orion as far into deep space as it is intended to go. NASA is at work on a larger heavy-lift rocket called the Space Launch System, which will pack more than four times as much thrust as the Delta 4 Heavy.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - Press Site At the Kennedy Space Center press site, the news media gathered for the first launch of Orion in numbers not seen since the days of the space shuttle program. NASA estimated that around 27,000 people watched the first launch attempt on Thursday from Kennedy Space Center property.
Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican - Clearing the Tower
The Delta 4 Heavy uses three boosters burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to achieve two million pounds of thrust. Its push was enough to propel Orion to a peak altitude of 5,800 kilometers (15 times higher than the International Space Station). Credit: Clara Moskowitz/ScientificAmerican
