Orion Update

Engineers and technicians prepping Orion for its first flight test Dec. 4 began putting the finishing touches inside the crew cabin today and will continue the work through the weekend.

Although Orion will not carry any people on its flight test, it’s designed for astronauts, and engineers want to find out what conditions will be like inside the cabin as Orion travels through high radiation and extreme temperatures during this flight test. Launch pad teams also will start on a lengthy list of closeout duties to make sure Orion and its vital instruments and recorders are ready for space. The steps will set the stage for the first launch week in Orion’s career. The spacecraft and its United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket are on track to lift off Thursday at 7:05 a.m. EST, the opening of a 2 hour, 39-minute window for the day.

Working at Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, technicians and engineers conducted a series of electrical and battery checks between the connections between the crew module, service module and Delta IV Heavy second stage. The processing schedule also leaves room for more testing on Orion and its system if needed without impacting the launch schedule.

The doors of the Mobile Servicing Tower were opened recently at Space Launch Complex 37 to reveal the Orion spacecraft atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy that will carry the spacecraft into orbit. Orion’s crew module is underneath the Launch Abort System and nose fairing, both of which will jettison about six minutes, 20 seconds after launch. The tower will be rolled away from the rocket and spacecraft 8 hours, 15 minutes before launch to allow the rocket to be fueled and for other launch operations to proceed Dec. 4.

The flight controllers who will launch and operate Orion during its Dec. 4 flight test are conducting a mission dress rehearsal today to make sure they have the plans for the 4 1/2-hour flight down solid and to refine any areas. The teams, which communicate across several NASA centers and facilities at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and around the country, will be able to practice contingency scenarios as well in case they are needed for Orion’s flight test. NASA will work closely with Orion builder Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance – which operates the Delta IV Heavy rocket – throughout the flight.


The Orion spacecraft will take crews farther from Earth than any human-rated spacecraft since Apollo. The first step of that adventure comes this week when the Orion flight test sends an uncrewed version of the capsule about 3,600 miles above Earth – far enough to encounter the high radiation zones that circle the planet and measure their effects on the inside of the spacecraft. On its way back home, Orion’s heat shield will bear the brunt of scorching plasma as the spacecraft dives into the atmosphere at 20,000 mph before slowing for splashdown.

It’s a stress test for more than the spacecraft, of course – people from NASA and Lockheed Martin along with scores of others involved in the program will watch every readout carefully. No matter what happens, the flight test has already made strides in development of America’s next deep-space vehicle for astronauts.

Meteorologists have not changed their prediction for Thursday morning’s weather and they continue to call for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions for Orion’s lift off on its first flight test. The launch window opens at 7:05 a.m. EST and closes 2 hours, 39 minutes later at about 9:44 a.m. The concern remains early morning precipitation at or near the Florida spaceport. NASA reserved the Eastern Range for Friday and Saturday as well, in case Thursday’s launch opportunity is not made.