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| nasa.com |
The rumble was unmistakable as Orion blasted off December 5, 2014
at 7:05a.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 37.
NASA administrator Charles Bolden stated, “Today’s flight test of Orion is a
huge step for NASA and a really critical part of our work to pioneer deep space
on our Journey to Mars. The teams did a tremendous job putting Orion through
its paces in the real environment it will endure as we push the boundary of
human exploration in the coming years.”
Orion traveled farther than any other spacecraft designed for
astronauts. Orion’s mission was uncrewed due to the dangerous space Orion
traveled through while doing two full loops around the Earth. I am excited to
see the data results of the Van Allen belt that Orion traveled through. The Van
Allen belt contains high levels of radiation and within it, Orion reached an
altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. Orion had to withstand temperatures
reaching 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere.
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| nasa.com Orion after splashdown |
Orion splashed down into the Pacific Ocean approximately 4.5 hours
after lift-off. The Orion crew module landed about 600 miles southwest of San
Diego. Data will be collected to know the exact capabilities of Orion’s
avionics, heat shield, parachutes, computers, key separation events, and the
running of all the internal systems critical to the safety of all the astronauts
will be eventually travel in Orion around the year 2020.
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| nasa.com Orion recovery |
Orion’s next mission will be to launch NASA’s Space Launch System
(SLS) heavy-lift rocket that is currently being developed at the agency’s
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The 70 metric-ton (77 ton)
SLS will send Orion to a distant retrograde orbit around the moon. Exploration Mission-1 will be the first test
of the fully integrated Orion and SLS system. The integration is the imperative
to explore beyond the moon.
Mark Geyer, the Orion Program Manager stated, “We really pushed
Orion as much as we could to give us real data that we can use to improve
Orion’s design going forward. In the
coming weeks and months we’ll be taking a look at that invaluable information
and applying lessons learned to the next Orion spacecraft already in production
for the first mission atop the Space Launch System rocket.”
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| nasa.com Orion's parachutes |
Orion’s successful test flight really brings to light the abilities
NASA has to take astronauts past the moon. It has been 45 years since the first
step on the moon. I know I was not alive to see that momentous occasion live.
But we have all seen the footage in school and it makes you look up and wonder
what is out there? Can we really travel to other planets and stars? Orion is
the first step to realizing that we can see the universe. I know I wanted to
travel the stars watching shows such as Star
Trek: The Next Generation. Future generations will be looking back at Orion’s
flight the same way we did with the first lunar landing. Beam me up Scotty, we
are ready.
As Always, #keepitnerdy
Written by: Jenn Massa
