Orion Pad Abort-1 Launch Abort System Flight Test

[davvyk]

That is a hell of a ride.

[mbarkhau]

That landing does not look soft.

[oracle2world]

This looks like a test of the animation package, not the system.

[ti994apc]

Worst escape system I have ever seen. 1) G-forces would kill anyone in the capsule 2) You need a heavy lift rocket just for the escape system which makes safety and price go out the door. 3) Overly complex makes it prone to failure. 4) The escape system covers the entire capsule is not good, another failure point.

[k2477456]

@ti994apc you ever seen an ejection seat go off plus the g's here are front to back on a person no top to bottom

[ti994apc]

@k2477456 Ejection seats can hit 12 to 14 g for a second to put the pilot maybe 40-50 yards away. When Orion Abort when off, the camera did not have enough frames per second to capture it. Also, it took a few second for the secondary camera to locate it in the sky. Keep in mind its a 5 story ejection system that so big and heavy you need a heavy lift rocket just to lift the ejection system. This is only needed on rockets the use SRB's and not needed on liquid fueled rockets.

[Tjita1]

No retro rockets? Impact looks rough..

[fowzie777]

thats the only way its gonna fly....

[mrplease66]

that's all we ever get too see from NASA these days: renderings.

[MightySaturn5]

great job

[Rictor71]

I just lost my lunch! But at least I'd be alive. LOL

[Qasimbajwaa]

the cheif person who worked on this mission is my mentor at Langley for this program called VASTS...pretty epic i get to get advice from her!

[ti994apc]

The main problem of the about system is the same problem of Ares in general "over complicated." The reason it has to be like this is mistake of having to use solid rocket fuel "shuttle parts". We are much better off with Falcon9 and a basic abort that does not need to pull away from solid rocket fuel- which can not be turned off once started.

[ti994apc]

The actual test was today but not posted on youtube yet. The real launch was about 3 times faster than this simulation. It was VERY violent!! To be honest I don't think a human could survive the 0-400 mph in less than 1.2 seconds.

[Gatedialer]

@ti994apc

to be honest, you're not a doctor or an engineer.

[ti994apc]

@Gatedialer

To be honest, I have a phd in engineering.

[charlrandlll]

@ti994apc

To be honest, I don't trust engineering PhDs.

For proof that humans can survive the 17 g acceleration force, look up John Paul Stapp. Furthermore, the necessity of a LAS has nothing to do with solid fuel rockets. I'm sure the crew of Soyuz T-10-1 is quite glad that they had an LAS sitting on top of their liquid fuel Soyuz rocket. If the Falcon 9 ever carries humans, it will need an LAS (maybe even the one simulated in this video) as well.

[ti994apc]

@charlrandlll The point is that with a Liquid fueled rocket, you can eject 100 yards away safely. Like with Soyoz or Gemini, a small ejection system. However with Solid explosions you have 2 extra issues. One you need enough power to pull away from a moving rocket (SRB's do not turn off) and you need to be miles away because the solid explosion shoots flaming chunks of debris in all directions. The parachute getting hit is the concern. That is why Orion needs a 5 story escape system. 

[TehONE117]

@ti994apc you'd be surprised....

[Monty22001]

I swure hope this system can survive the hussein admin.

[morlando51]

Fukuz, it worked like a charm at 9:00 et on may 6 2010. So shut the fuck up.

[FukuzawaY]

Seems too complex, likely to fail.

[junoreactor05]

this is going to happen tomorrow!!!

[EUROSUN1]

To many steps. Very dangerous. These astronauts are doomed.

[wiseman85]

Hey EUROSUN1.......So what would be your solution to abort crew of astronauts from anywhere between several hundred feet above the ground at several hundred miles per hour to 120,000ft above the ground at several thousand miles per hour?.....hmmmm???....any ideas???? Since the astronauts are "DOOMED" anyway I am sure NASA would love your suggestions!!!!

[EUROSUN1]

The Russian Soyuz escape system is proven to be the best. It`s simpler and more robust then this.

[palmersperry]

@EUROSUN1 Erm, wasn't the Soyuz escape system basically exactly the same as shown in this video? Rocket motor pulls capsule away and then the normal descent systems take over?

[legacyofspace]

@palmersperry

Erm, NO. The Orion launch abort system contains the largest active control motor ever designed. The active control allows significantly more control and better stability in flight. The stack also contains a reverse flow solid rocket motor.

These aren't your babushka's solid rocket motors. State of the art in solids technology.

[GreySpy]

werdnativ,

This is definitely Orion and not Apollo, though the design is based on the Apollo system. One main difference, as can be seen in this sim, is that the attitude on the Orion Launch Abort System is actively controlled (see plumes on forward end). The Launch Escape System on Apollo had a simple pitch over motor and canards to orient it during abort.

[Fortinbras1000]

Fascinating!!!

[werdnativ]

This looks exactly like the launch abort system of the Apollo program. Is this video mislabelled?

[quanvantruong]

Great vid!

[macshdrm]

The primary objectives of this test are all about the abort systems. The capsule is essentially a mockup (right size/shape/mass characteristics), the chutes are a secondary objective. No effort has been made to ease the landing since landing is not an objective for this capsule.

[macshdrm]

The vehicle shown in this unmanned test will decend at a vertical rate between 26 and 33 ft/sec. It is fast, but the manned capsules will land in water

[Unguidedone]

hard landing

[TimTrimT]

They are probably doing a hard landing to get worst case G-force measurements for survivability if this abort system ever needs use. Normal planned entries after missions will I'm sure continue to use oceans to spare the poor astronauts spines. ;-) Looks like a hard landing but aside from a few bruises the guys will live right?

[Afamousperson]

that look cool what a ride that would be if you didnt pass out lol

[BIGGEORDIE70]

Awesome transition periods with the drogues and main chutes

[jahvdberg]

Looks like a cartoon. This isn't real, is it?

[noircat]

Of course not, this is a CG simulation of the actual test which still has to be done.

[pedroferreiralp]

That's a great impact down there, but I wouldn't mind surviving with a couple of ribbs broken.

[kanibalismo666]

muy buen..video...excelente!!!

[johnpatota]

The capsule doesn't look like a fun place to be for 0:46 - 0:54. I get sick just watching it sway back and fourth.

[CrusoeCale]

0:34 to 0:40 looks much worse.

[jkand]

A lot of g-force from start to landing. Looks more than 3 g launch.

[spiderspeed]

Try 16 Gs...the astronauts will take the load eyeballs in, so they will be ok.

[joachim2464]

actually it would be more like 12-15 gs. It is feasable, but it would really hold you down.

[157GOLIATH]

Waaaaay too rough landing on this animation. No astronout could walk away from that one!

[dalucero]

This is just a test. No astronauts on board.

[Elamin008]

Nice

[TMartinus]

This isn't even a test... It's a computer generated animation of what is suppose to happen.

[mskpwww]

REALLY?

[TMartinus]

Yea, really.... Smart-ass....

[Boy75402]

Would you rather try walking away from an exploding rocket beneath/attached to you during flight?

LAS May not be comfortable, but it's certainly more so than riding a failing rocket.

[157GOLIATH]

You failed to see the point. Nobody is comparing comfortability here. It is the matter of surwival either way. Imagine, you survive an exploding rocket with the help of LAS only to be killed on impact. I now for a fact that real crash-down is not so rough as the animation shows. It is twice as gentle and the main thing - IT IS SURWIVABLE.

[okimas]

Lol yeah the impact was too strong for all we know that astronauts bones could have been crushed

[joachim2464]

the orion will not land like this and if ti is a land landing the orion will use air bags

[mskpwww]

don't you think the engineers would have considered that?

[okimas]

lol i know it was a joke it actually looks like a pretty soft landing

[jjones6540]

That is a very cool rendering of the upcoming test flight.

[TimTrimT]

Wow that's an absolutely beautiful rendering! I seriously had to think before deciding if it was CGI or not ;)

[magick205]

@TimTrimT: I know. The quality is, to put it mildly, unsettling.

[Jontheking100]

@TimTrimT Nice work! Really great video...I must admit...I had to think that it was CGI or not as well :). I got the real video on my page...They just launched the real one on the 6th of may. Nice simulation.

[JephN]

The problem is that if they have to eject during or near max Q, the debris from the first stage lands right on their chutes, (or they end up in the middle of the debris field).

[dalucero]

The Attitude Control Motor (tiny jets on top) is designed to take them away from the debris. They run many simulations and have tests (like this one) to make sure that this will almost always take them away from danger. If they actually had to do an abort during ascent or on the pad, the odds of getting hit with debris is way less than remaining attached to an exploding rocket.

[OrbisFerrum]

does anyone know the aproximate velocity of the capsule as it hits the ground? i thought they did the Apollo landings in water because the shutes wouldn't sufficiently brake the capsule before landing.

[silvereagle2061]

This capsule as well but even the Apollo space craft had an 'escape rocket' in the event of a fire on the pad or some other accident. Never used in those days but still in place. It wasn't used for high altitude flight as much as a 'get the hell out of there' scenario.

[dalucero]

The Pad Abort -1 test is being executed at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. One reason they're doing it there is because they need the big open area in case something goes wrong, they don't want it to land on someone or something besides open ground. It's only a test. In a real flight abort scenario, they'd be at the pad in Florida and the LAS would take the crew module into the ocean.

[mskpwww]

Thanks for explaining that to the folks, dalucero :)

[Boy75402]

I don't know the answer to that, but I can add this.

The Orion capsule probably will do splash-down landings as well. In a real launch, they'll fly over the Atlantic, so the LAS will probably result in a splash-down too.

[mskpwww]

Bingo, Boy75402

[Bummslang]

Nice looking simulation ;)

[CessnaDriver2]

I would take that ride! LOL

[Edgarsriba]

thats something

[OntarioScienceCentre]

rocket launch with science. awesome visuals.

[Leplaisirdunsourir]

L'atterrissage est quand même un peu dure...

[CivilHuman]

Awesome