Orion Update: Batteries Installed, Live Sky Test Complete
By Space Coast Daily // November 21, 2014
working to ready Orion for its flight test
ABOVE VIDEO: Orion’s heat shield will endure temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit in its December flight test. Engineer Molly White explains how it works in this video.
Mission: Orion Flight Test
Launch Date: Dec. 4, 2014
Launch Time: 7:05 a.m. EST
Launch Window: 2 hours, 39 minutes
Launch Site: Space Launch Complex 37, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
Splashdown (if launched at start of window): 11:29 a.m.
The teams working to ready Orion for its flight test on Dec. 4 are making progress preparing the spacecraft for its first trip to space. At Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, engineers installed Orion’s batteries today, completing a critical step in the final preparations process.
Because the spacecraft’s batteries have a limited lifespan, they are installed as close to launch as possible. On Wednesday, engineers also completed testing the communications links between the Orion spacecraft and the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) system in an evaluation known as a live sky test.
NASA’s TDRS network will be used to send commands to Orion during the flight test and receive data from the spacecraft.
Ahead of Orion’s voyage, NASA is also sharing information about different elements of Orion and the flight test. The flight test will examine all sorts of systems on the spacecraft during its uncrewed test, including the heatshield.
The vital armor protecting against searing hot plasma as the spacecraft enters Earth’s atmosphere, the heatshield for this test is expected to experience temperatures around 4,000 degrees F as Orion enters the atmosphere at 20,000 mph. The speed will help engineers evaluate how Orion endures returning from deep space destinations in the future when astronauts are on board.
