Aldrin isn’t attending the launch, according to NASA, but three of his former colleagues will be there: Apollo 7’s Walter Cunningham, Apollo 10’s Tom Stafford and Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt, the next-to-last man to walk on the moon. In a back-to-the-future salute, Orion will carry a few slivers of moon rocks collected by Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in 1969, and a bolt from one of their rocket engines, salvaged from the sea a decade ago. Also in the clear: a solar sail demo targeting an asteroid. The radiation-measuring CubeSats should be OK. NASA expects some to fail, given the low-cost, high-risk nature of these mini satellites. The problem is these so-called CubeSats were installed in the rocket a year ago, and the batteries for half of them couldn’t be recharged as the launch kept getting delayed. Ten shoebox-size satellites will pop off once Orion is hurtling toward the moon. But the advanced design anticipates the faster, hotter returns by future Mars crews.īesides three test dummies, the flight has a slew of stowaways for deep space research. The heat shield uses the same material as the Apollo capsules to withstand reentry temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,750 degrees Celsius). The big test comes at mission’s end, as Orion hits the atmosphere at 25,000 mph (40,000 kph) on its way to a splashdown in the Pacific. That will put Orion 280,000 miles (450,000 kilometers) from Earth, farther than Apollo.
After whipping closely around the moon, the capsule will enter a distant orbit with a far point of 38,000 miles (61,000 kilometers). It will take nearly a week to reach the moon, 240,000 miles (386,000 kilometers) away. Orion’s flight is supposed to last six weeks from its Florida liftoff to Pacific splashdown, twice as long as astronaut trips in order to tax the systems. This time, the European Space Agency’s service module will be attached for propulsion and solar power via four wings. Unlike the rocket, Orion has launched before, making two laps around Earth in 2014. One torso is testing a protective vest from Israel. Two other mannequins made of material simulating human tissue - heads and female torsos, but no limbs - will measure cosmic radiation, one of the biggest risks of spaceflight. For this test flight, a full-size dummy in an orange flight suit will occupy the commander’s seat, rigged with vibration and acceleration sensors. At 11 feet (3 meters) tall, it’s roomier than Apollo’s capsule, seating four astronauts instead of three. NASA’s high-tech, automated Orion capsule is named after the constellation, among the night sky’s brightest. Two hours after liftoff, an upper stage will send the capsule, Orion, racing toward the moon. The core stage will keep firing before separating and crashing into the Pacific in pieces. The boosters will peel away after two minutes, just like the shuttle boosters did, but won’t be fished from the Atlantic for reuse. Unlike the streamlined Saturn V, the new rocket has a pair of strap-on boosters refashioned from NASA’s space shuttles. It’s called the Space Launch System rocket, SLS for short, but a less clunky name is under discussion, according to Nelson. But it’s mightier, packing 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust. or one of its affiliates.The new rocket is shorter and slimmer than the Saturn V rockets that hurled 24 Apollo astronauts to the moon a half-century ago. All rights reserved. All hotels are either franchised by the company, or managed by Wyndham Hotel Management, Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
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