#eft1

I had the pleasure of seeing the EFT-1 Orion capsule while on assignment at Kennedy Space Center earlier this week. While I’ve seen the capsule up close before, this was the first time since going on public display last month.  Orion is a special spacecraft to me - my favourite, in fact - as its launch in December 2014 helped shoot me on a path towards further involvement in the space program. Orion’s ultimate role as the vehicle that will catapult Americans into a new chapter of exploration inspires me unlike anything else I know, and it’s hard to contain your emotions when you’re in the presence of the vehicle. 

T + 859 days (April 11, 2017) EFT-1 Orion capsule goes on display at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. More than two years after making history, NASA’s Orion capsule that flew the EFT-1 mission is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The capsule, which flew the Orion program’s maiden flight in December 2014, is part of the new NASA Now exhibit at the Visitor Center which aims to educate visitors on the latest technologies, missions, and spacecraft that the agency is working on. Orion was initially scheduled to be used for the Ascent Abort Test 2 in 2018, but NASA has decided to use a boilerplate Orion instead. Therefore, EFT-1 will remain on display at Kennedy indefinitely. Orion has had a busy life post-EFT-1, including disassembly, testing, and a roundtrip, cross-country trek to Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Colorado. Check out our EFT-1 archive here to track the capsule’s history. Below, Orion is seen arriving at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex building that will house the capsule during its loan to the NASA Now exhibit.

P/C: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

T + 465 days (March 10) EFT-1 completes acoustic testing.

After nearly six months of testing, the Exploration Flight Test 1 Orion capsule has completed Direct Field Acoustic Testing. DFA is a new acoustic testing method that is used to simulate vibrations a spacecraft would experience during launch conditions. The tests occurred at Lockheed Martin's Reverberant Acoustic Lab in Colorado. Acoustic tests usually require an assembled spacecraft to travel to the testing site – in Orion's case, from its final assembly area at Kennedy Space Center to Colorado. DFA testing was created with portability in mind with the hope that it can occur at Kennedy, eliminating a transportation risk. Over the course of the six-month testing cycle, two configurations were tested in the DFA chamber. One series occurred with only the crew module while the other used a Service Module simulator.

Data from this test will be used to create better testing protocols for DFA testing on the Static Test Article of Orion later this year.

T+365 days (December 5, 2015) One year ago today, a new era of American space exploration began when Orion launched into space on Exploration Flight Test 1. The mission was the first step of many towards returning humans to the Moon, Mars, and deep space. EFT-1 utilized a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the only vehicle in the American rocket fleet capable of lofting the capsule to an altitude of 3,609 miles. It launched from SLC-37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 7:01 am EST. The flight was originally scheduled for December 4, but weather conditions and then technical issues delayed the launch by 24 hours. Following a four hour and 24 minute, two-orbit flight around the earth, Orion plummeted into the atmosphere at nearly 20,000 miles per hour, two thirds of lunar reentry velocity. Orion returned to shore in San Diego on the Navy’s USS Anchorage, and then completed a week-long, transcontinental road trip back to Kennedy Space Center. Here, technicians from Lockheed Martin and NASA disassembled and inspected the spacecraft. Eight months later, in August, Orion left Kennedy for Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colorado, where it is undergoing further testing. Once this is complete, the capsule will be prepared for reflight in 2018 on the Ascent Abort 2 test. Check out our entire EFT-1 coverage by clicking here. Watch a replay of the launch below:

What We’re Capable Of Doing/Better Than This…

http://vimeo.com/108650530

This video reminds me of the sense exploration that I grew up with during the Apollo era of the 1960s and 70s. It caused me to remember the good that we’re capable of when we lift our sights above the small minded fighting over or denying others things that aren’t ours to claim. Tomorrow I will have the privilege to join others for a #NASASocial gathering at the Kennedy…