Orion Prototype Passes Key Test On Go-around

A prototype of Orion, NASA's next manned spacecraft, passed its most recent test with flying colors, the agency announced Thursday.

Unlike conventional panels found on previous spacecraft, Orion's are designed to support half of the weight of the vehicle's crew module and launch abort system during launch and ascent -- a shift that was implemented in order to improve performance, save weight and maximize the spacecraft's size and capability.

The panels, which measure 14 feet high and 13 feet wide, are tasked with shielding the Orion service module from heat, wind and noise as it races through the atmosphere and up into space.

Because the panels' work is over soon after launch, they are designed to be tossed off once Orion has reached roughly 560,000 feet. They are equipped with six breakable joints and six explosive separation bolts connecting the panels to the rocket and each other. When the time comes, a carefully timed sequence is carried out in which the joints are fired apart, followed shortly by the bolts, after which six spring assemblies push the three panels away.

The latest test was carried out by Lockheed Martin, Orion's primary contractor, following a botched test in June when one of the three panels failed to detach.

"Hardware separation events like this are absolutely critical to the mission and some of the more complicated things we do," Mark Geyer, Orion program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center, said in a statement. "We want to know we've got the design exactly right and that it can be counted on in space before we ever launch."

Orion's first flight test is scheduled for Sept. 2014, during which the vehicle will launch unmanned to an altitude of 3,600 miles, orbit the Earth twice and re-enter the atmosphere at speeds of 20,000 mph.