News Media Invited to Witness Testing of Orion Crew Module for Flight Test

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Feb 15, 2018, 02:02 ET

HAMPTON, Va., Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media are invited to watch researchers conduct mass property testing of an Orion crew module capsule 9:00 a.m. Friday, Feb. 16, at the hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia.

The capsule, built at Langley for the Ascent Abort 2 (AA-2) test, is being lifted and turned on its side in the hangar in order for researchers to better understand its weight, mass, center of gravity and inertia. It will then be shrink-wrapped and shipped to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Texas at the end of the month for additional integration and testing in preparation for the upcoming test of the Launch Abort System (LAS).

To get accurate results during the unmanned flight test planned for 2019, this mock-up crew module needs to have the same mass properties as the capsule that will eventually send astronauts into space.

Media wishing to participate should contact Kristyn Damadeo at 757-864-1090 or at [email protected] for badging and access to NASA Langley. Media must arrive no later than 9:00 a.m. for the test (time subject to change).

For media

Orion program page: https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/systems/orion/index.html
AA-2 Test animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HK9G7feXEk
HQ feature on AA-2 test: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-moves-up-critical-crew-safety-launch-abort-test
LaRC image feature on crew module painting: https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/langley/orion-aa-2-crew-module-painted-for-flight
Orion program Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasaorion/

SOURCE NASA