NASA Completes First Full-Scale Motor Test for Orion Spacecraft

WASHINGTON, April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has completed the first full-scale rocket motor test for the Constellation Program's Orion spacecraft, a test of a solid rocket that will be used to jettison the craft's launch abort system.

Now under development, Orion will be America's next human spacecraft,
designed to fly to the International Space Station and be part of a space
flight system to return humans to the moon. The Orion jettison motor will
separate the craft's launch abort system from the Orion crew module during
launch.

The Orion launch abort system is a larger solid rocket motor system
that will provide a safe escape for the crew in an emergency on the launch
pad or during the climb to orbit. The test completed late last month is a
critical milestone in NASA's preparations for a series of flight tests
planned to begin late this year of the full Orion abort system.

"This was a major success for the Orion launch abort system team," said
Mark Cooper, NASA's integrated product team lead for launch abort system
propulsion at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The
test provided valuable data on motor performance that will allow design and
analytical refinements by our contactor team. The test is the culmination
of intense and focused work by the entire jettison motor team."

The jettison motor static test firing was conducted by Aerojet
Corporation in Sacramento. NASA has partnered with Lockheed Martin
Corporation, Orbital Sciences Corporation, and Aerojet to supply the
jettison motor. NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., manages the
Orion launch abort system design and development effort with partners and
team members from Marshall.

For still and video imagery to accompany this release, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/constellation

For more information about NASA's plans to return to the moon and go
beyond, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/exploration