NASA sets road map for Orion launch

PERKINS TWP. — NASA officials working on revolutionary spacecraft at the Plum Brook Station in Erie County didn't just make a new year's resolution for next year.They mapped out their goals for Orion, the initiative aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars, over a four-year period:• In 2018, they want to perform a minor test at Plum Brook.• In 2019, they want to perform major tests at Plum Brook.• In 2021, they want to launch the vehicle, with crew aboard, from Florida.Nicole Smith, the NASA project manager overseeing Orion's testing at Plum Brook, went more in-depth in explaining the upcoming experiments.2018NASA officials only scheduled one Orion-related test at Plum Brook next year: Come summertime, workers anticipate receiving what's called the Ascent Abort 2 vehicle."We are performing an acoustic test here at Plum Brook, which paves the way for the actual flight test, where they pull the crew module away," Smith said. "If the rocket was failing, the (abort vehicle) could pull the crew away from the failing rocket."After experiments end at Plum Brook, the equipment will get sent to Kennedy Space Center in Florida for additional testing.2019The actual Orion spacecraft heading into space — consisting of a capsule, service module and adapters — will arrive at Plum Brook in early 2019 to undergo space simulated- and electromagnetic-related experiments. In the past, workers tested on Orion's flight article, which featured a similar design of the actual vehicle destined for a deep-space exploration."We have to perform a number of facility tests to ensure that the ground support hardware meets all of its requirements, that the facility is clean enough and that we can provide the extremely low pressure and widely varying thermal environments," said Nicole Smith, the NASA project manager overseeing Orion's testing at Plum Brook.The two-month-long tests call for a crew to "pump all of the air out of a testing chamber and make the background environment in the chamber very cold, then very hot, and we repeat that," Smith said. "This demonstrates that the spacecraft's thermal control system performs correctly and verifies the vehicle works as expected at the extreme flight temperatures."Once this round of testing ends, another related one begins."We'll then perform an electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility test. Every electronic component gives off some electromagnetic field, and this testing ensures that not only do those fields not affect another and each electronic component is appropriately shielded from other fields but that external sources, like radar, will also not affect the electric components."NASA officials want to launch Orion, without any crew, and send it around the moon in 2019 and then repeat this process, but with crew aboard, in 2021. The launch will take place from Florida.Why test Orion in Erie County?Only at the NASA Plum Brook Station, boasting one-of-a-kind experimental chambers, can engineers and technicians perform specific tests on Orion.Data obtained through testing helps NASA personnel best determine and understand Orion's effectiveness before a scheduled launch, with crew aboard, to the moon in 2021 and Mars sometime afterward.For about two years, the NASA Plum Brook Station has served as a primary testing hub for activities related to Orion. Among the more notable:• Staff successfully extended a folded up solar array wing attached to Orion. The testing served as an "important first step to verify Orion's power system for the spacecraft's flight … which will venture tens of thousands of miles beyond the moon," according to a NASA statement.• Then portions of Orion prospered during many other tests, including for sound, vibration, temperature and pyro shocks, ensuring the structure could separate when necessary.Earlier this year, the spacecraft landed at a different NASA station, Kennedy Space Center, located near Orlando, for additional processing.Reach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.Earlier this year, NASA workers performed tests on Orion's launch abort system, which is called an ogive (the cone-curved shaped item pictured) at the NASA Plum Brook Station in Erie County. A launch abort system is used to separate the capsule, containing the crew members, from the rest of the rocket, safely pulling astronauts away during an emergency event. The Orion mission aims to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars.