Orion passes Plum Brook's tests

PERKINS TWP. — Before going up in space toward Mars, revolutionary spacecraft stationed in Ohio flew down to Florida.NASA engineers and technicians recently reached an important checkpoint in Orion's ongoing mission: They completed the initial phase of necessary testing at the NASA Plum Brook Station.Throughout 2016, structural test pieces for Orion — the initiative aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars — underwent two rounds of rigorous assessments at the Erie County-based facility:• Round No. 1: Staff successfully extended a folded up solar array wing attached on 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.• Round No. 2: Then portions of Orion prospered during many other tests, including for sound, vibration, temperature and pyro shocks, ensuring the structure could separate when it needs to. "We ran a full test campaign (on Orion)," said Nicole Smith, the NASA project manager in charge of Orion's testing at Plum Brook.Only at Plum Brook, boasting one-of-a-kind experimental chambers, could engineers and technicians perform these types of tests on Orion.Within the past month, however, the spacecraft landed at a different NASA station, Kennedy Space Center, located near Orlando, for additional processing.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.In 2016, noise-related experiments occurred inside the NASA Plum Brook Station's Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility. The tests proved Orion, the initiative aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars, can withstand the loud shockwaves generated during ascent.Back to Plum BrookDifferent pieces of Orion, which haven't entered NASA Plum Brook's realm before, will travel to Erie County in the near future.Among the tentative schedule:• May through July: A part of Orion's launch abort system, called the ogive, will undergo sound-related tests. 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.An ogive "makes the airflow smoother over the spacecraft to limit sound and vibration," Smith said. "This makes the ride smoother for the astronauts. The ogive has a new hatch, and we'll be testing to make sure it performs as expected. We are testing the new hatch locking design to ensure it withstands the vibro-acoustic environment."• Sometime in 2018: Orion's entire flight article — which includes the capsule, service module and adapters — will arrive at Plum Brook to undergo thermal vacuum and electromagnetic interface testing. The flight article embodies a similar design of the actual vehicle destined for a deep-space expedition.Smith then explained what each test aims to accomplish."The thermal vacuum testing will simulate the spacecraft being in the vacuum of space and experiencing the alternating hot and cold that it will see in the sun and shade and will prove that the spacecraft can survive yet another harsh environment," she said. "The electromagnetic interference testing will test that the spacecraft's electrical equipment is not susceptible to radio frequencies of all different levels and strengths that it might see while on the launchpad, on ascent or in orbit."In 2016, engineers tested Orion's solar arrays inside the NASA Plum Brook Station. The test proved these devices can generate enough electricity to power the spacecraft's computers and critical life support systems Orion is the initiative aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars.Sorting out the stackFive main components constituting Orion, the spacecraft mission aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars, have been or will be tested at the NASA Plum Brook Station in Erie County.Here's a quick explanation of the main parts:• Crew module: The capsule-like area where crew members, or astronauts, will remain inside once Orion launches.• Crew module adapter (CM adapter): The area storing computers, power distribution units and other devices, such as life support systems, needed to support the crew's mission. It's also the link between the crew and service modules.• European service module: The vehicle's main engine where solar arrays, thermal radiators and propulsion tanks — all the necessary support systems — are located to power Orion.• Spacecraft adapter: It attaches the spacecraft to the rocket on which it flies.• Fairings: The external panels covering the service module and protecting it during the launch and ascent stages.There is also what's called a launch abort system, which is used to safely pull the crew away from the rocket in the event of a failure.Source: NASAReach reporter Andy Ouriel at ouriel@sanduskyregister.com and follow him on Twitter @AndyOuriel.A truck transports articles of Orion, the initiative aiming to carry astronauts into deep space and possibly land on Mars, from the NASA Plum Brook Station in Erie County to a sister station in Florida for testing. The equipment aced all of its analysis work while at Plum Brook.