NASA tests emergency Launch Abort System

NASA successfully completes in-flight test of Orion’s Launch Abort System atop Northrop Grumman provided booster.

A fully functional Launch Abort System (LAS) with a test version of the Orion spacecraft attached, launches on NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) atop a Northrop Grumman provided booster on July 2, 2019, at 7 a.m. EDT, from Launch Pad 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

During AA-2, the booster will send the LAS and Orion to an altitude of 31,000 feet at Mach 1.15 (more than 1,000 mph). The flight test will prove that the abort system can pull crew to safety in the unlikely event of an emergency during ascent.

NASA tests emergency Launch Abort System

A fully functional launch abort system (LAS) with a test version of the Orion crew spacecraft attached soars upward on NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) flight test atop a Northrop Grumman provided booster on July 2, 2019, after launching at 7 a.m. EDT, from Launch Pad 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Image Credit: NASA/Tony Gray and Kevin O’Connell

[NASA]