Pad Abort 3: Ready to Launch
July 29, 2010
A thermal cover is placed over the launch abort vehicle for the Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test. As the launch abort system and crew module stand ready on the launch pad for the test at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the cover controls the temperature of the vehicle until it is removed hours before the launch. The integrated flight test will evaluate the ability of a launch abort system to pull the module and an astronaut crew to safety in the event of an emergency on a launch pad.
Topics:
Spaceflight, Spacecraft, Space exploration, Disaster Accident, Pad abort test, Safety engineering, Apollo program, Project Constellation, Manned spacecraft, Human spaceflight, Orion, Politics
