NASA aced a test Tuesday key to getting humans to the moon by 2024.
A full-scale, unmanned test of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, a crew-carrying capsule in development since 2005, succeeded in testing its abort thrusters in approximately three minutes on Tuesday.
Blake Watters, a launch-abort-system propulsion engineer at the capsule’s manufacturer, called the test a “complete mission success,” reported Reuters.
“This is the big check in the box on putting astronauts on board,” he said.
The abort thrusters make it possible for the crew to safely escape a liftoff emergency, such as an explosion, by separating the capsule from its launch vehicle.
The launch abort system fired 400,000 lbs. of thrust and separated from Orion at 44,000 feet. The capsule crashed into the Atlantic Ocean at 300 miles per hour. However, the test didn’t have the parachutes that would land the humans aboard safely.
Engineers don’t count on the launch abort system to truly be needed, as it’s mostly a safety measure if there’s a large failure.
“It looked beautiful from here,” said Ashley Tarpey, NASA’s range flight safety lead for the test run. “We could not have hoped for a better kind of day. It’s just wonderful.”
The Trump administration accelerated the timeline for Orion, as no humans have launched from U.S. soil since 2011.
