US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — Orion spacecraft tests were conducted at NASA‘s John Glenn Research Center, Ohio. There is a Plum Brook station, on the territory of which there is a large thermal chamber, wind tunnels and other complexes that allow simulating the actual flight of a spaceship.
File NASAAccording to SpaceNews, during the thermal vacuum tests, Orion was exposed to temperatures ranging from minus 155 to 150 degrees Celsius. The tests were completed in 47 days – instead of the originally planned 63. During the tests, the engineers, among other things, checked the operation of the on-board electronics, confirming its ability to function in extreme conditions.
“I think we were all surprised at how well everything went. When we tested with thermal vacuum, we really planned that it would last more than 62 days, but the device worked well, as did the installation. So we did not need the extra time “, – says Nicole Smith (by Nicole Smith is) , manager of the testing of the ship at the station Plum Brook.
In general, the spacecraft developer (Lockheed Martin) is extremely pleased with the progress of the tests and believes in the success of the future mission. Soon, Orion will be sent to the Kennedy Space Center for the final preparation for the implementation of Artemis 1 – an unmanned flight to a satellite of our planet.
Recall, NASA has not yet announced the exact launch date of the Artemis 1 mission, which was previously scheduled for the end of this year. Speaking recently at the Laboratory of Applied Physics, NASA assistant administrator Steve Jurchik said that the first flight of the Space Launch System superheavy rocket with the Orion spacecraft is expected in mid-late 2021, but there is no guarantee that the announced dates will not be postponed again.
Be that as it may, now at NASA they are making every effort to minimize risks and successfully complete the task. Recall that the launch should be an important step on the way to the first man’s landing on the moon as part of the Artemis program, which is scheduled for 2024.
We also note that recently the head of the NASA human research department, Doug Loverro, said that the space department allows the implementation of plans without using the Gateway lunar orbital station, although there is no talk of a complete rejection of the creation of the station.
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