NASA tests launch-abort system for its Moon mission

4 Jul 2019

NASA tests launch-abort system for its Moon mission

NASA tests launch-abort system for its Moon missionNASA is working on a mission to take astronauts to the Moon by 2024.

As part of the preparation for it, the launch-abort system was successfully tested on Tuesday, 2nd July.

Launch-abort system (LAS) refers to aborting (stopping) the launch in case of emergency and ensuring safe evacuation (release) of astronauts from the rocket.

The test is very close to real-life conditions of events like an explosion or rocket booster failure.
 	The 3-minute exercise was carried out at Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.
 	The Orion capsule designed to carry astronauts to the Moon was empty for the morning test.
 	The capsule crashed into the Atlantic ocean at 480 kph as planned.
 	Twelve data recorders popped off in bright-orange containers for collection, before the impact.
 	It will take a few months for NASA scientists to go through all the data collected by the vehicle sensors.

This was the second abort test for Orion.

The program manager, Mark Kirasich, said that Tuesday's test is a great step forward for the team.

Meanwhile, in India, Chandrayaan-2, the first attempt by India to land a rover on the Moon’s south pole, is expected to be launched on 15th July.

Watch this space for news on that!

Image Credit: nasa.gov

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