Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) was a flight test of the

Orion Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

Launch Abort System (LAS). PA-1 was the first test in a sequence of atmospheric flight tests known as Orion Abort Flight Test (AFT). PA-1 tested the basic functionality of the launch abort concept from the pad in its preliminary Orion design configuration. It used the former conformal shape of the LAS adapter. The Flight Test Article (FTA) vehicle differed from production Orion vehicles in a number of ways. For example, the FTA did not have a crew on board, and the avionics were a prototype of what is planned for production Orions. The PA-1 test took place on 6 May 2010 at the U.S. Army's

White Sands Missile Range White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) is a United States Army military testing area and firing range located in the US state of New Mexico. The range was originally established in 1941 as the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range, where the Trinity t ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

. It was also the final flight done under the auspice of the

Constellation program The Constellation program (abbreviated CxP) was a crewed spaceflight program developed by NASA, the space agency of the United States, from 2005 to 2009. The major goals of the program were "completion of the International Space Station" and a " ...

before it was cancelled.

Spacecraft location

The Orion capsule used in the test is on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in

Hampton, Virginia Hampton is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 137,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, seve ...

Gallery

File:Orion Abort Flight Test.jpg, Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) stack at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. File:450775main wstf0510e04493 hires.jpg, Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) launched May 6, 2010 at White Sands File:450782main wstf0510e04498 hires.jpg, Parachute descending File:450944main jsc2010e068745.jpg, PA-1 Crew Module post landing File:20180320 Orion pad abort Virginia Air and Space Center-1.jpg, PA-1 on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center

References

External links

* Orion Pad Abort 1 Video Highlights at

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– http://vimeo.com/11631855 {{Orion program Orion (spacecraft) Constellation program missions Test spaceflights 2010 in spaceflight 2010 in New Mexico Flight abort