Orion

Nasa’s Orion exploration capsule has successfully completed its first unmanned flight with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, 600 miles south-west of San Diego, US.

The spacecraft travelled farther than any other spacecraft designed for astronauts in over 40 years, Nasa said.

Nasa administrator Charles Bolden said: "Today’s flight test of Orion is a huge step for Nasa and a really critical part of our work to pioneer deep space on our journey to Mars.

"The teams did a tremendous job putting Orion through its paces in the real environment it will endure as we push the boundary of human exploration in the coming years."

The Orion was lifted-off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and travelled twice through the Van Allen belt and reached an altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth.

During the flight, the capsule reached speeds of 20,000mph and temperature approached 4,000°F as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.

The test flight is designed to collect critical data of the crew module, to evaluate its performance and design and test capabilities required for future human Mars missions.

Orion programme manager Mark Geyer said: "In the coming weeks and months, we’ll be taking a look at that invaluable information and applying lessons learned to the next Orion spacecraft already in production for the first mission atop the Space Launch System rocket."

"We’ll be taking a look at that invaluable information and applying lessons learned to the next Orion spacecraft already in production for the first mission atop the Space Launch System rocket."

As part of the flight, Orion’s heat shield, avionics, parachutes, computers and key spacecraft separation events, and other systems key to the safety of astronauts were tested.

The Orion will be moved to Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to undergo processing.

The crew module will be renewed and will be used for Ascent Abort-2, which is designed to test Orion’s launch abort system in 2018.

The capsule will be launched on Nasa’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket for future missions.

The SLS is under development at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

As part of the Exploration Mission-1, a 77t-SLS will send Orion to a distant orbit around the moon.

Image: Nasa’s Orion spacecraft completed first unmanned flight with splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Photo: courtesy of Nasa.

Defence Technology