Orion Ascent Abort Test... Little Joe 3?

[slothead]

Here's an image I'm guessing you guys have never seen:
Abort motor test fire in Utah, 2008

 

[georgegassaway]

Video of the Orion LES Attitude control motor system test.

It is a unique solid rocket motor with eight nozzles out the sides. With valves to select which nozzles are allowed to have the gases run thru, in order to produce thrust in almost any lateral direction. After the main LES engine burns out, it flips the capsule around base-first so that after it separates the capsule is pointing the right way for the parachute deployment sequence.

On Apollo, they did the flip-around using a deployable canard system on the nose. The nose had two clamshell halves hinged in a manner to cause a lot of angle of attack when they deployed, to push the nose to
one side and stabilize it heat-shield first.

Apollo's LES also had a solid "pitch motor" that fired to push the nose to alter the flight path. For a Pad Abort, it would make it "weathercock" towards the ocean so it would splash down in water. For an abort during flight, it caused the flight path to dog-leg say 10-15 degrees away from the rocket's flight path, to minimize possible collision with the rocket or debris from the rocket. I was surprised to see there was no dog-leg with the Orion abort test, at least not from the angles I saw.

 

[GlenP]

That attitude control motor test video could use a synchronized soundtrack from Trans Siberian Orchestra, maybe like the carol of the (engine) bells?

 

[GlenP]

I kind of lost sight of it, and cut the video to the landing, the chute did not fully open, but the drag of the cardstock wedge fins helped it land with no damage.