July 2019 – Page 9 – Spaceflight Now

Orion data recorders come with return-to-sender instructions

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA has a plan to retrieve 12 ejectable data recorders released from an Orion test capsule in the waters off Cape Canaveral following a launch abort test Tuesday, but local boaters and beachgoers could still find the floating orange devices.

Live coverage: NASA conducts Orion abort test over Cape Canaveral

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

NASA and industry teams at Cape Canaveral launched an Orion capsule on a three-minute atmospheric test flight Tuesday to prove the spaceship’s ability to escape from an exploding rocket during launch, demonstrating a key safety feature before astronauts ride the vehicle into deep space. Liftoff occurred at 7 a.m. EDT (1100 GMT).

Critical abort test of NASA’s Orion crew capsule set for Tuesday

July 1, 2019 Stephen Clark

A three-minute test flight Tuesday morning over Cape Canaveral will help ensure NASA’s Orion crew capsule — the vehicle being built to carry astronauts back to the moon — can safely escape from a catastrophic failure on launch.