Cool Infographics Explain 8 Key Events on Orions EFT-1

Test Flight
by Ken Kremer on November 14, 2014

Orion flight test profile for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) launching on Dec. 4,
2014. NASA
After moving out to the launch pad earlier this week, NASAs first Orion spacecraft
was hoisted atop the most powerful rocket in the world and awaits blastoff from
Cape Canaveral, Florida, in early December on a critical test flight that will pave the
way for human missions to deep space for the first time in more than four decades
since NASAs Apollo moon landing missions ended in 1972.

NASAs cool new set of infographics above and below explain 8 key events on Orions
Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission and its first trip to orbit and back.
Orion will lift off on a Delta IV Heavy rocket on its inaugural test flight to space on the
uncrewed EFT-1 mission at 7:05 a.m. EST on December 4, 2014, from Space Launch
Complex 37 (SLC-37) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The two-orbit, four and a half hour Orion EFT-1 flight around Earth will lift the Orion
spacecraft and its attached second stage to an orbital altitude of 3,600 miles, about
15 times higher than the International Space Station (ISS) and farther than any
human spacecraft has journeyed in 40 years.

Launch Its going to be loud. Its going to be bright. Its going to be smoky. Engines
are fired, the countdown ends, and Orion lifts off into space atop the United Launch
Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
NASA
EFT-1 will test the rocket, second stage, jettison mechanisms, as well as avionics,
attitude control, computers, and electronic systems inside the Orion spacecraft.
Then the spacecraft will carry out a high speed re-entry through the atmosphere at
speeds approaching 20,000 mph and scorching temperatures near 4,000 degrees
Fahrenheit to test the heat shield, before splashing down for a parachute assisted
landing in the Pacific Ocean.

Exposure Its time to fly! The protective panels surrounding the service module are
jettisoned and the launch abort system separates from the spacecraft. NASA

Re-ignition Orbit 1 is complete! The upper stage will now fire up again to propel
Orion to an altitude of 3,600 miles during its second trip around Earth. NASA

Separation Its now time to prepare for reentry. The service module and upper
stage separate so that only the crew module will return to Earth. NASA

Orientation Orions first flight will be uncrewed, but that doesnt mean we can
allow Orion to return to Earth upside down. This test flight will help us test the
control jets to ensure that they can orient the capsule in the correct reentry position.
NASA

Heating Things are heating up as Orion slams into the atmosphere at almost 20,000
mph and encounters temperatures near 4,000 degrees F. NASA

Deploy After initial air friction slows the capsule from 20,000 mph, Orion will still be
descending at 300 mphtoo fast for a safe splashdown. A sequence of parachute
deployments will create drag to further slow the spacecraft to a comfortable 20 mph.
NASA

Landing Orion will splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California,
where it will be recovered with help from the United States Navy. NASA
Heres what Orions ocean splashdown and recovery by Navy divers will look like:

US Navy divers on four boats attached tow lines to the Orion test capsule and guide
it to the well deck on the USS Arlington during Aug. 15, 2013, recovery test at Norfolk
Naval Base, VA. Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
Orion is NASAs next generation human rated vehicle that will carry Americas
astronauts beyond Earth on voyages venturing farther into deep space than ever
before beyond the Moon to Asteroids, Mars, and other destinations in our Solar
System.
The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is the worlds most powerful
rocket. The triple barreled Delta IV Heavy booster is the only rocket sufficiently
powerful to launch the 50,000 pound Orion EFT-1 spacecraft to orbit.
The first stage of the mammoth Delta IV Heavy generates some 2 million pounds of
liftoff thrust.