NASA’s Newest Spacecraft, Orion, Will Go Beyond the International Space Station

NASA’s Orion spacecraft will take astronauts further into deep space than ever before – beyond even the International Space Station and towards Moon and Mars.

Orion was designed to withstand the rigorous environment of outer space with its heat shield and in-space propulsion system, radiation sensors, vibration monitoring instruments and accelerometers.

Spacecraft Overview

Orion spacecraft was designed to take humans deeper into space than ever before, from the moon, asteroids, and Mars. It boasts an advanced launch abort system that will ensure astronauts reach safety if an incident arises during liftoff.

Orion consists of two major components, the gumdrop-shaped crew module and an attaching service module, called an Airbus European Service Module, which propels and maneuvers the crew module and supplies power, water, oxygen, and thermal control as needed.

Orion features an advanced heat shield designed to withstand scorching temperatures during its reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, where supersonic speeds cause friction and air resistance to create extreme temperatures on its heat shield. At lower altitudes, Orion deploys 11 parachutes that slowly slow it to 17mph before splashing down into the sea and splashback recovery is underway before Orion continues its return home journey.

Crew Capsule

Orion’s crew module sits atop its spacecraft and offers room for four astronauts for missions lasting up to 21 days. Equipped with advanced life support systems, communication, navigational technologies and radiation protection features that meet deep space missions’ requirements, its design also makes Orion capable of withstanding radiation exposure from inner Van Allen Belt radiation sources.

Orion’s heat shield has been designed to withstand extreme re-entry temperatures – 2.5 times hotter than Hawaiian lava – during re-entry, so as not to damage its heat shield during its return journey. Furthermore, Orion’s system can slow and land the spacecraft with precision using roll, yaw and pitch thrusters and 11 parachutes.

Launch abort systems are installed at the top of both modules to safely extract astronauts from Orion in case something goes amiss during launch and ascent on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. Meanwhile, European Space Agency provides Orion with power, propulsion, consumables and service modules – with jettisoning taken place upon mission completion, then recovered by an amphibious transport ship.

Service Module

Orion can accommodate four astronauts and everything necessary for a 21-day mission, featuring the world’s largest heat shield to guard against deep space radiation which can increase astronauts’ risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Substantially under the crew capsule rests the service module, which provides power, storage and communications systems as well as solar arrays and thermal tents to assist astronauts during extremes of temperature and light in deep space.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is fitted with an emergency abort rocket motor designed to separate its crew capsule from NASA’s Space Launch System rocket if something goes awry during launch or ascent, firing for only milliseconds but providing critical relief if something goes amiss during ascent or launch. L3Harris provides jettison motors which quickly disconnect both elements and allow them to return safely under parachutes back onto Earth.

The service module contains a propulsion system to propel and maneuver Orion through space, comprised of a main engine, eight auxiliary engines and 24 thrusters for attitude control.

Launch Abort System

NASA proved on Tuesday that Orion spacecraft’s launch abort system can outrun an out of control rocket and pull astronauts to safety during an emergency launch, known as Ascent Abort-2. For this test, a mock-up Orion crew module was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida using a modified Peacekeeper missile as part of this experiment.

Three solid rocket motors–the abort motor, ACM motor and jettison motor–come together to quickly lift Orion away from its SLS launch vehicle if an emergency arises during liftoff. Jocelyn Chu, an engineer from Northrop Grumman who designs its abort system’s interior insulation layer.

NASA is developing Orion with assistance from various industry partners and suppliers. Recently, several of them gathered at Kennedy Space Center to witness a successful test of Orion’s launch abort system – making this exploration-class spacecraft one of the safest rocket-borne vehicles ever constructed.