collectSPACE: Messages - Reply to Topic

Space News
space history and artifacts articles

Messages
space history discussion forums

Sightings
worldwide astronaut appearances

Resources
selected space history documents

Forum:	Exploration: Moon to Mars
Topic:	[Artemis] Orion fairing panel jettison test

Want to register?

Who Can Post?	Any registered users may post a reply.
About Registration	You must be registered in order to post a topic or reply in this forum.
Your UserName:
Your Password:	Forget your password?
Your Reply: HTML is ON UBB Code is ON Smilies Legend
Options	Disable Smilies in This Post. Show Signature: include your profile signature. Only registered users may have signatures.
*If HTML and/or UBB Code are enabled, this means you can use HTML and/or UBB Code in your message.

If you have previously registered, but forgotten your password, click here.

<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="600"><TR><td bgcolor="#000000"><TABLE BORDER=0 cellpadding=4 border=0 cellspacing=1 WIDTH="100%"><TR bgcolor="#660000"><TD COLSPAN=2><CENTER><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#ffffff" FACE="sans-serif">T O P I C     R E V I E W</font></CENTER></TD></TR><TR bgcolor="#494949"><TD valign=top><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif">Robert Pearlman</FONT></TD><TD><FONT SIZE="2" FACE="sans-serif">Lockheed Martin release <blockquote><font size="+0"><B>Orion Spacecraft Fairing Jettison Test</B></font><P>Lockheed Martin recently tested a critical event on NASA's Orion spaceship – the jettison of the three large service module fairings on the program's structural test article.<P><center><iframe width="400" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/trlrLt1M6yo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen>

As an Orion spaceship is launched aboard NASA's SLS rocket, the fairings of the service module need to be discarded to expose the spacecraft's control thrusters and four solar arrays. The three large fairings not only provide protection to these delicate elements from the atmosphere during ascent, but also support the service module against the large stresses seen during launch as the rocket reaches beyond supersonic speeds.

Once Orion is beyond the atmosphere, it jettisons the fairings using six explosive-powder-laced zippers called frangible joints on along the edges of each panel as well as six pyro bolts, all firing in rapid succession.

The test was performed on the Orion structural test article at the company's Waterton Canyon facility near Littleton, Colorado in early June. The successful test not only validated the jettison mechanisms but also will be used to validate the structural shock and stress models used in designing the spacecraft.

Contact Us | The Source for Space History & Artifacts