Jason Ford

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Aerospace

Delivery of structural test model marks milestone in Orion’s journey to space

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In a major step towards NASA’s efforts to regain the ability to send humans into space, the structural test model of the service module for the Orion spacecraft has been delivered for testing to the agency’s Plum Brook Research Station in Sandusky, Ohio. 

The module has been built by Airbus Defence and Space for the European Space Agency, representing the first time that Europe has collaborated with NASA on a manned-capsule project.

A structural test model is a version of a spacecraft designed to examine the mechanical aspects of the design. It includes all the parts of the module that contribute to its overall integrity, including the frame and load-bearing elements but lacking, for example, the electrical connections.

The tests on this module at Plum Brook will include subjecting it on a vibration table – the largest of its kind in the world – to the shaking it will experience on lift-off, and also acoustic tests in a reverberating chamber equipped with over 30 powerful loudspeakers to simulate the shockwaves as it travels through the various layers of the atmosphere at supersonic speeds. This test will also simulate the effects of the launch abort system, a system of rocket engines that sits on top of the Orion module that can pull the craft away from the launcher to safety in an emergency.

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