Orion Pad Abort-2 (PA-2)

Launch & landing data: Launch date - time  02 July 2019 - 11:00 UTC Launch site  Cape Canaveral, SLC-46 Launch vehicle  Orion Abort Test Booster (modified Minotaur IV first stage) Payload  Mock crew cabine Mass (kg)   Mission  Orion Abort Test Booster Operator  NASA Sub-orbital flight:    Apogee  9,400 m (31,000 ft) Landing date - time  02 July 2019 - UTC Landing location  Atlantic Osean Flight Duration  3 min 13 sec

Orion Ascent Abort 2 path

Description:

• Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) was a test of the launch escape system (LAS) of NASA's Orion spacecraft.
• The test followed Orion's Pad Abort-1 test in 2010 and Exploration Flight Test-1 in 2014 in which the capsule first flew in space. It preceded an uncrewed flight of Orion around the Moon as the Artemis 1 mission, and paves the way for human use of Orion in subsequent missions of the Artemis program.
• The test flight lifted off from Space Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 2 July 2019 at 11:00 UTC (07:00 EDT, local time at the launch site). The flight was successful, and the launch abort system performed as designed.

Test version of Orion, launches on NASA’s Ascent Abort-2 (AA-2) atop a Northrop Grumman provided booster on July 2, 2019 Credit: NASA (KSC-20190702-PH_AWG05_0013)

Mission details:

• An Orion test article, aerodynamically similar to but lacking the full features of the space-tested capsule, was launched from Cape Canaveral SLC-46 by the purpose-built Orion Abort Test Booster (ATB). The booster was a repurposed Peacekeeper missile first stage (SR118) procured from the United States Air Force and modified for the mission by Orbital ATK/Northrop Grumman, similar to the first stage of the Peacekeeper-derived Minotaur IV. The mission's goal was to demonstrate and qualify the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS) that will allow the astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch pad operations, through the ascent phase of the Orion vehicle.
• The LAS was set to activate after around 55 seconds of ascent at an altitude of 31,000 feet (9,400 m), close to the point of maximum dynamic pressure, while the booster was still firing. No parachute system was installed on the Crew Module due to the cost of Orion's parachutes and the amount of testing the parachutes had already undergone. The test article transmitted telemetry data during its flight, and as a backup 12 data recorders were ejected in pairs during its descent, starting about 20 seconds after separation of the capsule from the abort motor. They were recovered from the Atlantic Ocean.

External links:

• Wikipedia: AA-2 Information

Astrophilately covers:

Orion SLS AA-2 Motors Integration Completed, cancel KSC. Credit #411c

Orion AA-2 Test Article Transport to Launch Pad, cancel KSC. Credit #411c

Launch cancel CC. Credit #411c

Launch cancel KSC. Credit #411c