in the next eight minutes you'll
experience a twenty five and a half day
mission from roll out to recovery the
first integrated flight test of the
Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch
System rocket launching from the Kennedy
Space Center is about to unfold
this is the first of many missions to
come that will use the deep-space
exploration system to prepare our team
our ship and our astronauts for human
operations in deep space rollout from
the Vehicle Assembly Building signals
that launches near sitting atop the
mobile launcher the crawler transporter
moves along the crawler way towards the
Stork launch pad 39b
at the Kennedy Space Center at a top
speed of one mile an hour after
traveling over four miles the rocket in
the spacecraft climb up a ramp and are
positioned over a flame trench once in
position the mobile launcher is lowered
onto support post and the crawlers roll
away to a safe distance final checks are
performed at the pad including crew
cabin closeout easy access arm sitting
over 300 feet above the surface of the
launch pad the launch date is set and
the teams are prepared for the mission
that is about to occur it's sunrise on
launch day engineers in the launch
control center have already powered up
the spacecraft in the rocket and loaded
the core stage and upper stage with
cryogenic fuel his launch window open
approaches final checks are performed
and when all systems are go terminal
countdown is initiated the big physics
of launch are about to be put on full
demonstration umbilical plates weighing
hundreds of pounds await their cue to
retract to clear the path of the rocket
at liftoff some mounted on arms the size
of tractor-trailers the mighty core
stage engines are prepared for engine
start
is there a thermally condition for a non
rush of cryogenic fuel in the heat of
ignition at t-minus 15 seconds sound
suppression is activated cascading water
into the flame trench to dampen the
acoustic shock and is the core stage
engines achieve full throttle shock
diamonds appear at booster ignition the
flame trench is flooded with fire at
first motion all umbilical arms are
retracted and the rocket clears the
tower in just seconds it lifts off the
vehicle produces eight point eight
million pounds of thrust and lofts the
vehicle weighing nearly six million
pounds and standing 32 stories tall to
orbit
propelled by a pair of five-segment
boosters in four liquid engines the
rocket achieves maximum dynamic pressure
only 90 seconds into the mission the
period of greatest atmospheric force on
the structure of the rocket thousands
will gather in Florida to watch our ship
get smaller and smaller and leave the
Space Coast behind
approximately two minutes and in the
mission the Boosters will have consumed
all of their solid propellant enter
safely jettisoned the rocket will
continue on guiding itself to orbit with
magnificent precision just three minutes
into the mission the service module
fairings our jettison to lighten the
vehicle and expose Orion solar arrays
just 40 seconds later the launch abort
system is also jettison it isn't no
longer needed Orion could safely abort
at any time
[Music]
once at the desired velocity target the
core stage engines are shut down in the
core stage separates the interim cryo
propulsion stage with a Ryan will
continue to orbit the earth along the
way that will pass through the altitude
of the International Space Station at
250 statute miles during this first
orbit the solar arrays are deployed so
that Orion no longer needs battery power
it can now produce its own power
following solar array deployment the
arrays are positioned into a
load-bearing configuration to prepare
for the perigee Ray's maneuver the Rays
maneuver will ensure an Earth orbit and
use the thrust provided by the interim
trial propulsion stage once the perigee
Ray's maneuver is complete
Orion systems are checked prior to
committing to the translunar injection
or tli maneuver the tli maneuver must be
successfully completed to depart Earth
orbit the tli burn is approximately 20
minutes in duration and increases the
spacecraft's velocity over 9,000 feet
per second a speed change faster than a
high-powered rifle bullet travels
following tli a Ryan is committed to a
lunar trajectory just one and a half
hours after launch once complete the
spacecraft adapter will remain with the
interim Crowl propulsion stage and they
will separate from Orion is a Ryan
departs low-earth orbit it will fly
through the orbital debris field
encircling the earth past the global
positioning navigation satellites past
the communication satellites in
geostationary orbit and through the Van
Allen radiation belts on into the deep
space radiation environment Orion is now
entering an outbound Co space the
spacecraft is uniquely designed to
navigate communicate and operate in this
deep space environment the outbound
coast of the moon will take
approximately four days as a ryan
approaches the moon the service module
will be used to perform a critical lunar
gravity assist maneuver allowing the
ship to enter a distant retrograde orbit
about the moon the moon will get larger
and larger in the window and at closest
approach Orion will be just 60
two miles from the surface of the Moon
this a spacecraft flies around the far
side of the moon we will lose all
communication back on earth and for a
period of time
Orion will be on its own Mission Control
will await acquisition of signal and as
we lock on a new generation will see
their first earth rise the spacecraft is
now in the distant retrograde orbit
where its systems will be tested in the
deep space environment for over a week
along the way our ship will travel
farther from Earth than any human
capable spacecraft has ever gone at the
farthest point Orion will be some 1,000
times farther from Earth than the
International Space Station at over
270,000 miles away teams in Mission
Control Houston
and at Naval Base San Diego will prepare
for Orion's return home and the recovery
ship will set sail for the recovery zone
in the Pacific Ocean
Orion will exit the distant retrograde
orbit with another lunar gravity assist
and service module engine firing along
the way the trajectory will be adjusted
to target the Earth's thin atmosphere at
over a quarter million miles away and
ensure precision landing in the Pacific
Ocean following a direct entry during
the coast home Orion will maintain the
desired tell the Sun attitude to
optimize spacecraft cooling and maximize
power production in the deep space
environment another four days return
Coast home to earth is our home planet
fills the windows of Orion an important
contribution from our European partners
called the service module has done its
job
the service module is jettisoned and
separates following separation the
world's largest heat shield will be
oriented into the direction of travel to
prepare for entry interface and an
altitude of four hundred thousand feet
at entry interface a Ryan will hit the
Earth's atmosphere traveling at a speed
of 20 4,500 miles an hour
and decelerated up to nine times the
force of gravity the heat shield will
protect the spacecraft from temperatures
half as hot as the surface of the Sun
approaching five thousand degrees
Fahrenheit Orion will continue to
decelerate pass through the sound
barrier and announce its arrival to the
waiting recovery team with
boom following peak heating a protective
thermal cover that sits over the
parachutes will be jettisoned this
begins a series of parachute deployments
the drogue chute deployment series is
designed to stabilize and slow the
spacecraft in a period of less than 20
minutes
Orion will slow from the speed of Mach
32 to zero it splashed down the three
main parachutes will deploy and slowly
unfurl and suspend the 22 thousand pound
capsule and allow it to gently descend
to the surface of the ocean after
twenty-five and a half days in a total
distance traveled exceeding 1.3 million
miles a precision landing within
eyesight of the recovery ship following
splashdown Orion will remain powered for
a period of time his Navy divers
approach in small boats from the waiting
recovery ship after a brief inspection
for hazards the divers will hooked up
tending lines and a towline the capsule
will be then towed into the well deck of
the recovery ship and once the capsule
clears the stern gate the gate will be
closed the well deck will be drained and
we will bring our ship home we invite
you to follow along at w WN asfo v /a
exploration