Orion's Launch Abort Motor

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kyle_baron

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<p>http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/H-08-137.html</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The abort motor is designed to pull the crew module away from the Ares I launch vehicle in an emergency situation on the launch pad or during the first 300,000 feet after launch. </p><p>The abort motor stands more than 17 feet high and three feet in diameter and is equipped with four nozzles. The motor's specially designed manifold uses a reverse flow technology that forces hot gas through the manifold's four nozzles, creating a pulling force. The hot gas exits the top of the motor, allowing the resulting plume to clear the crew module. </p><br /><span class="img_comments_right"><img src="http://null/images/content/242392main_174496-01_226x170.jpg" border="0" alt="The vertical test platform for the full-scale abort motor allows the motor to be tested top side down with the nozzles pointing skyward. The platform is housed in a movable building to keep the motor out of the elements until it is tested." title="The vertical test platform for the full-scale abort motor allows the motor to be tested top side down with the nozzles pointing skyward. The platform is housed in a movable building to keep the motor out of the elements until it is tested." width="226" height="170" align="bottom" /> </span><span class="img_comments_right"><p>The vertical test platform for the full-scale abort motor allows the motor to be tested top side down with the nozzles pointing skyward. Image Credit: ATK View large image</p><p>A bench test firing of the abort motor's igniter assembly is scheduled to take place in early June. The igniter assembly is a small rocket motor inside the abort motor that provides the ignition source for the motor propellant. Once ignited, the motor propellant burns at a very high rate, resulting in four individual plumes that are more than three times the motor length. Total abort motor burn time is five seconds and creates a half-million pounds of thrust. However, the majority of the high impulse propellant will be expended in the first three seconds, which corresponds with the critical time frame for the Orion crew module to escape from any potentially life-threatening situation. </p></span> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>
 
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