Angeline Leishman
Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have completed the final ground test of an abort motor for NASA’s Orion lunar crew module at a facility in Promontory, Utah.
The engine’s four exhaust nozzles nearly 400,000 pounds of thrust over two seconds, verifying its new insulation and formulation and passing qualification testing, Northrop said Thursday.
Three 17-foot motors will form the launch abort system designed to separate a manned Orion spacecraft from the super heavy-lift Space Launch System in case of emergencies.
“This impressive, high-impulse motor burns three times faster than a typical motor of this size, and if needed, the reverse-flow nozzles pull the crew capsule away from the launch vehicle and to safety,” said Wendy Williams, vice president for propulsion systems at Northrop.
Following all testing, Lockheed will assemble the Northrop-built motors into the LAS for its maiden flight onboard Artemis II, the first crewed mission featuring SLS.
