Orion's Rocket Escape System Sparks Criticism

A panel of Air Force safety experts has recently shown in a memo that NASA's newly developed rocket escape system, destined for the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle, might not work in the event of a failed landing, and that, subsequently, the crew and craft could easily die in the process. The space agency has replied by saying that the eventuality is very remote, and that supercomputers will ensure that ARES I's launch abort system works flawlessly.

At this point, plans say that the Orion CEV will be placed atop an ARES I delivery system, and then blasted off to orbit as soon as 2015. While the short-term objective is to get to the International Space Station (ISS), the long-term goals are to send NASA astronauts to the Moon again by 2020 at the earliest. On account of the unusual configuration that the ARES rocket will have, all safety systems must work flawlessly, if the Orion crew is to have any chance of survival.

“We feel we have a very, very, very safe first stage. Very reliable. We think we have a very robust design for the abort environment,” NASA's Project Constellation Manager, Jeff Hanley, explained. The agency is currently developing the ARES rocket family, the Orion CEV, and the Altair Lunar Lander as part of its plans to replace the space shuttle by 2015. If the current plan is approved, then the last shuttle flights will be performed in 2010, and NASA will be left with no manned space capabilities until Project Constellation rolls out, which could be anywhere after 2015.

The Air Force memo also questioned if it was possible to allow for an ARES I and an ARES V launch in a 90-minute window from the same facility. That ability is very important to NASA's plans of delivering the Earth-departure stage and the Altair lander to orbit first, and then sending in the Orion CEV and the astronauts, a short time after. NASA officials highlighted the fact that the technique had been used in the 1960s, during the Gemini program, Space informs.