Pad Abort-1

Not to be confused with Pad Abort Test 1, a 1963 Apollo flight.

Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) was a flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS). PA-1 was the first test in a sequence of atmospheric flight tests known as Orion Abort Flight Test (AFT).

Pad Abort 1

Launch of the Pad Abort 1 test
Mission type	Technology demonstration
Operator	NASA
Mission duration	1 minute, 35 seconds
Distance travelled	2.1 km (6,900 ft)
Apogee	1.8 km (6,000 ft)
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft type	Orion boilerplate
Start of mission
Launch date	6 May 2010, 13:03:00 (2010-05-06UTC13:03Z) UTC
Rocket	Orion Launch Abort System
Launch site	White Sands, LC-32E[1]
End of mission
Landing date	6 May 2010, 13:04:35 (2010-05-06UTC13:04:36Z) UTC
Orion program ← MLAS Test Exploration Flight Test-1 → Constellation program ← Ares I-X

PA-1 tested the basic functionality of the launch abort concept from the pad in its preliminary Orion design configuration. It used the former conformal shape of the LAS adapter. The Flight Test Article (FTA) vehicle differed from production Orion vehicles in a number of ways. For example, the FTA did not have a crew on board, and the avionics were a prototype of what is planned for production Orions.^[2]

The PA-1 test took place on 6 May 2010 at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It was also the final flight done under the auspice of the Constellation program before it was cancelled.

Spacecraft location

The Orion capsule used in the test is on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center in Hampton, Virginia.^[3]

Gallery

• 
  Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) stack at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
• 
  Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) launched May 6, 2010 at White Sands
• 
  Parachute descending
• 
  PA-1 Crew Module post landing
• 
  PA-1 on display at the Virginia Air and Space Center