NASA is testing how its new deep-space crew capsule handles a rocket emergency
Tomorrow morning, NASA will test its new deep-space crew capsule to see if the vehicle can keep people safe during a botched launch. The agency will activate a special emergency system on the capsule designed to carry the vehicle away from a malfunctioning rocket, to safety. If all goes well, it’ll show that the capsule is ready for flight and pave the way for its first mission to space within the next couple of years.
The crew capsule enduring tomorrow’s test is NASA’s Orion, a key spacecraft the agency has been developing to send crews of four into deep space. Orion is designed to launch on top of a rocket NASA has also been developing called the Space Launch System, or SLS. Together, the spacecraft are meant to transport people to the...