Orion spaceship in a cloud of hot plasma Bashny.Net

New video recorded during the recent passing of Orion through the Earth's atmosphere, shows the conditions which in the future will test the spacecraft and its crew return from Mars. Video shot from the window of the Orion was among the first data extracted from the unmanned spacecraft after test flight on 5 December.

Although flight of the Orion was broadcast in real time on the NASA channel, some of the material was not shown to the viewer. At the time of passage of the ship through the dense layers of the atmosphere, its body is warmed up to a temperature of more than two thousand degrees Celsius. Formed around Orion ball of hot plasma did not miss a radio signal to Earth. However, the camera recorded everything that was going overboard.

The video begins 10 minutes before Orion's splashdown in the Pacific ocean. The spacecraft bursts into the Earth's atmosphere. After about two minutes after that there is a peak heating of the case of the apparatus in frictional heat shield with air. As you increase color temperature of the plasma changes from white to yellow and red. After test firing the camera records the disclosure of several parachutes, which slow down Orion to the speed required for a safe landing.

After the successful splashdown of the spacecraft was taken aboard the naval ship joint forces of NASA, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy. On land it returned to the truck and brought to the Kennedy Space center in Florida.

For a 4.5-hour flight Orion climbed to an altitude of 5,800 kilometers – higher than any other spacecraft, which can have a crew and built over the past four decades. The ability of the apparatus to develop a high speed and withstand high heat will allow it to be used in future interplanetary travel.

Test flight of Orion was an important step towards NASA to Mars. The next version of the vehicle will be launched to the moon using a super-heavy carrier rocket Space Launch System (SLS).

Source: hi-news.ru