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[music]

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[Narrator:] America has a new spacecraft.

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Its name is Orion.

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It will take us beyond Earth orbit
for the first time in a generation.

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It will be able to travel farther out into our
solar system than we have ever gone before,

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allowing humankind to extend its
reach to new and exciting places.

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Orion is not a blueprint or an idea.

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It is real.

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Across the United States, people are
building, testing and getting ready

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for Orion's first flight test into space.

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Creating a space ship is hard work; work
that satisfies a desire to lead...a desire

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to achieve...and a desire to explore.

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[music]

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[Narrator:] At a factory deep in southern
Louisiana, workers are cutting metal,

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welding and building the first Orion
vehicle that will fly into space.

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The flight is called Exploration Flight Test 1

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and it will launch an uncrewed
Orion vehicle into Earth orbit.

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Orion has a big job.

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Its design allows for missions deeper into our
solar system than we have ever gone before.

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[Mark Geyer:] In NASA's history,
we've designed spacecraft

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for sometimes very specific
missions, like Mercury and Gemini.

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With Orion we've designed and developed it
from the beginning with exploration in mind.

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It can go to the moon, Mars, an asteroid,
take our crews and bring them home safely.

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So, Orion will be able to
do all of those things.

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[Narrator:] As engineers prepare to test Orion
in space, other tests also put the vehicle

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through its paces...on land...in
the water...and in the air.

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In Colorado, engineers conduct acoustic
tests, blasting Orion with a wall of sound

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that simulates the extreme noise and
vibration experienced during a launch.

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More than 600 instruments test the
durability of Orion's avionics,

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propulsion and crew life support.

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[music]

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Orion will land in the ocean, and at
the Langley Research Center in Virginia,

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a 22,000-pound Orion test article
undergoes a series of drop tests

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to certify the vehicle for water landings.

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The drop velocities differ from test to test,
representing different landing positions

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and conditions Orion might
face in the Pacific Ocean.

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Some tests even turn the vehicle
upside down, deliberately.

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It's all part of the test.

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Flying at 25,000 feet, a drop test article

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that mimics the Orion parachute compartment
is released from a C-130 aircraft.

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One of many tests for the Orion parachute
system, the parachutes slow the speed

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of the drop test article to roughly 25
feet per second as it comes to a stop

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on the sands of the Arizona desert.

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The lessons learned during Orion's
parachute development are also being applied

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by NASA's commercial partners as they
design low-Earth orbit spacecraft.

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[music]

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For safety, Orion has its
own Launch Abort System,

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a 35-foot tower which can pull the spacecraft
away from danger if there are problems

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with the rocket it sits upon before
or during the climb to space.

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This test of the Launch Abort
System, called Pad Abort 1,

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simulates an escape while still
sitting on the launch pad.

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>>...1...Launch!

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Launch! Launch!

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Too fast for normal cameras to observe, the
test is really only visible in slow motion.

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Abort motors fire, applying five
hundred thousand pounds of thrust,

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accelerating from zero to 450 miles per
hour in the first two seconds of flight.

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This is the kind of speed needed to
escape the top of a speeding rocket.

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Simultaneously, another set of motors
is designed to do the steering,

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keeping the vehicle clear of any danger and
positioning the craft for a parachuted landing.

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Finally, the Launch Abort
System jettisons itself,

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successfully completing the first flight
test of this important safety feature.

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Engineers have gathered data from this
flight and prepare for Ascent Abort Tests,

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which will fire the Launch Abort
System while on a moving rocket,

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a tougher and higher fidelity
workout for the system.

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[music]

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For all the important testing that takes place
on Earth, the ultimate test for Orion will be

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in the unique environment of space.

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[Geyer:] Exploration Test Flight
1 will put critical Orion systems

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to the test in the real flight environments.

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We'll see if Orion's design
performs the way we expect,

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and by doing that it helps us
correct any issues we find now,

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which will avoid costly changes
to the design in the future.

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So it's a really smart investment
to add a flight

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like this early in the development process.

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[Narrator:] Exploration Flight Test 1 will
launch an uncrewed Orion test spacecraft

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on a heavy lift rocket.

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The Launch Abort System will
separate from the craft.

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Then Orion will go for two
orbits around the Earth.

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While in space, critical systems in the vehicle
will be put to the test, both validating

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and influencing design decisions.

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The test continues with a high speed re-entry,

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rivaling conditions a spacecraft would
experience returning from the moon

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and giving engineers important
data about this phase of flight.

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Finally, the spacecraft's parachute system
will be deployed for a landing in the ocean,

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where recovery teams will get a chance
to test their techniques and equipment.

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[music]

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For Orion, the tests will
continue and the work is underway.

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People across the nation are pouring their
skills, knowledge and enthusiasm for exploration

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into the development of America's
next spacecraft.

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[Geyer:] So, it's an incredibly exciting
time to be working on the Orion project.

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Of course we're building the spacecraft that
going to take us further than we've ever gone,

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and the team that's working on it
is extremely talented and dedicated,

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both from NASA and the industry team.

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Human exploration of space is a dream we
all believe in, and we're turning our dreams