MLAS Flight Test – On Again?
It looks like the flight test of MLAS, Mike Griffin’s other brilliant idea, is back on:
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said the MLAS test is scheduled June 15 at the Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va. The launch window extends from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT.
“The unpiloted test is part of an effort to design a system for safely propelling future spacecraft and crews away from hazards on the launch pad or during the climb to orbit,” NASA said in a statement. “This system was developed as an alternative concept to the launch abort system chosen for NASA’s Orion crew capsule.”
It’s amusing that this bad idea will fly (assuming it does) before PA-1, the perpetually-delayed test of an abort system more closely approximating the baseline design.
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