NASA Commercial Crew Partner Blue Origin Completes Pad Escape Test

Oct. 22, 2012

Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov

Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea.k.thomas@nasa.gov

Gwen Griffin / Brooke Crawford
Griffin Communications Group
281-335-0200
gwen@griffincg.com / brooke@griffincg.com

RELEASE: 12-268

NASA COMMERCIAL CREW PARTNER BLUE ORIGIN COMPLETES PAD ESCAPE TEST

VAN HORN, Texas -- NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) partner Blue
Origin conducted a successful pad escape test Friday at the company's
West Texas launch site, firing its pusher-escape motor and launching
a full-scale suborbital crew capsule from a simulated propulsion
module.

The test was part of Blue Origin's work supporting its funded Space
Act Agreement with NASA during Commercial Crew Development Round 2
(CCDev2). Through initiatives like CCDev2, NASA is fostering the
development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability
with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access
to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
After the capability is matured and available to the government and
other customers, NASA could contract to purchase commercial services
to meet its station crew transportation needs.

"The progress Blue Origin has made on its suborbital and orbital
capabilities really is encouraging for the overall future of human
spaceflight," CCP Manager Ed Mango said. "It was awesome to see a
spacecraft NASA played a role in developing take flight."

The suborbital crew capsule traveled to an altitude of 2,307 feet (703
meters) during the flight test before descending safely by parachute
to a soft landing 1,630 feet (497 meters) away.

The pusher escape system was designed and developed by Blue Origin to
allow crew escape in the event of an emergency during any phase of
ascent for its suborbital New Shepard system. As part of an
incremental development program, the results of this test will shape
the design of the escape system for the company's orbital
biconic-shaped Space Vehicle. The system is expected to enable full
reusability of the launch vehicle, which is different from NASA's
previous launch escape systems that would pull a spacecraft away from
its rocket before reaching orbit.

"The use of a pusher configuration marks a significant departure from
the traditional towed-tractor escape tower concepts of Mercury and
Apollo," said Rob Meyerson, president and program manager of Blue
Origin. "Providing crew escape without the need to jettison the
unused escape system gets us closer to our goal of safe and
affordable human spaceflight."

All of NASA's industry partners, including Blue Origin, continue to
meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew
transportation capabilities.

While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial
spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion
spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and
heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human
exploration. Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for
crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence
beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration into
the solar system.

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew


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