NASA rescheduled the test launch today of the Max Launch Abort System, or MLAS, to no earlier than Saturday, because of bad weather and launch site preparation requirements at Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.
The launch window Saturday extends from approximately 5:45 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. EDT.
That 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. This system was developed as an alternative concept to the launch abort system chosen for the Orion crew capsule, the next-generation U.S. spacecraft that will have its first manned flight in 2015.
The Orion capsule and Ares I rocket will replace the space shuttle fleet that is ordered to retire by Sept. 30 next year. The 33-foot-high MLAS vehicle will be launched to an altitude of approximately one mile to simulate an emergency on the launch pad. A full-scale mockup of the crew module will separate from the launch vehicle and parachute into the Atlantic Ocean.