Exploration Flight Test-1

The flight was intended to test various Orion systems, including separation events, avionics, heat shielding, parachutes, and recovery operations prior to its flight aboard the Space Launch System on the Artemis 1 mission. Artemis 1 launched on November 16, 2022,[6] more than seven years after EFT-1.

EFT-1 Orion was built by Lockheed Martin.[7] On June 22, 2012, the final welds of the EFT-1 Orion were completed at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.[7] It was then transported to Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Checkout Building, where the remainder of the spacecraft was completed.[8] The Delta IV rocket was put in a vertical position on October 1, 2014, and Orion was mated with the vehicle on November 11.[9][10][11]

Mission diagram

EFT-1

Rendering of Orion capsule and Delta IV upper-stage during EFT-1

Earth seen from the EFT-1 Orion spacecraft

The four-and-a-half-hour flight took the Orion spacecraft on two orbits of Earth. Peak altitude was approximately 5,800 kilometres (3,600 mi). The high altitude allowed the spacecraft to reach reentry speeds of up to 8.9 km/s (20,000 mph), which exposed the heat shield to temperatures up to around 2,200 °C (4,000 °F).[4][12]

During the flight, the crew module, a structural representation of the service module, a partial launch abort system containing only the jettison motor, and Orion-to-stage adapter were evaluated.[12] The spacecraft remained attached to the dummy service module on the Delta IV's upper stage until re-entry began and relied on internal batteries for power rather than photovoltaic arrays, which were not contained in the structural representation.[13] Data gathered from the test flight were analyzed by the critical design review (CDR) in April 2015.[14]

After splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, crews from the USS Anchorage recovered the EFT-1 Orion crew vehicle. Plans were later made to outfit the capsule for an ascent abort test in 2017.[16]

The Orion capsule used for EFT-1 is now on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, in the "NASA Now" exhibit.[17]

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  First weld on the EFT-1 Orion structure, September 2011
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  Orion structure after final weld, June 2012, at the Michoud Assembly Facility
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  Orion's Service Module prior to encapsulation, December 2013, in the Operations and Checkout Building (O&C)
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  EFT-1 Orion Weight and Center of Gravity Test, June 2014
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  EFT-1 Orion back shell tile installation, September 2014
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  Completed EFT-1 Orion, September 2014
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  EFT-1 Orion in fairing and with LES, October 2014
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  EFT-1 Orion on its Delta IV Heavy, November 2014
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  The EFT-1 Orion before splashdown, 5 December 2014
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  Recovery of the EFT-1 Orion by the USS Anchorage, 5 December 2014
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  Recovery of Orion capsule
• 
  Recovery of Orion capsule

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Exploration Flight Test-1.

• Orion MPCV homepage (NASA)
• EFT-1 Fact sheet (NASA)
• EFT-1 Press kit (NASA)
• Animation of the EFT-1 mission (NASA)
• Video of the launch of EFT-1 – 5 December 2014 (NASA)
• Video of the landing of the EFT-1 Orion – 5 December 2014 (NASA/U.S. Navy)