Grey Hautaluoma/Ashley Edwards
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0668/1756
grey.hautaluoma-1@nasa.gov, ashley.edwards-1@nasa.gov

Lynnette B. Madison/Josh Byerly
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
lynnette.b.madison@nasa.gov, bill.j.byerly@nasa.gov

Trina Patterson
ATK, Promontory, Utah
801-699-0943
trina.patterson@atk.com

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-236

NASA TO BRIEF MEDIA ABOUT TEST OF ORION LAUNCH ABORT SYSTEM MOTOR

PROMONTORY, Utah -- NASA, ATK, Orbital Sciences Corp. and Lockheed
Martin representatives will hold a teleconference at 2:30 p.m. MST
today, Thursday, Nov. 20, to discuss the results of the first
full-scale test fire of the motor for a new launch abort system.

Reporters should dial 888-469-1980 or 517-308-9161 and give the
passcode "motor test" to participate in the call.

The launch abort system will sit atop the Orion crew exploration
vehicle. The abort motor is designed to pull the crew module away
from the Ares I launch vehicle in an emergency situation on the
launch pad or during the first 300,000 feet after launch.

The test takes place today at 1 p.m. at the ATK Launch Systems
facility in Promontory, Utah. This is the first time such a test has
been conducted since the Apollo Program tested its launch escape
system in the 1960s. The demonstration is the culmination of a series
of motor and component tests conducted earlier this year in
preparation for a test with a mock-up of the Orion crew capsule
scheduled for the spring of 2009.

NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., manages the Orion
launch abort system. Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, is responsible for
the launch abort motor under contract to Orbital Sciences Corporation
of Dulles, Va. Orbital is building the entire launch abort system for
the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Lockheed Martin Corporation of
Denver is the prime contractor for Orion.

For more information about the Orion crew capsule and the
Constellation Program, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov/orion