Pad Abort #1 PA-1 Test Launch of NASA Orion Launch Abort System LAS at White Sands

NASA launches the Pad Abort #1 test flight of the Launch Abort System for the Orion manned space capsule. The test simulated an abort with the rocket sitting on the launch pad before blastoff. The escape rocket propelled the capsule nearly a mile into the air, turned it so that its heat shield faced forward and then jettisoned itself. The Orion mockup deployed its parachutes and descended to a safe landing. The test was part of the soon to be cancelled Constellation program to return astronauts to the Moon.