Pad Abort-1

{{Short description|2010 rocket test flight}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

{{distinguish|text=Pad Abort Test 1, a 1963 Apollo flight}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Pad Abort 1

| image = 450775main wstf0510e04493 hires.jpg

| image_caption = Launch of the Pad Abort 1 test

| insignia = Orion Pad Abort 1.png

| mission_type = Technology demonstration

| operator = NASA

| mission_duration = 1 minute, 35 seconds

| suborbital_apogee = {{cvt|6000|ft|km|disp=flip}}

| distance_travelled = {{cvt|6900|ft|km|disp=flip}}

| spacecraft_type = Orion boilerplate

| launch_date = {{start-date|6 May 2010, 13:03:00|timezone=yes}} UTC

| launch_rocket = Orion Launch Abort System

| launch_site = White Sands, LC-32E{{cite web |title=NASA Building Test Pad at White Sands for New Spacecraft |url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1240532/nasa_building_test_pad_at_white_sands_for_new_spacecraft/index.html |publisher=redOrbit |date=3 February 2008 |access-date=12 September 2008 }}

| landing_date = {{end-date|6 May 2010, 13:04:35|timezone=yes}} UTC

| programme = Orion program

| previous_mission = MLAS Test

| next_mission = Exploration Flight Test-1

| programme2 = Constellation program

| previous_mission2 = Ares I-X

}}

Pad Abort 1 (PA-1) was a flight test of the Orion Launch Abort System (LAS). PA-1 was the first test in a sequence of atmospheric flight tests known as Orion Abort Flight Test (AFT).

PA-1 tested the basic functionality of the launch abort concept from the pad in its preliminary Orion design configuration. It used the former conformal shape of the LAS adapter. The Flight Test Article (FTA) vehicle differed from production Orion vehicles in a number of ways. For example, the FTA did not have a crew on board, and the avionics were a prototype of what is planned for production Orions.{{cite web |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090029919_2009029992.pdf |title=A Flight Dynamics Perspective of the Orion Pad Abort One Flight Test |author=Idicula|publisher=AIAA|display-authors=etal}}

The PA-1 test took place on 6 May 2010 at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. It was also the final flight done under the auspice of the Constellation program before it was cancelled.