NASA Crew Launch Vehicle Flight Test Process

In response to the Vision for Space Exploration, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has defined a new space exploration architecture to return humans to the Moon and to prepare for human exploration of Mars. One of the first new developments will be the Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) , which will carry the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) into Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to support International Space Station (ISS) missions and, later, to support lunar missions. As part of the CLV development, NASA will perform a series of CLV flight tests. The tests will provide data that will inform the engineering and design process and verify the flight hardware and software. In addition, the data gained from the flight tests will be used to certify the new CLV/CEV vehicle for human space flight. This paper will provide an overview of the CLV flight test process and details of the individual flight tests