This huge plume of fire is NASA testing the abort motor for its Space Shuttle replacement, the Orion launch system.

“It looked perfect. Very impressive. It was beautiful,” says Charlie Precourt, former NASA astronaut and VP at Alliant Techsystems, which built the motor (Florida Today).

Click through for a full photo sequence…

The abort motor, which should push the crew module clear of the launch system if something goes wrong on launch or the first 10 km after, was given its first full-scale test on 20 November (NASA).

“It is designed to act just like an escape seat on a jet aircraft,” says Gary Bates, Alliant’s chief engineer (Salt Lake Tribune). “If it ever needs to be used, it will propel the crew away in a nice arc so they can return to earth safely.”

Wired says:

American manned spacecraft have exploded or disintegrated twice over the last couple decades, and there is no realistic escape route in the old Shuttle. So, for the next-generation Orion exploration vehicle and Ares rockets, NASA is reaching back into the history books. The new system is an updated version of Apollo’s old-school abort system.

If you think the photo is impressive, try watching the video (NASA video site, Wired YouTube site).