Max Launch Abort System - NASA Engineerin' & Safety Center NASA has successfully demonstrated an alternate system for future astronauts t' escape their launch vehicle. Ya scallywag! A simulated launch o' t' Max Launch Abort System, arrr, or MLAS, matey, took place Wednesday mornin' at 6:26 a.m. Avast! at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. T' unpiloted launch tested an alternate concept for safely propellin' a future spacecraft and its crew away from a problem on t' launch pad or durin' ascent. Begad! T' MLAS consists o' four solid rocket abort motors inside a bullet-shaped composite fairin' attached t' a full-scale mockup o' t' crew module.