A team of Nasa and the US Navy has practiced retrieving the Orion spacecraft after it splashes in the Pacific Ocean on 4 December, completing its first test flight.
The testing was performed off the coast of San Clemente Island and allowed the team to evaluate the procedures, hardware and personnel responsible for the spacecraft recovery.
Divers from the US Navy used a Lockheed Martin built recovery cradle, recovery winch and sea anchor to retrieve and position the Orion test article on the USS Anchorage.
Data from this testing process will help ensure a safe and efficient recovery of the crew module and collect flight test data after splashdown, according to Lockheed Martin.
During Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), a Delta IV Heavy rocket will launch the uncrewed Orion spacecraft, which will return to Earth at around 20,000mph for a splashdown.
The flight will help engineers to validate systems critical to crew safety such as heat shield performance, separation events, avionics and software performance, attitude control and guidance, parachute deployment, and recovery operations, before the spacecraft begins carrying humans to new destinations in deep space.
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By GlobalDataLockheed Martin’s deputy programme manager for the Orion programme Larry Martin said: "Completing recovery simulations in a real, ocean environment before EFT-1 is incredibly helpful.
"This test allows us to improve the procedures for handling the crew module and determine if the recovery equipment designs are precise, safe and efficient."
Image: Team progressing toward exploration flight test-1. Photo: courtesy of Nasa / Lockheed Martin Corporation.
