NASA Continues Orion Parachute Testing for Future Test Flight
NASA today successfully conducted a drop test of the Orion crew
vehicle's entry, descent and landing parachutes high above the
Arizona desert in preparation for the vehicle's orbital flight
test, Exploration Flight Test -1, in 2014. Orion will carry
astronauts deeper into space than ever before, provide emergency
abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and
ensure a safe re-entry and landing. › View more images from the
parachute test A C-130 plane dropped a dart-shaped test vehicle
with a simulated Orion parachute compartment from an altitude of
25,000 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds. Orion's
drogue chutes were deployed at 20,000 feet, followed by the
pilot parachutes, which then deployed the main landing
parachutes. The test vehicle landed on the desert floor at a
speed of almost 25 feet per second, well below the maximum
designed touchdown speed of the spacecraft. This particular drop
test had two primary objectives