When it splashes down in the ocean after traveling beyond the moon, NASA’s new spacecraft is going to need a special recovery!
This new spacecraft is Orion – the agency’s crew capsule. When it launches in 2018 on top of the agency’s new rocket, Space Launch System (SLS), it will travel further into space than any spacecraft for humans has ever gone before. What does this mean? It means that we are one huge leap closer to humans exploring deep space!
Orion will land in the Pacific Ocean after its mission in 2018. How will it be recovered?
A team had to find out! To do this, they have been using the world’s largest indoor pool to practice. It’s called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, located at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
The team is figuring out how to safely tow Orion into a U.S. Navy ship to bring it back to land. After lowering a test version of the crew capsule into the pool, divers use inflatable boats to approach the capsule. They inflate a collar that goes around Orion for stabilization and make sure it’s secure.
Orion recovery test at NBL, Image Credit: NASA/James Blair
Who is the team made of? Divers from the U.S. Navy, para-rescuers from the Air Force and rescue swimmers from the Coast Guard.
The next event will be an initial test in a series designed to prepare the team, hardware and operations for the actual 2018 recovery. This test will be performed at sea. Off the coast of California, the team will test techniques with the USS San Diego in conjunction with the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at Kennedy Space Center.
The current training for the upcoming series of tests involves new attachment hardware, a collar for flotation around Orion and tow lines. Tow cleats, modified to facilitate easier connection with the tow lines, will be useful for open ocean conditions.
When Orion launches in 2018 on Exploration Mission-1, it will be the last unmanned flight of Orion before humans travel on the capsule into deep space! A key element of NASA’s Journey to Mars, the advancements to support the success of Orion are ongoing and pave the path deeper into space.
Learn more about NASA’s new crew capsule here.