KSC-2014-3313

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – NASA, Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy personnel remove the handling fixture from the Orion boilerplate test vehicle in the well deck of the USS Anchorage at the U.S. Naval Base San Diego, to prepare for Underway Recovery Test 2. The ship will head out to sea, off the coast of San Diego, in search of conditions to support test needs. The team will conduct tests in the Pacific Ocean to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The second underway recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, new hardware and personnel in open waters. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is conducting the underway recovery tests. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett