KSC-2014-3945

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, at left, talks to Jeremy Graeber, NASA Recovery director for Exploration Flight Test-1 Landing and Recovery Operations, on the deck of the USS Anchorage during Orion Underway Recovery Test 3. The Orion boilerplate test vehicle is in the Pacific Ocean with U.S. Navy divers nearby in Zodiac boats and rigid hull inflatable boats during recovery operations. NASA, Lockheed Martin and U.S. Navy personnel are conducting the test to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, 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 Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston