Underway Recovery Test 7 (URT-7) - Preparations for Sea

Captain Anthony Roach, at right, commanding officer in the U.S. Navy, welcomes Shawn Quinn and other senior leaders from around NASA onto his ship on Oct. 29, 2018. The visit is a familiarization tour coordinated by the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) recovery team as they prepare for Underway Recovery Test-7 (URT-7). EGS and the U.S. Navy will use a test version of the Orion crew module, several rigid hull inflatable boats and support equipment to verify and validate processes, procedures, hardware and personnel during recovery of Orion in open waters. URTs are a series of tests to ensure all systems are go when recovering the Orion crew capsule and astronauts onboard in the future. Orion will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.