URT - Day Three

On the top deck of the USS San Diego, a helicopter flies overhead to monitor conditions as the Orion underway recovery test begins in the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, California on Feb. 20, 2014. The Orion boilerplate test vehicle and other hardware are secured in the well deck of the ship in preparation for the test. NASA and the U.S. Navy conducted tests to prepare for the recovery of the Orion crew module, forward bay cover and parachutes on its return from a deep space mission. The underway recovery test will allow the teams to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in open waters. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.