About a hundred miles off the coast of San Diego, in the Pacific
Ocean, a U.S. Navy ship’s well deck filled with water as underway
recovery operations began Feb. 18 on a test version of NASA's Orion crew
module to prepare for its first mission, Exploration Flight Test-1, in
September. Orion was undocked from its cradle and allowed to float out
to sea.
Building on the knowledge gained from previous Orion recovery tests
performed in calm waters near NASA's Langley Research Center in
Virginia, the agency's Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO)
Program began the next phase, seeking turbulent water off the west coast
in which to practice recovering the Orion crew module, one parachute
and a forward bay cover, which keeps Orion's parachutes safe until being
jettisoned, just before the parachutes are needed.
“This is an end-to-end test that takes us to the edge of our safe
zone,” said Mike Generale, the Orion recovery operations manager and
test director at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “It will help
us see how successful our processes and hardware are to recover Orion in
higher sea swells.”
During the recovery test, controllers at Johnson Space Center in
Houston simulated the launch and splash down of the Orion capsule. An
F-18 jet flew from 13,000 feet into a dive to simulate Orion’s descent
through the atmosphere and splashdown, as Johnson confirmed tracking and
cleared the air space. Helicopters were stationed in the air to observe
the “Orion capsule” during descent, as they would be during an actual
retrieval mission.
The ship circled around to the floating test vehicle, and an
integrated team of U.S. Navy amphibious specialists, engineers and
technicians from Kennedy, Johnson and Lockheed Martin Space Operations
practiced retrieving Orion, the forward bay cover and parachute.
A sea anchor and recovery winch was attached to Orion. The recovery
winch attachments were secured between Orion’s two main windows, near
the heat shield.
For the underway recovery test, even though there are no propellants
or coolant on the capsule, the small boat teams examined Orion for
leaks, just as they will following Exploration Flight Test-1. Then, two
rigid-hull inflatable boats and two smaller Zodiac boats were used to
help guide Orion into the Navy ship’s flooded well deck and secure it in
a specially designed cradle. Water was drained from the well deck,
leaving Orion secure and dry.
Two more rigid-hull inflatable boats were used to secure and
reposition the recovered forward bay cover and parachute to the port
side of the Navy ship where a crane lifted them on the ship’s main deck.
Generale said the underway recovery test allows GSDO to verify
recovery operations and procedures, demonstrates capabilities and
incorporates partnership efforts with the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin.
“The next steps will be to incorporate lessons learned and, if needed, modify Orion recovery hardware,” Generale said.
The underway recovery test will continue through Feb. 21.
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