NASA:
NASA Completes Maximum Parachute Test for Orion Spacecraft
August 29, 2012
NASA successfully completed another parachute test of its Orion spacecraft on Aug. 28 high above the skies of the U.S. Yuma Army Proving Ground in southwestern Arizona. The test examined the maximum pressure Orion's parachutes might face when returning from exploration missions.
Orion will be the most advanced spacecraft ever designed and carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain astronauts during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space.
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Image above: (28 Aug. 2012) -- A dart-shaped test vehicle that is used to simulate Orion’s parachute compartment descends above the skies of the U.S. Yuma Army Proving Ground in Arizona. Engineers were testing the maximum pressure Orion’s chutes might face when returning from exploration missions.Photo credit: NASA
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Image above: (28 Aug. 2012) -- A dart-shaped test vehicle that is used to simulate Orion’s parachute compartment descends above the skies of the U.S. Yuma Army Proving Ground in Arizona. Engineers were testing the maximum pressure Orion’s chutes might face when returning from exploration missions.Photo credit: NASA
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During the test, a C-130 airplane dropped a dart-shaped test vehicle with a simulated Orion parachute compartment from an altitude of 25,000 feet. Orion's drogue chutes were deployed at approximately 20,000 feet, followed by small pilot chutes, which then deployed the three main parachutes. Each of the main parachutes is 116 feet wide and weighs more than 300 pounds.
"Each one of these tests helps us verify the parachute system for Orion is safe, efficient and robust," said Chris Johnson, a NASA project manager for Orion's parachute assembly system. "Today's test demonstrated the parachutes can deploy at the maximum velocity expected when returning from deep space."
This is the latest in a series of parachute drop tests, with each one designed to test a different condition or behavior of the parachutes. Besides the dart-shaped test vehicle used to simulate the speeds at which Orion will descend, NASA also uses a test vehicle that more closely resembles the actual Orion spacecraft.
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Parabolic Arc:
NASA Completes Maximum Parachute Test For Orion Spacecraft
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mage above: The mockup components of an Orion spacecraft are laid out in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the foreground is the Launch Abort System, then the aerodynamic shell that will cover the capsule. To the right is the Orion capsule model on top of a service module simulator. All are the exact dimensions the flight-ready Orions will be.
Photo credit: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis| Image above: The Orion mockup and its service module simulator.Photo credit: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis
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Image above: (28 Aug. 2012) -- A dart-shaped test vehicle that is used to simulate Orion’s parachute compartment descends above the skies of the U.S. Yuma Army Proving Ground in Arizona. Engineers were testing the maximum pressure Orion’s chutes might face when returning from exploration missions.
