NASA Orion Splashdown Tests Ensure Safe Landings For Astronauts

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Sept. 27, 2012

Rachel Kraft 
Headquarters, Washington 
202-358-1100 
rachel.h.kraft@xxxxxxxx 

Sasha Congiu 
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va. 
757-864-5473/757-272-9859 
sasha.r.congiu@xxxxxxxx 

RELEASE: 12-340

NASA ORION SPLASHDOWN TESTS ENSURE SAFE LANDINGS FOR ASTRONAUTS

HAMPTON, Va. -- The 18,000-pound test article that mimics the size and 
weight of NASA's Orion spacecraft crew module recently completed a 
final series of water impact tests in the Hydro Impact Basin at the 
agency's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. 

The campaign of swing and vertical drops simulated various water 
landing scenarios to account for different velocities, parachute 
deployments, entry angles, wave heights and wind conditions the 
spacecraft may encounter when landing in the Pacific Ocean. The next 
round of water impact testing is scheduled to begin in late 2013 
using a full-sized model that was built to validate the flight 
vehicle's production processes and tools. 

Orion will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before and be 
the most advanced spacecraft ever designed. It will fly its first 
flight test, designated Exploration Flight Test 1, in 2014. The 
spacecraft will travel more than 3,600 miles into space -- 15 times 
farther from Earth than the International Space Station -- and reach 
speeds of more than 20,000 mph before returning to Earth. This 
unmanned flight test will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force 
Station in Florida. Several Orion systems, including the heat shield 
and parachutes at speeds generated during a return from deep space, 
will be tested. 

In 2017, Orion will be launched by NASA's Space Launch System (SLS), a 
heavy-lift rocket that will provide an entirely new capability for 
human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be flexible for 
launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS will enable new 
missions of exploration and expand human presence in the solar 
system. 

Langley's Hydro Impact Basin is 115 feet long, 90 feet wide and 20 
feet deep, and is located at the historic Landing and Impact Research 
Facility where Apollo astronauts trained for moonwalks. 

For video and still imagery documenting the ground breaking of the 
Hydro Impact Basin all the way through various stages of the Orion 
testing, visit: 

http://go.usa.gov/Yak5 

For more information about Orion, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/orion 

For further information about the International Space Station, NASA's 
commercial space programs and the future of American spaceflight, 
visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration 

	
-end-



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