NASA, Navy practice Orion recovery in the Pacific Ocean
By Navy Times staff
If you think sending astronauts speeding to a point 40,000 miles beyond the moon is difficult, try bringing them back.
In coming years, NASA will launch an unmanned spacecraft and then, if all goes well, a manned Orion spacecraft deeper into the solar system than any other manned craft has ever gone.
It’s impressive, but on its return trip, Orion will need to slow down from 25,000 mph to just 300 mph as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
From there, the craft needs to slow to just 20 mph as it (hopefully) splashes down gently in the water, according to NASA.
Critical to success will be getting to the astronauts in the Orion as fast as possible. This is where the Navy comes in.
This week, NASA experts and sailors were aboard the transport dock Anchorage to practice retrieving a mock capsule in the ocean and securing it. Here are some scenes (and video) from their practice session:
Sailors assist with Orion test article recovery operations in the well deck aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 18. (Boatswain’s Mate 3rd Class Matthew Jones/Navy)Sailors from Special Boat Team 12 catch a heaving line attached to the NASA’s winch system used to bring in the Orion test article into the well deck of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 22. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carrel Regis/Navy)U.S. Navy divers assist NASA and the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) recover a mock-up capsule designed to roughly simulate the size, shape, mass and center of gravity of the Orion crew module that will splash down in the Pacific Ocean following Exploration Mission-1 planned for Dec. 2019. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Abe McNattSailors from the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18) assist NASA engineers in bringing the Orion test article to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 22. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Natalie M. Byers/Navy)Sailors from the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18) assist NASA engineers in bringing the Orion test article to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) with the help of Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 and Sailors from Special Boat Team 12, Jan. 22. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Natalie M. Byers/Navy)Navy divers from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 attach an inflatable ring to NASA’s Orion test article to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 21, 2018. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Natalie M. Byers/Navy)Sailors in a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat from the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18) assist divers in Combat Rubber Raiding Craft (CRRC) from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 in bringing back the Orion test article to the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 22. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Natalie M. Byers/Navy)Seaman Marc Castillejo handles a line from the NASA’s Orion test article aboard the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23), Jan. 21, 2018. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Carrel Regis/Navy)
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