Orion Space Capsule Successfully Recovered by US Navy

Another successful test by NASA this week, their Orion capsule that’s designed to get astronauts back into space after landing on another planet has been recovered by the US Navy after it was placed in a situation mimicking a splashdown in the pacific ocean. The retrieval was practice for NASAs mission to send Orion 3600 miles above the earth. This is due to go ahead in December this year but other aspects of the Orion capsule are being looked at. Orion will perform a real splashdown after returning to earth which is why a practice run is needed as NASA will use the capsule again for future missions.

The test recovery went well, the US Navy dive teams based aboard the USS Anchorage recovery vessel managed to recover the Orion capsule from the ocean using a cradle and winch system. The same team will be used to recover the vessel after it returns from its actual mission. This will be the first time NASA has recovered a capsule from the sea in a real mission since 1975 with the Apollo Soyuz mission.

Thanks to Tweaktown for supplying us with this information.

Image courtesy of Tweaktown.