

NASA test drops Orion capsule

The intensity in Steven Gayle's voice grew as NASA's 18,000-pound Orion test capsule landed in the pool.

"Don't flip over, don't flip over, don't flip over," he said as the spacecraft lurched forward.

It didn't flip over — a sign that astronauts could make a similar plunge into the ocean and remain safe.

"Whooo," said Gayle, one of several engineers at NASA Langley Research Center leading Thursday's experiment. "Now we'll start going over the test data."

Tests of the capsule, officially called the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, have been ongoing at Langley for months. Aside from a few videos NASA posted online, it kept the operation largely under wraps.

"There's some new elements here," said Langley engineer Paresh Parikh, referring to the 115-foot long pool, which NASA calls its Hydro Impact Basin. "We wanted to make sure everything works."

NASA hoisted Orion about 25 feet in the air with a large crane called the gantry, which Neil Armstrong and other Mercury astronauts used during the 1960s to mimic landing on the moon.

NASA released the capsule from its straps following a 15-second countdown. It skidded into the pool with a loud pop, creating a killer whalelike splash that sent water spilling over the concrete toward dozens of onlookers.

Unlike NASA's recently retired space shuttle, Orion will re-enter Earth's atmosphere and land in water. The capsule, which resembles a gigantic Hershey Kiss that holds four astronauts, will be slowed by parachutes during its descent.

"We call this configuration Apollo on steroids," said Gayle, noting it weighs roughly 9,000 pounds more than its 1960s-era predecessor.

Engineers designed Thursday's experiment to replicate landing in the Pacific Ocean, off southern California. A previous test mimicked landing in the north Atlantic Ocean amid rougher seas.

Instruments aboard Orion track its speed, if any water seeps into the capsule, how it responds to the pressure of the landing and numerous other measurements, Gayle said. Engineers will spend days comparing the results to computer projections.

The idea, Parikh said, is to test every conceivable scenario, which will help NASA better predict where and how the capsule lands. That's important considering the astronauts may be floating in the ocean for hours waiting for a helicopter to arrive and bring them to a nearby ship, he said.

Tests of the capsule were not certain until earlier this year when President Barack Obama and Congress reached a compromise on NASA's human spaceflight program.

Obama agreed to continue development of Orion and a heavy-lift rocket system designed to carry astronauts to asteroids and Mars. The program, called Space Launch System, comes after Obama canceled the underfunded and behind schedule Constellation program.

Tests of a more sophisticated Orion capsule, which is being built by Lockheed Martin, will continue for the next several years as NASA readies the rocket system.

NASA expects the maiden launch of SLS and Orion to occur in 2017 at a cost of roughly $18 billion. Subsequent launches will follow, culminating in a Mars landing sometime in the 2030s.

But funding for a such a mission is not certain. In recent years, NASA's budget has not kept pace with inflation and Congress is looking for ways to curb spending as the nation's debt continues to rise.

Some lawmakers want to cut science funding while others argue it's essential to maintaining the nation's superiority in space and technology development.

For more science and environment news, read The Deadrise blog at dailypress.com/deadrise.

Orion capsule

NASA test dropped a mock up Orion space capsule Thursday at Langley Research Center. The capsule's successors could take astronauts to Mars.

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