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USS amphibious shipping pontoon John P. Murtha left San Diego Tuesday to help a NASA team recover a model of the Orion spacecraft.
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It is the seventh in a series of tests of procedures and equipment that will be used to recover the spacecraft after it is projected into the Pacific Ocean as a result of space exploration missions.
The Orion is designed to carry a crew of four beyond the low Earth orbit, moon, near asteroids and possibly Mars using NASA's massive Space Launch System rocket. The next test flight is scheduled for 2019 and the first crewed flight is scheduled for 2021.
The series of recovery tests scheduled until early November will be the first use of John P. Murtha. Other vessels of the San Antonio class have already participated in tests. These ships have large well docks in which the capsule can be floated.
"Each recovery test allows the team to gather important data used to improve procedures and recovery equipment," said Melissa Jones, NASA's Director of Launch and Recovery. "The main purpose of this test is to prove that the recovery equipment is working as intended. If not, they have time to fix it before the crash in a few years. "
In the sixth test in January, control lines broke during the recovery of Orion. The material involved has since been redesigned.
NASA plans to perform two more tests of recovery before the 2019 test flight.
San Diego Ship Testing – NASA Orion Spacecraft Recovery Procedures was last modified: October 31, 2018 by
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