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Watch Live: NASA’s Orion Parachute Test
NASA is testing out the parachutes for the new Orion crew vehicle, and in a first, is broadcasting it live as a Google+ Hangout from the U.S. Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. Watch live above (from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. EDT July 24) or watch the replay later as an Orion test capsule is dropped from a plane at 10,700 meters (35,000 feet) to evaluate its parachutes.
Engineers will simulate a failure of one of the spacecraft’s three main parachutes, releasing it before Orion has landed.
This is in preparation for the Exploration Flight Test-1, an uncrewed test of the spacecraft that will send Orion 5,800 km (3,600 miles) away from Earth, scheduled for September 2014. Orion’s parachutes are being tested to ensure they can slow the capsule for a safe landing in the Pacific Ocean as the spacecraft reenters Earth’s atmosphere from deep space missions at speeds of up to 32,000 km/h (20,000 mph.)
Orion crew capsule, Service Module and 6 ton Launch Abort System (LAS) stack inside the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Powerful quartet of LAS abort motors will fire in case of launch emergency to save astronauts lives. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com
© nancy for Universe Today, 2013. |
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Post tags: G+ Hangout, Orion, parachute test
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/103685/watch-live-nasas-orion-parachute-test/
