![\"Orion](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z713.jpg\" "\\"Orion")
Originally, NASA envisioned a return to terra firma, aided by an airbag landing system on the Orion spacecraft.<\/p>\nAn agreement has been signed with the United States Navy to provide splashdown recovery support for NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft through to the crewed Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2). The support will include Navy boat teams and a Landing Platform-Dock (LPD) ship, with two exercises scheduled ahead of the EFT-1 mission.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Orion\u2019s Naval Support:<\/p>\n
For the 30 year career of the Space Shuttle, NASA astronauts enjoyed landing on a runway \u2013 with a fleet of support vehicles rushing to surround the orbiter moments after initial safing tasks were complete. This was a marked improvement on the ocean splashdowns endured during the early days of the space program.<\/p>\n
With NASA refocused on using capsules for their Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) aspirations, astronauts will once again end their missions in deep space by parachuting into the waters off the coast of the United States.<\/p>\n
Originally, NASA envisioned a return to terra firma, aided by an airbag landing system on the Orion spacecraft.<\/p>\n
However, Lockheed Martin were forced to remove this system ahead of their Orion 607 design cycle, as engineers battled to delete mass from the spacecraft, due to performance shortfalls with the Ares I launch vehicle.<\/p>\n
The mass deletion effort removed 1,200 lbs from Orion. Unfortunately, the loss of weight proved to be inadequate, as the Orion 607 vehicle then underwent what what was called the \u201cZero Base Vehicle\u201d effort, in order to \u201cpull out everything, with the minimum capabilities reduced to the single or zero fault tolerance level,\u201d ahead of returning capabilities piece by piece, all while avoiding a breach of their mass properties limitations.<\/p>\n
Aerospace industry analysis (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n Click here for Orion articles: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/tag\/orion\/<\/p>\n Prior to the Orion 607 change, the test schedule promoted Orion\u2019s ability to land on both land and water.<\/p>\n The Constellation Program (CxP) troubles soon saw this schedule become a flight of fantasy, ultimately ending with Orion\u2019s cancellation \u2013 prior to its return, first as a lifeboat on the ISS, then under its new call sign as a deep space crew transport.<\/p>\n With the realigned schedule manifesting Orion for a debut trip into space in just over a year\u2019s time, preparations for its recovery are now in full swing.<\/p>\n As seen during the pioneering missions of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo, the recovery of the capsule will once again see the US Navy provide a key post-mission role, following the signing of an agreement to utilize their assets for the first three Orion missions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe recovery training with Navy crews and ships has been underway because the EFT-1 and Exploration Mission (EM)-1 and EM-2 will be water recoveries. An agreement with the Navy has been signed for support of those launches,\u201d noted the minutes from the recent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) meeting.<\/p>\n In preparation for EFT-1, the US Navy will conduct an Orion recovery exercise, scheduled for August 2013 \u2013 set to take place at Naval Station Norfolk, in Virginia. The second major test is planned for January 2014 \u2013 at Navy Base San Diego in California.<\/p>\n One of the main differences between the old recovery tactics and the techniques to be employed with Orion is the use of a Landing Platform-Dock (LPD) ship. An Aircraft Carrier was used during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a new approach and is preferred due to the LPD\u2019s low cost, highly capable tracking radar and ability to launch helicopters from its flight deck,\u201d noted Jim Hamblin, landing and recovery operations manager for NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations.<\/p>\n The test will start at the point in the recovery operation in which the Navy divers \u2013 using small, raft-like boats \u2013 are ready to approach the capsule.<\/p>\n These small boat teams \u2013 staffed by US Navy divers \u2013 will also conduct a hazard assessment of the crew module to verify it is safe to approach without personal protection equipment. A large amount of work has already taken place on this element of recovery, from the standpoint of the crew safety and the recovery force\u2019s procedures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Navy dive teams are crucial to the recovery operation,\u201d Mr Hamblin added. \u201cAfter the crew module is stabilized, boat teams will attach a winch line from inside the well deck of the ship and start pulling it in. Lines from small boats will also be attached to the spacecraft to bring it to the stern of the Navy ship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the simulations next August, we\u2019ll be conducting a two-day stationary recovery test to evaluate hardware and recovery processes in a controlled, benign environment. That\u2019s what we\u2019re calling the crawl phase. In this test we\u2019ll utilize the Navy\u2019s USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19).\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBefore approaching the recovery cradle, the ship\u2019s stern gate is raised 45 degrees to calm the waters inside the well deck,\u201d added Mr Hamblin. \u201cThe crew module is then positioned over the cradle, and the well deck is drained to seat the spacecraft into the cradle.\u201d<\/p>\n Next up will be the four-day Underway Recovery Test, scheduled for the start of 2014, around six months prior to the EFT-1 mission.<\/p>\n These two tests will naturally mature into real mission scenario of EFT-1\u2019s recovery operation, again off the coast of California.<\/p>\n Once the EFT-1 Orion is recovered, USS San Diego will head back to port, docking alongside the pier in Long Beach, California. The EFT-1 Orion will then be towed from the well deck to a barge, allowing for the handover to Lockheed Martin, the Orion prime contractor, for required post-flight operations.<\/p>\n The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock was commissioned just last year and she recently entered active service.<\/p>\n Following EFT-1, the teams will have one more full dress rehearsal with the EM-1 mission in 2017, prior to EM-2\u2019s debut use of a crew on board the Orion.<\/p>\n All the procedures and technical challenges will need to be ironed out prior to this mission, ensuring the vehicle \u2013 and more importantly the crew \u2013 are safely recovered from the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n (Images: L2\u2019s Orion and SLS Special Sections, and NASA)<\/p>\n (NSF and L2 are providing full exploration roadmap level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS\/CRS\/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles.)<\/p>\n (Click here to join L2: http:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/l2\/ )<\/p>\n (Remember to share this article with your friends by clicking one of the social media options below)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An agreement has been signed with the United States Navy to provide splashdown recovery support for NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft through to the crewed Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2). The support will include Navy boat teams and a Landing Platform-Dock (LPD) ship, with two exercises scheduled ahead of the EFT-1 mission. Orion\u2019s Naval Support: For the 30 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3688,3718,4011,640,3970],"class_list":["post-39902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-eft-1","tag-em-1","tag-em-2","tag-orion","tag-us-navy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39902"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Constellation](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z94.jpg\" "\\"Constellation")
Documentation from around 2007 (L2) pointed to an uncrewed test mission \u2013 named \u201cOrion 3\u201d \u2013 to conclude with a water landing off the coast of Australia in September 2012, followed by the first crewed flight \u2013 \u201cOrion 4\u201d \u2013 to be tasked with a land touchdown at Edwards Air Force Base in California.<\/p>\n![\"Orion](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z122.jpg\" "\\"Orion")
While the opening mission will launch Orion atop of a Delta IV-Heavy, the spacecraft\u2019s return will closely mimic its return to Earth from deep space, with Exploration Flight Test -1 (EFT-1) completing its high energy re-entry with a splashdown off the coast of California.<\/p>\nSee Also<\/h4>\n
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![\"US](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z86.jpg\" "\\"US")
The LPD is an amphibious ship that has both a flight deck and a well deck. The well deck is in the lower portion of the ship and has a large door on the stern of the ship that can be opened to support landing craft or other amphibious vehicles.<\/p>\n![\"USS](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z102.jpg\" "\\"USS")
The opening test in Norfolk will involve working with an LPD while docked at the port to perfect the process of bringing in the Orion capsule with the crew aboard.<\/p>\n![\"Orion](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z414.jpg\" "\\"Orion")
An example of the testing \u2013 such as attaching the stabilization collar \u2013 took place via the use of an Orion mock-up in the Trident Turn Basin at Port Canaveral. Evaluations were also carried out at JSC\u2019s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), allowing Navy dive teams to receive training in the newly-developed recovery procedures.<\/p>\n![\"Orion](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z510.jpg\" "\\"Orion")
That approach of towing Orion into the belly of the LPD will be tested during the two-day operation in August, according to Mr Hamblin.<\/p>\n![\"Orion](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z111.jpg\" "\\"Orion")
The operation involves winching the Orion inside the stern gate of the LPD, under the assistance of the boat teams, who will have tending lines between themselves and the capsule. The Orion will be guided towards a cradle in the well deck.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z613.jpg\" "\\"Z6\\"")
\u201cThis will be the walk, then run phase conducted on the LPD USS San Diego at sea on the west coast near San Diego,\u201d said Hamblin. \u201cIts purpose is to evaluate hardware and recovery processes in progressively more challenging environments to determine capability limits.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"USS](\"https:\/\/www.nasaspaceflight.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Z310.jpg\" "\\"USS")
It is likely the USS San Diego (LPD-22) will be the ship of choice for at least the early part of NASA\u2019s exploration roadmap.<\/p>\n