posted 08-07-2009 04:02 PM               

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Makes Stops During Florida-Texas Trek

A full scale mockup of NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle soon will be moved from Florida to Texas to continue its testing. During the trip, the capsule will make several stops for public viewing.

The mockup is used in tests to study the environment for astronauts and recovery crews after an Orion ocean splashdown. The public viewing opportunities are:

• Challenger, Center, Tallahassee, Fla., Mon., Aug. 10, noon to 3 p.m. EDT
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• Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Fla., Tues., Aug. 11, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT
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• StenniSphere, NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss., Wed., Aug. 12, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CDT.
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• Museum of Natural Science, Jackson, Miss., Aug. 13, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT
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• NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, Aug. 14, 3 p.m. CDT through Aug. 17, approximately 9 a.m. CDT

The first round of Post-landing Orion Recovery Tests (PORT) occurred in March in a controlled water environment at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Bethesda, Md. Additional testing near NASA's Kennedy Space Center in April took place in the rougher, uncontrolled waters of the Atlantic Ocean. The next testing phase, designated as PORT II, will be conducted at Johnson.

"The first portion of PORT testing was a great success, giving NASA an early look into the motions crews inside and outside Orion will feel after landing," said Alan Rhodes, PORT testing lead at Johnson. "This will allow us to modify the design to aid in the recovery of the vehicle and crew."

At Johnson, the PORT test article will be outfitted with seats, restraints and other items that may affect how crews get in and out of Orion. Engineers will evaluate the crew's ability to get out of Orion in calm water at the Sonny Carter Training Facility's Neutral Buoyancy Lab. NASA will also work with U.S. Air Force rescue and recovery experts to determine how parajumpers will assist crews in case of an emergency.

posted 08-10-2009 06:10 PM               

Photo credit: NASA

Orion PORT capsule at Tallahassee's Challenger Center on Aug. 10

posted 08-11-2009 12:24 PM               

Photo credit: NASA

Orion at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida on August 11.

Photo credit: NASA

posted 08-14-2009 11:27 AM               

Click to enlarge. Photo credit: collectSPACE

NASA's post-landing Orion test capsule arrives at Johnson Space Center on August 14.

Click to enlarge. Photo credit: collectSPACE