Ares rocket parachute is tested

WASHINGTON, July 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency says it has successfully completed the first drop test of a drogue parachute for its Ares I rocket.

The drogue parachute is designed to slow the descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, cast off by the Ares I rocket during its climb to space, permitting recovery of the motor for use on other Ares I flights.

Last week's test marked an "early milestone in development and production of the Ares I rocket, the first launch vehicle for NASA's Constellation Program that will send explorers to the International Space Station, the moon and beyond in coming decades," the space agency said.

Engineers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., managed the team that conducted the drogue chute test July 24 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz.