NASA tests Orion recovery procedures

WEST BETHESDA, Md., March 25 (UPI) -- A full-scale mockup of the U.S. space agency's Orion crew module is being tested in water under simulated and real landing weather conditions.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration said a Navy-built, 18,000-pound Orion mockup is being tested in a pool at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division in West Bethesda, Md. Ocean testing is to begin April 6 off the coast of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

"The goal of the operation, dubbed the Post-landing Orion Recovery Test, or PORT, is to determine what kind of motions the astronaut crew can expect after landing, as well as conditions outside for the recovery team," NASA said, with the results to be used in the design of landing recovery operations.

NASA officials said the Carderock facility provides a controlled environment for crew recovery personnel to familiarize themselves with the Orion capsule before the team tests procedures in the uncontrolled waters of the Atlantic Ocean. For the ocean testing, the team will use a space shuttle solid rocket booster recovery ship to take the mockup out to sea, going further into rougher conditions each day.

During the Orion mockup's transportation from Maryland to Florida, it will make stops for public viewing Monday in front of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington and April 3 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in Florida.