Tenth Parachute Test for NASA's Orion Adds 10,000 Feet of Success

A complicated, high-altitude test Wednesday demonstrated NASA's new Orion spacecraft could land safely even if one of its parachutes failed.

A test version of the Orion capsule touches down in the Arizona desert following a parachute test on Wednesday, July 24.

A test version of the Orion capsule is righted following its touchdown after a parachute test. Although the parachute system is tested in the desert, Orion will land in the Pacific Ocean.

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Spacecraft Processing Procedures at Kennedy Space Center

In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane operator lifts a full-size mock-up of the Orion spacecraft high in the air for transfer to High Bay 4.

Crane operators and technicians practice stacking and destacking operations in order to keep processing procedures and skills current for the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program.

NASA Invites Media, Public to Hangout at Live Orion Parachute Test

NASA will host a Google+ Hangout from the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. EDT July 24, as an Orion test capsule is dropped from a plane at 35,000 feet to evaluate its parachutes.
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NASA Invites Media to View Orion Heat Shield Near Boston

NASA officials will visit Textron Defense Systems in Wilmington, Mass., Wednesday, July 17, to view progress being made on the heat shield for the agency's Orion spacecraft.

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SOFIA Observatory Peers Into Heart of Orion Nebula

A new image from NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) shows a complex distribution of interstellar dust and stars in the Orion nebula.

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Stepping into the Orion Crew Module

NASA astronauts Cady Coleman and Ricky Arnold step into the Orion crew module hatch during a series of spacesuit check tests conducted on June 13, 2013 at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Stepping into the Orion Crew Module

NASA astronauts Cady Coleman and Ricky Arnold step into the Orion crew module hatch during a series of spacesuit check tests conducted on June 13, 2013 at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

The Orion crew module will serve as both transport and a home to astronauts during future long-duration missions to an asteroid, Mars and other destinations throughout our solar system.

Image Credit: NASA

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NASA's Orion Spacecraft Proves Sound Under Pressure

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Proves Sound Under Pressure

06/06/2013 12:00 AM EDT

After a month of being poked, prodded and pressurized in ways that mimicked the stresses of spaceflight, NASA's Orion crew module successfully passed its static loads tests on Wednesday.

Artist's Rendering of an Asteroid Capture

Artist's Rendering of an Asteroid Capture

05/30/2013 12:00 AM EDT

This artist's rendering shows what capturing an asteroid could look like. NASA's FY2014 budget proposal includes a plan to robotically capture a small near-Earth asteroid and redirect it safely to a stable orbit in the Earth-moon system where astronauts can visit and explore it.

Performing these elements for the proposed asteroid initiative integrates the best of NASA's science, technology and human exploration capabilities and draws on the innovation of America's brightest scientists and engineers.

It uses current and developing capabilities to find both large asteroids that pose a hazard to Earth and small asteroids that could be candidates for the initiative, accelerates our technology development activities in high-powered solar electric propulsion and takes advantage of our hard work on the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft, helping to keep NASA on target to reach the President's goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s.

Image Credit: NASA/Advanced Concepts Lab