This is a shot of the 18,000-pound Orion mock-up being tested in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the waves reached upward of nine feet, and the mock-up performed well. Engineers are taking a look at how the spacecraft acts in the water in order to better learn what the crew inside will experience as well as the recovery teams who will operate once Orion lands. The Orion testing will continue, and we will keep posting pictures as we get them.
this is an amazing photo, NASA!!! keep up the good work!!! 🙂
do not care
One small dive for Orion, one giant stroke forward for Ares. Well done NASA and keep the faith.
Dan Klapp
Cincinnati, Ohio
Awesome picture! Thank you for posting. I always look forward to these Project Constellation weblog postings. Does anyone know what NASA plans to do with this Orion CEV mock-up after these water recovery tests are finished? Could the mock-up be donated to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama perhaps?
Back to the future! This could double for an image from the late ’60s or early ’70s. Excellent…
I saw this capsule when it was out from of the National Air and Space Museum. Neat!
Why in the world are we taking a step backwords and designing a “new” space craft that looks like the Apollo craft? Shouldn’t we be moving ahead?
Delvin have you even read what the Constellation program is about? We ARE moving ahead – on to the Moon and then to Mars and beyond with this design. I’d call that moving ahead.
Great pix btw – keep up the updates!
Just because the design (on a very rudimentary level) is from the 50’s doesnt mean that its not a great way to send people to space. Those engineer’s ideas and the issues they surmounted 50 years ago are largely the same as the issues NASA engineers face today.
It lands on land and water- Orion is the mutant hybrid child of Apollo and Soyuz!