J.D. Harrington/Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-5241/1979
j.d.harrington@nasa.gov/michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov
Amy Johnson
Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
757-864-7022/757-272-9859
amy.johnson@nasa.gov
Josh Byerly
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
josh.byerly@nasa.gov
RELEASE: 11-242
NASA TESTS FUTURE DEEP SPACE VEHICLE FOR WATER LANDINGS
HAMPTON, Va. -- As NASA closes the chapter on the Space Shuttle
Program, a new era of exploration vehicles is beginning to take off.
Testing began this month at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton,
Va., in the new Hydro Impact Basin to certify the Orion Multi-Purpose
Crew Vehicle (MPCV) for water landings. The Orion MPCV will carry
astronauts into space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain
the crew during space travel and ensure safe re-entry and landing.
Engineers have dropped a 22,000-pound MPCV mockup into the basin. The
test item is similar in size and shape to MPCV, but is more rigid so
it can withstand multiple drops. Each test has a different drop
velocity to represent the MPCV's possible entry conditions during
water landings.
The last of three drop tests to verify the new facility is scheduled
for the end of this month.
Testing will resume in September with a slightly modified test article
that is more representative of the actual MPCV.
The new Hydro Impact Basin is 115 long, 90 feet wide and 20 feet deep.
It is located at the west end of Langley's historic Landing and
Impact Research Facility, or Gantry, where Apollo astronauts trained
for moon walks.
For images and video of the tests, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/exploration/hib.html To follow the progress of the Orion MPCV on social networking sites,
visit:
http://www.facebook.com/nasampcv http://twitter.com/nasampcv http://www.youtube.com/user/nasampcv http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasampcv NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston manages the Orion MPCV program
for the agency. For more information about the program, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/mpcv
