NASA’s Orion spacecraft mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket is visible inside the Mobile Service Tower where the vehicle is undergoing launch preparations, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37, Florida. Orion is NASA’s new spacecraft built to carry humans, designed to allow us to journey to destinations never before visited by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket with NASA’s Orion spacecraft mounted atop, lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 37 at at 7:05 a.m. EST, Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, in Florida. The Orion spacecraft orbited Earth twice, reaching an altitude of approximately 3,600 miles above Earth before landing in the Pacific Ocean. No one was aboard Orion for this flight test, but the spacecraft is designed to allow us to journey to destinations never before visited by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. Photo credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
In this concept image, the Orion spacecraft docks with the robotic asteroid redirect vehicle.
NASA image
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PACIFIC OCEAN (Dec. 5, 2014) NASA’s Orion Crew Module descends to the Pacific Ocean under its three main parachutes as part of the Orion Program’s first exploration flight test. USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is supporting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles White/Released)
Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11) and Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11‐7, attach a towing bridle to NASA’s Orion Crew Module. The amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is currently conducting the first exploration flight test (EFT) for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the first at-sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen/Released)
Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11), Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11-7, approach the Orion Crew Module during the first Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) NASA Orion Program. USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corey Green/Released)
Navy Divers assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 and Fleet Combat Camera Pacific and crewmembers from amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) approach the NASA Orion Crew Module after splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Anchorage is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Charles White/Released)
Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen, assigned to Fleet Combat Camera Pacific, and Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11) and Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11-7, capture imagery of the Orion Crew Module during the first Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) of the NASA Orion Program. USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corey Green/Released)
Timothy Goddard, Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Dive Operations Manager Oceaneering Space Systems and Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11) and Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11‐7, attach a towing bridle to NASA’s Orion Crew Module. USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is currently conducting the first exploration test flight (EFT) for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the first at-sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen/Released)
Rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) and combat rubber raiding crafts (CRRC) guide NASA’s Orion crew module towards the welldeck of the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23). Anchorage is currently conducting the first Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) for the NASA Orion program. EFT-1 is the fifth at-sea testing for the Orion crew module using a Navy welldeck recovery method. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Elena Pence/Released)
Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11), Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11-7, guide the Orion Crew Module alongside the amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) during the first Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) NASA Orion Program. Anchorage is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corey Green/Released)
U.S. Navy Sailors from Expeditionary Strike Group Three, USS Anchorage (LPD 23), USNS Salvor (T-ARS 52), Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron Eight, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group One, Fleet Combat Camera Pacific, and Fleet Weather Center San Diego are in the Pacific Ocean supporting the Orion Crew Module recovery operations. Anchorage is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion program. EFT-1 is the fifth at sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Corey Green/Released)
Navy Divers board small boats from the welldeck of the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) to recover NASA’s Orion space capsule. Anchorage is currently conducting the first Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) for the NASA Orion program. EFT-1 is the fifth at-sea testing for the Orion crew module using a Navy welldeck recovery method. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Christopher A. Veloicaza/Released)
Navy Divers, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 11 (EODMU11) and Mobile Dive and Salvage Company 11‐7, recover NASA’s Orion Crew Module as part of the Orion Program’s first exploration flight test (EFT). USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is currently conducting the first exploration test flight for the NASA Orion Program. EFT-1 is the first at-sea testing of the Orion Crew Module using a Navy well deck recovery method. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Keen/Released)
