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Orion MPCV Imagery

  • jsc2013e026162 -- Orion Rescue and Recovery Training

    Recovery Testing

    A model of Orion is used to practice recovery operations being developed for the spacecraft's first flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1, in 2014.

  • Evaluation of the Advanced Crew Escape Suit

    Suit Testing

    Orion engineers test the Advanced Crew Escape Suit in the Active Response Gravity Offload System at the Johnson Space Center.

  • Construction on the First Space-Bound MPCV

    Exploration Flight Test-1

    Construction on the first space-bound Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Module began with the first weld at the Michoud Assembly Facility on Sept. 9, 2011.

  • Drogue Chute Testing

    Drogue Chute Wind Tunnel Tests

    Engineers conduct tests on a scale model of Orion and its drogue parachute at a wind tunnel on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas

  • HIB splash test July 21, 2011

    Impact Basin Testing

    How the Orion spacecraft will land in the water is analyzed at NASA’s Hydro Impact Basin at the Langley Research Center in Virginia.

  • Orion parachute test

    Parachute Testing

    The Orion crew exploration vehicle parachute assembly system team performed an airdrop test at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona.

  • Pad Abort 1 Abort Motor

    Pad Abort Motor Test

    The launch abort system is designed to protect the crew onboard Orion by pulling the craft to safety in the event of an emergency on the launch pad or during the initial phase of ascent.

  • The Orion Crew Module

    Pad Abort Crew Module

    Orion was part of the Launch Abort System Pad Abort-1 flight test. Orion was carried forward as the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle to explore beyond low Earth orbit and into deep space.

  • The Launch Abort System

    Pad Abort Test

    The integrated flight test evaluated the ability of a launch abort system to pull the module and an astronaut crew to safety in the event of an emergency on a launch pad.

  • Orion Crew Module Ground Test Article

    Ground Test Vehicle Fabrication

    When completed, this first full-sized, flight-like crew module will be tested on the ground in equivalent flight-like environments, including static vibration, acoustics and water landing loads.

  • The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

    Ground Test Vehicle Testing

    The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle was assembled and tested at Lockheed Martin's Vertical Testing Facility in Colorado.

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