A model of Orion, NASA's next vehicle for human space exploration, floats above an underwater mockup of the International Space Station in the 40-foot deep Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. The model is used to practice recovery operations being developed for Orion's first flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1, in 2014. The yellow balls on t
A model of Orion, NASA’s next vehicle for human space exploration, floats above an underwater mockup of the International Space Station in the 40-foot deep Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in Houston. The model is used to practice recovery operations being developed for Orion’s first flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1, in 2014. The yellow balls on the top of the capsule are part of Orion’s crew module uprighting system, which would flip the vehicle into the proper orientation if it were to turn upside down after landing.