A mock-up of NASA’s Orion spacecraft recently took an east coast journey from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., in preparation for future testing at Langley’s Landing and Impact Research Facility.
Testing will give engineers insight into how the capsule performs under a variety of ocean and landing conditions.
This fall, the Orion spacecraft will fly on its first uncrewed mission, known as Exploration Flight Test-1, where it will travel 3,600 miles above Earth before reentering the atmosphere at a speed of approximately 20,000 mph (32,187 kph) and temperatures of close to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,204 degrees Celsius) for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Credit: NASA/David C. Bowman
More on the Orion Ground Test Article’s arrival on NASA Langley.