NASA Invites Media to View Orion Test Capsule, Recovery Hardware

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October 28, 2016  MEDIA ADVISORY M16-16 NASA Invites Media to View Orion Test Capsule, Recovery Hardware The test version of the Orion crew module is transported to the USS San Diego at Naval Base San Diego in California. NASA and the U.S. Navy will head out to sea with the Orion test spacecraft aboard for Underway Recovery Test 5 (URT-5) in the Pacific Ocean. During URT-5, the team will demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel necessary for recovery of Orion on its return from a deep space mission. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and NASA's Journey to Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion is scheduled to launch atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket in 2018. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion. Credits: NASA/Bill White Media representatives are invited to see the Orion test capsule and the hardware that will be used to recover the spacecraft after its return from space, and talk with team members involved in the recovery operations at 10 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 3, at Naval Base San Diego. NASA and the U.S. Navy are conducting tests to prepare for recovery of the agency’s Orion crew module following its first uncrewed flight atop the Space Launch System rocket on Exploration Mission 1, or EM-1, scheduled for 2018. This week they are at sea conducting tests aboard the USS San Diego (LPD 22) to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures and hardware prior to the test. Members of the media will be able to photograph the Orion test capsule that was used during the tests and interview members of the recovery team. Media interested in attending must respond by Wednesday, Nov. 2, to Lt. j.g. Emily Wilkin at emily.a.wilkin@navy.mil, 614-973-9944. Journalists and live trucks should arrive by 9 a.m. at the Naval Base San Diego Pass and Decal Building. The Pass and Decal Building is located at the intersection of 32nd Street and Harbor Drive. EM-1 will send Orion on a path thousands of miles beyond the moon over a course of three weeks, farther into space than human spaceflight has ever travelled before. The spacecraft will return to Earth and safely splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. The mission will advance and validate capabilities required for the Journey to Mars. For more information about the Orion Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/orion For more information about the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program, visit: http://go.nasa.gov/groundsystems -end- Tracy Young Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 321-867-2468 tracy.g.young@nasa.gov Rachel Kraft Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-244-2611 rachel.h.kraft@nasa.gov NASA Kennedy Space Center news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail message with the subject line subscribe to ksc-request@newsletters.nasa.gov. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail message with the subject line unsubscribe to ksc-request@newsletters.nasa.gov.