US Navy’s amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) successfully completed test recovery operations of NASA’s Orion test article, on Jan. 23. A part of a US government effort to safely retrieve the Orion crew module, which is capable of carrying humans into deep space.
NASA engineers cooperated with Sailors from the Anchorage, the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS New Orleans (LPD 18), Special Boat Team 12 and Navy divers from Explosive Ordinance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 to test recovery operations of the Orion test article. The tests were conducted in varying sea states, during the day and at night.
“Our crew has actually been training for several months closely with NASA on everything from planning conferences to onsite training to be ready for the mission. I think the ship and the crew are doing a great job for a historic tasking we have added to a very busy schedule as we prepare for deployment. Everybody stepped up and provided the best support with our NASA partners for a very successful test,” said Capt. Dennis Jacko, Anchorage commanding officer.
The test consisted of releasing the test capsule from the well deck, then carefully maneuvering the ship alongside the capsule at slow speed. Once the test article was far enough from the ship, the lines attaching the capsule to the ship were released. Then, divers attached a stabilization ring that would help in sustaining the astronauts in the capsule for up to three days. Divers then removed the collar, attached lines from the small boats to steady and guide the capsule toward Anchorage, where Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) would then assist in attaching lines from a NASA-designed winch which then hauled the capsule into the well deck.
As a result, NASA and the Navy will continue to demonstrate and evaluate the recovery processes, procedures, hardware and personnel in real, open-ocean environment before conducting actual recovery operations.
“The Orion spacecraft is designed to meet the evolving needs of our nation’s deep space exploration program for decades to come. It will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities,” the US Navy said.
