14 DAY TRIAL // The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is the next-generation spacecraft NASA is developing for deep-space exploration, and is currently scheduled to start ferrying astronauts to space in 2021. In late December, 2011, NASA conducted a new drop test of the capsule, in order to verify its parachutes.
The test was different from others of its type through the fact that engineers at the American space agency only allowed two of the three parachutes aboard Orion to deploy. The goal was to see how the capsule would react to such a stressful scenario.
NASA plans to send Orion on its first orbital test flight sometime in 2014, so the new test – carried out on December 20, 2011 – came at the right time. The capsule was dropped from 7,620 meters (25,000 feet), near Yuma, Arizona, Space reports.
Even with only two parachutes deployed, the Orion mockup hit the ground at a speed of just 22.5 miles (36.2 kilometers) per hour. Under normal conditions, the capsule would land in the Pacific Ocean.