Scale Model of Orion Capsule and Parachute Undergo Tests

Officials at the American space agency are getting closer to their objective of testing the new Orion spacecraft by next year. They set 2013 as a deadline for the first test flight of the new capsule even though the carrier rocket will only be ready in 2017 at the earliest.

The Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is being developed as a four-seat, stripped-down version of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle that was developed under the now-canceled Project Constellation.

Most of the capsule has already been built or tested, and a full prototype is already ready. Currently, NASA researchers Dr. Anita Sengupta and Donn Liddle (pictured) are conducting a series of additional tests, in a low-speed wind tunnel at the Texas A&M University.

These scale model tests are meant to assess how Orion and its parachute system would behave under real-life conditions. With this setup, the team can see how various failures in the parachute system would affect the spacecraft and its crew upon reentering Earth's surface.