It wasn't so much a test flight as it was a test drop

Aug 26, 2015 23:23 GMT  ·  By

This August 26, a test version of NASA's Orion capsule, which the space agency hopes will once day land people on Mars or some other distant orb, completed yet another flight. 

In a nutshell, the mockup spacecraft was lifted to an altitude of 35,000 feet (nearly 11,000 meters) above the US Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and then allowed to simply fall back to Earth.

The test ended in failure, just as planned

Nobody wants the Orion capsule to malfunction during a real mission. All the same, NASA scientists made sure this Wednesday's test would end in failure.

Thus, they made it so that one of the spacecraft's two drogue parachutes, designed to stabilize the capsule, does not deploy. One of the probe's three main parachutes, intended to slow its descent, was also purposely sabotaged.

“The test included a scenario in which one of Orion's two drogue parachutes, used to stabilize her in the air, does not deploy, and one of her three main parachutes, used to slow the capsule during the final stage of descent, also does not deploy,” NASA explains.

This test, the riskiest the Orion capsule has so far been through, was meant to determine whether the spacecraft could still land safely even without all its parachutes fully operational.

When NASA's Orion was left without one of its chutes during another test back in 2008, this time not on purpose, the spacecraft ended up plummeting to the ground and crash landing upside-down at high speed. This time, however, it performed flawlessly.

“The riskiest test ever conducted by Orion was deemed a success and will now provide data to engineers that they will use to qualify Orion’s parachutes for missions with astronauts,” NASA says.

The Orion capsule packs a total of 11 parachutes

As mentioned, US space agency NASA hopes that its Orion capsule will one day deliver astronauts to alien orbs. To keep crews safe, the spacecraft must considerably slow down before finally landing.

To help guide its descend, scientists have devised a system comprising of a total of 11 parachutes. Together, the chutes should slow the spacecraft from a speed of about 20,000 miles per hour (around 32,000 kilometers per hour) to merely 325 miles per hour (roughly 525 kilometers per hour).

Since mishaps can happen, NASA scientists want to make sure the spacecraft can still make a safe landing even without all its parachutes up and running before allowing astronauts to go on a joyride inside the capsule.