NASA’ s Orion spacecraft has successfully re-entered the earth’s atmosphere and is now floating on Pacific’s waters. A U.S. Navy H-60 helicopter is flying out to Orion as the recovery process begins for the first Orion flight test.
The Orion crew module splashed down in the Pacific Ocean approximately 600 southwest of San Diego at 11:29 a.m. EST. Flight controllers have reported that the spacecraft is in a stable configuration.
The recovery team from NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin will perform initial recovery operations, including safing the crew module and towing it into the well deck of the USS Anchorage ahead of its return to U.S. Naval Base, San Diego and then on to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Orion was launched from Cape Canaveral earlier this morning at 7:05 a.m. The mission is a landmark in space exploaration as it will now allow humans to travel on inter-planetary missions to mars and other asteroids. The re-entry tested today also confirms that the spacecraft will allow humans to land back safely on earth.
For real-time updates on Orion, you can visit this link to Orion’s official blog.
