Test Version of Orion Spacecraft Touches Down in the Arizona Desert

[Stephanie Wilson]

A test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft descends under its three main parachutes above the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Arizona on June 25, 2014, in the agency’s most difficult test of the parachutes system’s performance. NASA is preparing Orion for its first trip to space in December, a two-hour, four-orbit flight that will send an uncrewed spacecraft more than 3,600 miles into space before returning it to Earth to test the performance of many of the spacecraft’s critical systems needed to carry crew to deep space destinations in the future.> Parachutes for NASA's Orion Spacecraft Hit No Snags in Most Difficult TestImage Credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak

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