NASA Prepares Orion Test
By Jefferson Morris 
Early next month NASA will begin conducting seaworthiness tests of a full-size mockup of the Orion capsule in the Atlantic Ocean to give engineers a feel for how difficult it will be to recover the spacecraft, as well as what kind of conditions the crew can expect.
The Post-landing Orion Recovery Test (PORT) mockup was built in conjunction with the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center's Carderock Division in Bethesda, Md., which is home to "the worldwide experts at rescue and recovery at sea," according to PORT Deputy Project Manager Alan Rhodes of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. While similar in shape to the Apollo capsule, the larger Orion capsule needs to have its behavior in water fully characterized. The mockup can simulate both normal splashdown conditions as well as what could happen if the capsule takes on water.
Normally, Orion splashdowns will take place off the California coast. A landing in the Atlantic would only happen following a launch abort. NASA requirements specify that the capsule must be recoverable in conditions up to sea state 5, in which waves can reach above 13 feet.
NASA took the boilerplate PORT capsule for a brief stop in Washington March 30.
From there, it will head down to Kennedy Space Center for testing in open water off the Florida coast by next week.
The capsule will be brought out to sea by the ship that normally retrieves the space shuttle's solid-rocket boosters. Tests will start in the harbor at KSC, then will gradually move further out to sea. At some point, the team hopes to experience some bad weather to provide data on rough-sea recoveries, Rhodes said.
According to Don Pearson, PORT project manager at JSC, NASA will ballast the mockup capsule to test it over a range of different weights - from 18,000 pounds all the way up to 33,000 pounds, which is what Orion would weigh in the event of a launch abort.
Following the at-sea tests, the capsule will have seats and simulated hardware obstructions installed in it to allow astronauts to practice egress from the capsule during the summer. Those tests will take place in a wave-simulating pool at Aberdeen, Md.
PORT is budgeted at $4 million for its first two phases. The year-long Phase 1 included the construction of a 1/4-scale mockup for testing in pools. Phase 2, just approved by NASA last week, encompasses the at-sea testing as well as the egress tests, and should also take one year.
The third phase of the program will involve tests with the actual recovery ship that will be used for Orion, which has yet to be chosen, Pearson said.
Orion capsule mockup photo: Jefferson Morris
