According to NASA, the tests of Orion spacecraft's parachute system were a success. The parachute system was specially designed for the spacecraft to be used by humans on the first manned journey to Mars. The test was conducted last week, on Wednesday, Aug. 26, in the Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
For the past 40 years, Orion is the first-ever deep space capsule developed by NASA. A prototype model capsule was used for the parachute test. According to NASA, the parachutes will have the role to position the spacecraft upon landing. The test was conducted to check whether the parachutes would work successfully or not. The model spacecraft made successful land during the test, despite some issues when the parachutes were failing to deploy from the first try.
According to CJ Johnson, project manager for Orion's parachute system, they have to test Orion's parachutes to the extreme in order to ensure the system is safe for bringing crews back to earth on future space missions. Johnson explained that testing the parachute should be made in real-life conditions because the performance is difficult to model with computer simulations. The test has the role to evaluate and predict how the system works and how could be possible to improve it further.
On its mission to Mars, the Orion spacecraft would be actually using a total of 11 parachutes However, the test performed last week was conducted only with five parachutes. The researchers have repeated the test a number of times and it were concluded to be successful. The few minor issues encountered will be corrected easily by the team.
According to the space shuttle mission specialist Rex Walheim, any astronaut will enjoy flying on the Orion spacecraft, as it was specially designed for comfort and it is truly unique.
According to NASA, the manned mission to Mars with the actual spacecraft is scheduled only for 2020 or a few years later. However, as the necessary materials and technologies required for long space flights and survival evolved, the Mars mission is no longer so far.
NASA's plans to send humans to deep space travel by 2020-2030 are bound to happen. This will provide scientists with enough information on traveling beyond the Earth's borders and how this could affect humans in all aspects.
