Image: Recovery of the test Orion capsule in the Pacific Ocean
On Nov. 1, 2018, the USS John P. Murtha聽recovered the test version of the Orion capsule at sunset聽in the Pacific Ocean.
The Underway Recovery Test-7 (URT-7) is one in a series of tests that the Exploration Ground Systems Recovery Team, along with the U.S. Navy, are conducting to validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion spacecraft after it splashes down following deep space exploration missions.
Orion will have the capability to聽sustain the crew during space travel, provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities, and聽emergency聽abort.聽
Provided by NASA