Orion Spacecraft Parachutes Test, 15 December 2017

NASA successfully evaluated a failure case of Orion’s parachute system in which only two of the systems three orange and white main parachutes deploy after several other parachutes in the system used to slow and stabilize Orion endure high aerodynamic stresses. The test took place on 15 December 2017, at the U.S. Army Proving Ground in Yuma, Arizona. A mock capsule was dropped from a C-17 aircraft at 35,000 feet in altitude to enable the right conditions for the test. It was the fifth of eight tests to qualify Orion’s parachute system for flights with astronauts beginning with Exploration Mission-2.
Credit: NASA