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National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Orion Recovery Operations

During Underway Recovery Test-7 (URT-7), U.S. Navy divers approach a test version of the Orion capsule to practice securing it for 

recovery into the well deck of an amphibious assault ship on Oct. 31, 2018 in the Pacific Ocean. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Orion spacecraft’s first flight atop the Space 

Launch System (SLS) rocket will pave the way for future crewed missions to the Moon and on to Mars. 

During this uncrewed flight, designated Artemis I, 

the spacecraft will travel thousands of miles beyond 

the Moon and then back to Earth over the course of 

about three weeks. 

As part of the return trip to Earth, Orion will fly within 

about 60 miles of the Moon’s surface. The spacecraft 

will execute a precisely timed engine firing of the European-provided Service Module in conjunction with 

the Moon’s gravity to accelerate back toward Earth, 

where it will enter the atmosphere traveling at 25,000 

miles per hour. During re-entry, Orion will slow to 300 

mph, then parachutes will deploy to slow the spacecraft to approximately 20 mph before splashing down 

in the Pacific Ocean about 60 miles off the coast of 

California. 

Recovery Operations 

The Landing and Recovery Team, led by Exploration 

Ground Systems from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be responsible for safely recovering the capsule, and crew on future missions, after splashdown 

and returning them both to land. The interagency 

landing and recovery team consists of personnel 

and assets from the U.S. Department of Defense, 

including Navy amphibious specialists and Air Force 

weather specialists, and engineers and technicians 

from Kennedy, Johnson Space Center in Houston, 

and Lockheed Martin Space Operations. The team 

will recover Orion and attempt to recover hardware 

jettisoned during landing, such as the forward bay 

cover and the three main parachutes.

Before splashdown of the spacecraft, the recovery 

team will head out to sea in a Navy amphibious ship 

that has a well deck at the waterline to allow boats to 

dock with the ship. During a crewed mission, the astronauts can be recovered in either open water or the 

well deck of the ship depending on sea conditions 

and other factors on day of landing. During an open 

water crew egress, the Navy divers will install a stabilization collar around the spacecraft and an inflatable 

platform, known as the front porch, to assist with 

stabilizing Orion and helping recover the astronauts. 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

www.nasa.gov

FS-2019-08-2306-KSC

NASA Recovery Team members watch as 

a test version of the Orion capsule is pulled 

into the flooded well deck of the USS John 

P. Murtha, during Underway Recovery Test-7 

(URT-7) on Oct. 30, 2018. URT-7 is one in a 

series of tests that the Exploration Ground 

Systems Recovery Team, along with the U.S. 

Navy and Lockheed Martin, are conducting to 

verify and validate procedures and hardware that will be used to recover the Orion 

spacecraft after it splashes down in the Pacific 

Ocean following deep space exploration missions. Orion will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and 

provide safe re-entry from deep space return 

velocities. Photo credit: NASA/Tony

During crew recovery in the well deck, a crew egress stand 

will be prepositioned to access and recover the crew after the 

spacecraft is fully recovered into the well deck. 

At the direction of the NASA Recovery Director, Navy divers 

and other team members in several inflatable boats will be 

cleared to approach Orion’s location. When Orion is ready to 

be pulled into the well deck, the divers will attach a cable to pull 

the spacecraft into the ship, called the winch line, and up to 

four additional tending lines to attach points on the spacecraft. 

The winch will pull Orion into a specially designed cradle inside 

the ship’s well deck and the other lines will control the lateral 

motion of the spacecraft. Once Orion is positioned above the 

cradle assembly, the well deck will be drained and Orion will be 

secured on the cradle. 

Open water personnel will work to recover Orion’s forward bay 

cover and three main parachutes to the port side of the Navy 

ship, where a crane will lift them onto the ship’s main deck. If 

teams are able to recover the jettisoned cover and parachutes, 

engineers can inspect the hardware and gather additional performance data. If recovered, the parachutes will be transported 

to a facility for drying, and then to the supplier for inspection. 

The spacecraft and other hardware will be transported on the 

ship from the landing site to a pier at U.S. Naval Base San Diego. After Orion and the other associated hardware are secured 

in the Recovery Transportation Fixture, a platform nicknamed 

the Armadillo, they will be transported by truck to Kennedy. 

Recovery personnel have practiced procedures and operations 

in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory pool near Johnson Space 

Center and in the open water off the coast of California during a 

series of Underway Recovery Tests, using a test version of the 

Orion spacecraft and other equipment that will be used during 

recovery operations. These tests help to evaluate and improve 

recovery procedures and hardware ahead of Orion’s flight on 

Artemis I, and prior to the first crewed mission, Artemis II. Testing also included recovering the spacecraft from Orion’s first 

flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1, when Orion launched atop 

a Delta IV Heavy rocket on Dec. 5, 2014, from Space Launch 

Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The 

two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission tested systems critical 

to crew safety, including key separation events, the heat shield, 

and the parachute systems before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. 

Building on 50 years of experience in spacecraft recovery operations, Exploration Ground Systems is helping the 

agency prepare for the Artemis program, which will send the 

first woman and next man to step foot on the Moon, and will 

lead Orion recovery operations. NASA personnel at Kennedy 

gained expertise in deploying and leading complex integrated recovery teams at off-site locations throughout the world 

during the Apollo Program, Launch Services Program rocket 

launches, and all 135 historic space shuttle launches, working 

hand in hand with military personnel (both foreign and domestic), developing and coordinating search and rescue efforts, 

and creating and implementing recovery operations concepts and procedures 

compatible with the unique spacecraft or 

payload hazards and requirements.