Orion parachute testing conducted at AEDC NFAC facility

AEDC engineers were part of a test team that performed wind tunnel testing on the parachutes for NASA Orion spacecraft in January. The test team also consisted of NASA, Airborne Systems, Jacobs Engineering and NFAC personnel. Pictured here is a parachute being tested in a NFAC wind tunnel. (AEDC photos)

Published March 24, 2015
By Deidre Ortiz
AEDC/PA

ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN. -- Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC) engineers at the National Full Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) assisted in recent testing of sub-scale parachutes for the next mission of the Orion spacecraft, Exploration Mission-1.

The testing, conducted in January in the 80-by 120-foot wind tunnel by a team of NASA, Jacobs Engineering, Airborne Systems and NFAC personnel, was to help improve the safety and reliability of Orion's landing.

The team tested 13 parachute configurations using a tether system to hold the parachute while measuring aerodynamic forces. The parachute was also allowed to fly freely in the tunnel, during which photogrammetry, measurement taken by photography, was used to gather data on aerodynamic characteristics of the parachute.

In completing this test, parachutes were deployed last month in Eloy, Ariz.

Data from the air drop and wind tunnel tests will provide guidance as to which parachute configuration will be most reliable for future Orion missions.