WASHINGTON - When USS Anchorage (LPD 23) successfully recovered the
reusable, unmanned NASA capsule Orion in the Pacific Ocean Dec. 5, it marked the
culmination of nearly three years of testing, evaluating, and platform
integration performed by Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).
NAVSEA's Surface Ship Program Management organization Engineering
Directorate (SEA 05), together with Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock
Division's (NSWCCD) Radiation Technology, Environmental Occupational Safety and
Health (EOSH), Ship Acquisition, and Systems Safety Branch, validated the at-sea
testing procedures and hardware for NASA. As the Navy's lead engineering
integration manager for the operation, NAVSEA's "safe and adequate" validation
allowed for the successful recovery and transport of the Exploration Flight Test
vehicle.
"Our role was to provide technical support to [US] Fleet Forces
[Command] and NASA for the interface to the welldeck and the communication
systems of the ship as they developed their test program," said Jay Stefany,
Executive Director for Program Executive Office Ships. "We were an integral part
from the technical support of their test program that led up to the actual
successful recovery of this test vehicle."
NASA, Fleet Forces, and NAVSEA first began discussions regarding
the use of a welldeck ship - specifically one from the new, LPD-17-class - to
retrieve test articles, such as Orion, in early 2012, which led to a series of
Technical Interchange Meetings to address the capabilities and
challenges of such a mission.
Using a "crawl, walk, run" progressive testing approach, the first
simulated recovery, or crawl, took place in Norfolk in Aug. 2013 with a
pier-side USS Arlington (LPD 24), thus negating any wave action. In Feb. 2014,
USS San Diego (LPD 22) performed the next Underway Recovery Test (URT), which
led to two additional URTs of increasing sea states using USS Anchorage in
August and September, respectively, during the "walk/run" phase. The goal of the
final URT "run phase" was to test the equipment and procedures up to the maximum
design capabilities.
"Because of conditions experienced in the well[deck] during the
recovery using LPD 22, modifications were required to the retrieval hardware and
procedures to account for higher wave actions," said Bob Ramsay, LPD In-Service
Ship Design Manager. "As a result of the extensive testing and modifications,
everything went per design."
Launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., the
Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) is a beyond-low-earth-orbit spacecraft
being built by Lockheed Martin for NASA based on designs and tests already
completed as part of the cancelled Constellation Program. Though unmanned for
this most recent evolution, plans for the four-astronaut capsule include use for
missions to the moon, asteroids, International Space Station and/or Mars.
The recent launch and recovery have been likened to Apollo in the
1970s, but unlike the Apollo recovery - also an ocean splashdown - Orion cannot
be helicopter lifted because of its larger size, both in weight and diameter.
Additionally, the extraction of astronauts to a medical facility requires a
stable platform which a helicopter recovery method would not be able to support
safely.
While the latest NASA test involved an unmanned capsule, an
additional unmanned lunar orbit flight test (EM-1) is scheduled for 2017, to be
followed by a manned lunar orbit flight test (EM-2) launch in 2021.
NAVSEA 05 is a function of Program Executive Office Ships, and is
NAVSEA's engineering directorate. It works closely with the acquisition
community in the technical development and support of the Navy's surface
ships.
NSWC Carderock
leads the Navy in hull, mechanical and electrical engineering expertise and
delivers technical solutions in order to build and sustain a dominant, ready and
affordable fleet.