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NASA parachute drop test
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A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III — the type of plane that took the Orion spacecraft up to 35,000 feet.
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The Boeing C-17 — with the Orion in tow — took off from the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
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The Orion test vehicle's ride.
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The Orion was loaded inside the cargo bay of the C-17.
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Engineers on the Orion parachute team signed the test capsule before the test.
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The Orion's drogue parachutes, which deploy first during descent, were packed in tightly. For this test, only one drogue chute opened.
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The Sun rising over the Yuma Proving Ground on the day of the drop test.
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One of NASA's newest astronauts, Victor Glover, spoke with media before the Orion fell.
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Veteran astronaut Doug Wheelock also spoke with journalists.
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The Orion spacecraft landed gently with only two main parachutes.
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The Orion test capsule came to rest nearly upside down. NASA engineers said this is normal for a desert drop test.
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Foam debris — which made up the capsule's hull — fell off the vehicle during impact with the ground.
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Large chunks of the Orion's foam casing fell off.
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Engineers gathered data from the Orion to figure out what the capsule experienced during the drop.
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NASA engineers gathered up the Orion's parachutes and will recycle them for future tests.
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Engineers probed the Orion's insides.
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Glover stood in front of the Orion capsule — the spacecraft that could one day take him into space.
