Yep, They're Gonna NEED To Fix This

A preliminary test of the parachute system designed to softly return NASA's upcoming Crew Exploration Vehicle to Earth failed in spectacular fashion last month, resulting in an Orion-sized dent in the Arizona desert landscape.

According to NASA, a test set-up parachute failed during the July 31, test of parachutes for the recovery system for the Orion. From the start, the test was in trouble... as one of the so-called "programmer" chutes failed to inflate properly. As a result, instead of falling right-side-up, the wooden capsule mock-up tumbled almost from the moment it was released from the C-17 carrier aircraft.

The troublesome chute was one of 18 parachutes used during the test... but created a domino effect, that extended to the capsule's main 'chute system when the time came for that to be deployed. Only one of the three main parachutes for the recovery system remained attached to the mock-up... and that parachute was torn and too damaged to inflate properly.

The result will be familiar to anyone who grew up watching Warner Brothers cartoons. Like the hapless Coyote, attached to the latest contrivance from ACME... the Orion mockup landed with a solid thud on the desert floor. (NASA remains mum on whether any Roadrunners were present at the time -- Ed.)

Granted, it's still early in the Orion's development cycle; the first manned flight isn't scheduled to fly until 2015. But an unmanned launch is scheduled for late-2009... and this failure is the latest in a series of stumbling points for Orion, and the beleaguered Constellation program.

In happier news: rumor has it the mockup's toilets worked perfectly...

FMI: www.nasa.gov