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Hi, my name is Chris Johnson,
and I'm the Project Manager

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for the Orion Capsule Parachute
Assembly Project.

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What you are about to see in this video is the
third engineering development unit air drop test

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performed on Feb.

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29, 2012 at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds.

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This is the third in a series of the
most flight-like parachute tests to date

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with a representative parachute compartment
for the Orion spacecraft and is the first

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to use a capsule shape representing the Orion
spacecraft called a Parachute Test Vehicle.

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This particular test examined how the wake

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from the Orion spacecraft would affect
the performance of the parachute system.

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The wake is the disturbance of
the air flow behind the vehicle.

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Parachutes optimally perform in smooth
air that allows the proper lift.

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A wake of choppy air can reduce the
parachute inflation performance.

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This test will be the first conducted with
a representative Orion crew module wake

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in consideration using the full-sized
vehicle and complete system.

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The test hardware was extracted from a C-17
aircraft supported by the U.S. Air Force

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at an altitude of 20,000 feet above
the U.S. Army Yuma proving grounds.

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The sequence was followed by a separation of
the Parachute Test Vehicle from the palate.

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Programmer parachutes are deployed,
which set up the right conditions

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to begin the spacecraft parachute deployment.

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The Orion spacecraft drogue parachutes are
then deployed between 15,000 and 20,000 feet.

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This is followed by the pilot parachutes
which then deploy the main landing parachutes.

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There were 17 parachutes
deployed during this test.

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Nine were test-technique-related and
eight were Orion system parachutes.

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In this particular test sequence, you can
see the programmer parachutes releasing

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from the Orion spacecraft, and then the
actual sequence of the Orion system begins

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with the deployment of the drogue parachutes.

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After the drogue parachutes decelerate the
vehicle, they are released and then the sequence

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of the pilot parachutes pulling
out the main parachutes is started.

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Here again shows a snapshot of the
drogue parachutes being released followed

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by the pilot parachutes being deployed.

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When they inflate, they then pull out
the main parachutes from the spacecraft,

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which begins the main parachute
inflation sequence.

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The main parachutes, once they are
deployed, then inflate through two stages

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to full inflation, and they decelerate the
vehicle to approximately 25 feet per second,

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well below the maximum designed
touchdown speed of the spacecraft.

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We also recover the palate hardware, which
then we reuse for subsequent testing.

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The testing is accomplished by a team of
disciplined experts in parachute hardware,

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systems integration, simulation and modeling,
testing operations, and safety and quality.

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Their contribution to the development
testing is instrumental in paving the way