NASA testing spacecraft off San Diego

NASA and the Navy are practicing the recovery of the spacecraft Orion by releasing and retrieving the vehicle into the ocean west of San Diego, the space agency says. The exercise, which is occurring from the well deck of the amphibious warship Anchorage, is scheduled to last through Monday.

This is NASA’s second attempt to refine recovery activities. The agency had to cut a similar exercise short in February when crew members had trouble using a cable to move the 26-foot spacecraft.

NASA plans to launch an unmanned Orion into space in December to begin testing the viability of a vehicle that’s meant to carry astronauts far from Earth, to such places as Mars or to an asteroid. During the upcoming test, spacecraft will fly about 3,600 miles then return to Earth at a speed of about 20,000 mph. Orion will parachute into the ocean off Baja California.

The agency is returning to the re-entry techniques that were used to bring astronauts safely back to Earth during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo projects.