The USS Salvor a rescue departs from Naval Base San Diego on the first day of Orion Underway Recovery Test 4A.

The USS Salvor, a safeguard-class rescue and salvage ship, departs from Naval Base San Diego on the first day of Orion Underway Recovery Test 4A. The Orion boilerplate test vehicle is in view on the ship. NASA, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy will conduct alternate recovery methods using a stationary crane in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego to prepare for recovery of the Orion crew module on its return from a deep space mission. The underway recovery test allows the teams to demonstrate and evaluate recovery processes, procedures, new hardware and personnel in open waters.

The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is conducting the underway recovery tests. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston