Orion saw successful parachute tests at U.S. Army Yuma Proving ground in Arizona last week. This is the second test in a series of eight that will certify Orion's parachutes for human space flight. The parachute test simulated what would happen if an abort sequence took place during Orion’s launch. If something goes wrong with the Space Launch Systems (SLS) rocket that Orion is riding on, the flight could be safely aborted, meaning the spacecraft would be ejected from its seat atop the rocket. In such an event, the parachutes would deploy and drop the spacecraft safely back to Earth. During an abort sequence, the spacecraft will be traveling at the relatively slow speed of about 130 mph [210 km/h], rather than speeds of about 310 mph [500 km/h] during re-entry after reaching space. The drop will last for about four minutes total; the last one to two minutes will take place under fully deployed parachutes. Credit: NASA/Orion #progress #EM1 #explore #deepspace #nasa #space #flight #para...