Successful drop test

In this image, the Orion crew exploration vehicle parachute assembly system drops slowly underneath what are called drogue chutes. The test was conducted on July 27, 2010, at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, Ariz.

"The primary test objectives were, [first] to measure the performance of a two drogue parachute cluster with one drogue skipping the second of two reefing stages," NASA said on its Web site, and second, "to measure the performance of a two main parachute cluster with modified suspension line and riser lengths matching the Apollo configuration ratio. The test platform consisted of a pallet and weight tub and was extracted from a C-130 aircraft at 17,500 feet."