U.S. Navy personnel aboard the USS Anchorage prepare for recovery of NASA's Orion spacecraft from the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. Orion splashed down after its first flight test in Earth orbit. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin are coordinating efforts to recover Orion and secure the spacecraft in the well deck of the USS Anchorage. Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the recovery efforts.

NASA's Orion spacecraft is on rubber bumpers in the flooded well deck of the USS Anchorage in the Pacific Ocean about 600 miles off the coast of San Diego, California. Orion splashed down after its first flight test in Earth orbit. NASA, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin are coordinating efforts to recover Orion and secure the spacecraft in the well deck of the USS Anchorage. Orion completed a two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, to test systems critical to crew safety, including the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system. The Ground Systems Development and Operations Program is leading the recovery efforts.

Recovery team members gather around a test version of Orion, with the U.S.S. Anchorage waiting in the background on Aug. 3, 2014. NASA and U.S. Navy practiced recovery techniques off the coast of California, in preparation for Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1). Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is pulled safely into the well deck of the U.S. Navy’s USS Anchorage, following its splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Orion launched into space on a two-orbit, 4.5-test flight at 7:05 am EST on Dec. 5, and returned safely to Earth, where a combined team from NASA, the Navy and Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin retrieved it for return to shore. It's now being transported back to shore on board the Anchorage. It is expected to be off loaded at Naval Base San Diego on Monday. Part of Batch image transfer from Flickr.

NASA's Landing and Recovery Team practices bringing a mock Orion capsule into the well deck of the USS Portland (LPD 27) ahead of the Artemis I Orion splashdown slated for Dec. 11.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. TDRS-M. Liftoff was at 8:29 a.m. EDT. TDRS-M is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

NASA's Landing and Recovery Team practices bringing a mock Orion capsule into the well deck of the USS Portland (LPD 27) ahead of the Artemis I Orion splashdown slated for Dec. 11.

NASA's Landing and Recovery Team practices bringing a mock Orion capsule into the well deck of the USS Portland (LPD 27) ahead of the Artemis I Orion splashdown slated for Dec. 11.

NASA's Landing and Recovery Team practices bringing a mock Orion capsule into the well deck of the USS Portland (LPD 27) ahead of the Artemis I Orion splashdown slated for Dec. 11.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. TDRS-M. Liftoff was at 8:29 a.m. EDT. TDRS-M is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off at 11:11 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module on the company's seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket soars upward after liftoff at 11:11 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module on the company's seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

As the Sun rises at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket vents liquid oxygen propellant vapors during fueling for the lift off of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. The satellite is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

As the Sun rises at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket vents liquid oxygen propellant vapors during fueling for the lift off of NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. The satellite is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off at 11:11 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module on the company's seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, with NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, TDRS-M. TDRS-M. Liftoff was at 8:29 a.m. EDT. TDRS-M is the latest spacecraft destined for the agency's constellation of communications satellites that allows nearly continuous contact with orbiting spacecraft ranging from the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope to the array of scientific observatories.

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifts off at 11:11 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module on the company's seventh commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station.