Detachment 3 escorts NASA Personnel on USS Mesa Verde Tour

  • Published
  • By Maj. James Christensen
  • Detachment 3, 45th Operations Group
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  On Nov. 29, the 45th Operation Group's Detachment 3 took a large group of
NASA personnel on a tour of the USS Mesa Verde.

NASA plans to use a ship similar to the Mesa Verde to safely recover astronauts after they splash down in the Pacific Ocean aboard the agency's new Orion capsule. The Mesa
Verde will be used for a capsule recovery exercise next year.

Detachment 3 Personnel are tasked with coordinating military support for human spaceflight missions, and the new astronaut recovery procedures will require extensive use of military assets.
 
NASA has requested the use of Navy ships, helicopters, and divers to recover the astronauts after they land in the Pacific.
 
The Orion spacecraft is scheduled to make its first unmanned spaceflight in 2014, with the first manned flight to follow in 2021.

 

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