Inside the well deck is a recovery cradle with two rubber bumpers. Orion will be snugged gently up against the bumpers as line tenders on platforms inside the well deck help secure the capsule. As water drains from the well deck, Orion will be berthed onto its recovery cradle. “It’s really quite similar to recovering a boat on a trailer,” Generale said. “It’s what we modeled it after.”

Although there will be no crew in the capsule for the recovery tests, there will be eventually, and they’ll be eager for some fresh air. “One of the requirements for us is to get the crew out of the capsule within two hours of landing,” Generale said. While the Navy can’t control how far Orion lands from the recovery ship, they hope to have the hatch open in just over an hour.

“We don’t want to leave the crew inside the vehicle any longer than necessary,” he said. “If you’ve ever been bobbing around in a small boat—especially if you’re trying to get used to Earth’s gravity again—it can be quite a harrowing experience.” The crew will rely on two hours of battery power to recirculate cabin air and keep the capsule’s cooling system functioning. Once Orion is secure on the recovery cradle, an access stand will be installed next to the capsules’ side hatch and a flight crew will help the crew egress.

If necessary, a snorkel fan can be used to get the crew fresh air. It won’t be used unless needed to cut down on the risk of leaky thrusters seeping toxic gas into the capsule. As a matter of fact, something similar happened during NASA’s last splashdown in 1975. As the Apollo-Soyuz crew hurtled back to Earth, a pressure valve allowed fumes from the Apollo capsule’s reaction control system to enter the cabin. The crew was nearly knocked unconscious and spent two weeks recovering in the hospital.

A thruster leak could also spell trouble for the Navy divers approaching the capsule, so divers will have equipment on hand to check for leaks. They will also make sure Orion’s S-band communications antenna, which is used to communicate with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system, has been turned off.

“There are some antennas near attach points and we don’t want to irradiate the recovery crew,” Generale said, adding that divers would need to be relatively close—within a foot—to suffer harmful effects. Nevertheless, “people in small boats, bobbing around—you can’t always control precisely where you want to be.” The Orion crew will still be able to use other radio transmitters to communicate with the recovery ship.