WEBVTT

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Music.

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At the Parachute Refurbishment Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida,

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booster recovery parachutes are being prepared and packed for the Ares I-X flight test targeted for the summer of 2009.

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Aided by an overhead monorail system, experienced parachute technicians begin the

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packing process by delicately stepping into the canister and tying down sections of the canopy.

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Each 2,000-pound canopy consists of strong strips of material sewn together in a lattice-work design,

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which looks similar to a pie-crust top, suspended by 165-foot suspension lines.

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This design allows the wind to flow through the blossoming canopy, stabilizing the entire stack.

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The intricate packing process and specific placement in the canister is important for the canopy to open properly.

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The three colossal-sized parachutes cover more than two acres when opened and each chute from end-to-end is 325 feet long.

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Designed larger and stronger than the space shuttle booster recovery system,

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the Ares system requires three chutes to support a more than 200,000-pound object falling from an altitude of 189,000 feet.

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Although the chutes are bigger than their shuttle predecessors,

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they still fit into the same-sized container thanks to the use of Kevlar,

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a material that makes the Ares parachutes stronger and lighter.

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Technicians, using a hydraulic press and hand tools, compress the contents to fit

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snugly inside its canvas cover bag, completing the packing process.

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The parachute system will enable the spent rocket boosters to gently float back to Earth splashing in the ocean

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where they'll be recovered by NASA's Freedom Star and Liberty Star recovery ships.

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In the future, the Ares launch vehicle will carry the Orion capsule with four to

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six astronauts on board, to the International Space Station and onto the moon.

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