Ares Parachute Drop Test in Yuma

NASA and industry engineers conducted a design limit load test of the Ares I rocket's main parachute Oct. 8 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. From the back of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft, researchers dropped a 72,000-pound payload -- tying the record for the heaviest load ever extracted from the aircraft during flight -- from an altitude of 25,000 feet. The parachute and all test hardware functioned properly and landed safely.