After intentionally flubbing its Orion spacecraft test landing, NASA is celebrating the failure as another step towards sending humans beyond the moon.

The planned 'minimum system test' was designed to simulate how the spacecraft's parachutes would perform if something goes wrong with the system when it returns to the Earth's atmosphere.

In the test Wednesday, the craft successfully landed at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, despite two parachutes failing to deploy.

Here are five things to know about the test, the spacecraft, and what it means for the future of humans in space:

NASA's Orion spacecraft is designed to carry humans deeper into outer space than they've ever gone before.

On its website, NASA describes Orion as a spacecraft that will "usher in a new era of space exploration."

"This new spacecraft will take us farther than we've gone before, including Mars," the site says.

But before it can take humans to the Red Planet, NASA needs to develop Orion's systems to make sure astronauts can safely launch, explore, and return home to Earth.

Wednesday's test helped the space agency ensure the craft is able to re-enter the atmosphere after a mission, and slow down enough to safely land on Earth.

Orion's landing system has a total of 11 parachutes:

  • Three forward bay cover parachutes to protect Orion from heat while it re-enters the atmosphere
  • Two drogue parachutes to slow down and stabilize the craft during descent
  • Three pilot parachutes to 'lift and deploy' the main parachutes
  • Three main parachutes to slow down the craft so that astronauts can land safely

Each main parachute is about 35 metres in diameter and weighs 140 kilograms. Placed side by side, they would cover a football field, from one 10 yard line to the other.

In Wednesday's test, one drogue and one main parachute failed to open.

NASA purposely didn't deploy the parachutes so that the agency could test how the craft would perform if the system failed.

"We test Orion's parachutes to the extremes to ensure we have a safe system for bringing crews back to Earth on future flights, even if something goes wrong," CJ Johnson, a project manager for Orion's parachute system, said in a press release.

Despite the two parachutes remaining closed, the craft successfully landed in the Arizona desert.

NASA called Wednesday's trial the 'penultimate drop test' before tests start next year to determine whether the craft is ready for crewed flights.

But it could still be a while before the Orion is ready to fly with a human crew.

The Orion spacecraft has already tested its landing systems in just under 40 separate trials. However, the Apollo went through 125 parachute tests before the program ended.

If the Orion undergoes the same rigorous testing, then it still has a ways to go before the agency will consider it human-ready.

According to NASA, the Orion is scheduled to undergo at least eight more airdrops in the next three years to test it in "extreme conditions."