Pathfinding Operations for Orion Spacecraft at Kennedy
Space Center
At NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Orion ground test vehicle has
been lifted high in the air by crane in the transfer aisle of the Vehicle
Assembly Building. The ground test vehicle is being used for pathfinding
operations, including simulated manufacturing, assembly and stacking
procedures.
Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to
destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will
have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and
provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted
test flight of Orion, Exploration Flight Test (EFT)-1 is scheduled to launch in
2014. EFT-1 will be Orion's first mission, which will send an uncrewed
spacecraft 3,600 miles into Earth's orbit. As part of the test flight, Orion
will return to Earth at a speed of approximately 20,000 mph for a splashdown in
the Pacific Ocean.
For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion.
Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri
Gerondidakis
NASA
Guillermo Gonzalo Sánchez Achutegui
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