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.
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