KSC-2013-1997

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Inside the Operations and Checkout Building high bay at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane is attached to the top platform of a test stand for the Orion crew module. Lockheed Martin Space Systems and NASA engineers are preparing Orion for a series of static load tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion’s first unpiloted test flight, Exploration Flight Test 1, is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http:__www.nasa.gov_orion. Photo credit: NASA_Gary Thompson