KSC-07pd0192

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- Representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida are seated on stage at a ceremony to commemorate the transition of the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program. From left are Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager; Thad Altman, representative of the State of Florida; Bill Parsons, Kennedy Space Center director; Steve Koller, executive director of Space Florida; and Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager. Representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida are seated on stage at a ceremony to commemorate the transition of the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program. From left are Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager; Thad Altman, representative of the State of Florida; Bill Parsons, Kennedy Space Center director; Steve Koller, executive director of Space Florida; and Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager. Originally built to process space vehicles in the Apollo era, the O&C Building will serve as the final assembly facility for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion, America's human spaceflight vehicle of the future, will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later will support crew transfers for Mars missions. Each Orion spacecraft also may be used to support up to six crewmembers to the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2010. Design, development and construction of Orion's components will be performed by Lockheed Martin for NASA at facilities throughout the country. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett