KSC-2012-6239

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A full-size test mock-up of the Orion spacecraft moves inside the Multi-Payload Processing Facility, or MPPF, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to test the path flight hardware will take during future launch processing. 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. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on a Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis