KSC-2013-3011

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The quick disconnect for a modified instrument unit and liquid hydrogen tilt up umbilical is being tested at the Launch Equipment Test Facility by engineers in the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The umbilical will be partially reutilized for the Orion Service Module Unit. 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