Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), manned spacecraft, NASA, Washington, D.C., USA

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NASA

Website - nasa.gov/orion

Orion on Wikipedia

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NASA Premieres ‘Trial By Fire’ video on Orion’s Flight Test

Published on Oct 8, 2014

As the flight test of NASA’s Orion spacecraft nears, the agency released Oct. 8 a video detailing the spacecraft’s test and the critical systems engineers will evaluate during the Dec. 4 flight. Orion is in the final stages of preparation for the uncrewed flight test that will take it 3,600 miles above Earth on a 4.5-hour mission to test many of the systems necessary for future human missions into deep space. After two orbits, Orion will reenter Earth’s atmosphere at almost 20,000 miles per hour, and reach temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before its parachute system deploys to slow the spacecraft for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

On future missions, the Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before, including to an asteroid and Mars.

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Orion: I’m on Board – John Barrowman

Published on Oct 24, 2014

Actor John Barrowman would like to introduce you to NASA’s new spacecraft, Orion. He’s “on board!”

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Coming Soon: Orion Flight Test

Published on Nov 10, 2014

NASA’s Orion spacecraft is built to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before. Orion will serve as the exploration vehicle that will carry the crew to space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel, and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities.

On December 4, 2014, Orion will launch atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex Flight Test on the Orion Flight Test: a two-orbit, four-hour flight that will test many of the systems most critical to safety.

The Orion Flight Test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield. In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System. More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars. Exploration Mission-1 will be the first mission to integrate Orion and the Space Launch System.

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Orion Flight Test Opening Video

Published on Dec 4, 2014

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Liftoff of Orion

Published on Dec 5, 2014

A Delta IV Heavy rocket lifts off from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station carrying NASA's Orion spacecraft on an unpiloted flight test to Earth orbit. Liftoff was at 7:05 a.m. EST. During the two-orbit, four-and-a-half hour mission, engineers will evaluate the systems critical to crew safety, the launch abort system, the heat shield and the parachute system.