spacetoday.net: First Orion capsule delivered to KSC

Posted: Tue, Jul 3, 2012, 8:31 AM ET (1231 GMT)
Orion EFT-1 capsule arriving at KSC July 2012 (NASA/KSC)

The first flight version of NASA's Orion capsule arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Monday, where it will be prepared for a test launch in 2014. The capsule, which is still incomplete, will be launched on a Delta 4 Heavy in 2014 on Exploration Flight Test 1, an unmanned test where the spacecraft will be sent on an elliptical trajectory to simulate the reentry conditions of a return from deep space. The capsule still has to be outfitted with many subsystems and other components, including its thermal protection system and avionics, work that will be performed at KSC by a 400-person team. Another unmanned Orion flight, this time around the Moon, is planned for the maiden launch of the Space Launch System heavy-lift booster in 2017.