NASA's Orion Spacecraft Moves in Preparation for First Flight

HOUSTON, Sept. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Media are invited to attend an event marking the move of NASA's Orion spacecraft at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 9 a.m. EDT Thursday, Sept. 11.

NASA and Lockheed Martin managers will be available to discuss the progress being made on Orion during the move from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.

The event will not be carried live on NASA Television, but highlights of the move will air on NASA TV's Video File segments and the agency's website. For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

All accredited media representatives must present two forms of legal, government identification to access Kennedy. One form must be a photo ID, such as a passport or driver's license. 

Questions about accreditation should be addressed to Jennifer Horner at [email protected], 321-867-6598 or 321-867-2468. 

International media who previously have been accredited will be transported at 7:30 a.m. from the KSC Badging Office on State Road 405. U.S. media will be transported from the Kennedy Press Site by government bus at 8 a.m. and return at about 9:45 a.m.

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Orion spacecraft will be fueled with ammonia and hyper-propellants for its flight test. It later will be moved again for the installation of its launch abort system.

Orion is undergoing preparations for its maiden flight in December, an uncrewed test that will take it 3,600 miles above Earth on a 4.5-hour mission to test the systems critical for future human missions to deep space. After two orbits, Orion will reenter Earth's

atmosphere at almost 20,000 miles per hour 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. It will provide emergency abort capabilities, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space.

For more information about the Orion Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

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SOURCE NASA