A mock-up of the Orion space capsule heads to its temporary home in a hangar at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. In late 2008, the full-size structural model will be jettisoned off a simulated launch pad at the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to test the spacecraft's astronaut escape system.
A mock-up of the Orion space capsule heads to its temporary home in a hangar at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.
In late 2008, the full-size structural model will be jettisoned off a simulated launch pad at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to test the spacecraft’s astronaut escape system, which will ensure a safe, reliable method of escape for astronauts in case of an emergency.
NASA’s Constellation program is building the Orion crew vehicle to carry humans to the International Space Station by 2015 and to the moon beginning in 2020.Image Credit: NASA/Sean Smith