Latest Orion Stories
NASA Completely surrounded by a massive 20-foot-high structure called the crew module static load test fixture, the Orion crew module is being put through a series of tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. Orion is NASA’s new exploration spacecraft, designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. During its first flight test next year, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), it will travel 3,600 miles into space and return to...
HOUSTON, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA is building a new spacecraft to carry humans farther than ever before - and Northern California media are invited to learn more about it May 14 through May 16 when program managers are in the Golden State to work with local companies. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) Orion will have the ability to send humans to asteroids and eventually Mars. Its first uncrewed test flight will take place next year,...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online During a simulation of two types of parachute failures this past Wednesday, a test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft made a safe landing. The mock capsule was traveling approximately 250 mph during the test in Yuma, Arizona, when the parachutes were deployed. This is the highest speed reached by the craft as part of a series of tests designed to certify the parachute system for carrying humans. The mission’s engineers rigged...
Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will visit NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and testing facilities at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Friday, May 3. These facilities are critical to the construction and testing of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Commercial Crew Program. Michoud and Stennis also are important to partnerships with private industry, which is helping maximize the use of NASA facilities. At 9 a.m. CDT, Garver will visit...
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Deputy Administrator Lori Garver will visit NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and testing facilities at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Bay St. Louis, Miss., Friday, May 3. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) These facilities are critical to the construction and testing of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Commercial Crew Program. Michoud and Stennis also are important to...
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A test version of NASA's Orion spacecraft safely landed during a simulation of two types of parachute failures Wednesday. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO) In the test, conducted in Yuma, Ariz., the mock capsule was traveling about 250 mph when the parachutes were deployed. That is the highest speed the craft has experienced as part of the test series designed to certify Orion's parachute system for...
Lee Rannals for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Astronomers have snapped a very detailed image of the outer atmosphere of the red supergiant Betelgeuse. This star is the nearest red supergiant to Earth, easily visible to the unaided eye sitting on the top left shoulder of Orion the Hunter. Betelgeuse is about 1,000 times larger than our Sun and lies about 650 light years away from Earth. Astronomers took a new image with the e-MERLIN radio telescope array operated from the...
NASA Test conductors at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., are making progress on the agency's new rocket by listening closely to the roar of four thrusters. The agency is developing the new rocket, called the Space Launch System, or SLS, at Marshall. This vehicle will enable space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and take astronauts farther into space than ever before. Marshall engineers recently assembled and ignited a sub-scale collection of thrusters to...
NASA marked the third anniversary Monday of President Obama's speech at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he laid out a plan to ensure the United States will remain the world's leader in space exploration. Obama's plan includes reaching new destinations, such as an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s, using NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft. During an anniversary event at Kennedy's Operations and Checkout Building, where Orion spacecraft...
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., April 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA marked the third anniversary Monday of President Obama's speech at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he laid out a plan to ensure the United States will remain the world's leader in space exploration. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO ) Obama's plan includes reaching new destinations, such as an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s, using NASA's Space Launch System...
Latest Orion Reference Libraries
Orion is a spacecraft design that is being developed by the United States space agency NASA. When completed, each Orion spacecraft will carry a crew of up to six astronauts. Along with Orion, the Ares I launch vehicle is also being developed. Orion and Ares I are both part of NASA's Project Constellation. The project should be complete in 2010, when NASA wants to start planning on sending human explorers back to the Moon, and eventually Mars and other celestial bodies in the Solar System....
Project Constellation is a spaceflight program run by NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). The program goals are to continue significant operations away from Earth's environment, to develop technologies needed for expanding exploration of space, and to continue conducting fundamental science. Project Constellation was developed by the Exploration Systems Architecture Study, which established how NASA would pursue the goals from the Vision for Space Exploration and the...
Scorpius Constellation -- Scorpius (the scorpion) is one of the constellations of the zodiac. In western astrology it is known as "Scorpio." It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east. It is a large constellation located in the southern hemisphere near the center of the Milky Way. Notable features Scorpius contains many bright stars, including Antares (α Sco), Graffias (β1 Sco), Dschubba (δ Sco), Sargas (θ Sco), Shaula (λ Sco), Jabah (ν Sco),...
Taurus (the bull) Constellation -- Location: Zodiac constellation, visible in both Hemispheres; Coordinates: Right Ascension: 04h; Declination: +15; Source: Bull legends from various ancient civilizations, also Greek mythology, Egyptian, Arab, other The constellations that are included in the Zodiac - the 12 constellations recognized by Babylonian astronomers through which our Sun, moon, and planets appeared to travel during the course of a year - are considered to be among the oldest sky...
Orion (the hunter) Constellation -- Location: Celestial Equator (visible in both Northern and Southern Hemispheres); Coordinates: Right Ascension: 05h; Declination: -05; Source: Greek mythology, Arab, ancient Indian & Egyptian The pattern in the constellation Orion was recognized as a human figure by many ancient cultures. Orion's position on the Celestial Equator makes it visible all over our planet. Ancient Indians saw the figure as a king who had been shot by an arrow (represented by...
