NASA's new space capsule could be ready for test flights in 2013

Orion was originally envisioned to be part of the Constellation program, NASA's successor to the space shuttles. The 21,000-pound (9,500-kg) capsule would have been used to send astronauts back to the moon and to ferry people and supplies to and from the International Space Station. However, in his 2011 budget proposal, President Barack Obama called for canceling Constellation and urged NASA to work instead toward sending humans to an asteroid, then to Mars.

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Cool find mate,

S+F

Kyle

reply to post by snapperski

It's great to see that they are moving forward with Orion even though the future of the Constellation Program is highly in doubt.

However, the Orion needs a launch vehicle (i.e., a rocket). It was originally planned to be launched via the Ares I rocket, but development of that rocket has been put on hold (or even cancelled) because of the doubt surrounding the Constellation Program.

I see the article says that they can perhaps launch the Ares atop another existing rocket -- but that may be easier said than done, and I wonder if making the Orion work with a different launch vehicle will delay the 2013 planned launch by a sizable amount of time.