NASA Orion Capsule Unveiled At Kennedy Space Center; To The Mars By 2030?

NASA offered a glimpse of its bright future with the unveiling of Orion capsule at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday, a moment of great importance for Florida and the Space Coast. This jubilation is not only a product of technological advancement for America's Space Program but also celebrates the huge economic development victory.

The Orion Spacecraft is scheduled for a test flight in 2014 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The unmanned test flight is expected to be propelled 5,800 km (3,600 miles) above the Earth, a distance which is 15 times further than the International Space Station's orbit.
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The Orion capsule is reminiscent of the historic command modules that carried Apollo astronauts to the Moon, but technology has advanced allowing the capsule to sustain astronauts on long missions. The Orion Spacecraft was constructed at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Though, the first flight is blasting off unmanned, future missions hold a promise of manned missions to pioneer America's deep space exploration programs. The Spacecraft's Roadmap suggests the possibility of a human expedition to an asteroid by 2025 and missions on Mars around mid-2030s. The Spacecraft is undergoing modifications at the Kennedy Space Center currently, which then coupled with NASA's new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) will be able to put astronauts aboard Orion by 2017.

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