Orion (spacecraft)

Orion

An artist's picture of the Orion spacecraft
Manufacturer	Lockheed Martin Airbus
Country of origin	United States of America
Operator	NASA
Applications	Beyond LEO exploration[1]
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Space capsule
Design life	21 days, 2 hours and 24 minutes[2]
Launch mass	Capsule: 10,387 kilograms (22,899 pounds) Service module: 15,461 kilograms (34,086 pounds) Total: 25,848 kilograms (56,985 pounds)
Crew capacity	2–6[3]
Dimensions	3.3 by 5 metres (11 by 16 feet)
Volume	Pressurized: 19.56 kilometres (12.15 miles)[4] Habitable: 8.95 m3 (316 cu ft)
Production
Launched	2
First launch	December 5, 2014
Related spacecraft
Derived from	Crew Exploration Vehicle ATV

Orion, full name: Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV, is a spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin for NASA.

One of those flew into space (and back to Earth), as late as 2022's fourth quarter. That mission lasted 25 days. There were no astronauts on the flight.

A spaceflight with astronauts is planned for, no earlier than 2025's third quarter.

Each Orion spacecraft will be able to carry up to six^[3] astronauts. The Orion vehicle will be launched on the Space Launch System.^[5] The first launch (Exploration Flight Test-1) was on the Delta IV Heavy.^[6]

Orion is meant to take humans to the Moon and Mars.

1. ↑ "NASA Authorization Act of 2010". Thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
2. ↑ Bergin, Chris (July 10, 2012). "NASA ESD set key Orion requirement based on Lunar missions". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Moskowitz, Clara (November 2014). "Deep Space or Bust". Scientific American. 311 (6): 20. Bibcode:2014SciAm.311f..20M. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1214-20.
4. ↑ "Orion Quick facts" (PDF). NASA. August 4, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
5. ↑ "Preliminary Report Regarding NASA's Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle" (PDF). NASA. January 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
6. ↑ Fountain, Henry (December 5, 2014). "NASA's Orion Spacecraft Splashes Down in Pacific After Test Flight". New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2014.