Since the first human flew in space, astronauts have left Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for vanishingly small periods of time. Astronauts left LEO during NASA’s Apollo program between 1969 and 1972 when 18 of them approached the moon. The last man walked on the moon more than 43 years ago. This all took place 55 years ago. However, NASA has not been sitting idly–with the development of the Orion crew capsule, astronauts will once again be able to leave LEO.
Designed to take humans farther than they’ve ever gone before, Orion is a spacecraft like no other. And combined with the new rocket NASA is developing, the Space Launch System, it will take humans to Mars.
The Orion capsule will include both crew and service modules. Not only will it enable humans to survive in the harsh environment of space, but it will be flexible and capable enough to take astronauts to near-Earth asteroids, our moon, the moons of Mars and eventually Mars itself. Orion will be the safest and most advanced spacecraft ever built. It has already had a successful test flight. To learn more about the developments of this new spacecraft, click here.
So we haven’t ventured past the moon recently, but we have been preparing to travel into deep space. The International Space Station has allowed humans to continuously occupy LEO for more than 15 years. The studies that take place on this orbiting laboratory are critical to NASA’s next steps in exploration. With this solid research foundation, the new Orion crew module will soon be ready to take humans on their greatest adventure yet.