Orion is Marching. Down. The field.

Dec 11, 2015

NASA’s Orion Program continues to mark progress at facilities around the country toward the next flight of the spacecraft.

Engineers at NASA Glenn Research Center’s Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, are preparing a structural representation of the ESA (European Space Agency)-provided service module for several months of testing to ensure the component, which supplies Orion’s power and propulsion, can withstand the trip to space. The test article recently arrived from Europe.

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Meanwhile, technicians at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are continuing the process of welding together the seven pieces of Orion’s pressure vessel for its next mission.

Lockheed Martin Engineers at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana, perform the first weld on the Orion pressure vessel for Exploration Mission 1. This is the third pressure Orion pressure vessel built. Engineers continue to refine the design reducing the number of welds from 33 on the first pressure vessel to 7 on the current one, saving 700 pounds of mass. Photo: NASA / Radislav Sinyak

For more updates on Orion’s progress, check back regularly at NASA’s Orion blog.