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Orion Makes A Move

Orion Crew Capsule and Service Module at the Kennedy Space Center. Image Credit: NASA/Rad Sinyak
technicians walk around the Orion crew module and service module at the Kennedy Space Center Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Facility

NASA has finished building the crew module of its newest spacecraft- Orion.

The spacecraft was moved out of the Kennedy Space Center facility Thursday where engineers have been getting it ready.

Orion’s cone-shaped crew module, stacked on top of a white service module, emerged from the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building on a special flat bed transporter.

It was moved to a new facility where it will be fueled up with ammonia and hyper propellants for its test flight slated for December.

The crew capsule can seat four astronauts.

December’s mission- an unmanned flight about 3,600 miles into space- will be used to test out Orion’s safety features.

Eventually NASA aims to send Orion on missions to deep space- an asteroid and mars- atop a massive rocket called the Space Launch System.

Orion provides living quarters for up to three weeks. On longer missions, NASA says additional habitat will be added for extra space.

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