Orion (spacecraft)
Orion, full name: Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle or Orion MPCV, is a spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin for NASA.
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 |
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]
History
changeOrion was first made for the Constellation program in 2004, as the Orion CEV (Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle). It was meant to be launched on the Ares I rocket. Then it would be able to go to the International Space Station. It was also planned to go to a spacecraft launched in pieces on different Ares V rockets, and the spacecraft with the Orion would go to the Moon, Mars, or another place.
In October, 2010, Constellation was cancelled. They created a new program and a new rocket called the Space Launch System, and changed the name of Orion to the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle.[7]
Related pages
changeReferences
change- ↑ "NASA Authorization Act of 2010". Thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
- ↑ Bergin, Chris (July 10, 2012). "NASA ESD set key Orion requirement based on Lunar missions". NASASpaceFlight.com. Retrieved July 23, 2012.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ "Orion Quick facts" (PDF). NASA. August 4, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2016. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- ↑ "Preliminary Report Regarding NASA's Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle" (PDF). NASA. January 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.
- ↑ Fountain, Henry (December 5, 2014). "NASA's Orion Spacecraft Splashes Down in Pacific After Test Flight". New York Times. Retrieved December 5, 2014.
- ↑ "NASA Moon and Mars". nasa.gov. 25 June 2018. Archived from the original on 2021-04-07. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
Other websites
change- Orion NASA webpage Archived 2011-05-27 at the Wayback Machine