Photo Credit: Lockheed Martin/NASA
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The Next Generation of Spacecraft
Orion, a multi-purpose crew vehicle, is the next generation of spacecraft.
Built by Lockheed Martin, Orion harkens back to the Apollo-generation of spaceships, but is filled with cutting-edge technology designed to take astronauts past the current threshold of low-Earth orbit and out into deep space.
It is being designed for up to four crew members and to carry out missions lasting between three weeks and seven months. It is due to have its first unmanned space flight test in 2014, but will not be used for manned missions until at least 2020.
Learn more about Orion from NASA, and then check out some of Science NetLinks' collection Celebrating Space Exploration.
