Work on the Orion crew exploration vehicle hit a new milestone this week when the two halves of the capsule were fused together at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
The Orion team from Colorado-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems, the prime contractor on the capsule, welded the forward cone assembly to the aft barrel assembly.
Although the structural framework is finished, the Orion capsule will be subjected to vibration, acoustic and water-landing tests before flight testing.
In 2006, Lockheed won a $3.9 billion initial-phase contract to design and build Orion. The spacecraft is part of NASA’s Constellation program to return humans to space.
President Barack Obama has proposed ending Constellation in favor of commercial human spaceflight. Orion would be revamped as an escape vehicle for the international space station.
The move may mean Lockheed will cut some of the 600 to 650 Colorado employees who work on Orion. Ann Schrader, The Denver Post
