Orion | Universe Today

Imagine driving along in your car, minding your own business and getting passed by this. It could happen to you this week. This is a 13.7 meter (45 feet) -long full-scale mock-up that's part of the rocket assembly for the launch abort system for the new Orion crew exploration vehicle. The system hit the road on Tuesday, March 3, 2009, and is traveling from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., to White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico to undergo the first flight tests of the system. The launch abort system will allow the astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch.
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You may be familiar with Betelgeuse, as it is the upper-left star in the constellation Orion, forming what would be his shoulder. But this is an image of Betelgeuse that you wouldn't see with your own eyes or even your own telescope. Images taken with the Akari infrared telescope show that as Betelgeuse travels through the interstellar medium, it creates what is called a "bow shock". Read more…

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For three weeks, 23 volunteers spent time helping NASA test a new life support system for the spacecraft that will replace the shuttle. Five volunteers at a time would squeeze into a special room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours. Sweating and heavy breathing was encouraged, as scientists at Johnson Space Center wanted to measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide absorbed by a new system designed to control carbon dioxide and humidity inside a crew capsule in order to make air breathable and living space more comfortable. The tests took place from April 14 to May 1 of this year and are some of the first to use human subjects in support of NASA's Orion crew capsule, Altair lunar lander and lunar rovers.
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We've already learned that NASA is planning to build one of the world's largest roller coasters to help astronauts escape a disaster. Now they've released details about how they're going to protect the next generation spacecraft from lightning strikes. They'll need it. This is Florida after all, one of the most active regions for lightning in the United States.
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I know what you're thinking, and no, that's not a UFO in a secret government laboratory. It's not a prop for an upcoming science fiction movie, and it's not the world's largest Frisbee. It's a prototype heat shield, developed by Boeing for NASA's Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle.
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I know it seems like we've had the space shuttle forever, and will have it forever, but the program will actually be shut down in just a few short years. What comes next? The Constellation program will continue the US human spaceflight efforts, eventually bringing people back to the Moon. As part of the program, workers at NASA unveiled a mockup of the Orion crew module.
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