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Build reusable spaceship Orion completed
Photo harvested ship Orion (when you click on a photo to open the picture in full size, ~ 5MB) i>
Good news for those hoping to see a manned flight to Mars: in the United States completed the assembly of reusable spacecraft Orion. It was on this ship is planned to send a manned expedition to an asteroid, in the 20s, and then - a manned expedition to Mars. Now the ship is at the Kennedy Space Center, and will be here until November 10.
After that, the ship sailed to Cape Canaveral, it is here that will be held the first test flight of Orion. Previously, NASA said that the ship was sent into space on a truck Delta, and it will be so. The test flight will be carried out over a distance of more than 4 thousand kilometers from the Earth's surface, and the flight - 4, 5 hours.
Orion consists of two modules - inhabited, for the team, and cargo. Total weight of the ship is about 20 tons. The diameter of the base of the ship - about 5 meters, height - 3, 3 m ( Wiki ).
The design of the ship i>
NASA Orion is considering as a replacement for "Shuttle". In the 20s, NASA plans to carry out the seizure of the asteroid and its transportation to the orbit of the Moon. Next to this asteroid will send a manned expedition to a detailed study of this object, as well as for training before sending a manned expedition to Mars.
With regard to this expedition, it is planned to make already in 2030. In 2018 the assembly will be completed superheavy launcher Space Launch System (SLS). It is through this truck Orion will be sent to the deep space.
Via NASA
Source: geektimes.ru/post/240886/