 | |
|---|---|
| Description | |
| Role: | Beyond LEO, back-up for commercial cargo and crew to the ISS |
| Crew: | 2–6 |
| Carrier rocket: |
Delta IV (test flight),
Ares I (cancelled)
|
| Launch date: | December 2013 or later (uncrewed test launch) |
| Dimensions | |
| Height: | |
| Diameter: | 5 m (16.5 ft) |
| Pressurized volume: | 19.56 m3 (691 cu ft) |
| Habitable volume: | 8.95 m3 (316 cu ft) |
| Capsule mass: | 8,913 kg (19,650 lb) |
| Service Module mass: | 12,337 kg (27,198 lb) |
| Total mass: | 21,250 kg (46,848 lb) |
| Service Module propellant mass: | 7,907 kg (17,433 lb) |
| Performance | |
| Total delta-v: | 1,595 m/s |
| Endurance: | 21.1 days |
About this Image
NASA’s Orion spacecraft will carry astronauts further into space than ever before using a module based on Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicles (ATV). The ATV-derived service module, sitting directly below Orion’s crew capsule, will provide propulsion, power, thermal control, as well as supplying water and gas to the astronauts in the habitable module. The first Orion mission will be an uncrewed lunar flyby in 2017, returning to Earth’s atmosphere at 11 km/s — the fastest reentry ever.
Credit: NASA
 |
| NASA's Constellation Program continues work on the development of the Orion spacecraft that will return humans to the moon and prepare for future voyages to Mars and other destinations in our solar system. This artist's rendering represents a quick comparison chart of Orion's design evolution across the Orion 604, 605 and 606 configurations. |