Orion EFT-1 nears completion

NEW ORLEANS -- The initial construction of the Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 vehicle built at Michoud Assembly Facility is nearing completion, NASA said. The EFT-1 will be launched in 2014 by a United Launch Alliance Delta IV. The test will be conducted for NASA by Lockeed Martin Space Systems. The unmanned capsule will be launched to an altitude of more than 3,600 miles above Earth. When EFT-1 is finished in May, it will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., for final assembly and launch preparations. The capsule is designed to carry astronauts into deep space. (Source: NASA, New Orleans Times-Picayune, 03/08/12) Orion will eventually be launched by the Space Launce System. The SLS engines are being tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.