NASA’s Orion spacecraft getting closer to finally flying again

Enlarge / NASA’s Orion spacecraft and its launch abort system shown in this rendering of the Ascent Abort-2 test flight. (credit: NASA) It’s been a long three-and-a-half years since the Orion spacecraft first launched into space in December 2014, making a successful shake-out flight. But now, NASA’s program aimed at building a large, deep-space capsule […]

NASA’s Orion crew capsule will have over 100 3D printed parts

It’s not just revolutionary start-ups like Rocket Lab that are using 3D printing to create their rockets and spaceships. NASA’s new crew capsule Orion will have over 100 3D printed parts specially developed by prime contractor Lockheed Martin, in cooperation with 3D printing experts Stratasys and the engineering firm PADT. According to Stratasys, these parts […]

Video: See our full interview with Orion Program Manager Mark Kirasich

Video shot by Joshua Ballinger, edited and produced by Jing Niu and David Minick. Click here for transcript. (video link) Our “The Greatest Leap” series is all about the triumph of humankind’s first lunar landing, but putting the events surrounding Apollo into the right historical context necessarily requires a peek at what NASA is doing […]