Orion test hits snag

The first full joint testing between NASA and the Navy of Orion recovery procedures off the coast of California was suspended last week after the team experienced issues with handling lines securing a test version of Orion inside the well deck of the USS San Diego. Orion, part of NASA's ambitious Space Launch System project, will take astronauts deeper into space than ever before. An unmanned test from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., is set for September 2014. (Source: NASA, 02/21/14) Gulf Coast note: Orion is built at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans; rocket engines for the Space Launch System, the primary launch vehicle, will be tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.; the launch vehicle for Exploration Flight Test-1 will be a Delta IV, built by United Launch Alliance, which uses Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68 engines tested at Stennis Space Center.