Pieces come together for Orion

NEW ORLEANS – Engineers at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility on Saturday welded together the first two segments of the Orion crew module that will fly atop NASA's Space Launch System rocket on a mission beyond the far side of the moon. The primary structure of Orion's crew module is made of seven large aluminum pieces that must be welded together. The first weld connects the tunnel to the forward bulkhead, which is at the top of the spacecraft and houses many of Orion's critical systems, such as the parachutes that deploy during re-entry. Orion's tunnel, with a docking hatch, will allow crews to move between the crew module and other spacecraft. NASA's prime contractor for the spacecraft, Lockheed Martin, is doing the production of the crew module at Michoud. (Source: PRNewswire, 09/08/15) Engines for the core stage of the SLS are being tested at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Miss. Previous