Next Generation Spaceship Orion Set for New Tests

Orion spaceship is being prepared for a new round of tests at a Lockheed Martin facility near Denver, according to a report in timeslive.co.za.

Orion, known as America's next generation spacecraft, could carry the next wave of astronauts to an asteroid or beyond.

A launch-abort system, which is a rocket, is attached to the nose of the capsule, and the combined spacecraft will go through a series of experiments to test its capability to withstand blastoff, Lockheed Martin said Friday according to the report.

The rocket could lift the capsule carry it away to safety in case of a problem before or during launch.

The Orion crew exploration vehicle (CEV) program will provide a state-of-the-art human space flight system capable of safely transferring astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS), the Moon, Mars and other destinations beyond low earth orbit where they could control robotic instruments on the surface

Lockheed Martin is building the Spaceship under a $7.5 billion NASA contract issued in 2006.

Orion doesn't yet have a destination.

Earlier in May 2010, the abort system was tested successfully at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico when an Orion mock-up was rocketed about a mile into the air at speeds of about 450 mph in just 2.5 seconds. The capsule then deployed parachutes and landed a mile north of the launch site.

Once the vibration tests are over Orion will be taken to the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, for landing tests.