- Friday's flight test brings NASA "one step closer" to putting humans aboard Orion, Bolden said just before liftoff
- To push Orion farther out on future flights, NASA is developing a megarocket known as Space Launch System or SLS. The first Orion-SLS combo will fly around 2018, again without a crew to shake out the rocket
- NASA's last trip beyond low-Earth orbit in a vessel built for people was the three-man Apollo 17 in December 1972. Orion will be capable of carrying four astronauts on long hauls and as many as six on three-week hikes.
NASA Launches New Orion Spacecraft And New Era
12. 5. 14 by Matthew Lincoln