Orion spacecraft planned for lunar mission begins construction by Lockheed Martin

[kevindavis007]

Lockheed Martin has begun producing the Orion spacecraft that is planned to send NASA astronauts on a journey around the Moon. NASA’s Exploration Mission 2 (EM-2) which is currently slated for a 2022 launch date has seen the first two components of the craft’s pressure vessel welded together.

“Each of these spacecraft are important, but we realize that the EM-2 capsule is special as it’s the first one to carry astronauts back out to the Moon, something we haven’t done in a long time. It’s something we think about every day,” said Paul Anderson, director of Orion EM-2 production at Lockheed Martin via a company-issued release.

Engineers working at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility located near New Orleans welded together the first two parts that are planned for use on the EM-2 mission which should see astronauts travel to the Moon. If everything goes off without a hitch, this flight should mark the first time that a crew has been sent to the Moon’s vicinity since the Apollo 17 mission which took place in December of 1972.

The first weld conducted on the EM-2 pressure vessel joined the the forward bulkhead with the vehicle’s tunnel section – which forms the top of the structure.

Read More: http://www.isn-news.net/2018/02/orion-spacecraft-planned-for-lunar.html