A test version of NASA's new Orion spacecraft will be at the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 6, following testing with the U.S. Navy. Media are invited from 6 to 9 a.m. PDT to see the craft and learn about NASA's deep-space exploration plans, which include sending astronauts to an asteroid and Mars. 

A combined NASA and Navy team is practicing recovering Orion from the ocean, as they will do in December following the spacecraft's first trip to space during Exploration Flight Test-1. After traveling 3,600 miles above Earth -- farther than any spacecraft built for humans has been in more than 40 years -- Orion will return at speeds near 20,000 mph for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean where a Navy ship will pick it up and return it to shore. 

Following the recovery tests, which take place Aug. 1-4 off the coast of San Diego, the test version of Orion will be transported to Navy Days-Los Angeles. Media will have the opportunity to view Orion, talk with NASA representatives, and tour the U.S.S. Anchorage. 

Representatives available for interviews include:

• NASA Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer
• NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations Program Manager Mike Bolger
• NASA Space Launch System Program Manager Todd May
• Lockheed Martin Orion Deputy Program Manager Larry Price
• NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott 

To attend this event and receive detailed directions, reporters must contact Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 4. 

To learn more about Orion and Exploration Flight Test-1, visit: 

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

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