Sept. 13, 2006

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111



Report #J06-096

NASA, LOCKHEED SET TOUR OF NEW ORION SPACECRAFT MOCKUP

NASA and Lockheed Martin will host an opportunity Thursday for reporters to view a mockup of the Orion spacecraft, the next generation of United States human spacecraft. The viewing will be at 12 p.m. CDT in Lockheed's Houston test facility, located at 18108 Point Lookout Drive in Nassau Bay.

Media planning to attend must contact the Johnson Space Center newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 10 a.m. CDT Thursday.

Development of the Orion spacecraft is part of NASA’s Constellation Program. It will succeed the space shuttle as NASA's primary vehicle for human space exploration, flying to the International Space Station and to the moon.

Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley, Orion Project Manager Caris (Skip) Hatfield and Astronaut Lee Morin will be available for interviews during the mockup tour.

Lockheed Martin was selected by NASA in August to develop and build the Orion spacecraft. Orion is planned to make its first flight, a mission to the International Space Station, no later than 2014. Its first flight to the moon is planned for no later than 2020.

For information about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/home