Assembly of Orion spacecraft begins at Kennedy Space Center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A new spacecraft intended to take astronauts to Mars is being assembled at the Kennedy Space Center.
 
The Orion capsule seeks to reach a new frontier in space travel.
 
"There are a lot of steps that we have to go through before we get to our milestone launch. This is an important one, and it's important to commemorate these steps," NASA astronaut Stan Love said.
 
The craft's production operations manager, Scott Wilson, said the Orion will take about 18 months to assemble. After assembly, tests will be done in both Florida and Sandusky, Ohio, before it's returned to the space center for fueling and integration with the launch system rocket.
 
"It's the most powerful rocket ever built. It exceeds the shuttle and the Saturn V rockets previously. It's going to be the largest rocket ever launched and the first test of Orion with that rocket," Wilson said.
 
The test flight will last three weeks and will take Orion around the moon.
 
"(It) sounds like a long time, but it's a lot of work between now and then, and we're really excited to get started," Wilson said.
 
NASA first successfully tested the Orion in December 2014. 

Cox Media Group