3:07:00 PM
- The Orion capsule will fly at the top of the Space Launch System
- Nasa uses the Super Guppy to fly spacecraft components around the world
- It can carry more than 52,500 lbs and fly from 290 to 564 mph
- The Space Launch System will be capable of sending humans to Mars
- See the latest Nasa news on the Orion capsule destined for Mars at www.dailymail.co.uk/nasa
Nasa workers handled a special delivery as the massive Super Guppy aircraft opened to reveal the smaller - but equally precious - Orion capsule.
The Super Guppy, which landed on Monday at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, enables Nasa to fly spacecraft components around the world.
This time, the jumbo plane, with a 156 feet wingspan, was carrying the Orion space crew module, destined to fly at the top of the Space Launch System (SLS).
By the time it is completed in 2018, the SLS will be the biggest and most powerful rocket in the world and will be capable of sending humans to Mars.
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The Supper Guppy landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Monday. It delivered the pressure vessel, or underlying structure, of the Orion space crew module
The Orion capsule (pictured) will fly on top of the Space Launch System (SLS). By the time it is completed in 2018, the SLS will be the largest, most powerful rocket in the world and will be capable of sending humans to Mars
Nasa plans to send astronauts on a first crewed flight aboard Orion in 2021. Then, the space crew module will be used for other missions in the 2020s.
Ultimately, Nasa hopes that a journey to Mars will be within reach in the 2030s.
The Super Guppy's cargo compartment is 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide and 111 feet long. It can carry more than 26 tons.
The aircraft's hinged nose can open at an angle larger than 200 degrees, allowing workers to load and unload large pieces of equipment from its front.
Monday's delivery brought Orion's underlying structure, also known as the pressure vessel, to the Kennedy Space Center.
The pressure vessel was first assembled in Nasa's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. It took about four months for technicians to build it from seven large aluminum pieces.
The Super Guppy (pictured), which delivered Orion's pressure vessel, enables Nasa to fly spacecraft components around the world. Its cargo compartment is 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide and 111 feet long, and can carry more than 26 tons
The aircraft has a hinged nose that can open at an angle larger than 200 degrees, allowing workers to load and unload large pieces of equipment from its front
Orion (pictured inside the Super Guppy) is set to go on an uncrewed test flight beyond the moon in 2018. The capsule will travel for about three weeks, taking off from the Kennedy Space Center and touching down off the San Diego coast in the Pacific Ocean
The structure will fly on top of the SLS for a first uncrewed test flight in 2018. The flight, dubbed Exploration Mission-1, is meant to enable Nasa to test the spacecraft's ability to accomplish future missions into deep space.
It will be a three-week journey beyond the moon.
SLS and Orion will take off from Nasa's Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center. Orion will leave Earth's orbit and travel in the direction of the moon for several days.
The capsule will then orbit around the moon for about six days before traveling back to Earth. It will return to the atmosphere at 25,000 mph, reaching temperatures as high as 5,000 degrees Farenheit.
Nasa expects Orion to touch down off the San Diego coast in the Pacific Ocean.
The Space Launch System (pictured) will give Orion the big push it needs to leave Earth's orbit and head towards the moon during the first test flight in 2018. The flight will pave the way for future missions with astronauts on board
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3427597/There-s-bigger-jet-Nasa-unloads-Orion-space-crew-module-destined-Mars-mission-jumbo-Super-Guppy-aircraft.html#ixzz3z3SSI4eG
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