NASA's Orion Spacecraft to Appear Alongside Shuttle Discovery

WASHINGTON -- A full-scale test version of the Orion spacecraft is one
of several NASA-sponsored exhibits that will appear alongside space
shuttle Discovery at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F.
Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport in
Chantilly, Va.

Discovery is scheduled to fly over the Washington area on Tuesday,
April 17, and land at Dulles. A transfer ceremony of the shuttle to
the National Air & Space Museum will take place on Thursday, April 19.

In addition to Orion, dozens of NASA-sponsored exhibits are on display
at the Udvar-Hazy Center to celebrate the arrival of Discovery and
highlight the agency's current and future exploration missions. The
exhibits will showcase include International Space Station, a solar
telescope, a planetary spacesuit, an inflatable Mars Science
Laboratory rover and many hands-on educational activities.

The Orion spacecraft will be on free display at the Udvar-Hazy Center
from April 19-22 as part of the events surrounding the arrival of
shuttle Discovery. Engineers, officials and NASA spokespeople will be
on-site and available to speak with media and the public.

The Orion test vehicle was used in the Pad Abort-1 Test in 2010, which
saw the successful flight of Orion's launch abort system. This escape
capability will protect future crews in the event of an emergency
during launch.

NASA is constructing the first space-bound Orion capsule, which will
launch on Exploration Flight Test-1, an uncrewed launch planned for
2014. This test will see Orion travel farther into space than any
human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years. After its
construction at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, the
spacecraft will be shipped to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
for final assembly.

Following its display at the Udvar-Hazy Center, the Orion capsule will
appear at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington
for the U.S. Science and Engineering Festival from April 27-29.

For more information about the venues, visit:

http://www.nasm.si.edu/udvarhazy

and

http://www.usasciencefestival.org

For more about Orion, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

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