Orion Will Boldly Go Where No One’s Ever Gone

While shuttle astronauts are on their final mission,  having completed the last space shuttle spacewalk on Tuesday, I can't help but feel a bit nostalgic about this being the end of the line for the space shuttle program.

But,  I am looking forward to a new program where astronauts can "boldly go where no one has gone before" with the Orion space ship.

NASA and Lockheed Martin engineers shipped out the first Orion crew module spacecraft structure months ago  from NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La.

The spacecraft is undergoing a series of rigorous tests to confirm Orion’s ability to safely fly astronauts through all the harsh environments of deep space exploration missions.

Eventually, the space ship will be integrated with the heat shield and thermal protection backshell before undergoing environmental testing.

This crew module will also go through a series of simulated landing scenarios at NASA Langley’s new Hydro Impact Basin.

According to NASA, the Langley facility will be used to test, validate and certify water landings for all human-rated spacecraft for NASA.

Orion has passed critical human-rating milestones, including Orion’s flight test of its launch abort system and the successful phase one safety review that validated Orion meets many of NASA’s stringent requirements for safe human spaceflight.

What is so exciting to me about this new chapter in America's space exploration is that the Orion will be able to propel astronauts into  upper orbit, where we haven't been before.

Orion will be equipped to go into deep space,  allowing humans to possibly inhabit other planets in the future.

The space shuttle program served its function well as it provided the means of travel back and forth to the space station, but now its time to hand over the mantle to the program that can help us put humans on the moon,  asteroids and other planets.

Orion is the next generation ship to do just that.  It reminds me of the rockets from the past going further, only it's reuseable now.

It seems that if NASA can dream it,  it can happen.

What happens to the shuttle program?  My guess it will become a super expensive fun ride to  lower orbit that only the wealthy can afford.