Video of Orion Capsule Reviews Progress

A rendition of Orion in lunar orbit. (Credits: NASA).

This promotional video from NASA provides an overview of the development, manufacturing, testing, and mission of the Orion capsule. Orion is designed to carry crew on future deep space missions. The first proposed test flight, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) is currently scheduled for 2014 and will be unmanned. During the test Orion will launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, perform two orbits, reaching an altitude higher than any achieved by a spacecraft intended for human use since 1973, and then will re-enter and land in the Pacific Ocean off the west coast of the United States. It will follow a trajectory that mimics the reentry parameters of a spacecraft returning to Earth from the moon.