CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and Lockheed Martin Corp. will host a ceremony at 8:30 a.m. EST on Jan. 26 to mark the completion of renovations on the historic Operations and Checkout Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program. Originally built to process space vehicles in the Apollo era, the building will serve as the final assembly facility for the Orion crew exploration vehicle.
Media planning to attend the event should arrive at Kennedy’s Press Site by 8 a.m. for transportation to the facility. Journalists without permanent Kennedy credentials should submit their request online by noon, Thursday, Jan. 22 at:
Representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida will participate in the ceremony.
“This facility now stands ready to support on-site assembly of our nation’s next spacecraft, the Orion crew exploration vehicle,” said Mark Geyer, Orion Project Manager. With activation of the building complete, I look forward to the installation of workstations and shipment of flight hardware from across the country.”
Orion, America’s future human spaceflight vehicle, will be capable of transporting four crew members to the moon and later will support crew transfers to Mars. Each Orion spacecraft also will be used to transport crew members to the International Space Station after space shuttles are retired in 2010.
Lockheed Martin Corp. will perform design, development and construction of Orion’s components at facilities throughout the country for NASA. The first operational launch of Orion atop an Ares I rocket is planned for 2015.
Because the facility is an operational area, all who participate must be properly dressed in full-length pants, flat or low-heeled shoes that cover the feet entirely and shirts with sleeves.
For more information about the Orion spacecraft and the Constellation Program, visit:
