"To infinity and beyond," may soon be more than just a Disney catchphrase.
On Monday, NASA announced the completion of the Orion pressure vessel, which "provides a sealed environment for astronaut life support in future human-rated crew modules." The vessel will be transported from the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans to Kennedy Space Center in Florida, according to NASA’s official blog.
Orion is a vital part of NASA's next big mission: getting to Mars. The spacecraft "will usher in a new era of space exploration" by sending astronauts further into the galaxy. Orion will first be used for Exploration Mission-1, a three-week-long journey to the moon's orbit.
But this isn’t Orion's first trip to outer space. In December 2014, the rocket orbited just outside Earth's atmosphere on its first test flight.
If the pressure vessel passes further testing at Kennedy Space Center, NASA will be one step closer to sending humans into the deepest space we've ever explored, according to mission manager Mike Serafin.
"This is a mission that truly will do what hasn’t been done and learn what isn’t known," he said.
