KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After a ceremony to commemorate the transition of the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program, representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida look at the banner, unfurled by Kennedy Space Center Director Bill Parsons (center), spotlighting the Orion crew exploration vehicle that will be assembled in the O&C.  From left are Russell Romanella, director of the International Space Station/Payload Processing Directorate at Kennedy Space Center; Thad Altman, representative of the State of Florida; Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager; Parsons; Steve Koller, executive director of Space Florida (turned away); and Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager.  Originally built to process space vehicles in the Apollo era, the O&C Building will serve as the final assembly facility for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion, America's human spaceflight vehicle of the future, will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later will support crew transfers for Mars missions. Each Orion spacecraft also may be used to support up to six crewmembers to the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2010.  Design, development and construction of Orion's components will be performed by Lockheed Martin for NASA at facilities throughout the country.  Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-07pd0198

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After a ceremony to commemorate the transition of the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program, representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida look at the banner, unfurled by Kennedy Space Center Director Bill Parsons (center), spotlighting the Orion crew exploration vehicle that will be assembled in the O&C. From left are Russell Romanella, director of the International Space Station/Payload Processing Directorate at Kennedy Space Center; Thad Altman, representative of the State of Florida; Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager; Parsons; Steve Koller, executive director of Space Florida (turned away); and Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager. Originally built to process space vehicles in the Apollo era, the O&C Building will serve as the final assembly facility for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion, America's human spaceflight vehicle of the future, will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later will support crew transfers for Mars missions. Each Orion spacecraft also may be used to support up to six crewmembers to the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2010. Design, development and construction of Orion's components will be performed by Lockheed Martin for NASA at facilities throughout the country. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett KSC-07pd0198

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- After a ceremony to commemorate the transition of the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building high bay for use by the Constellation Program, representatives from NASA, Lockheed Martin, Space Florida and the state of Florida look at the banner, unfurled by Kennedy Space Center Director Bill Parsons (center), spotlighting the Orion crew exploration vehicle that will be assembled in the O&C. From left are Russell Romanella, director of the International Space Station/Payload Processing Directorate at Kennedy Space Center; Thad Altman, representative of the State of Florida; Cleon Lacefield, Lockheed Martin program manager; Parsons; Steve Koller, executive director of Space Florida (turned away); and Skip Hatfield, Orion Project manager. Originally built to process space vehicles in the Apollo era, the O&C Building will serve as the final assembly facility for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Orion, America's human spaceflight vehicle of the future, will be capable of transporting four crewmembers for lunar missions and later will support crew transfers for Mars missions. Each Orion spacecraft also may be used to support up to six crewmembers to the International Space Station after the space shuttle is retired in 2010. Design, development and construction of Orion's components will be performed by Lockheed Martin for NASA at facilities throughout the country. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett

The Space Shuttle program was the United States government's manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011, administered by NASA and officially beginning in 1972. The Space Shuttle system—composed of an orbiter launched with two reusable solid rocket boosters and a disposable external fuel tank— carried up to eight astronauts and up to 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). When its mission was complete, the orbiter would re-enter the Earth's atmosphere and lands as a glider. Although the concept had been explored since the late 1960s, the program formally commenced in 1972 and was the focus of NASA's manned operations after the final Apollo and Skylab flights in the mid-1970s. It started with the launch of the first shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, on STS-1. and finished with its last mission, STS-135 flown by Atlantis, in July 2011.

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30/01/2007
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