A Lockheed Martin technician prepares the Orion ground test vehicle for a pyrotechnic bolt test.

Inside the Launch Equipment Test Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space in Florida, a Lockheed Martin technician prepares the Orion ground test vehicle for a pyrotechnic bolt test.

Lockheed Martin performed tests over a series of days on the explosive bolts that separate Orion from the launch abort system. Data was collected on the effect of shock waves on Orion during the explosive bolt separation. Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during the space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted test flight of the Orion is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket and in 2017 on a Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett