A technician monitors de-stacking operations on a mock-up of the Orion spacecraft and launch abort system.

In the transfer aisle of the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a technician monitors de-stacking operations on a full-size mock-up of the Orion spacecraft and launch abort system. Crane operators and technicians practice stacking and de-stacking operations in order to keep processing procedures and skills current.

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. Orion’s first unpiloted test flight is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket. A second uncrewed flight test is scheduled for 2017 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/orion. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann