United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians prepare to lift the agency's Orion spacecraft for mounting atop its Delta IV Heavy rocket.

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 37, United Launch Alliance engineers and technicians prepare to lift the agency's Orion spacecraft for mounting atop its Delta IV Heavy rocket.

Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry astronauts to destinations not yet explored by humans, including an asteroid and Mars. It will have emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. The first unpiloted flight test of Orion is scheduled to launch Dec. 4, 2014 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, and in 2018 on NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. For more information, visit www.nasa.gov/orion Photo credit: NASA/Radislav Sinyak