Orion capsule: Europe delivers astronaut spaceship's first 'powerhouse'
European industry has handed over a key part of the spaceship infrastructure that will eventually take humans beyond Earth into the wider Solar System. At a ceremony at Bremen airport in Germany, American officials accepted the first service module that will power an Orion capsule. Orion is the next-generation vehicle that the US is developing to carry astronauts to the Moon and on to Mars. A first flight of the trans-Atlantic spaceship combo is scheduled for 2020. Known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), this will be an uncrewed demonstration outing. Astronauts are expected to climb aboard a second flight a couple of years later.Friday's ceremony marked a significant milestone in the US-European collaboration. ...