NASA’s newest human spacecraft ready for fueling

Engineers finished building the Orion crew module, attached it and the already-completed service module to the adapter that will join Orion to its rocket and transported the spacecraft to a new facility for fueling.-Photo courtesy NASA

MARCIA DUNN, AP Aerospace Writer

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is one step closer to launching its newest spacecraft designed for humans.

Workers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida gathered by the dozens if not hundreds to watch as the Orion capsule emerged from its assembly hangar Thursday morning.

The capsule — sealed for protection — slowly made its way to its fueling depot atop a 36-wheel platform. The capsule and its attached service module and adapter ring stretched 40 feet high.

Orion will make its space debut in December on an unmanned test flight. It will shoot 3,600 miles into space and take two big laps around Earth before re-entering the atmosphere at 20,000 mph and parachuting into the Pacific.

NASA intends to put astronauts aboard Orion in 2021 for deep space exploration.