NASA has released this photo captured almost two weeks ago during spacesuit check tests at the Orion Crew Module mockup. I cannot stop staring at it in awe — it is almost the real thing, it gives you a heavy deja vu, because you saw such scenes billion times when you crawled through the NASA image archives of the Apollo missions.
It is good to see the almost final version of the Orion mockup, in 2011 I visited the Building 9 at Johnson Space Center, where I was lucky to take a look at the mockup being under construction:
Picture: Attila Nagy
I strongly wish the bold plans that NASA is dreaming about come true. Against all odds. Here is the full photo and caption:
Stepping into the Orion Crew Module NASA astronauts Cady Coleman and Ricky Arnold step into the Orion crew module hatch during a series of spacesuit check tests conducted on June 13, 2013 at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility at the agency’s Johnson Space centre in Houston. The Orion crew module will serve as both transport and a home to astronauts during future long-duration missions to an asteroid, Mars and other destinations throughout our solar system.
Picture: NASA