Orion powers through test

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. -- NASA's Orion spacecraft passed a test designed to determine readiness for its first flight test, Exploration Flight Test-1. EFT-1 later this year will send the spacecraft more than 3,600 miles from Earth then back. The spacecraft ran for 26 uninterrupted hours during the final phase of a major test series completed April 8 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The test verified the crew module can route power and send commands that enable the spacecraft to manage its computer system, software and data loads, propulsion valves, temperature sensors and other instrumentation. Sources: Space Travel, 04/16/14, NASA, 04/11/14
(Gulf Coast notes: Orion is built in part at Michoud Assembly Facility in East New Orleans; and engines that will power the Space Launch System are tested at Stennis Space Center, Miss.)