NASA's new space capsule Orion to arrive at Mansfield Lahm airport Orion will be transported to Plum Brook Station in Sandusky

Lou Whitmire | Mansfield News Journal

MANSFIELD - The newest NASA spacecraft is expected to arrive at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport sometime in the coming days.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Jimi Russell, senior public affairs officer at Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center, said the space vehicle will arrive no earlier than Monday.

"If it does not fly on the 25th of November we will wait until after Thanksgiving so the 29th would be the first possible date," Russell said.

"The Super Guppy and Orion spacecraft will stay overnight at Lahm Airport and it takes about eight hours to get it on a truck," he said of the space vehicle.

Mark Daugherty, manager at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport, Tuesday morning said. "At this point we have no idea (on day of arrival). With that being said, at least we’re down to days and not weeks. Last we heard this morning was this weekend might happen, but looking like it may be next week … changes by the minute."

The Orion space capsule will be flown from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to Mansfield Lahm Airport on a wide cargo plane — NASA's Aero Spacelines Super Guppy — before departing for NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky.

Russell said the trip will take about six hours to go from Mansfield to Sandusky.

The spacecraft is scheduled to undergo four months of testing at Plum Brook's large thermal vacuum chamber that creates the environment of outer space.

Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport's long runway is what is bringing the Super Guppy here.

The runway is 9,001 feet long and 150 feet wide and is used by the Ohio Air National Guard's 179th Airlift Wing based at the airport on the city's north side.

After Orion gets to Mansfield, crews will be ready to dismantle traffic lights just ahead of the caravan and reassemble the wiring after it has passed.

It will be hard to miss as it rolls down the highway.

The 60,000-pound load will creating a rolling roadblock as it travels about 40 miles. Officials have not disclosed the exact route yet, citing security.

The Mansfield post of the Ohio Highway Patrol is in charge of the transportation route. The patrol said there will be no news release and referred all questions to the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The oversized flatbed trailer will carry the capsule, which is 22 feet tall and about 20 feet wide.

Matt Bruning, a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Transportation, Tuesday said ODOT officials have been helping to plan the route with NASA for four years.

ODOT has been involved in the permit process for the oversized load to avoid obstacles.

More than 600 utility poles had to be moved and replaced so the truck carrying Orion can pass without snagging electrical and broadband wires. FirstEnergy Corp. spent about a year replacing more than 300 power poles of its 45-foot standard length to 55-foot poles, according to reports by news outlets.

NASA's goal is for astronauts to return to the moon by 2024 and begin long-term lunar exploration by 2028 with the hope of continuing on to Mars.

lwhitmir@gannett.com

419-521-7223

Twitter: @LWhitmir