A test version of NASA's new Orion spacecraft will be at the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday, Aug. 6, following testing with the U.S. Navy. Media are invited from 6 to 9 a.m. PDT to see the craft and learn about NASA's deep space exploration plans, which include sending astronauts to an asteroid and Mars.

[image-51] A combined NASA and Navy team is practicing recovering Orion from the ocean, as they will do in December following the spacecraft's first trip to space during Exploration Flight Test-1. After traveling 3,600 miles above Earth -- farther than any spacecraft built for humans has been in more than 40 years -- Orion will return at speeds near 20,000 mph for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean where a Navy ship will pick it up and return it to shore.

Following the recovery tests, which take place Aug. 1-4 off the coast of San Diego, the test version of Orion will be transported to Navy Days–Los Angeles. Media will have the opportunity to view Orion, talk with NASA representatives, and tour the USS Anchorage.

Representatives available for interviews include:

NASA Orion Program Manager Mark Geyer

NASA Ground Systems Development and Operations Program Manager Mike Bolger

NASA Space Launch System Program Manager Todd May

Lockheed Martin Orion Deputy Program Manager Larry Price

NASA Astronaut Nicole Stott

To attend this event and receive detailed directions, reporters must contact Brandi Dean at brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 4.

To learn more about Orion and Exploration Flight Test-1, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/orion

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