Orion Spacecraft Test Flight

Orion Spacecraft Test Flight

Brief description

Orion is the new multipurpose spacecraft of the NASA. Its flight test (unmanned) will be the December 4th, 2014. In its first flight all the systems of the spacecraft will be tested in real space conditions. Orion will orbit Earth twice, covering more than 60,000 miles (96,600 kilometers) and reaching an altitude of 3,600 miles (5,800 kilometers). (The International Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of 260 miles, or 420 kilometers.) The crew module will separate and return to Earth at a speed of 20,000 mph (32,000 kph), which will generate temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit (2,200 degrees Celsius) on Orion's heat shield. 

In its next missions, the spacecraft will carry astronauts to the International Space Station and up to 4 astronauts to the moon. And even (with its survival module coupled) it may carry astronauts to an asteroid or Mars, objetives to be achieved by 2030. Orion is the successor of the Apollo spacecraft and the Space Shuttle. Orion has the most advanced technology and the best security measures that have had a spacecraft to date and is the most ambitious proposal for the immediate future of manned deep space exploration.

The set

In this project I built a Lego model of the Orion spacecraft, the Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle and Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37) with the software Lego Digital Design (LDD). A total of 2121 bricks were used.

Orion Spacecraft

The model of Orion is at minifig scale and it has 3 parts : 1) Crew module. It is the habitable portion of the spacecraft and the only that returns to land. 2) Service module. Contains the main propulsion of the ship in space beyond low orbit, water supplies and air for astronauts and solar panels to generate electricity. 3) Delta Cryogenic Second Stage (DCSS) The DCSS is a cryogenic liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen-fueled vehicle, and uses a single engine that produces 24,750 pounds of thrust. 

The model of Orion Spacecraft was made with 1404 bricks. 

Delta IV Heavy Launch Vehicle

Is the the largest rocket currently available until NASA's Space Launch System rocket is completed. The Delta IV Heavy is powerful enough to boost Orion 3,600 miles in altitude above Earth (To compare the International Space Station is 260 miles and the Hubble Telescope is 347 miles in altitude). 103 bricks were used to build the Delta IV rocket in Lego microscale.

Space Launch Complex 37 (SLC-37)

The Delta IV Heavy with Orion will be launched from the SLC-37, located at Cape Canaveral, Florida. In SCL-37 has two parts: the Mobile Service Tower (MST) and the Fixed Umbilical Tower (FUT). The complex was built with 614 bricks, at the same scale as the rocket.

The total brick count of the project is 2121.

You can find a short video with the renders in Youtube:

and high resolution pictures in my flickr: 

https://flic.kr/ps/2WFKSU

Thank you for visiting this project. If you like it, please support it to become it an official Lego set.

Other related projects

If you liked the Orion project, be sure to visit my others space exploration projects in Lego Ideas:

Sputnik 1957, the first artificial satellite. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/81706

Apollo 11, an accurate reproduction of the CSM Apollo and lunar module Eagle. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/84718

Apollo 11 Rescue Mission. A set about the rescue ofthe astronauts and recovery of the Apollo 11 command module in the Pacific Ocean. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/86997

Apollo Soyuz Mission 1975. The first joint US-Russia mission. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/81989

Voyager Mission 1979-2014. https://ideas.lego.com/projects/82995