The Stage Is Set

A vacuum chamber in which whole spacecraft can be tested in space-like conditions.
A real Space Shuttle Main Engine. I had, several days before Obama's visit, heard space center workers saying they had been asked to move the engine from the Orbiter Processing Facility to this venue, and that they were trying to figure out how to do it without damaging the engine.


An Orion capsule, intended for lunar and deep space missions. Obama had initially cancelled Orion, but later relented and authorised a simplified one for use with the International Space Station.


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Text, images and audio Copyright to Andrew Rennnie, 2010