NASA has the first flight of the Orion spacecraft scheduled to take place in the latter half of 2014. More and more elements needed to conduct this mission have been assembled and are being readied for the inaugural flight for the first flight of NASA's new spacecraft. After that the first combined Orion and SLS flight will take place in 2017 and then the first mission to carry a crew will take place in 2021. According to Dumbacher, the rational behind this slower approach is based in the realities of NASA's budget. Image Credit: NASA
{}