This morning NASA launched a test capsule as part of the ORION project that will orbit Earth for just over four hours before splashing down in the Pacific. Eventually, the spacecraft will carry the first human mission to Mars. Not since we sent a team to the moon in 1969 has NASA launched such an ambitious project into deep space. One of the most exciting aspects of the ORION project is the level of Colorados involvement. Colorado has the second-largest aerospace industry in the country with more than 170,000 space-related jobs and thousands of jobs related directly to the ORION project. Colorado engineers and workers at Lockheed Martin built ORIONs heat shield in Littleton and the Lockheed-Boeing United Launch Alliance (ULA) in Centennial made the rocket to lift the spacecraft. Coloradans should take pride in our significant contributions to NASAs efforts to chart a new frontier in space. Im excited to work with the entire Congressional delegation to make sure the ORION project moves forward in coming years. Yesterday, I attended a launch event in Washington, DC for the originally scheduled launch date. Although the launch was delayed until today, it was great being with Senator Michael Bennet, Congressman Ed Perlmutter, and others learning more about the launch.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 16:25:47 +0000
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