Orion 14
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This article or section contains information regarding a future spaceflight. Due to the nature of the content, details may change dramatically as the launch date approaches and/or more information becomes available. |
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| Mission name: | Orion 14 & LSAM 4 | ||||
| Launch pad: | Launch Pad 39B | ||||
| Launch: | August 2020 | ||||
| Landing: | August 2020 or September 2020 | ||||
| Duration: | ~21 days | ||||
| Orbit altitude: | ~65 nautical miles (~105 km) in lunar orbit | ||||
| Orbit inclination: | ~0 to 60 degrees | ||||
| Distance traveled: | TBD | ||||
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Orion 14 is the current name of a NASA mission, the second Constellation lunar landing in conjunction with the LSAM 4. Orion 14 is planned to be the eighth human lunar landing by NASA.
The landing site is not known yet but should be either at the north or at the south pole of the Moon, where NASA has decided to build a Lunar outpost, as announced on December 4, 2006.[1]
The mission is currently scheduled to take place in August, 2020. Like Orion 13, it will carry a crew of three to the lunar surface in the LSAM, leaving one astronaut in lunar orbit in the Orion spacecraft, similar to the Apollo practice of leaving the Command Module Pilot in orbit while the Apollo Commander and Apollo Lunar Module Pilot descended to the surface.
The mission is planned to last approximately 21 days. Orion 14 will be launched by an Ares I from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B. It will dock in Low Earth Orbit with a package made of an Earth Departure Stage (EDS) and the fourth LSAM. This package will have been launched in June 2020 atop of the heavy-lift Ares V rocket. The space assembly will be then be injected towards the Moon by the EDS.
