{"id":23011,"date":"2020-12-17T20:42:12","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T12:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/a-look-at-the-costly-and-slow-moving-development-of-the-orion-spacecraft\/"},"modified":"2020-12-17T20:42:12","modified_gmt":"2020-12-17T12:42:12","slug":"a-look-at-the-costly-and-slow-moving-development-of-the-orion-spacecraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/a-look-at-the-costly-and-slow-moving-development-of-the-orion-spacecraft\/","title":{"rendered":"A look at the costly and slow-moving development of the Orion spacecraft"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\t\"\"
\n\t<\/figure>\n

NASA\u2019s Orion spacecraft has been in the news quite a bit lately because of the essential role it will soon play in sending astronauts to the moon. However, most don\u2019t realize that Orion is 15 years old and has gone through a complex and expensive development, even coming close to being canceled at one point.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in 2005, NASA stated that it wanted to develop a spacecraft capable of carrying astronauts beyond low Earth orbit by 2014. This came in the form of a \u201crequest for proposals\u201d that NASA had issued to the industry. Orion was born from the request as part of the Constellation program, which had the goal of \u201creturning to the moon no later than 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Constellation program was ultimately canceled after President Barack Obama took office and determined it to be too costly and behind schedule. However, despite being part of the program, Orion was allowed to stick around, and the development of the spacecraft continued.<\/p>\n

Since then, NASA has spent an astounding $23.7 billion on the development of the Orion spacecraft. That number may not seem so high considering what it\u2019s being used for, but that outlook changes when you look at what it has produced:<\/p>\n

\t<\/span><\/p>\n

\t\t