Orion Capsule Spacecraft Ocean Recovery Mouse Pad

Like the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo capsules before it, Orion will land softly using parachutes to an ocean spashdown and be recovered by ship. Unlike these earlier command modules, Orion is designed to be refurbished and reused on future missions. These missions may include everything from visits to the International Space Station and future space stations far from Earth, expeditions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids, and other deep space exploration in our Solar System. The Orion crew module spacecraft is designed to carry four astronauts and will be launched from Earth atop the SLS Space Launch System, a rocket more powerful than the mighty Saturn V or the Space Shuttle.