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Military

How San Diego Is Pitching In For NASA's Orion Test Flight

On Thursday morning NASA is scheduled to test Orion, a spacecraft designed to take humans deeper into space than ever before.

If all goes according to plan, this first unmanned flight should see Orion blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, orbit the Earth twice, and then splash down in the Pacific Ocean 600 miles from San Diego about 4.5 hours later.

A few days later, Navy ships will haul it ashore in San Diego.

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One San Diegan who'll be traveling to Florida to watch Orion take off is Ken Mercer, chief technology officer at San Diego Composites Inc.

One of the many parts his company built for Orion is the highly visible outer shell connecting the top of the spacecraft to the astronaut module.

"It's essentially the structure between the launch abort motor and the crew module," explained Mercer. "So it's kind of like an outer skin that encloses that transition."

Orion's next test flight, planned for 2018, would take the spacecraft around the moon and back to Earth. But the ultimate goal, dependent on funding and shifting political winds, is to take humans to Mars.

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"We're really excited," said Mercer. "We're excited to be part of the program, really the United States' return to manned missions."

An event to watch the live coverage of the Orion splashing down in the Pacific Ocean at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center's theater is at capacity. A total of 260 people have registered to attend the event.