Construction has begun on the Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle. Orion was originally part of the Constellation System that would have taken American Astronauts back to the Moon and even Mars. The Obama administration killed Constellation but then reversed itself to retool Orion into the Space Launch System (SLS). SLS will deliver crew and supplies to the International Space Station.
NASA plans to have manned flights in 2017. If all goes to plan, Orion will bring crew and supplies to the ISS until the station is decommissioned in 2020. For the 38 billion (with a B) dollars NASA will spend to fly Orion, three years of service sounds like a waste of money great value.
But on second thought, better than 535 Million for solar panels that don’t work.
