This is a full-scale test version of the Orion spacecraft. In addition to Orion, dozens of other NASA-sponsored exhibits were on display at the Udvar-Hazy Center during the arrival of Discovery. The first operational Orion capsule will launch on Exploration Flight Test-1 - an unmanned launch planned for 2014. Orion will travel farther into space during that test, if it ever happens, than any human spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years.
Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle
The Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle was originally part of NASA’s Constellation Program, which is no longer an active NASA program. However, the design for Orion was carried forward as the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (Orion MPCV) as part of NASA’s new plans to explore beyond low Earth orbit and into deep space.