NASA's New Moon Project Gets a Logo

by Robert Z. Pearlman

Date: 14 August 2006 Time: 12:12 PM ET

As collectSPACE.com first reported last month, NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and moon landing program is expected to adopt the moniker Orion. The space agency hasn't yet announced the name, but a logo bearing the title has now been seen in a NASA internal document that labels the insignia as "approved".

The triangular logo, which could be meant to resemble the shape of the new crewed capsule, has a blue background and white stars that are arranged to form the constellation Orion.

A look at the logo for Orion, the expected name for NASA's capsule-based Crew Exploration Vehicle to follow the shuttle program. Credit. collectSPACE.com via NASA.

The three stars that are associated with Orion's "belt" are enlarged and appear over a trailing, red orbital vector that extends back and around a blue globe. The planet serves as the "O" in the otherwise plainly type-faced title "Orion".

The NASA document containing the logo is itself entitled "Project Orion Logo Approved" and is identified as being associated with (or for) NASA's Crew Exploration Vehicle Project Office.

NASA logos for other human space exploration efforts. Credit. collectSPACE.com via NASA.

The Orion logo is the fourth to be associated with NASA's new exploration program. Prior insignias have included a design for the agency's Office of Exploration Systems, a Constellation Program emblem and, as was revealed in June, a logo for Project Ares, the rockets that will launch Orion and its lunar lander.

NASA's first lunar landing program, Apollo used a circular emblem that featured an enlarged "A". The letter's cross stroke was formed by the three stars of the constellation Orion.

Under Project Orion, NASA plans to launch crews of four to six astronauts aboard Orion capsules, first to orbit the Earth and the International Space Station and then later to the Moon.

Two teams, one led by Lockheed Martin and the other a joint effort by Northrop Grumman and The Boeing Co. are currently competing to build the CEV. NASA is expected to select the winner in the coming weeks.

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