The new Orion crew capsule is catapulted into the air at White Sands Missile Range during a test of Orion’s launch-abort system, which should whisk astronauts and the capsule to safety in case of a problem on the launch pad, such as a fire, or during the climb to orbit. The Orion capsule was originally designed to take astronauts back to the moon. But President Obama in February killed NASA’s $100-billion plans to return to the moon, redirecting the money to new rocket-technology research. (Craig Fritz / Associated Press)