Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center provides images for use in Orion Space Program

HUTCHINSON - When the United Space Alliance called looking for old Apollo spacecraft photos for use in training astronauts for the Orion program, the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center went one better.

“’Photos? We’ve got an original capsule’ we told them,” said Jessica Crosby, Cosmosphere marketing coordinator.

With permission from the National Air and  Space Museum Cosmosphere officials opened its restored Apollo 13 module on Thursday, taking high-resolution images of every square inch of the interior.

Crosby said United Space Alliance, the company contracted by NASA to train astronauts and support personnel for the Orion program, will use these as visual aids, to develop simulators and to put together training manuals.

For NASA’s upcoming Orion program, spacecraft will be more like that of the past than the current space shuttle.  As a next-generation version of the Apollo with all the latest technological advancements, the Orion will be large enough to hold 4-6 people and able to carry cargo and crew to the International Space Station, the moon or beyond. NASA‘s goal is to reach the moon by 2020.

The KCSC also provided images from the original lunar module and other artifacts in its collection for use in training manuals. The Apollo 13 and the lunar module are just two of the 15,000 U.S. and Russian space artifacts on display in its Hall of Space Museum.