Engineers with NASA and prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems have finished building the prototype Orion capsule that will launch on an uncrewed test mission aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket Dec. 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

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Dan Leone is the NASA reporter for SpaceNews, where he also covers other civilian-run U.S. government space programs and a growing number of entrepreneurial space companies. He joined SpaceNews in 2011.Dan earned a bachelor's degree in public communications...