Posted: Fri, Jul 21, 2006, 9:08 AM ET (1308 GMT)
NASA plans to name the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the manned spacecraft that will be used to send astronauts to Earth orbit and the Moon as part of the Vision for Space Exploration, "Orion", according to an online report. CollectSPACE.com reported Thursday that NASA plans to name the CEV spacecraft itself Orion, and the overall CEV development effort "Project Orion". NASA has obtained a federal trademark on the name Orion that covers "command modules" and "crew capsules". Last month NASA announced that it was naming the Crew Launch Vehicle and Cargo Launch Vehicle, the two rockets being developed for the Vision, as the Ares 1 and Ares 5, respectively. At that time NASA officials said they had a "leading candidate" for the CEV name at that point among several finalists, but declined to specify them, citing trademark issues.

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