ASTRONAUTS GET FIRST LOOK AT THE SPACECRAFT THAT WILL FLY THEM AROUND THE MOON

The four astronauts assigned to fly around the moon in another year got their first look at their spacecraft, as NASA warned there could be more delays.

They peeked into their unfinished Orion capsule, red “Remove Before Flight” tags still dangling from it, and came away impressed.

“Nothing else looks like that ... that’s what gave me shivers,” astronaut Christina Koch told reporters.

The U.S.-Canadian crew inspected the capsule during a visit to Kennedy Space Center this week. NASA plans to send the four around the moon and back late next year.

Investigations into the capsule’s heat shield, however, could delay this first lunar trip by astronauts in more than half a century. Last year’s test flight around the moon, with no one on board, resulted in unexpected charring and loss of material from the heat shield at the bottom of the capsule. The heat shield is meant to protect the capsule against the extreme heat of reentry.