In the Nation

CALIFORNIA

Orion spacecraft

headed to San Diego

A Navy ship carrying NASA's new Orion spacecraft was making its way to San Diego on Monday after retrieving the capsule from its Pacific Ocean splashdown point about 600 miles southwest of the city.

The USS Anchorage was headed to Naval Base San Diego with the spacecraft, which parachuted into the ocean after a two-orbit, 4.5-hour test flight with no astronauts aboard.

Orion traveled 3,600 miles above Earth to test the spacecraft's systems before it carries astronauts on deep-space missions.

During reentry into the atmosphere, the spacecraft endured speeds of 20,000 m.p.h. and temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

The spacecraft will be loaded onto a truck and returned to Cape Canaveral, Fla., just in time for Christmas.

NASA and contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. assisted in Orion's recovery. - AP
MICHIGAN

Grandmother charged

Suburban Detroit authorities have filed first-degree murder charges against a 65-year-old woman they say slashed her son's throat and then fatally beat her 7-month-old granddaughter. Oakland County authorities say that Sylvia Majewska then tried to kill herself by slashing her arms. She was arraigned Monday in a hospital room and faces a Dec. 18 probable-cause hearing. Deputies found the bodies of Daryne Gailey, 29, and Charley Hendrick, 7 months. - AP
MICHIGAN

Plea in stabbings

A passenger accused of stabbing four people on an Amtrak train in southwestern Michigan told police he began the attack after seeing another man turn into a demon, according to court documents released Monday. Michael D. Williams pleaded not guilty to attempted-murder charges and was returned to the Berrien County jail on $1 million bond. He requested a court-appointed attorney. - AP