....
Has anyone seen hard information on the design of Orion? They certainly
must be well past the concept phase.

Looks like a slightly enlarged Apollo. 16 ft verses 11 diameter.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/constellation/orion/

I just spent an hour going through all this web site. NASA has definitely
decided to go back to basics. The shuttle had been likened to launching a
semi truck - lots of extra weight there. This "upgraded Apollo" concept
means much less weight to lift. I didn't see the buzzword "reusable"
anywhere. I wonder if they plan on just one launch per vehicle.

Karl