The Orion nebula is one of the most often studied objects in the sky, with observational records dating back to about 400 years, coinciding with the early developments of the telescope \citep{Muench2008}. It is an object of critical importance for astrophysics as it contains the nearest (400 pc) massive star formation region to Earth, the Orion nebula cluster (ONC) \citep[e.g.][]{1965ApJ...142..964J,1972ApJ...175...89W}, which is the benchmark region for massive star- and cluster formation studies. Recent distance estimates to the Orion nebula using parallax put this object at about 400 pc from Earth (389\(^{+24}_{-21}\) pc \citep{2007ApJ...667.1161S}, 414\(\pm\)7 pc \citep{Menten2007}, 437\(\pm\)19 pc \citep{2007PASJ...59..897H}, and 419\(\pm\)6 pc \citep{2008PASJ...60..991K}). Some of the most basic observables of the star formation process, such as, 1) star formation rates \citep{Lada1995,Lada2010}, 2) star formation history \citep{Hillenbrand1997}, 3) age spreads \citep{Jeffries11,Reggiani11}, 4) the initial mass function to the substellar regime \citep{2000ApJ...540..236H,2002ApJ...573..366M,2012ApJ...748...14D,2012ApJ...752...59H}, 5) the fraction, size distribution, and lifetime of circumstellar disks \citep{Hillenbrand1998b,Lada2000,Muench2001,Vicente2005}, 6) their interplay with massive stars \citep{Odell1993}, binarity \citep{1998ApJ...500..825P,2006A&A...458..461K}, rotation \citep{2002A&A...396..513H}, magnetic fields \citep{2003ApJ...584..911F}, and 7) young cluster dynamics \citep{Hillenbrand1998,2008ApJ...676.1109F,2009ApJ...697.1103T}, have all been derived from this benchmark region \citep[see the meticulous reviews of][]{Bally2008,Muench2008,ODell2008}. Naturally, the ONC is also the benchmark region for theoretical and numerical models of massive and clustered star formation \citep{Palla1999,Klessen2000,Clarke2000,Bonnell2001,Bate2003,Tan2006,Huff2006,Krumholz2011,Allison2011}