December 7, 2014 - NASA marked a major milestone
Friday on its journey to Mars as the Orion
spacecraft completed its first voyage to space,
traveling farther than any spacecraft designed
for astronauts has been in more than 40 years.
“Today’s flight test of Orion is a huge step for
NASA and a really critical part of our work to
pioneer deep space on our Journey to Mars,” said
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “The teams
did a tremendous job putting Orion through its
paces in the real environment it will endure as
we push the boundary of human exploration in the
Orion blazed into the morning sky at 7:05 a.m.
EST, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 37 at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV
Heavy rocket. The Orion crew module splashed
down approximately 4.5 hours later in the
Pacific Ocean, 600 miles southwest of San Diego.
During the uncrewed test, Orion traveled twice
through the Van Allen belt where it experienced
high periods of radiation, and reached an
altitude of 3,600 miles above Earth. Orion also
hit speeds of 20,000 mph and weathered
temperatures approaching 4,000 degrees
Fahrenheit as it entered Earth’s atmosphere.