NASA flight director Mike Sarafin describes the timeline of Orion Exploration Flight Test 1, the crew capsule’s first space mission set for launch Dec. 4 on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket. The test flight will verify the craft’s heat shield, computers and avionics, and key separation events to be used on piloted missions to deep space.
Delta 4
ULA’s heavy-lifter rolled out for solar probe launch
Gearing up for a predawn blastoff July 31, launch crews have positioned a Delta 4-Heavy rocket in the starting blocks on a seaside launch complex at Cape Canaveral as engineers inside a tightly-controlled clean room a few miles away put the final touches on a NASA probe that will travel closer to the sun than any mission before.